Markievicz group among objectors to housing plan

Almost 400 objections have been received to a plan to develop social housing close to a proposed Natural Heritage Area at the foot of the Dublin mountains.

The plan, put forward by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, aims to develop six acres close to Fitzsimon's Wood on the Blackglen Road, Sandyford. The wood contains protected species and also has historical links to Countess Constance Markievicz.

The development includes 61 two-storey social houses and 70 affordable apartments in a five- to seven-storey apartment block with basement car parking and a resource centre.

The 391 objections were received from groups including An Taisce, the Countess Markie- vicz Millennium Committee and the Sandyford Environmental Planning and Road Safety Group as well as many local residents.

The wood is home to the smooth newt, a protected species as well as deer, badgers and other wildlife.

The area on which the development is to be built is the remaining "wildlife corridor" leading from the wood to Ticknock Wood.

Countess Markievicz rented a cottage on Blackglen Road be- tween 1908 and 1920 and used the wood as a training ground for Cumann na mBan.

The six acres were zoned for housing in 2001 and subsequent moves to rezone them for amenity, including a judicial review, failed.

Margaret O'Reilly, spokeswoman for the Sandyford Environmental Planning and Road Safety Group, said the land they are building on is essential to the survival of the wood.

"The county development plan has an objective to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the wood," she said. "How can they say they are doing that if they build on this land?"

She said the historical links also make it worth preserving.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Maria Corrigan said if a wood is surrounded on all sides the features that merited its designation as a pNHA disappear. She said it was time the land was rezoned back to amenity.

A spokeswoman for the council said the parks department is finalising a management plan for the wood and the new development does not encroach on it.