Cairn Homes lays out 364-home plan to members
MEMBERS OF Greystones Municipal District received a presentation last week on a development being planned by Cairn Homes for Charlesland.
The plans are for 364 residential units, including 60 duplex units, 124 houses and 170 apartments.
Planning engineer Fergal Keogh, senior planner Edel Bermingham and administrative officer Siobhan O’Brien attended the meeting. Mr Keogh explained that this is a strategic housing development, so will be decided by An Bord Pleanala. Their role at the meeting was to document the views of the members. Those will then go to An Bord Pleanala along with the chief executive’s report, due to be lodged by December 19.
Members heard that due to proximity to the Dart station and access onto the dual carriageway, the density is higher than other developments in the area, at a minimum of 45 units to the hectare.
Cllr Gerry Walsh said that they had to feed into the plans that night, without any time to reflect and summarise their thoughts and opinions.
He said that traffic leaving the development would be making its way onto the ‘car park’ that is the N11.
Cathaoirleach Cllr Tom Fortune said that the development does not provide parking for visitors. ‘People are getting clamped in Charlesland,’ he said. ‘ They come to visit and there is nowehre to park.
‘I reckon it’s going to be a disaster,’ he said. He said that he is also looking at the densities being imposed by the board.
He said that there doesn’t appear to be any infrastructure in place, and that it is a question of very serious bad planning.
‘I think the whole SHD process is a joke. It’s a gimmick by the government, and the board doesn’t really listen.’
Cllr Lourda Scott said that the SHD process is deeply flawed. ‘Neither the elected representatives nor the public can provide meaningful engagement with the process and the right to appeal has effectively been removed,’ she said. ‘ The developers are in the driving seat. A big problem with this development is that the developers provided incorrect information with regard to the need for childcare facilities. When I rang creches in the catchment of the SHD, there was no availability and waiting lists of 8 months to 2 years. This is not the information that was provided in the planning application where the developer argued that there was no need for childcare facilities. They also don’t take into account the recent population growth and work from 2016 census figures which underestimates the need again. In effect we have private developers dictating the needs of a community. This is wrong and not the sustainable development the area needs. Another concern is the land zoned for education. People are desperately waiting for the new secondary school in the area. I want to see that land transferred from the developers to the Department of Education prior to any residential build to ensure this process moves as quickly as possible.’
Cllr Mags Crean agreed with the views of other members. The proposed development is not about sustainable development,’ she said. ‘ The density is too high and the pressure on transport and local infrastructure is too much for an area that has already seen too much residential and not enough infrastructural development to support that housing. The lack of school places is the most obvious consequence of poor planning and development in Greystones and shows how it impacts right down to our children.’
She also mentioned the need to make sure the flooding report is adequate given the amount of developments that have happened in the same area as there is little green space left for soakage.’ Cllr Crean said that she has established a sustainable development for Greystones working group for the community to start organising around the issue. ‘Planning is developer-led at the moment and not in the interest of the community,’ she said.
Cllr Derek Mitchell said that it is not a very good application in many ways, and he has a lot of concerns. He said that the previous planning history of the site has not been mentioned, including previous plans for office and retail space. ‘ THis was used to justify building Charlesland as people were going to work next door,’ he said.’Not a single blade of grass has been turned in the 18 years since that plan was submitted.
‘ The socioeconomic appraisal of Greystones is a work of fiction,’ he said, adding that the Dart service is not the same as elsewhere, with a 30-minute frequency as opposed to every 10 minutes, and no plans to improve that.