Latest news with #RobinMandal
The Journal
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Green light for 439 student beds 1km from UCD campus despite opposition
DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has given the go-ahead to construct 439 purpose built student bed spaces for the former Smurfit Paper Mills site at Clonskeagh in Dublin 6. The council has granted planning permission to Harley Issuer DAC – a vehicle for private investment firm Bain Capital – to construct 439 bed spaces across five blocks from one storey to part seven storeys along with 16 residential apartments. The large scale residential development also includes the extension and renovation of 14 existing residential dwellings at Clonskeagh Road. The planning authority has granted planning permission despite opposition from some local residents and River Dodder anglers. In the 38 page council planner's report recommending that planning permission be granted it stated that the application site is a vacant brownfield site and the proposed development for purpose built student accommodation and residential development will 'make efficient use of this underutilised' site. The planned scheme is 1km north-west of UCD's main campus at Belfield and in lodging the student accommodation plans the firm is looking to tap into the lucrative market of student accommodation provision in south Dublin. An image from the plans for the proposed purpose-built student accommodation and residential development at the former Paper Mills site. Model Works Ltd Model Works Ltd The 2023/2024 annual report by the market leader in the south Dublin sector, University College Dublin (UCD) shows that it generated €42.8 million in 'rental income from student residences on campus' in the 12 months to the end of September last. In an objection against the scheme, the Dodder Anglers Association, which represents over 1,300 members, stated that it is very concerned the proposals 'could damage the biodiversity of River Dodder green/blue corridor and are in breach with Dublin city councils biodiversity action plan as well as the EU habitats direct and water Framework Directive'. Advertisement However, in the Council planner's report, it stated that 'the proposed removal of a proportion of the existing sluice gates in combination with a series of river bed grade control structures will facilitate indigenous fish passage of key species and age classes over a range of flow rates at the existing historical weir'. The Council's Conservation Division concluded that the proposed alteration would not result in an adverse impact to the industrial heritage. The Council planner's report stated that it took into account the views of other third parties who made submissions. On behalf of the Eglinton Residents Association, Robin Mandal hit out at what he believes to be 'a proposed gross over-development of this sensitive site'. Mandal told the Council: 'we believe that the proposed development would constitute over-development of the site by virtue of its height, scale, bulk and massing at this sensitive and highly visible and sensitive site on the banks of the River Dodder Mandal contended that the student scheme's 'impact on the bio-diversity and flora and fauna of the riparian setting will be profound, obliterating much of value'. He added that the former Smurfit Paper Mills site 'has remained vacant and unused for more than 20 years'. Mandal stated that 'nowhere along the River Dodder has such an overtly dominant proposal been built' and the impact of this proposed development on the river would be 'profound and, if permitted, would set a dangerous and undesirable precedent for future development in the entire country along our rivers'. Chair of the Richview Residents Association, Marion Cashman said there have been seven planning applications on this site over 20 years. The number of units proposed ranged from 130 units in 2005 to the now proposed 440 student bedspaces and 30 residences, Cashman added. 'The current proposal is an overdevelopment of the site and would set an undesirable and unacceptable precedent for this sensitive location on the river Dodder and other such sites,' she said.
Irish Independent
18-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Plans for over 400 student bed spaces 1km from UCD opposed by residents and River Dodder anglers
In the plans lodged with Dublin City Council, a Bain Capital vehicle called Harley Issuer DAC is seeking permission for the 439 bed spaces across five blocks from one storey to part-seven-storeys along with 16 residential apartments. The large-scale residential development (LRD), located 1km north-west of UCD's main campus at Belfield, also includes the extension and renovation of 14 existing residential dwellings at Clonskeagh Road. Proposed development at the old Paper Mills site in Clonskeagh, Dublin Today's News in 90 seconds - 18th June 2025 In an accompanying planning report by consultants John Spain, it states that 'the scale of the proposed development is considered to integrate appropriately with its surroundings, whilst introducing increased height'. However, in an objection, the Dodder Anglers Association, which represents over 1,300 members, states that it is very concerned the proposals 'could damage the biodiversity of River Dodder green/blue corridor and are in breach with Dublin city council's biodiversity action plan as well as the EU habitats Directive and water Framework Directive'. On behalf of the Eglinton Residents Association, Robin Mandal has hit out at what he believes to be 'a proposed gross over-development of this sensitive site'. 'We believe that the proposed development would constitute over-development of the site by virtue of its height, scale, bulk and massing at this sensitive and highly visible site on the banks of the River Dodder,' he said. Mr Mandal contends that the scheme's 'impact on the biodiversity and flora and fauna of the riparian setting will be profound, obliterating much of value'. He said the site 'has remained vacant and unused for more than 20 years'. Chair of the Richview Residents Association, Marion Cashman, said: 'There have been seven planning applications on this site over 20 years. 'The number of units proposed ranged from 130 units in 2005 to the now proposed 440 student bed spaces and 30 residences. 'The current proposal is an overdevelopment of the site and would set an undesirable and unacceptable precedent for this sensitive location on the River Dodder and other such sites.' The market for student accommodation provision in south Dublin is a lucrative one with UCD generating €42.8m in rental income from student residences on campus in 2024.
