Approval given for demolition of city car showroom

The go-ahead has been given for demolition of the Bradley’s car showroom on the Dublin Road – to make way for a modern new Jaguar and Land Rover garage.

And the owners are planning to recycle much of the material from roof timbers, to walls, to the steel frame of the structure.

Robert Bradley had sought permission to demolish the existing “end of life” building, and to construct a replacement showroom with a mezzanine level.

The plans also involve the demolition of outbuildings to the rear of the showroom, to make way for car display areas.

According to the planning application, the former factory building was adapted for use as a car sales showroom around 40 years ago and the “footprint of the structure is now reaching the end of its life and cannot be adapted any further”.

How the new Bradley dealership on the Dublin Road will look.

“It is felt that the demolition of the property will provide a sustainable regeneration opportunity provided that many aspects of the current building are re-used i.e. the roof timbers can be salvaged for re-use in the new property, the concrete walls can be broken down for fill material, the windows can be re-used or recycled and various other recycling methods can be employed. The steel frame structure can be re-used elsewhere.

The Wellpark Grove Residents’ Association expressed a number of concerns about the plans, including the height of the proposed premises, which they said has the potential to seriously injure the amenity values of a number of houses by taking away natural light.

They added the new building will be closer to the back boundary wall of the houses, and there is potential for overlooking from the large windows to the rear of the building.

In response to residents’ concerns about overshadowing, the Council said the development would not give rise to any significant level of overshadowing

Granting permission for the development, the Council said: “It is considered that the design of the proposed building is acceptable and will provide a significant improvement to the visual appearance of the existing building. The lowering of the existing finished floor levels on site, to street level, combined with the removal of ramps at the front of the buildings and the provision of landscaping, will combine to significantly improve visual amenity in the area.

“The provision of a contemporary building with a simple design will provide a positive contribution to the existing streetscape along Dublin Road, a major approach to the city and, as such, it is an objective to secure a high quality visual appearance for the area.”