THE singer Elvis Costello has become embroiled in a planning row with claims that a two-storey garage he wants to build beside his Dublin home is in breach of planning laws.

Local TDs and councillors are calling on Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to carry out a full investigation into the planning permission Costello got for the development, with locals complaining about its size and scale. The council is coming under pressure to revoke its decision.

Waymark, Costello’s home on Ballyedmonduff Road in Stepaside, was put up for sale over two months ago with an asking price of €1.3m. The package includes full planning permission for a two-storey garage and store building on an enclosed site beside the house.

But a dispute has arisen over the permission, with some local residents claiming it contravenes planning guidelines that apply to houses in such high amenity areas. Costello’s home, in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, should not have a high-rise garage, locals argue.

Adding to their unhappiness is the claim that applications by some of Costello’s neighbours for planning permission to develop their own houses have been rejected by the council. Some believe an exception was made for Costello because of his celebrity status.

Using his real name, Declan MacManus, Costello applied for planning permission for the 3,650-sq-ft two-storey garage and storage building in May last year.

The submission included a request for a biocycle waste water and a treatment system, as well as two separate entrances to the property.

Permission was granted by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council on four conditions, including that the garage not be used as a separate dwelling with its own curtilage nor as a flat independent of the main dwelling. There were no objections and the case was never referred to An Bord Pleanala, the planning appeals board.

But afterwards residents became suspicious about the scale of the proposed development, and having studied the plans from Costello's estate agents, claimed the half-moon-shaped building went beyond what was described in the site notice.

They claimed the proposed property did not fit the description of a garage/storage area and should not have been granted permission in an area zoned for higher amenity.

One resident said: “The development includes plans for equipment storage, an archive store, a tea dock, toilet, two lobbies, 24 windows, a balcony, boiler room and two storeys, in a building on a site perched on the top of a mountain.”

Councillors and TDs have written to the planning department for a review of the permission. Derek Brady, the county manager, will also be asked to investigate if the decision was in breach of the Planning and Development Act 2000. This could result in the revocation or modification of the planning permission.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council said the file was now with senior planning executives and it could not comment further. Costello could not be contacted for comment.

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