CONTENTIOUS PLANS FOR a six storey, 463 bed space hostel for Dublin’s Camden Street Lower have secured the green light despite local opposition.

This follows An Coimisíún Pleanála (ACP) granting planning permission to businessman Eamon Waters’s Balrath Investments UC for the scheme.

It involves the change of use of an existing building from retail and gym to tourist hotel and includes an additional four floors at 1-4 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2.

The granting of permission to Balrath Investments follows the Eamon Waters firm last year securing planning permission for a 273-bed space tourist hostel at Maryland House facing onto South William Street and Drury Street, Dublin 2.

In giving the 463-bed space scheme for Camden Street Lower the go-ahead, ACP has dismissed the recommendation of its inspector to refuse planning permission.

The ACP inspector in the case recommended a refusal on the grounds that the loss of the gym and the nature of the proposed tourist hostel would negatively impact on the vibrancy, vitality and character of the area.

ACP found that the hostel enhances the choice of accommodation in the area and would contribute to a mix of uses in the area.

The Commission noted that there are alternative sports and recreational facilities in the area to serve the community.

The Commission also found that the proposed hostel “would not detract from the amenities of the adjoining property”.

Balrath Investments UC has secured planning permission after lodging a first party appeal against a decision last December by the city council to refuse planning permission.

The Council ruled that the proposed development would be overbearing on the protected structure, and would seriously injure the special architectural character, setting, significance, and legibility of the area.

The Council also found that the proposed hotel “would set an undesirable precedent for similar type development and devalue property in the vicinity”.

In an objection, chair of the West of Camden Residents Association, James Wickham stated that “over the last decade the street has changed from a village high street to an evening swill pit”.

He said that tourist hostels reduce long-term housing for the area and this will only cease if planning makes clear that no further hostels/hotels will be allowed in the immediate area.

On behalf of Grantham Street Residents Association, Niamh Moran contended that the scheme “risks undermining Camden Street’s role as a vibrant urban village and poses significant risks to residential amenity, heritage conservation, and public realm quality”.

P. Ó Raghallaigh of Upper Camden Street told the council that a large transient hostel use, with 463 bedspaces, night-time circulation, and heavy reliance on adjacent pub culture, is incompatible with best-practice conservation principles.

Jason Warner and Zuzana Warner of the Green Bench Café stated that “such a large transient hostel will likely result in increased noise, late-night activity, and general disturbance, negatively affecting residential amenity”.