Draft plan for new villages and town centre approved

A DRAFT planning scheme which includes three new villages and a town centre at Cherrywood in south Dublin has been approved by local councillors.

The scheme covers a 264-hectares site west of the N11 and mainly east of the M50 between Cherrywood and Carrickmines.

The site includes lands which were the subject of rezoning inquiries by the Mahon tribunal. However, a large proportion of the land holding of Jackson Way Properties west of the M50 has not been included in the draft planning scheme.

The site is served by the Luas extension to Bride’s Glen close to Loughlinstown, and mains drainage by means of the Carrickmines sewer has been in place for many years.

It is also served by the Wyattville Road extension.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council applied for the area to be designated a strategic development zone in 2008 and some 360 hectares was designated by the then government in May 2010. A strategic development zone allows fast-track planning for developments which meet the objectives of the zone.

However, while the Government designated some 360 hectares, the draft planning scheme adopted by the council covers just 264 hectares.

No longer included in the draft scheme is a parcel of land to the east of the N11, south of an Esso service station on the southbound carriageway of the N11. Also not deemed necessary for inclusion by the planners was the Tullyvale apartment block at Cherrywood and existing houses bordering the N11 and the Bride’s Glen road.

A parcel of land west of the Carrickmines junction, previously designated for a golf course, is now designated for playing pitches.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown senior planner Mary Henchy said the intention was not that pieces of land were left out “but that some areas were no longer required”.

Owners of the lands include Lloyds Banking Group, along with Danske Bank and AIB, which have control of Cherrywood Properties Ltd, formerly controlled by developer Liam Carroll.

A further owner is Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council itself, which owns land formerly intended for a science and technology park through its wholly-owned subsidiary DLR Properties.

The scheme also includes a parkland setting centred on the historic Tully Church and the retention of the natural character of Laughanstown Lane, near Loughlinstown.

Former minister for planning and development Ciarán Cuffe yesterday said the draft scheme had been “expected ever since Luas was pointed at the area”.

He said development at Cherrywood was preferable to development at Carrickmines or the area known as the Park, which had been proposed in recent times.

In a submission to the council, Mr Cuffe also said he had reservations that provision for “smarter travel” – not car-based alternatives – was not more extensive in the planning scheme.

The draft scheme will not be subject of further public consultation and may be appealed to An Bord Pleanála.