Kenilworth Square residents’ group takes legal action over St Mary’s rugby pitch plan

A group of residents in south Dublin has initiated High Court proceedings against Dublin City Council after it deemed parts of a controversial Victorian square development as exempt from planning permission.

In August, the council granted an application lodged by St Mary’s College, in Rathmines, classifying the replacement of natural grass on the existing rugby pitch at Kenilworth Square with artificial grass as exempt from planning permission.

The installation of 1.2-metre fencing around the proposed all-weather pitch and the reconfiguration of two pitches to accommodate one full-size playing field were also classified as exempt.

Protect Kenilworth Square, a campaign group comprising residents and locals, lodged judicial review proceedings against the council on Tuesday, hoping to have the decision quashed.

The group which held a protest outside the school last month against the “stadium-like” project, said the planning exemption marked the first stage of a “major development”.

An online petition has garnered more than 2,700 signatures since June objecting to the plans that would also see the erection of six 18m-high floodlights and the construction of a car park and a new pavilion for changing rooms.

The plans previously mentioned a spectators’ area; however, this component has since been removed from a website detailing the development.

The group believes the decision made by the council is invalid as the elements deemed exempt form part of an overall development, for which the school is expected to apply for planning permission.

It also claimed the council failed to consider the project’s “likely significant effects” on the environment.

A spokesman for the group said it has been given no option but to take “very expensive” legal action as no third-party observations or appeals could be made under the school’s request, made under section five of the Planning and Development Act.

“The matter is now subject to judicial review. We hope that the findings will concur with our view that this exemption is inappropriate,” the group said in a statement.

Residents surrounding Kenilworth Square have long claimed the proposed redevelopment will commercialise the square, pose significant disruption to the community and cause “irreversible damage” to biodiversity, nature preservation and heritage.

Through a dedicated website detailing the proposed plans, however, the school described it as a “non-profit making project” which will be available to community clubs who will contribute to cover costs of opening and maintenance while “everything is being done in line with nature conservation.”

St Mary’s College declined to comment as the judicial review has been taken against Dublin City Council and not the school itself.

However, a letter issued from the school to residents last week claimed meetings with the group have been offered “a number of times since August” adding that the invitation “remains open”, though Protect Kenilworth Square claims that several meetings have been cancelled or rejected since April.

The letter sought feedback and engagement from residents on the overall project “before we finalise our planning permission application to Dublin City Council”.

Attached to the letter was a copy of an email issued to members of the campaign group from St Mary’s College principal Denis Murphy on September 28th offering a meeting.

“A question in my mind is what you would like us to do with the square, and whether there is an outcome that would be acceptable to everyone.

“I am not sure whether you would like it left as is, or replanted in a certain way, or open to community clubs or not, or whether your main opposition is to the astroturf pitch or to the lights or both, and so on,” it reads.

The Protect Kenilworth Square spokesman, however, said any meetings now would be “inappropriate” as judicial review proceedings have commenced.