Education Department and D4 locals oppose residential scheme for elderly members of religious orders
Gordon Deegan
The Department of Education and Dublin 4 locals are opposed to plans by developer, Keith Craddock, to construct a 38-unit accommodation block for elderly members of religious orders in need of care.
In July, Mr Craddock’s Granville Developments Ltd lodged plans with Dublin City Council for the three-storey residential accommodation comprising 38 en suite bedrooms at Haddington Place on a site to the rear of Sisters of The Holy Faith in Ballsbridge.
Planning consultant for Granville Developments, Kevin Hughes, has told Dublin City Council that the proposal will “provide residential accommodation and care to members of religious orders in need of care”.
He says that the scheme "offers dedicated, supportive residential accommodation near existing religious properties, which is considered both appropriate and consistent with the policy of enabling people to age in place with dignity and independence”.
Mr Hughes states that the proposed development “will deliver a high-quality addition to the existing religious, educational, and community uses around the site, and would not detract from the visual or residential amenities of the area”.
However, in one objection, Susan McCarrick, on behalf of the Pembroke Road Association, questions who the nuns are that will be accommodated at the scheme, as religious communities provide a home for their retired members.
Ms McCarrick has told the council, “that we are expected to accept and believe that there will be an unlimited supply of elderly nuns to take up residence is fanciful.”
Ms McCarrick further comments that “there are no views for residents to enjoy - just the back of other buildings. While the zoning is institutional, it does not have to be penitential”.
The Council has received 11 submissions, and in a separate objection, the Department of Education disclosed that it made a bid to purchase the site "to safeguard it for future educational use, but was ultimately outbid”.
Assistant Principal Officer at the Department of Education’s Forward Planning & Site Acquisitions section, Deirdre Maher, states that “the department regards the site as strategically important to the long-term provision of school facilities in the area”.
Requesting the Council to refuse planning permission, Ms Maher states that it "is concerned that the loss of this site would undermine its ability to meet current and future educational needs in Dublin 4”.
Ms Maher states that the site “represents one of the very few remaining opportunities to provide essential educational and community infrastructure in the locality, given the scarcity of available land”.
On behalf of the Board of Management for St. Christopher's Primary School, Ballsbridge, Íde Tynan has told the council that the proposed development “raises serious concerns for us”.
Six hundred students aged 4 to 12 attend the school and Ms Tynan added that “bringing heavy construction vehicles into this area would create a serious safety risk for our students”.
A decision is due on the application later this month.
