Dublin council defends €60m Balgriffin deal

Dublin City Council has defended its decision to sell a major tract of land in north Dublin for housing without putting it out to tender.

The €60.4 million sale of 23 acres at Balgriffin is one of the biggest deals done by the council, but some local councillors have questioned aspects of the deal.

Labour councillor Seán Kenny said the land should be retained by the council or swapped to meet affordable housing needs in the city.

"In the end of the day it is the future purchasers of new homes in Balgriffin who will pay for the €60.4 million," he said.

However, new Dublin city manager John Tierney has told councillors that the move, concluded before he took office, represented a very good deal, which would help realise plans to create a new town in the so-called "northern fringes" of the city.

Council officials say it made more sense to sell its land to Stanley Holdings, which owns adjoining land as well as extensive road frontage, than to go to tender. The developer could have resisted a compulsory court order for years, executive manager Martin Kavanagh said. In addition, Stanley Holdings is required to construct a public square and access road, and to provide a minimum of 20 per cent of social and affordable housing.

The council originally agreed to sell the land on the Malahide Road to Stanley Holdings in June for under €48 million. However, this agreement contained an "uplift clause", allowing the council to renegotiate the sale price if similar plots of land in the area went for higher amounts. After this happened, an additional €13 million was added to the sale price in September.

The original sale price of €48 million was calculated by the council's chief valuer, Alan Taylor. When councillors queried this amount, an independent valuation was commissioned from Lisney, which arrived at a similar figure. The council has declined to release this report, saying it contains commercially sensitive information.

Last month, Mr Taylor resigned from the council and went to work for Lisney. Both the council and Mr Taylor said Department of Environment rules governing resignations or retirements by local authority officials had been followed.

As amended last June, these require employees to seek approval from their local authority before taking up new employment where a conflict of interest situation could arise.

The council spokesman said: "Mr Taylor was informed in writing and during personal discussions of the requirements of the code of conduct. In the opinion of Dublin City Council Section 10 of the Code of Conduct [requiring consent] was fully complied with."

Mr Taylor said he had inserted the "uplift clause" in the sale and the price achieved represented a very favourable deal for the council.

"The council needed this infrastructure and they needed it in a hurry, and this was the way to achieve it."

The council acquired the site, and some adjoining property, for €18.8 million in 1999. It is envisaged that a new town with up to 7,000 housing units will be built.