When
does enough mean enough?
by P. Lanner
When
does enough mean ENOUGH? In the world of house building it would appear
that Dublin 15’s property developers can never have enough.
According to a report recently presented to the local members of Fingal
County Council, there are currently 33,012 houses and apartments in
Dublin 15. The report also estimates that at present approximately 2,650
of these are unoccupied.
However this is only the tip of the iceberg…
At the time of going to press a further 1,704 houses and apartments
are under construction in the area. When they are finished this will
bring the total number of housing units in Dublin 15 to 34,716.
But it doesn’t stop there…
Various developers and builders currently have planning permission to
allow them build another 4,107 houses and apartments on various sites
in Dublin 15. When these are built it will bring the total number of
houses and apartments in the area to 38,823.
And it still doesn’t stop there…
In the recent planning report, officials state that “the approximate
capacity of residentially zoned lands on which there is no planning
permission is 9,000 units. This figure does not include the potential
for redevelopment in existing urban areas or smaller infill.”
What this means is that as a result of various rezoning decisions taken
by the council in recent years, there is sufficient land in Dublin 15
which is zoned for housing and on which a further 9,000 plus houses
and apartments can be built in the future. This will bring the number
of housing units in the area to over 48,000.
There are currently over 90,000 people living in Dublin 15. When these
houses for which planning permission has been granted or for which lands
have been zoned, are completed that population will grow to over 142,000!
Everyone living in Dublin 15 can testify on a stack of holy books that
the roads, schools, open space and every other conceivable piece of
infrastructure is totally unable to sustain the existing population.
How on earth can it cope with a further increase of 50%?
But it still doesn’t stop there…
As part of the deal to build a school in Kellystown, the council is
proposing to rezone almost 75 acres of land which would allow Castlethorn
Developments build up to another 2,500 units.
In Tyrrelstown, Twinlite Developments are seeking to rezone lands for
another 4,000 houses and apartments.
On the racecourse lands, Flynn & Flaherty have already increased
the density over and above their existing permission and will undoubtedly
seek to do so again.
So to come back to where we started – when is enough ever going
to be enough? Surely now is the time for communities to take a stand
at the unbridled power of the building lobby. At a recent Council meeting
one local councillor ventured the amazing opinion “if we want
new roads then we have to build more houses.”
In Kellystown it seems that if we want a school site and a bridge over
the railway line then we also have to build more houses.
In Ongar, residents had to picket the showhouses in a new development
to try to force the developer to sit down and talk with them about outstanding
works in their estates.
It’s not a new phenomenon either. Thirty years ago, residents
of Hartstown had to picket other developments by Brennan & McGowan
to try to force that company to finish their estate. Does nobody ever
learn?
“Profit before people” continues to be the mantra of many
of our local property developers who have been building houses at an
unsustainable rate for the past decade. To look at their advertising
and brochures, you would think you were moving into something approaching
the Garden of Eden.
Unfortunately many of the finished developments bear little resemblance
to the PR artist’s impressions.
In many areas, when the houses are built and occupied the developers
have literally jumped through hoops to avoid providing basic local services
such as school sites, community facilities and proper roads.
And still they want to build more…
When does enough mean enough?
Community Voice, Media
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Dublin 15
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