Mayor slams co-living project on Kiely's site

Lord Mayor Hazel Chu

Conor Feehan

Dublin's Lord Mayor has said she was surprised to see a builder being granted planning permission for a co- living development on the site of Kiely's pub in Donnybrook, considering a ban on such developments has been signed into law.

Dublin City Council granted permission for the project subject to certain conditions, but Lord Mayor Hazel Chu, who had objected to the development, has said she would like to see the matter go before An Bord Pleanála.

The ban on co-living developments, where residents share some living space, was signed into law last Decem- ber 22.

Suitable

While developer Westridge applied for its planning permission before that date, Ms Chu said the development should not have been given the green light because construction had not yet started on it.

"The ban should mean that no co-living development should be built after that date, not just ones that are applied for after that date," Ms Chu said.

"If a decision has been made that such accommodation models are not suitable, then why should we allow any to be built if they have not already been started?

"We do have a lack of supply of housing, and we do need to build more homes, and that can include this site, but we need to build good-sized units for individuals and families, and I don't think the co-living model provides that.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us that such a model is not suitable in the future either."

Dublin City Council gave a scaled-back plan for 85 units by Westridge the green light despite more than 100 objections.

Westridge bought the landmark Kiely's pub for more than €5m in 2019.

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