Plans for a proposed seven-storey hotel on Dublin's iconic Moore Street area have faced a backlash from local bodies, who have appealed the planning permission.
Conservation groups An Taisce and the Save Moore Street Committee have lodged an appeal to the planned multi-million euro, 112-room budget hotel on the grounds that the hotel would have a "serious adverse affect" on the appearance of the surrounding area.
The new hotel, by developers Kendlebell Midwest Ltd, would run over two sites, one on Moore Street and the other on Moore Lane. The budget hotel would include a stand-alone bar and restaurant.
In its appeal to the Planning Authority, the groups have suggested that the development should be changed to a five or six-storey construction, similar to the adjoining Jury's Inn on Parnell Street, to give a "more appropriate solid-to-void ratio responding to the architecture of Parnell Square".
The Irish Examiner reports that the developers were granted permission on the basis that the building would not have any adverse impacts on the O’Connell Street Architectural Conservation Area and would be in accordance with the Dublin City Development Plan. The appeal will be examined later this year.
Meanwhile, a Dublin hotelier has said that the proposed pedestrianisation the Stephen's Green and Suffolk Street area by Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority would be a "nightmare" for business.
Myles Tuthill, managing director of the Central Hotel on Exchequer Street told the Evening Herald that tourists, many of whom rent cars and drive to the hotel, would be put off by the difficulty of access and is "fearful" that the adverse affects would lead to a closure of the hotel, which employs 55 people.
Other business owners in the area were not so pessimistic about the plans, with some saying it will aid congestion and drive footfall in surrounding retail outlets.
The NTA plans to spend €150 million on the new plans over the next eight years, making Suffolk Street and North St. Stephen's Green completely pedestrianised, with surrounding areas limited to to public transport and taxis.
