Council drafting Inchicore area plan

A REDEVELOPMENT master plan for almost 100 hectares of land to the west of Inchicore in Dublin is being drawn up by Dublin City Council.

The Naas Road Local Area Plan will facilitate new uses for largely industrial and vacant lands along the city end of the Naas Road and could allow the construction of buildings up to 50m high.

The area is seen by the council as a “gateway” to the city with particularly strong development potential through its public transport links, including the Luas Red line, and its closeness to mainline rail services to Heuston Station.

However, despite the proximity to the city centre and its Luas access, the area has growing levels of dereliction and vacancy, following the closure of several big employers, particularly in the car assembly industry. A key focus of the plan is to encourage economic renewal of the area.

According to the council, no other industrial zone in the city has such location advantages with frontage on to both sides of the Naas Road, which is one of the main radial arteries into the city.

It is seeking the development of an “innovation corridor” which would connect the Naas Road lands to the digital hub and provide employment opportunities for new residential areas such as Adamstown in spheres such as science and technology, medical research and green technology.

The council recognises the need to make the area more attractive for workers. Currently there are few shops in the area and the council sees the need to encourage village-style shops and cafes.

Unlike other parts of the city for which local area plans have been devised, the Naas Road area is sparsely populated and so has the potential to accommodate taller buildings, up to 50m high, of 12 storeys of offices or 16 of residential, the council said.

The N7 Naas Road, which carries substantial traffic volumes, has the effect of splitting communities on either side. The plan envisages improving local road connections between districts and, in particular, creating pedestrian and cycle routes between Drimnagh, Bluebell and Crumlin village and from these suburbs to the Grand Canal and Walkinstown Park.

More than one-third of the land, 37 hectares, has been zoned for “rejuvenation”, which allows mixed use of the land through the creation of employment and residential development predominate in this zoning.

Of the remaining land, 28 hectares have been zoned as open green space and 23 hectares for enterprise and employment. Just 6½ hectares have been zoned for purely residential use. Five hectares have been zoned for community or institutional use.

Drafting of the plan is due for completion in July, after which it will be available for public consultation.