The Department of Education has lodged a planning application for the construction of the permanent school buildings on the old IGB site. (The school buildings currently on site are temporary buildings.) They are planning to construct a 16-classroom primary school and a 1,000 pupil secondary school. 

The proposed secondary school is to be part 4 storey and includes the provision of 1 no. general purpose hall and 1 no. PE hall and c. 1,374 sqm rooftop play space including 2 no. ball courts. The proposed primary school is to be part 3 storey and is to include the provision of 1 no. general purpose hall and a c. 489 sqm rooftop play space. The development will also include the provision of 6 no. ballcourts; all hard and soft play areas including an outdoor gym area; sensory gardens, the removal of most of the existing trees etc. They appear to be including the possibility of another smaller pedestrian entrance on the south (Taney Avenue) side, however it is uncertain if this will be opened. They state on the plans: “Potential future pedestrian & cycle access point. Works required by Others to facilitate pedestrian/cycle permeability route to Taney Avenue.“.

You can see some photo montages taken from the planning application below. You can find all planning documents on the DLR website, the planning reference is: D24A/0619. The final date for observations is 16th Sep 2024.

Update 27/9/24: Please see here for the observation we submitted in respect of this planning application.

Update 4/10/24: The Council has reverted with a “Request for Further Information“. Disappointingly the planners don’t appear to have an issue with the proposed unnecessary raising of the ground level, or the overbearing impact on one particular residence. The Planner’s Report can be found here. The Department has 6 months to respond.

It has been reported in the Irish Independent recently that the Land Development Agency plans to submit a new planning application via the Large Scale Residential Development planning process (LRD). This is the process that has replaced the SHD process.

In advance of this new planning application, and also in response to comments by the Chair of the LDA, John Coleman in a recent Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting, we decided to write to the LDA. We outlined our expectations regarding the coming application, as well as a recap of all previous communication with the LDA. We copied the Chair of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Frank Curran.

You can view this letter here.

Update May ’24: You may have read that An Bord Pleanála has conceded the case in relation to the Judicial Review brought by a resident of Friarsland Road against the LDA’s plan to build 852 units on the site of the former Central Mental Hospital. The LDA has since confirmed it will continue to defend the permission in the High Court, and is continuing with the case.

The old convent building, Roebuck Grove House, that has become derelict over the last few years, is being proposed as the location for a 29 unit hostel. The final date for observations on this planning application is 8th April 2024, and the planning reference number is: D24A/0133

Here is the link to DLR County Council’s planning website.

Some images etc. take from the Planning Report the applicant has submitted. This document can be found on the DLR Planning website.

Edit 19/4/24: Please see here for the observation we submitted in respect of this planning application.

Edit 29/4/24: DLRCoCo Planning Department has refused permission. The applicant has initiated an appeal with An Bord Pleanála, ABP-319774-24.

Edit 17/6/24: Please see here for the observation we submitted in respect of this appeal.