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CONTROVERSIAL PLANNING PERMISSION for a major residential development beside a north Dublin park has been granted by An Bord Pleanála.
The plans for the area near the north-west corner of St Anne’s Park in Raheny were announced back in 2015 but locals have continuously objected on various grounds, including that the land is not zoned for housing.
The initial plans by IMG Planning on behalf of Crekav Landback Investments would have seen 381 new housing units of various types and sizes built on the site.
Revised plans submitted by Dublin City Council in August 2016 showed that it had been reduced by 25 units up to 365, a 6.6% reduction on the previous proposal.
However, the latest plans granted by An Bord Pleanála will now see the construction of 536 new units – 104 houses and 432 apartments – on the site.
The proposed planning also includes widening the existing traffic access onto Sybil Hill Road to facilitate the proposed access road with footpaths and on-road cycle tracks.
The layout of the proposal consists of two zones – the apartment area is located to the north and the housing area is located to the south.
The zones will be divided by an access roadway, which provides access from the site onto Sybil Hill Road.
The apartment complex will contain six apartment blocks, ranging in heights of between five to eight storeys. The housing units will consist of four courtyard blocks.
An Bord Pleanála has said that a detailed construction traffic management plan must be submitted to and agreed in writing with the Planning Authority prior to the commencement of the development.
Controversy
The development is controversial partly because the site sits next to the parkland area that includes St Anne’s Park, but is in fact privately owned.
The site in question encompasses playing pitches that were owned by the Vincentian secondary school St Paul’s College but were sold to developers.
The pitches are alongside the main avenue running through St Anne’s Park and border some other Dublin City Council-owned pitches in the park.
A number of politicians have been objecting to the development over the past number of years, arguing that the land in question is not specifically zoned for residential housing.
Under the Dublin City Council Development Plan, the land is zoned as Z15 meaning that it is zoned for “institutional and community” use rather than Z1 for “sustainable residential neighbourhoods”.
Under the Z15 zoning, “residential development is open for consideration” but politicians argue that the plans go beyond what would be appropriate.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, local councillor Naoise Ó Múirí said that because this is a large-scale residential zoning, it belongs under a Z1 area.
I’m amazed at this decision. It’s not a Z1 zoning and that for me is one of the key issues with the whole thing. If this was a residential zoning, fair enough, but it’s not.
Chief Executive of Dublin City Council Owen Keegan today said that he was very surprised at the decision of An Bord Pleanála to grant permission for the construction of the 536 housing units.
In a statement today, Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin expressed his disappointment at the decision.
“The proposal to construct 536 housing units on this site is a perversion of what the lands were intended for, and will have a devastating effect on the environmental integrity of St Anne’s Park – a park which is the green lung of the northside,” Ó Ríordáin said.
Pat Crean, CEO of Marlet Property Group said: “We are delighted with the decision announced today by An Bord Pleanála which will provide over 500 badly needed homes close to the city.
“These homes will be built in a mature low-density suburb, will respect the wonderful amenity that is the neighbouring St Anne’s Park. We believe that when the development is completed it will enhance the area.”
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There’s a one bed apartment going for nearly half a million in Clontarf at moment. That’s how this got planning permission. Nothing to do with the housing crisis. City planning? My five year old could have a better crack at it.
@john Appleseed: My point exactly. All reactive. No .. em … planning.
@john Appleseed: it’s in Raheny not Clontarf
This honeslty is baffling. I havent seen one worth while objection raised other than the technically of the type of zoning. It is beside parklands and not on them, almost infuriating to see such frivolous objections when people of all income brackets are screaming out for somewhere to live
@ChuckE: flooding, no parking, taking sports grounds from a school, accessible via said school onto an already congested road, over crowded local schools. The chief execute of DCC advised that this be rejected. Where’s the new developments we badly need?
@ChuckE: Residential Land Survey from 2015 identified sufficient Z1 zoned land in the Dublin area to construct 117,000 homes. Yet permission is given to build on Z15 zoned land currently in use as playing fields and surrounded on three sides by parkland and the fourth by a school.
http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad%2C40214%2Cen.pdf
@ChuckE: Got it in one. On the one hand we have the high paid advocates of the homeless industry on day in day out ranting – “we need to build more homes” etc but when a 500 house development is proposed the looney left controlled Dublin City Council refuse planning for “technical ” reasons.
@Michael Reilly: always with the Left comments? Just empty rhetoric crap. People don’t want to have 8 story high apartment blocks built in a beautiful park. If you think anyone affected by the housing crisis will be able to afford these then you’re deluded. This park is full every weekend from people from the whole northside of Dublin. We need to protect parklands. There’s loads of space to build in Dublin, it’s just not as profitable as this.
