Dublin People - Clarification sought on public access to Bewley's

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Clarification sought on public access to Bewley's

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

An Bord Pleanála has asked the applicants who are seeking permission to develop the former Bewley’s Café on Westmoreland Street for clarification on the issue of public access to the café element of the scheme.
Last year, Dublin City Council granted permission to the new owners of the Westmoreland Street site - a group which includes Col Campbell, the former managing director of Bewley's Oriental Cafes - to change part of the ground floor of the building from cafe to retail use.
The old Westmoreland Street cafe, which had traded since 1896, has remained closed since 2004.
In 2005, Dublin City Council granted planning permission to Bewley's Oriental Cafes, the then owners of the Westmoreland Street premises, to redevelop the site and change the ground floor use from a cafe to retail outlet.
This decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by the Save Bewley's Cafe Campaign and An Taisce. The change of use was refused by the planning board in June 2005.
The premises was subsequently sold in September 2006 to a group involving Mr Campbell, property developer Simon Kelly and the Thomas Read Group, in a deal reported to be worth e25 million.
The current owners then applied to the council to alter the planning permission to allow retail use on part of the ground floor.
However, An Bord Pleanála recently wrote to the developers asking them for additional information on the scheme in relation to public access to the café element of the scheme during business hours.
In a letter the board said: “The new café restaurant shall be extended into and shall occupy the full extent of the Middle Room and the Garden Room.
“The overall café restaurant area shall operate in conjunction with the remaining retail area so that free access by the general public to the café restaurant area from Westmoreland Street is maintained during business hours.”
The Save Bewley's Cafe Campaign, which was originally founded in 2004 to prevent the closure of Bewley's on Grafton Street, has also campaigned to stop the opening of a shop in the former Bewley's premises on Westmoreland Street.
The chairman of the group, Damien Cassidy, maintains that the plan in its current form would block access to the café part of the development from Westmoreland Street and instead allow side access to the café from Price’s Lane.
“We think it is important that the board has asked for this clarification because it is in line with their previous ruling for this site where they refused permission for the shops,” Mr Cassidy said.
“Bewley’s Café is a tourist attraction for the people of Ireland and Dublin. There would be no Bewley's presence on Westmoreland Street if there was no access to the café from the street.”
Southside People attempted to contact the developers but they were unavailable for comment.

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