Dozens object to €80m housing scheme in Limerick

MORE than 30 groups and individuals have objected to an €80m housing development in Limerick which is projected to deliver 167 new apartments.

Tribeca Asset Management, a firm fronted by well-known developer Aidan Brooks, has outlined an ambitious plan to transform land at Ennis Road on the city’s northside which has lain idle for more than 10 years.

The proposals will see the apartments built across five new blocks, ranging in height from three-storey to five-storey at the landmark, six-acre Ardhu site located off North Circular Road, Roses Avenue and Ennis Road.

These apartments are planned alongside the refurbishment of the seven-storey former Clarion Suites hotel.

This has been completed, and the first tenants are being welcomed to the development which contains 61 apartments.

However, dozens of groups and individuals have contacted Limerick City and County Council to express concerns over the new scheme. It comes with planners due to decide on the project next week.

A single objection from The Elms Residents Association was signed by 12 people living in the estate which lies to the southside of the Ardhu site.

But Limerick Chamber, which is the region’s largest business representative group, has thrown its support behind the project, pointing out that on average, there has been just 10 homes to rent in the city each month.

The residents association queried the boundaries of the site in relation to privacy, security and landscaping.

Noise, traffic and car parking were also among their concerns, also reflected by many other groups which objected.

Responding to a suggestion by the developer’s agents, in documents presented to planners, that the project will have “little impact” on the capacity of the surrounding roads, the residents association stated: “Our problem here is the existing traffic levels, particularly at peak times are such that delays of 30 to 45 minutes are not uncommon in the surrounding area.”

They also questioned why the development has provision for 94 parking spots, saying the study which led to this is “flawed”.

And they called for a separate gated entrance for residents of, and visitors to, the Elms.

Other residents and groups raised concerns over the density of the development, safety and the exits onto the roads around it.

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Donal Mulcahy, who runs Woodfield House Hotel, said he would be “supportive” of development in the area, but expressed concern over the height of one of the blocks nearest his premises.

The tallest of the new blocks, if given permission, will go up to five storeys - less than the seven levels of the old Clarion Suites Hotel.

Limerick Chamber economist Sean Golden wrote: “The proposed development will help boost much needed worker housing supply.

“It will improve the options available to a key worker cohort who live and work in the Mid-West.”

A Tribeca spokesperson did not wish to comment.