Fingal County Council have now brought forward a revised planning scheme for the Hansfield Special Development Zone. Commenting on the new plan, Deputy Joan Burton, Labour TD for Dublin West, said that she was extremely concerned that the revised scheme had an excessive number of one-bedroomed units. In the revised scheme these one-bedroomed units could comprise over 12.5% of the total. Together with additional land in the vicinity of St. Josephs Hospital, which is now included in the scheme, the proposed scheme would now go from an estimated 2,000 houses to 3,000 houses.

“The problem with such a high number of one-bedroomed units is that they will be dominated by investors purchasing to let rather than home owners and families who wish to stay in the area over the long term.”, said Deputy Burton. “One-bedroomed units are very attractive to developers, because it vastly increases the profit per unit”, said Deputy Burton. “However the consequences for the community are often a high turnover of residents as the small, box type apartments are let to passing tenants. I want to see Hansfield promoted as an area for family living on a long term basis, so that new communities can grow and prosper in the area.”, said Deputy Burton.

“Other elements of the scheme about which I remain extremely concerned about are the failure of the Government to guarantee that the necessary public transport infrastructure and that the necessary schools, both primary and secondary, will be built.”, said Deputy Burton. “So far, all we have had from this Government over a long seven years in relation to schools is a series of promises which they have been extraordinarily slow to deliver on. At the moment there is traffic gridlock in the whole Ongar/Clonsilla Road area of Dublin 15, with buses taking up to 45 minutes to go from the Clonsilla Railway Station to the Schelerin Road.”, said Deputy Burton.

“This year the Government has, finally, allocated funding to the new Ongar Road, hopefully, to be finished next year.”, said Deputy Burton. “However, Dublin Bus is starved of buses and there is currently a serious deficit of buses for the Dublin 15 area. This was confirmed to me in my meeting with Dublin Bus. Journey times from Hansfield and Ongar to town are increasing all the time”.

“Hansfield is an ideal location for good quality housing”, said Deputy Burton, “but only if the proper infrastructure is provided by the Government. We want development and housing which is led in the public interest and not in the developer’s interest.”, said Deputy Burton. “The current Fianna Fáil/PD coalition seem to be dominated by the interests of developers, rather than by the interests of young people who want to buy a family home at a modest price.”, said Deputy Burton.

“I have attended the oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála in relation to the Hansfield SDZ and I continue to be a party to the proceedings. The public will have a chance to see this fresh plan by Fingal County Council on public display. I hope that people will take the opportunity to look at the plans and give their opinion.” said Deputy Burton.

Deputy Joan Burton has congratulated Labour Councillors Peggy Hamill and Michael O’Donovan on their victory in defeating proposals to re-zone for intensive housing developments large sections of the remaining Green Belt between Dublin 15 and Lucan.

Councillor Peggy Hamill’s motion to reject extensive re-zoning at Kellystown was supported by a significant number of Councillors including some from Fine Gael.

Joan Burton said that the attempt by developers to re-zone all of the Green Belt between Dublin 15 and Lucan would have resulted in many thousands of new high density, high rise homes without any infrastructure, particularly public transport and schools being provided.

“For too long it has seemed like developers were having it their own way, making tens of millions of profit from re-zoning and house building while absolutely refusing to ensure necessary infrastructure. Councillor Hamill’s motion has sent a clear message to developers that the new Council will not be taken for an easy ride in the way the Fianna Fail/Fine Gael majority behaved on the last Council. As far as I am concerned, the last straw in relation to developer led re-zoning with no concern for the community’s interest, was the failure over the last five years of any land to be handed over for amenity and sports facilities, to facilitate clubs, e.g. Castleknock Hurling and Football Club, still without its own grounds despite having a thousand young members”, said Joan Burton.

As for the proposal to re-zone many hundreds of acres of land at Barnhill, adjacent to Hansfield and Ongar, this was narrowly defeated by one vote. Again, this was the same old story – thousands of new homes but no delivery on infrastructure, particularly the re-opening of the railway line linking Clonsilla and Dunboyne.

I am glad that voters at the local elections in June who voted for candidates such as Councillors Hamill and O’Donovan, who promised to promote responsible planning and development in Dublin 15, including the retention of the remaining Green Belt, were vindicated in this week’s Development Plan votes at Fingal County Council. With the huge population now living in Dublin 15 and many thousands of new homes already provided for at locations such as the Phoenix Park Racecourse and Hansfield, we need to retain what little Green Belt remains in the Liffey Valley and the Tolka Valley area. Unlike other part of Fingal, Dublin 15 has very little amenity facilities for sports, walking and cycling. The retention of the Green Belt is essential to achieving sustainable development in Dublin 15.