U2 battle to save Dublin studios

LONDON, UK (Radio 1) - Rock stars U2 are locked in a battle to save their Dublin recording studios from being pulled to the ground.
The Docklands Development Authority in the Irish capital wants to clear the way for a major new leisure development on the Hanover Quay site - and the band's single-storey studio is in the way.

The millionaire musicians submitted a formal, nine-page-long objection to the scheme to a meeting of the city's planning appeals board. They cited the multi-million-pound records sales and musical heritage that have resulted from their use of the Hanover Street premises, in the south of the city, since 1994.
The authority has set out its plans for regeneration of the area, explaining why it sought a compulsory purchase order for a number of buildings, including the studios.

U2 have been recording in the docklands area since the early 1980s. They are understood to have indicated they would be amenable to the authority's plans if it was able to suggest an alternative site for a studio nearby. The band members are not alone in objecting to the plan to construct a leisure, commercial and heritage site.
Three other parties have raised formal objections.
On of them, businessman Harrie Crosbie, said: "I think the authority is doing a wonderful job, but the human element cannot be forgotten. "The character of the docks largely comes from people like me and - on a world scale - the U2 guys."

More than 2,000 fans have signed an internet petition, in several languages, to save the recording studio.