Planning dispute puts brakes on New Generation housing scheme

Builders are no strangers to planning disputes. Just ask Greg Kavanagh and Pat Crean of New Generation Homes, which has withdrawn its application for permission to build 356 new houses apartments in Raheny, having met more than 200 objections from locals because the land the company intends to use is occupied by some very busy sports fields.

New Generation's subsidiary Crekav Landbank Developments says that it will resubmit its application in the new year, but that is likely to meet similar opposition. The dispute is pretty typical. New Generation wants to build homes in a settled area whose residents use the land earmarked for development for recreation. They obviously do not want to give this up, while the company has spent money on acquiring the property from an order of priests and wants a return on its investment, and it will be providing much-needed new homes.

Ultimately the planning authority, in this case Dublin City Council, will have to adjudicate on those issues. As one side or the other is likely to appeal whatever decision it makes, New Generation faces a long wait before finding out if it can go ahead and build the homes.

This is not the first time that the group has run into planning difficulty. A complex dispute over its proposals to develop a site at Finnstown Lodge, close to Adamstown in Co Dublin, delayed that project by 18 months. That dispute was not really of its making. It reduced the number of homes planned following talks with South Dublin County Council but An Bord Pleanála wanted it to build more.

New Generation’s difficulty is that it has invested heavily, about €300 million, on suitable sites, while its development plans could require about €2 billion as they roll out over the next few years. That is a big bet for the company, and its financial backer M&G Investments, on the housing market.

Planning delays may be commonplace, but they also stand in the way of the company and its backer getting a return on that bet.