@ChuckE: it is actually on the parklands tho
@Michael Reilly: the ‘technical’ reasons include flooding, congested roads and lack of school spaces as well as the fact that it’s zoned for community/institutional use not housing. Your comment about the looney left just makes the looney right look ill-informed
@EillieEs: The standard list of complaints for all development from a template don’t make the claims valid. Land is rezoned all the time and was applied for in the application. All perfectly normal
@ChuckE: If you honestly think that any other income bracket besides the very well off will be able to avail of these proposed properties, you are living in the same land as these planners.
@ChuckE: Its the “I’m alright Jack” crowd that will complain about this one. If you dont like it. Sctick the house on the market and off yeah go….
@David Knight: 10% will be social housing
@Kal Ipers: to those raising concerns about the loss of the pitches. The school sold their privately owned land and hence the school sacrificed their natural playing fields for 2 or 3 all weather pitches which are part of the development.
It isn’t part of saint annes park and for years the pitches were fenced off from the park and weren’t on a direct path to enter the park, a path skirted the eastern perimeter
@ChuckE: There were approximately 14,000 objections at a cost of €20 each. Did you read them all or are you just lazily shelling out BS because you’re bored?
In all honesty, I think an accurate statement would be that you’re commenting on something you don’t have any real knowledge of.
One level lower than false news – false opinion.
@ChuckE: how about the fact that raw sewage is regularly spilled in the park about 150m over the other side of the avenue as it can’t handle the volume coming down it already. Another 530 something houses will have it spewing every other day
@ChuckE: drive down the coast road that goes along st Anne’s in rush hour.
Also try and get your child in a secondary school in the area.
The place is full to the brim.
Just returned from a week down the country observing hideous plastic stone fronted 5k foot mansions. Planners have lost the plot in the country.
@Mairtin Cathbhar: They have. Disguising ugly monstrosities littered across the landscape. The tacked on stone front is frightfully horrific. Irish people seem to like tacky houses so as long as they are happy I suppose.
This development however is perfect and most welcome in an.area short of homes for dubliners.
@Mairtin Cathbhar: The whole of Ireland is ruined with disgusting one off McMansions.
As much as we laud Dolores O’Riordain for her music, she did THIS to the Dingle Penninsula
https://img.rasset.ie/000cf024-1500.jpg
I mean come on!
@Kevin Kirkpatrick: How come farmers can do that kind of house for their offspring. or sell off a few acres. and get away with it.
@Sean Conway: maybe we should all live in little carboard hen houses like they do in dublin and pay a fortune for them, that might be better. I always find it amusing when people living in Dublin look down their noses on “culchies” and lecture us on how our houses should look. My advise would be to take a good look at these houses in the country, then look at your own cardboard box in whatever tenement
you’re in and ask yourself how you managed to make such a screw up of where you live and when you sort that out, you can sort the rest of us out then.
This is a Disgraceful decision! Another park gone forever so some greedy developer came grease up his pockets and some more politicians!
@Joe Conlon: We pay for your services through subsidies. Stupid culchies and your one off housing, they make no sense. Live in bloody towns and villages like civilised people.
@Kevin Kirkpatrick: so are you personally going to attempt the ethnic cleansing of rural Ireland? Some of us detest towns and cities and your comment just proves the point why. Oh..I live in a one-off house built 160 years ago and I have issues with the crap naff architecture that has scarred rural Ireland but that could fixed in future.
@Whoswho: the park is untouched, the development is on private pitches previously owned by a school
@Kevin Kirkpatrick: which makes you an even bigger fool, thanks for paying for the services to my house.
Politicians want something done about shortage of housing and then when someone is going to build over 500 the same politicians object to it Funny Old Country
@James Horkan: oRiordan is only trying to drum up some relevance so he can get out of the seanad next time round
You can be guaranteed that if there was a proposal to build 600 housing units in nearby Coolock or Darndale that they’d of cleared the park/site by now ready to lay the foundations….
Objecting to development depends on the general income of the area… This is the same reason that the seawall along by St. Anne’s is going to be lowered at a cost of €100′s of thousands of taxpayers money…
@Dotty Dunleary: Cost of lowering the wall was about €60k.
@Dave Bruen: Are you sure? https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/council-to-spend-500-000-on-lowering-clontarf-sea-wall-1.3348943
“The cost of the work is estimated at €230,000 to reduce the height of the seawall and €300,000 for stone cladding”
@Dotty Dunleary: numbers have been fudged, but I watched the stream from city hall where councillors voted in favour of reduction and the cost of cutting down the wall was about €60k. Cladding etc was already in the plan.
