11,500 new homes approved by council beside Adamstown

THE FIRST phase of a new town of 11,500 homes at Clonburris, Co Dublin, less than 1km from Adamstown, has been granted planning permission by South Dublin County Council.

Shelbourne Development has been given permission for the construction of almost 900 apartments and houses adjacent to the Dublin/Kildare rail line, despite more than 40 objections from local residents and politicians.

As with nearby Adamstown, Clonburris is being developed as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) where a masterplan is created for the whole town, with schools, shops, leisure facilities and transport infrastructure, and then development takes place in stages.

Given that the construction sector has all but ground to a halt and many built units are left unoccupied in Adamstown, the decision to press ahead with Clonburris seemed remarkable, Fine Gael councillor Derek Keating said.

“I’m amazed that in the current economic climate they’re going ahead. In Adamstown, less than a quarter of a mile away, it is anticipated there would be 10,500 dwelling units, currently fewer than 1,000 are occupied. I had always expected that Clonburris would succeed Adamstown, not compete with it.”

Senior planner with South Dublin County Council Paul Hogan said it made no sense for planning to stop just because the housing market had stalled.

The development was far superior to a lot of planning applications and proposals the council received where housing estates were “tacked on” to towns and villages, Mr Hogan said.

The Jesuit order is seeking planning permission to build apartments and houses at Loyola House, their former headquarters near Donnybrook, Dublin, which was badly damaged by fire almost three years ago.

The three-storey detached Edwardian building in substantial grounds at the corner of Eglinton Road and Sandford Road was burned down by a former employee in April 2007. The house, which had been the headquarters of the Jesuit community in Ireland since 1956, had fallen into dereliction since the fire.