Circle K objects to Charlie Chawke's plan to retain lifesize gorilla and other outdoor elements at bar

Gordon Deegan

A planning bid by publican Charlie Chawke to retain a life size Gorilla along with an Eiffel Tower replica as part of a variety of outdoor ancillary food and beverage offerings at the Goat Bar & Grill has fallen foul of forecourt and convenience retailer, Circle K.

As part of a hybrid planning application lodged with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Mr Chawke’s Charjon Investments Ltd is seeking planning retention for a repurposed shipping container that operates as a coffee kiosk on lands outside The Goat, Lower Kilmacud Rd, Dublin 14,

Charjon Investments is also seeking planning retention for an upright outdoor television screen facing ‘Après Ski’ and the extension of the previously permitted ‘Après Ski’ Structure by 41 square metres.

Mr Chawke’s firm is also seeking planning retention for various outdoor sculptures: a life-size gorilla, a life-size giraffe calf and an Eiffel Tower replica.

Planning consultant for Charjon Investments Ltd, Tom Phillips, has told the council that these features “complement the live animals in the pet farm element”.

On the plans to retain the Coffee Kiosk, the planning report states that the Coffee Kiosk, formerly operated as ‘Box’d Coffee’, then as the ‘Coffee Kiosk’, then as ‘The Giddy Kid’ and originally operated from the front of The Goat Public House in November 2020, during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Phillips states: “It has proven to be a popular addition to the neighbourhood and the surrounding locality.”

The most recent accounts for Charjon Investments show that Box'd Coffee outdoor cafe enterprise generated revenues of €478,191 over two years to the end of March 2024.

However, Circle K Ireland Energy Ltd is objecting to the plans with their planning consultant, Alan O’Callaghan of Coakley O’Neill Town Planning claiming that “it is evident the disorderly and ad hoc nature of the structures and uses on site give rise to a material and negative visual impact upon the local area.

Mr O'Callaghan states that Circle K operates a service station in the immediate vicinity of the Goat Pub site on the opposite side of the Taney Road.

Mr O’Callaghn states that "many elements of the proposed development including the unauthorised coffee dock have continued to operate without planning permission for c. 3-4 years given that they were previously subject to a refusal”.

Mr O’Callaghan further states that “the continued use of the site in such a way will lead to and will lend validity to, the ad hoc, disorderly development of the site".

Mr O’Callaghan states that “the previous concerns raised both by the Planning Authority and An Bord Pleanála still stand given that the scale of the operations on site has actually increased with the extension to the ‘Apres Ski’ structure”.

He said that it is further stated within the application documentation that given the popularity of the facilities available, the further expansion of these could be explored in the future.

A decision is due on the application later this month.