The receivers placed in charge of a 16-acre landbank on the Western Distributor Road – which has been subjected to a series of arson attacks – have been given permission to keep fencing in place around the site.
The so-called ‘Kenny lands’ – once earmarked for a €350 million retail, hotel and cinema development at the height of the property boom – were cleared of scrub and levelled with a hydraulic excavator machine earlier this summer following a series of fires.
Declan Taite and Anne O’Dwyer of Duff & Phelps – appointed to certain assets of Model Investment Partnership (which is connected to the Kenny Group) – sought permission to retain Heras metal fencing around the site as a short-term solution to prevent trespass and anti-social behaviour.
The receivers told the Council: “Security fencing has been erected and has been fortified a number of times to deter entrants, who have in the past damaged the existing security fencing in attempts to enter the site.
“The fencing was erected to secure the site from continuous trespassing, which in turn has led to multiple incidents of serious anti-social behaviour including the starting of fires on repeated occasions”.
“This has become a major concern of neighbouring residents, with the fire authority being called to the site on a number of occasions to put out fires,” they said.
Planners said the fencing can remain in place until August 2020 if there is no other development work on the site.
Celtic Tiger plans for the site included an anchor Tesco store with 70 apartments overhead, a 150-bed hotel, a 10-screen cinema, post office, bank, filling station and funeral parlour, as well as shops.
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