Souvenir company granted retention for three-storey building in Dalkey after it emerged planning permission was not in place

Shamrock Gift Company bought 69 St Patrick’s Road for €778,000 in 2004. However, the company only recently became aware that the appropriate planning permission was not in place.

The building has a hairdressers at ground-floor level, a commercial office on the first floor and a one-bedroom apartment at second-floor level.

Adrian Buckley, practice director of Buckley Partnership Architects, who submitted the retention application on behalf of the Shamrock Gift Company, said “the precise history in relation to this property is unclear”.

“What we do know from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council planning records is that planning permission was sought in 1999 for a ground-floor shop unit with a shop front to St Patrick’s Road, a first-floor office and a second-floor apartment, which it would seem was refused by An Bord Pleanála,” Mr Buckley said.

“It is not clear from that planning file what the existing building was, on the site at that time. Shamrock Gift Company acquired the building in 2004. Given that a planning deficiency has been identified, this planning application for retention is to regularise the planning file.”

It is understood the owners had been considering a sale of the property and that’s when the planning issue came to light.

A spokesperson for the souvenir company said it had been unaware the building did not have planning when it bought it, and it was now seeking to rectify the issue.

The property has the potential to generate up to €44,000 in rent, according to QRE Real Estate Advisers.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last week granted retention for the three-storey building, which is sought after an unauthorised development has been built.

The council found there was no real likelihood of significant effects on the environment arising from the proposed development.

It also believed that the development did not detract from the amenities of the area and was consistent with the provisions of the council’s development plan, “and is therefore considered to be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Retention was granted on the condition that the property is retained in its entirety, in accordance with the plans lodged with the application.

The council said the residential unit has to be used as a single dwelling and cannot be subdivided in any manner.

Shamrock Gift company must also ensure there is adequate storage for waste disposal and recycling facilities on site to the satisfaction of the council.​

“Such storage facilities must be pest-proof and secure, the area should be located so that it does not cause nuisance by way of smell, noise or attraction of vermin or animals to any area or neighbouring area,” the council said.

​The souvenir company also has to make a financial contribution of €500 to provide alternative on-street bicycle parking provision in the vicinity of the development.