Plans to create new ‘town’ of up to 8,000 people in north Dublin

A plan to create a new “town” of up to 8,000 people on lands at Jamestown Business Park to the north of Finglas village will be put before Dublin city councillors for approval on Monday.

The Jamestown Masterplan will govern the redevelopment of 43 hectares of industrial lands with the potential for 3,500-3,800 homes, a primary school and employment, cultural and community facilities. It would sit to the east of the planned Finglas Luas line.

More than half of the lands in Jamestown, some 22 hectares, have been classified by the council as “immediately available” for regeneration, with the remaining lands expected to support their current industrial or employment uses over the medium- to long-term.

However, the council anticipates that applications for up to 2,300 homes could be granted over the lifetime of the city development plan which runs to 2028.

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Overall, the lands have been planned out with a ratio of 65 per cent residential and 25 per cent employment or commercial development, with the remainder to be used for community, education and ancillary facilities.

While the planned residential element will be high density, it will not be high rise. The majority of apartments would be in blocks of four to six storeys, with housing of up to three storeys facing on to Jamestown Road, McKee Avenue and St Margaret’s Court, where the developments will meet existing two-storey houses and bungalows.

Provision has been made for a small number of seven- and eight-storey blocks, away from existing housing, as well as some sites that could accommodate buildings in excess of eight storeys.

The Jamestown lands are one of four large-scale industrial sites identified by the council as key growth areas, due to their proximity to existing residential and suburban village or town centres. The Jamestown lands in particular will benefit from the extension of the Luas Green Line from Cabra to Finglas, scheduled for completion post-2030, with two stops, St Margaret’s Road and Charlestown.

Of the three other areas, two are also to the north of the city: the Dublin Industrial Estate near Glasnevin Cemetery and Malahide Road Industrial Park in Coolock. The third area involves lands along the Naas Road which have become part of the City Edge project with South Dublin County Council.

Councillors two years ago agreed to change the zoning of the Finglas lands from employment and enterprise to strategic development and regeneration to facilitate the development of the masterplan and prevent haphazard building on the key site. However, in the intervening period developers have already sought to capitalise on this zoning.

The council last October initiated High Court action against An Bord Pleanála over its decision to grant a large-scale build-to-rent scheme in the area against the council’s strong opposition. The board last August granted permission to Jamestown Village Ltd for the build-to-rent scheme of five apartment blocks rising to six storeys at the site.

Council planners had urged the board to reject the scheme, saying it would represent ad hoc and piecemeal planning in an area that had been designated for major regeneration under a masterplan.