Proposal for retirement village rejected

Councillors in Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown have rejected a controversial rezoning to allow for a retirement village at the foot of the Dublin Mountains.

The proposal involved a variation to the county development plan which spelled out that on a seven-hectare site on the outer side of the M50, at Ticknock near Sandyford, a retirement village would be “permitted in principle”.

Councillors initially rejected the advice of county manager Owen Keegan that the variation be rejected and put the proposal out to public consultation in September. It attracted 100 submissions with 67 objections including from An Taisce and An Óige.

Following strong local opposition and last-minute pressure from residents, councillors agreed without a vote or debate to accept the manager’s advice and reject the variation.

In separate business, councillors also voted to call on Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to review his decision to grant exploration and foreshore licences off Dalkey. Last month the Minister granted the licences to Providence Resources, giving them permission to drill 6km off the coast. The work is expected to begin within weeks. In what was a unanimously proposed motion, councillors agreed to call on the Minister to review the licences and to suspend all activity pending the review.

Conservation area

They also called for further information on an announcement last week by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan proposing that more than 27,000 hectares from Dalkey Island northwards across Dublin Bay to north of Swords be designated as a special area of conservation.

The area appears to include some of the site licensed to Providence.

People Before Profit councillor Melissa Halpin said the proposed drilling was too close to one of the most populated areas of Ireland and there needed to be public consultation on the proposals.

Councillor John Bailey (FG) said the licence had cost €10,000. “We’re not selling Dalkey for 30 pieces of silver,” he said.