more baffling planning decisions

I can't figure this one out at all. A private resident owns this land (he lives in the adjoining house) or at least has permission from somebody else who owns it to do as he wishes, subject to planning permission. It's on the bank of the Liffey, which flows through the village of Chapelizod.
There was some vegetation there a while ago, including a small tree or bush (if memory serves), but it's all been cleared away to make way for a car park for the owner's two cars, because he doesn't like parking on the street, which is what almost everyone else in St Laurence Road has to do. Imagine what it would be like if this principle were extended to everybody with a little plot of land. The ecological implications are ghastly. The impact on the 'visual amenity' (attractive appearance) of numerous areas around the country would be lethal. We need our green spaces. What is Dublin City Council thinking? How was it persuaded to such a perverse decision, I wonder. It seems that all our age can contribute to the local environment is constant degradation through apartment building, new roads, new road layouts, and so on. Most depressing.