One Dublin resident is standing up to JD Wetherspoon and delaying the British pub chain's plans to build a new superpub in the heart of the Irish capital.
Barry Chambers has lodged an appeal against the approval Dublin City Council granted for a proposed €4m complex which includes a 98-room hotel on Camden Street, calling it "an unwelcome milestone in the current trend to completely alcoholise Camden Street."
Chambers told An Bord Pleanála that it would be "seriously detrimental to the residential amenity and character of the area. Arguing that the area is home to many young families, he hoped that it would not go down "the Temple Bar route – an area that has been blighted by the over-concentration of late night drinking."
He said that "anti-social behaviour, ranging from the benign to the very serious, which goes hand-in-hand with the drinking culture has already, regrettably, started to change the character of the area for the worse. The introduction of a superpub selling cheap alcohol into the melting pot does not bear thinking."
Meanwhile, JD Wetherspoon has launched of an appeal of its own, against the council excluding a courtyard area from the permission. The company maintains that it is providing for adequate protection for residential amenity and that the level of noise would be negligible.
The renovation of Camden Hall, once the country's largest homeless hostel has faced many hurdles. Permission was sought 10 months ago, but the process stalled after concerns were raised over the concentration of pubs in the area.
As for its Northside plans, it looks unlikely that Wetherspoon – which already operates five pubs in Ireland, alongside its over 900 pubs in Britain and Ireland – will get a verdict on whether it can go ahead on Lower Abbey Street this year.
Dublin City Council reportedly has "reservations" about the changes the chain wants to make to buildings that have stood since the 1830s. Wetherspoon bought the old Permanent TSB bank in early 2015 and the neighbouring Baptist Chapel later that year.
The council is looking for revised plans in relation to the repair and conservation of the two historic buildings, as well as proposed alterations and fresh construction.
