Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A few weeks ago, Gannon Properties Limited submitted proposals for a large development of 1,950 residential units and 22,728 sq. m of commercial development in 15 blocks, up to 15 and 17 storeys high, in Clongriffin, which is part of the north-south fringe of Dublin city and Fingal county, and of the Dublin Bay North constituency. In general, much needed new homes are very welcome but, astonishingly, in this case 1,130 of the proposed apartments are intended to be build-to-rent. In the housing area in question, up to 9,000 individuals and families are waiting for accommodation on Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council housing lists. A remarkable feature of the application is that approximately one quarter of it has been sent to Dublin City Council, with the rest sent directly to An Bord Pleanála.

The applications are the latest in a litany of such applications for the north-south fringe over the past 20 years. It was more than 20 years ago that high density proposals for the north fringe were first mooted and a few days before Christmas of 1999, in true developer style, a plan for a massive development of the north fringe district was lodged with Dublin City Council.

Eventually, the Dublin City Council planning department managed to produce a north fringe framework development plan in 2000 for an initial major new urban district of up to 8,000 homes stretching across Belmayne and Clongriffin in Dublin city to the coast and the south Portmarnock district of Fingal. Development of the region has been stop-start and highly erratic, with the failure of the two planning authorities, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council, to work closely and developers like Gannon Homes, Stanley Holdings and Helsingor to deliver sustainably much-heralded infrastructure, including public transport, schools, health centres, childcare facilities, community and amenity spaces, shops and a Garda station. It took nearly ten years to build and open Clongriffin DART station and even longer for the first two primary schools for the burgeoning population of the area. Clongriffin town centre is still waiting for a supermarket and other much-needed commercial and professional services. At the western end of the new main street of the district in 2006, Stanley Holdings pulled out of a section 183 agreement with Dublin City Council for the long-promised Belmayne and Clare Hall town centre.

As the Minister remembers, the north and south fringe was also bedevilled with problems of pyrite contamination and insulation difficulties and it took years for the successful remediation of affected structures to be effected down to 2015. The taxpayer and Dublin City Council ended up bearing the €40 million net cost of totally rebuilding Priory Hall, which straddles the central section of the main boulevard of the north fringe. Since the crash, the north and south fringe has seen large tracts of derelict lands being hoarded by developers and constituents fear it could take another ten years to build out the region and provide the critical services we desperately need.

Given the above history, I would like the support of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to call on the planning regulator to carry out a review of all aspects of the planning of the north and south fringe and examine the history of this development and other urban regions in Ireland and exemplars abroad. We have seen exemplars in countries like Sweden of similar size but built with all essential services each step of the way. Unfortunately, that has not happened with the north and south fringe. Under the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018, which passed through the House not too long ago, the new Office of the Planning Regulator can review the performance of the functions of An Bord Pleanála and planning authorities such as Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council. The regulator is also tasked by the same section in the Act to oversee the delivery of effective planning services to the public by planning authorities and to conduct research for the Minister. The north and south fringe is a very striking example of why developer-led planning is really bad for our new urban districts. As the distinguished journalist, Mr. Gene Kerrigan, of the Sunday Independentstated, it is why "housing is too important to be left to developers.".

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