Residents concerned about Kilnahue Lane
GERARD Gannon Properties has been given planning permission for 219 houses and a crèche on a 37.8 acre site which bounds Kilnahue Lane and the Carnew Road. This was despite multiple objections from local residents who said Kilnahue Lane is too narrow to cope with the additional traffic.
The same concerns were raised in 2014, when the company was refused permission for 206 houses and a crèche. At that time, the Council planners decided that proposals for access to the site were inadequate. They said that inadequate proposals had been submitted regarding road, footpath and cycle lane improvements.
In the latest application lodged last June, the company sought a ten-year permission for the development, but the Council has stipulated it must be finished in five years. The proposal includes: 10 two-bed semi-detached; 64 three-bed semi-detached; 20 three-bed detached; 90 four-bed semi-detached; and 35 four-bed detached houses, as well as a 523 sq.m. crèche and associated play areas.
Two vehicle access points are proposed for the Kilnahue Lane and one onto the Carnew Road. The developer plans to upgrade and improve a portion of Kilnahue Lane; to provide a playground area; and a new connection to existing foul and storm water services; underground attenuation tanks; and to remove a dilapidated structure from the site.
In a representation letter to the planners, Cllrs Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin, Malcolm Byrne, Mary Farrell, and Robert Ireton highlighted the residents’ concerns over traffic from the estate accessing a small country lanes ‘where chronic traffic problems already exist.’ They noted that the developer stated that discussions were held with adjoining landowners to seek co-operation in resolving the outstanding issues along Kilnahue Lane in particular, but they contended that residents were not approached by the developer.
They said ‘ the pressure to get the infrastructure right in this area is considerable, due to the growing number of students in the three national schools and one secondary school in the area.’
They urged the department to refuse the application, as more local consultation is needed and imminent rezoning of surrounding lands will ‘allow a more comprehensive and safer infrastructure to develop.’
A large number of submissions were also sent in by local residents, and the residents’ association.
In granting permission the Council sought €214,671 in development contri- butions, unless social housing is provided in the development, and a further contribution of €122,968 for the provision or improvement of community facilities, unless social housing is provided. It is also seeking a security bond of €1,540,000 to ensure the development is completed satisfactorily.
It is also imposing a special roads levy of €250,000 towards the expenditure that would be incurred by the local authority in re-grading the Kilnahue Lane junction and the provision of a footpath from the kilnahue Lane junction to the proposed access on the Carnew Road. The developer must also construct a controlled crossing on the Kilnahue Lane