Developer seeks to reignite plan for 480 new homes in south Dublin after paying out €3.22m in ‘exceptional planning costs’

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A developer who paid out €3.22 million in “exceptional planning costs” to settle High Court judicial review proceedings taken by local residents over a contentious apartment proposal is looking to reignite the stalled 480-unit apartment scheme for a site at Carrickmines, Dublin 18.

Aidan Gallagher’s Bowbeck DAC has lodged a planning application with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council to secure a three-year extension to planning permission first granted in April 2021.

The scheme for Golf Lane, Carrickmines comprises seven apartment blocks with one “landmark” building reaching to 22 storeys in height. Planning permission is due to expire in April.

“We believe there are strong and compelling grounds for an extension so that the 480 permitted homes can actually be delivered rather than allowed to lapse at a time of acute supply shortages,” Mr Gallagher said on Friday.

“At a time when families, renters and first-time buyers are struggling to find housing in the area, granting the extension would send a clear signal that delivery – not delay – is the priority.”

In July 2022, Bowbeck DAC entered a confidential High Court settlement with local residents opposed to the scheme that cost the company €3.22 million.

The €3.22 million in “exceptional planning costs” appears in Bowbeck DAC’s 2022/23 accounts “in settlement of the planning permission judicial review court proceedings in relation to the development site”.

The Sunday Independent reported in 2024 that Bowbeck paid €75,000 to each of 40 households in the area – €3 million in total – in return for the objectors dropping their opposition to the scheme. They would be free to object again if the current five-year planning permission lapses.

Asked whether those “exceptional planning costs” were a source of regret given that no apartments have yet been built, Mr Gallagher said: “What matters now is ensuring that those sunk costs do not become wasted costs – and that the permitted homes are actually built.

“We are focused on bringing the project to completion. In the middle of a housing crisis, the real regret would be failing to deliver them.”

Mr Gallagher has submitted a cover letter with the extension application. In it, he says that an additional €1.2 million-plus had been spent by Bowbeck DAC up to August 2023 on enabling works and pre-commencement activity across the site.

The developer says that delivery of the project was delayed by the High Court judicial review proceedings and economic factors. Rising interest rates and development costs due to unprecedented construction inflation in 2023/24 made the development unviable, the Bowbeck letter says.

“We were not able to obtain development finance, both in the local Irish market and internationally,” Mr Gallagher said, adding that recent measures introduced by Government in coordination with local authorities under the Housing For All initiative “have allowed us to re-evaluate the project in recent months”.

“We are now actively engaged with large-scale developers and funders in order to deliver the permitted development in a timely manner.”

Should the council grant the extension, he says Bowbeck will be able start works on site this summer with completion of the development by the end of 2028.