Dublin stately home owner fights council plan to rezone his land for housing and public use – The Irish Times

A south Dublin baronet is opposing plans by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to rezone land surrounding his 200-year-old estate for housing and cycle paths. The move is part of a broader effort by local authorities to address the housing crisis, following a directive from Minister for Housing James Browne.

Rezoning Proposal Faces Opposition from Sir Henry Marc Sursock Cochrane

Marc Cochrane, also known as Sir Henry Marc Sursock Cochrane, 4th Baronet of Woodbrook, is contesting the rezoning of lands around Woodbrook House and Estate, located between Shankill and Bray. The council has targeted greenbelt lands in the area for significant housing development and the creation of pedestrian and cycle routes.

Cochrane previously benefited from a substantial rezoning decision in 2004, when part of his estate beside Woodbrook Golf Course was rezoned for housing. He subsequently sold the land in 2007 to a company linked to developer Joe O’Reilly for over €150 million. Homes have recently been completed on that portion of the estate.

Planning consultants representing Cochrane argue that the current proposed rezoning would have a more detrimental impact than the 2007 development. Conservation architects have described the council’s proposal as “an act of architectural vandalism.”

Woodbrook Estate’s Historical Significance

Woodbrook is a neo-Palladian mansion dating largely from 1835, with its core structure originating in the 1700s. The estate includes several protected structures, including the main house and its gate lodges.

John Spain Associates, planning consultants acting for Cochrane, stated the council’s plans would “have a significant, permanent negative impact on Woodbrook House and Estate including the numerous protected structures and historic features located thereon.” Cochrane does not support the creation of pedestrian and cycle links through his property.

The proposed changes would “result in the erosion of the last spatial buffer between Shankill and Bray and the biodiversity contained within,” according to the consultants. The lands are also subject to compulsory purchase for the Bray to city centre BusConnects scheme, which planners say will already have “permanent, negative and significant impacts.”

Sheehan & Barry, conservation architects, argued that the plan “contravenes all good conservation practice” and would have a “profoundly negative impact in terms of landscape and community heritage.” They emphasized that severing the connection between the house, gate lodges, and views integral to its design would be “an act of architectural vandalism.”

In a personal statement, Cochrane said the rezoning “would represent an unnecessary and damaging land-use change, undermining the ecological, heritage and landscape values that define the estate.” He stated he has “no intention to develop this land for residential purposes in the foreseeable future.”

Submissions on the rezoning will be reviewed by the council’s executive, with a final decision to be made by councillors regarding changes to the development plan.