Re: Frinailla’s Ladyswell Development
🙂 On Frinailla’s Ladyswell Development – as suspected, it has received the go-ahead with conditions but only after the Senior Planner (Ronnie McDowell) and City Manager (Joe Gavin) intervened. The planner in question has displayed, a quite frankly, ill record in planning. After the original 2003 Frinailla application on the site issued for a development of 9-stories w/ over 200 units, the same planner refused permission on the basis of excessive height and negative impact on the sky-line – he remarked that a 3 to 4 storey reduction would have more than likely seen th application succeed with some other minor alterations. Now, in this application, after Frinailla reduced the scheme by 4 stories (the development averages from 2 to 5-storeys at its apex), the planner after recognising all the positive changes to the scheme, then decided at the very last minute to refuse planning based on excessive height and massing, as well as overshadowing of the central courtyard during Spring and Autumn Equinoxes. Boulderdash! The reason the decision wasn’t made known as scheduled yesterday was on account of last minute intervention by the City Manager, who, when reading the report blasted it for being grossly unfair. In consultation with the Senior Planner, the City Manager requested the Planner in question to draw up appropriate conditions associated with a Grant – however, the 5-storey block fronting Watercourse Road has been reduced to 4-storeys through condition (something I don’t particularly agree with – as it contradicts original planning talks and retracts negatively from the overall consistency of the project – the additional storey detracts no-more from the area than 4-storeys and is a pointless, perhaps petty bitter condition, a chance to get one final kick in).
The planner in question has a poor record for planning decisions, in my opinion, – this stems from his most unfair decisions on the Silversprings’ schemes by O’Brien & O’Flynn Ltd., Joe O’Donovan’s redevelopment of the cinema site on Watercourse Road and redevelopment plans at York Hill. I very glad at the decision made by the City Manager – Joe Gavin and Ronnie McDowell have had to do this before with a planner (a different planner) on the scheme that has now become Camden Wharf (by Hornibrook Holdings). It would seem, regardless of recognising that Frinailla’s Ladyswell site was much in need of redevelopment, The Planner in question would not have granted planning here unless it was for a series of bungalows.
– (sorry for not posting this info sooner, but had a busy busy morning!!!)
@RM wrote:
i was taking the p*** with my last text- it is April 1st after all!
I thought as much – I hadn’t heard anything about such a project at that location. Plus ‘Wrixon Advanced Management Institute’ – I very much doubt it. :p
