The building of a new €40 million hotel on Dean Street, close to St Patrick’s Cathedral in the Coombe area of Dublin, is in doubt after An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for the development.
The Hodson Bay Group, one of the few remaining hotel groups owned by an Irish family, which owns the Hodson Bay Hotel, Sheraton Athlone Hotel and Galway Bay Hotel, must now go back to the drawing board after An Bord Pleanála decided to disallow the project on the grounds that it would be an overdevelopment of the derelict site, this despite Dublin City Council previously giving the project the green light, reports The Irish Times.
In late June, An Taisce appealed the planning permission by Dublin City Council to approve the new six-storey four-star hotel in Dublin 8, appealing the planning decision to Bord Pleanála on the grounds that "in view of its excessive scale and bulk in relation to the historic medieval setting close to St Patrick’s Cathedral, the proposal would be contrary to the provisions of the Dublin City Development Plan 2017".
John O’Sullivan, the chairman of the Hodson Bay group, said the group were already working on a redesign and a new planning application would be submitted, stating: "At least now we have an idea of what is required to get planning on the site,” he said. “We’re happy to go with that. It is a significant project for us."
