The Gallops Estate

The Gallops Residents Association has sent the following letter to public representatives including the attached objection letter, please click on the objection letter to read it in full. It might be useful if any other residents can submit their objections too.

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Dear Public Representatives,

Please find attached a copy of an observation that we have lodged with DLRCC regarding the planning application for apartments at Clonlea House, Murphystown Way, Leopardstown (or in layman terms, the current site of the Mugg Ugly coffee shop beside the Glencairn Luas stop).

Many of you will know us well, but for those of you who don’t, we would like to point out for context that we are not a knee jerk NIMBY residents association, who oppose all developments. We have seen a huge increase in residential development in our local area in recent years, with more currently in progress and more approved for future construction. We understand the need to increase the supply of housing and have previously made observations, usually on SHDs to ABP, where we have accepted the need for developments to proceed, but have tried to push back on the heights being approved, given the visual impact on the area and the strain it puts on the transport infrastructure. As anyone who has objected on anything to ABP knows though, the concerns of residents are just ignored. This has resulted in an increase in resident groups taking judicial reviews to stymie development, which is an avenue that we have not pursued.

The planning application for Clonlea House is the first in a long while to go through the local council first, and while it is not the biggest development, we feel that it is a step too far at this point in time. This is because the traffic impact of the scale and pace of development in the local area, both under construction and approved for planning, has yet to be seen in reality. Every application will of course have its usual whitewash traffic impact study in tow, to convince the planners that everything will be grand, but we know that it isn’t grand today and it is only going to get significantly worse for residents of the Gallops. The only way to properly assess the impact on traffic of all this development is to complete the considerable level that is already in progress or approved for future construction, and then review what the traffic is like.

We would therefore appreciate it if you would read the attached and support us in trying to achieve a balance between a sustainable level of residential development in our area and the quality of life for existing residents.

Regards,
Gallops Residents Association