“IT IS A beautiful day” for activist Ali Hewson and other Killiney residents after council planners refused planning permission to contentious plans for a luxury apartment scheme for the grounds of Montebello House in Killiney.

This follows Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council issuing a refusal on Friday to Covelo Developments Ltd to construct a 32-unit apartment scheme in the heart of Killiney Village.

The council refused Covelo planning permission after concluding that the height, scale and bulk of the proposed apartment block would be incongruous within the context of the protected structure, Montebello House and its curtilage.

The planning authority also found that the scheme “would fail to successfully integrate with the historic character of the site”.

The refusal also states that “furthermore, the development would result in the significant loss of trees and the erosion of the site’s sylvan character, while also obstructing important views from Montebello House towards Dublin Bay and the Dublin Mountains”.

The council states that “these views are intrinsically linked to the architectural and historical significance of Montebello House, which was designed and positioned to command such vistas”.

The council concluded the proposed development would adversely affect the character, setting and special interest of the protected structure.

As a result, the council found that the proposed development would be contrary to ‘works to protected structures’ policy of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan 2022–2028, which seek to protect and preserve the architectural heritage of the county.

In a comprehensive refusal, the Council also found that the proposal is premature in the absence of a comprehensive and holistic strategy for the wider site, as required under the County Development Plan, to ensure the long-term preservation and protection of Montebello House, its stable yard, walled garden and gate lodge.

In her submission, wife of U2 frontman Bono, Ali Hewson told the council that “along with the many residents in the area who have commented on this application, we would also like to express our concern that the development of a large block of apartments on this site, of such a scale, density and design goes against the natural character of the surrounding area”.

Hewson stated that “due to the significant demand that this type of development places on the capacity of existing highly constrained road and drainage infrastructure, an apartment block will have a very negative impact on the residential amenity of the area”.

The new scheme is made up of one three-storey apartment block comprising 11 one-bed apartments; eight two-bed three-person apartments; 10 two-bed four-person apartments and three three-bed apartments at lands at Montebello House, Killiney Hill Road, Killiney.

The planning refusal has come 10 months after An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) refused planning permission to Covelo Developments last September for four “very large” two-storey four-bedroom flat-roofed houses on the same site.

ACP refused planning permission to that application as the scheme “would represent underdevelopment” which left the door open for a larger scheme to be lodged with the council.

That scheme was also opposed by Hewson and other locals.

Another to lodge an objection against the new scheme was Killiney resident and one time editor of The Economist magazine and author, Bill Emmott.

In his submission, Emmott said that “as a general remark addressed to those reading this who may wish to dismiss objectors as merely the selfish affluent residents of Killiney – please note that the only reason this or its predecessor application has been made is that the developer wishes to exploit the affluence and high land values of Killiney by creating profitably high-priced housing”.

Emmott – who served as editor of The Economist between 1993 and 2006 – contends that “the developer is the selfish affluent party here”.

Local resident, Stephen White told the council that “shoehorning high density, overly high, and inappropriately designed apartment blocks into these areas, such as the proposed development represents, does not protect and enhance existing residential amenity”.

However, in a planned report lodged with the new scheme, planning consultant for Covelo, Kevin Hughes stated that the new proposal “ provides an appropriate density of development, in line with the density range guided by national policy, thus directly addressing the refusal reason raised by both the Council and the Commission in respect of the recent application on this site”.

The scheme is designed by PCOT Architects and a design statement lodged with the application stated that the design goal “is to create a high-quality residential development that incorporates sustainable design to ensure the development can be delivered in a manner that protects local neighbourhood and at the same time contribute positively to the local context”.

The design statement states that the proposed scheme “offers future residents a unique location in the heart of Killiney next to Montebello House in a high quality modern development”.

The applicants now have the option of appealing the refusal to An Coimiúsin Pleanála.