@Dave Bruen: hard to know who to believe on this one. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/councillors-vote-to-reduce-height-of-clontarf-sea-wall-36471475.html
@Sean: agreed. Though interesting that this area only floods from the landslide, and the St Anne’s development is likely to impact on this, no matter what ABP have determined
@Dave Bruen: land side
Only thing wrong I see is they’re not going high enough! Should be going 12 stories. City centre should be a hell of a lot more, 20+ stories.
@Michael Mclaughlin: that’s because you barely read the article and know very little on the subject. What Dublin needs is well thought out large scale developments. With infrastructure such as schools and transportation links. Building on the sports ground of schools is short term gain for long term pain. This development has 10% social housing far below the standard 20%. We don’t need more overly expensive apartments crammed into parklands. We need a plan for Dublin for the future.
@john Appleseed: yeah build up.
@Michael Mclaughlin: great sound bite
@Michael Mclaughlin: Building high rise housing blocks worked well in Ballymun eh!?
@Dotty Dunleary: look at Ballyfermot and Jobstown, maybe stop building houses too??
@Michael Mclaughlin: They’re lower density, i.e. not the ill fated tower blocks..
@Dotty Dunleary: it was not the buildings that were the problem in Ballymun, it was the clientele.
@Michael Mclaughlin: i agree, with you. they’re not building high enough, which leads to urban sprawl. in europe they have superb examples of high rise or mid rise social housing. little or no crime, managed living with responsible tenants – responsible for looking after their own properties
@Dotty Dunleary: yes lower density with the same result, glad your getting the point.
@Rear Admiral: nonsense.. design flaws ( allowed under the regulations) contributed to fire spread and hindered firefighting operations.
@An bhearna:
can you be specific and give references? what design flaws? what fires?
i think you have a myopic view of sociology: how were “design flaws” responsible for a heroin epidemic, horses roaming the estates, TVs thrown from balconies, and a place where the guards could not enter?
Only quite wealthy people will be able to afford these. I grew up a 5 minute walk from there and never would I be able to live in these places. They’ll either be rented out at extortionate rates, or bought by the local Clontarf Elite who can’t afford a gaf on Vernon Ave.
@Kevin Kirkpatrick: Or sold to foreign landlords as Marlet have in the past
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/construction/overseas-investor-poised-to-buy-1-200-marlet-apartments-1.3267735
@Kevin Kirkpatrick:
You are so right. The ordinary folk wont be able to afford these houses. Anybody got any idea how much they will be. ?
It may not do much to meet local social housing needs but An Board Pleanala has more expertise than I have on these matters and anyth8ng which adds to the overall housing stock is good.
There is plenty of appropriately zoned development land available but the problem is the the developers are making vastly more money from trading in development land than in developing residential estates.
Priority has to be given to those developers who are willing to commission actual construction of development land.
Housing is a priority and only a relatively small percentage of the overall Park will be lost.
I could see the benefit of an exchange so as to provide a more convenient location fir develop,ent but DCC will not contemplate this.
I’d be interested in knowing the average density per acre. We really need higher density.
@Michael Lang:
Ohhh you sound like a developer yourself. Prime location, high prices for consumer, laughting all the way to the bank developers….
The park is still huge. A TD before suggested making the park smaller and building housing in the park proper not the private land. These will be expensive as it is a great location
@Kal Ipers: great location is south of France or Spanish Riviera where probably you will able to get house or apartment cheaper.
@artur filip: Great location a stones throw from the beautiful killester, greendale, killbarrack and Edenmore projects. Lol
Residential Land Survey from 2015 identified sufficient Z1 zoned land in the Dublin area to construct 117,000 homes. Yet permission is given to build on Z15 zoned land currently in use as playing fields and surrounded on three sides by parkland and the fourth by a school.
http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad%2C40214%2Cen.pdf
@Dave Bruen: we heard you the first few times in the comments. Go a bit crazy with the copy-and-paste
@Vocal Outrage: and you are who? with your “2 following, twitter protected” account?
@Vocal Outrage: more seriously, I will continue to make the point that land is available for development that isn’t being exploited. We are now returning to the 90s and 00s where developers hold the cards and government are bending over. There is no need to build on schools, football pitches or parks. But money talks.
@Dave Bruen: the development goes ahead. Time to celebrate and accept it X
@James Brown: troll away xx
@Dave Bruen: Decision :.Permission xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Gobsmacked.
I hadn’t expected this to get passed especially after Owen Keegan came out against it
@john Appleseed: It happens. Without any evidence you are using very flimsy reasons to claim corruption. It is a major problem with Irish society with people lacking any critical think just lazy assumptions from people with no real knowledge on the subject
@Kal Ipers: how about time honored experience. People see corruption in the building and development sectors for a bloody reason.
