Outrage at proposed pub demolition plan for Santry

dublin | environment | opinion/analysis Saturday January 15, 2005 21:48 by Paul Kinsella - Various paulkinsella53 at yahoo dot com 53 Lorcan Grove, Santry, Dublin 9, Eire 085-1478100

And Super Valu supermaket getting planning permission for flag poles under false pretences

Residents of the Lorcan Estate in Santry have expressed their complete opposition to plans which have been submitted to Dublin City Council to demolish the existing Kilmardinny Inn on Lorcan Avenue, Santry, which is a single storey pub, and construct a five storey apartment development containing 23 two bedroom apartments, 26 one bedroom apartments, with a public house at ground floor level.

We are most concerned about this planning application. I attended a public meeting held by residents of the area this week and not one person in attendance was in favour of this development.

What is being proposed is completely out of character with the current landscape of the Lorcan estate. The Lorcan estate was built in Santry over 40 years ago and is particularly mature at this stage, with well tended green areas, shrubs and trees. The residents of the area are not prepared to accept a five storey development which will completely submerge our estate.

There are a number of factors that we need clarification on before we submit formal objections. I am calling for an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to assess how much noise we would have to endure over a lengthened period, possibly up to one year or more, before this would be constructed. Secondly, we need to know if such a high rise building would impact on the daylight available to existing residents. Lorcan is a 2 storey neighbourhood. The proposed development would house a new pub at ground floor level. Who would take ownership of this pub? A superpub would not be welcome in Santry, which is a quiet, settled community, with many middle-aged and elderly residents.

As a resident of Lorcan I will endeavour to do everything in my power to support the rest of my local residents and ensure that this proposed development does not take place.

To make matters worse the local Super Valu supermarket on Lorcan Avenue in Santry were granted planning permission by Dublin City Council last year to erect 3 flag poles on the roof of their supermarket. Now however our long standing suspicions that these flag poles were not what they seemed have been proven. After months of denial from himself and his staff, when the Manager of Super Valu, Santry was confronted by Lorcan residents recently he finally admitted that the flag poles were merely camoflague for "radio transmitting devices underneath them." To us this suspiciously sounds like mobile phone masts in the middle of a built up area disguised as flag poles! Needless to say we are demanding that these radio transmitting devices are removed immediately on environmental and health grounds, and because they (Super Valu) have no planning permission for them. We have lodged a complaint of breach of planning regulations with Dublin City Council Planning Department, and in the meantime we are demanding that Super Valu remove these radio transmiting devices immediately, otherwise we will boycott the supermarket until they do so. One final thing, as far as I know it is against the law to fly the national flag (the tricolour) from dusk to dawn (at night), in which case the Super Valu supermarket on Lorcan Avenue in Santry are blatantly breaking the law (the national flag flies 24 hours a day here).