The Irish Times

Ballsbridge residents have called on Dublin City Council to "abandon in its entirety" a draft local area plan (Lap) which it brands as "a developers' charter which ... will irreparably damage the character and heritage of the area". An umbrella group for 14 residents associations in Ballsbridge, which includes some of the most desirable houses in Dublin, said they had "unequivocally rejected" the plan as being "wholly inappropriate" for the area. The area plan was drawn up by Urban Initiatives on behalf of the city council in the wake of property developer Seán Dunne's acquisition of the Jurys and Berkeley Court sites and his ambitious plans for a high-rise scheme to replace the two hotels. However, the residents say the proposed rezoning of "substantial tracts of land" - including the hotel sites between Pembroke Road and Shelbourne Road - "is entirely unnecessary" as Ballsbridge already has all the amenities appropriate to its character.