@Kal Ipers: jasus pot & kettle comes to mind with the crap you usually spout on here .. where did you get your expertise on everything from …
@john Appleseed: There’s a smell about this alright.
@john Appleseed: Name people and buildings so. Tell us what you know rather than wild assumptions.
@Irish Bob: I am very experienced and know many people who do their jobs with the utmost integrity. Many people making “brown envelopes” have never worked on anything more complex than standing at a door way as a heavy.
I have vast experience of people making up stuff ranging from people telling me that the vodka in a pub I worked in was all watered down to claims the PSC card created a centralised database with all your records on it. People make up stuff with absolutely no knowledge and I see that more often than anything else
I suppose the extra units added are to fund the “hidden” expenses of persuasion so dearly loved by the Developer cadre:
The initial plans by IMG Planning would have seen 381 new housing units.
Revised plans showed that it had been reduced by 25 units up to 365.
However, the latest plans granted by An Bord Pleanála will now see the construction of 536 new units – 104 houses and 432 apartments – on the site.
Sure why dosent someone ask Donald to ring Leo ..
@Irish Bob: is that the very best you can do?
With the extra 900,000 already here and another million expected in the next few years, you would expect they at least could build up instead of urban sprawl and a growing concrete jungle throughout greater Dublin region and the rest of the country too.
@GO GREEN: why does everything have to be concentrated in Dublin, improve infrastructures, build outside the dublin limits and create jobs in new deveopments
What do we want? More houses to eliminate the housing crisis. Where do we want them? Anywhere as long as its not beside me! Hope this is a good mixture of social housing for the poorest and most disadvantaged in society and regular housing for people who work hard during the week
Follow the money find the truth
It called progress Dublin need houses and apartments
@Aidan: repeating myself but there is plenty of Z1 zoned land. No need to build on schools, pitches and parks. Greedy developers, lazy government.
@Dave Bruen: where do you live Dave?
@Declan Leonard: I live near the park and went to school in St Paul’s. Does that disqualify my opinion on whether we should build on schools, playing pitches and parkland?
@Dave Bruen: not at all Dave. But,as long as it’s not in your backyard right?
@Declan Leonard: @Declan Leonard: the land is not zoned for houses, but you seem to have no problem overlooking that and blaming nimbies from stopping progress. There are lots of houses going in around Clontarf, Raheny, Baldoyle, Howth. Roughly 1200 at my last count and including apartments at another site in St Paul’s. Are you familiar with this site? It is essentially landlocked. Cul-de-sac access to over 500 units.
I am absolutely delighted at this. All the objectors have ended up with extra units being built. Typical irish not in my back yard snobs.
@Declan Leonard: Rubbish. This is greedy developers building on school pitches. As I’ve posted across this thread, there’s plenty of land across Dublin to build enough houses.
@Dave Bruen: the owners of said pitches sold them, correct? If you buy land you are entitled to apply for planning.
Greedy developers? They create huge employment for the duration of the works and contribute massively to the tax take of the country
Traffic? Sequence of lights can be altered to change congestion
Schools? They can be developed
Flooding? Give me a break
Building on school playing pitches? There’s a park bigger than most towns in Ireland full of them.
Next?
Shows up the hypocrisy of those on the left, the likes of PBP & Aodhan O’Riordain who wanted to block houses being built. At the end of the day they are all talk & maybe they don’t want any solutions because it’s in their interest that they continue to exploit the issue. I am sure there is a protest to go to tomorrow lads.
@DPentony:
How does this solve the homeless problem? It’s an investors market and high rental area. During the boom years people with good jobs and decent pay had to move out of Dublin to Surrounding counties and commute to work. Is there something alien about expecting those on low to no incomes to move out to surrounding counties? There must be areas suited to the development of decent, affordable housing in those home counties, ghettos are not needed, just good planning, good architecture, infrastructure and so on. In Paris low paid workers live in the suburbs, not the salubrious ones it has to be said but they would not care to live in ghettos or bidonville…nobody should want to live in such places… but at least the metro and suburban trains go some distances into deep suburbs. Now is a chance to build for those of limited means, how much does it cost to keep a family of four cooped up in a hotel for months on end.
@helen walsh: it doesn’t. Market Properties are the owners and they have form selling apartment developments to foreign landlords
@Dave Bruen: Marlet
Just start building. All these objections are so annoying
This is a disgrace. If this goes ahead all parkland is going to be fair game for developers. Leave our park alone!
And yet it all is going to be spoiled, by allowing some some undesirable people to be allocated by Dublin City Council. Shame
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