Big changes ahead for tiny southside village - but will the locals step aside?

Stepaside, a traditional crossroads village in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, has a post office-cum-general store, a butcher's shop and two pubs. The Garda station window boxes are a riot of colour and the Tidy Towns Committee has everybody out from April onwards weeding verges and painting gate-posts. They've won several prizes. Now, the people who live in Stepaside are studying a draft plan for the area that could introduce apartment blocks and city-style duplexes to dwarf the village's existing 160 cottages and houses. The plan encompasses all of the lands north of the Enniskerry Road, as far as Sandyford, east to Ballyogan and Kilgobbin and south to the Stepaside Golf course. A narrow slice of land on the western side of Enniskerry Road has been included on the basis that it does not encroach on the mountainside.

There will be a refuse baling station at Ballyogan, and according to executive planner David Irvine of Dun LaoghaireRathdown County Council, this will be an improvement on the existing open landfill site. The baled waste will be transported by road to Kill, Co Kildare, for disposal. Skips will be provided at the baling station for household use. Two new Traveller halting sites are planned, one opposite Fernhill, at Sandyford, and another on the Enniskerry side of Stepaside village. This is in addition to the two existing Traveller sites at Leopardstown Road and Ballyogan.

"The council took the view that if 44,500 new homes were to be built, it should sustain the introduction of a small area to accommodate the travelling community," says David Irvine.

Narrow "greenways" traversing the area will include cycle paths. There is no provision, however, for a public park, apart from a three-acre area at Glencairn and a seven-acre sports ground at Ballyogan. The existing Ballyogan landfill site is expected to be annexed to the adjoining Stepaside golf course according to the county planner.

Local business zones are to be built within individual development parcels to encourage locally-based employment. Recently published guidelines on urban and suburban density have not as yet been ruled upon. However, a Government spokesman confirmed that the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, had asked councils to apply the recommendations as a matter of urgency. The residents of Stepaside are not opposing the concept of development. Although anxious to preserve their well-kept village, they acknowledge that new houses have to go somewhere and that landowners have a right to profit from their investment.

The new density guidelines are a big issue. With Stepaside already on an elevated setting, they look on the idea of four-storey apartments as an incongruous proposal at best. The word "generally" alongside the plan's comment on apartment levels is, however, causing concern. Residents say it is the sheer size of the plan that is overwhelming them. This and pressure from the council to respond to the plan soon.

When the draft plan was published in March, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council allowed a period of six weeks for public view. This was extended and the council is now pressing for an urgent reply. Residents say a further five or six more weeks would allow time to research the implications of large-scale development for their village. "They're steam-rolling us. If we had until the end of June we could get our act together. We are the guinea pigs for this type of development and it's being railroaded through before there is any infrastructure in place," says resident Donal Wills.

THE lack of infrastructure is their key concern. Minimum amenity needs, they say, which should be in place before work begins, include improved roads, more schools, churches, a health centre, library, community centre, a fire station, shopping areas, a pre-school centre, public playing fields and a sports centre and even a graveyard. None of these presently exist in the area. Traffic conditions are already difficult for commuters to the city through Dundrum and Leopards town. The council argues that this will be alleviated when the South-Eastern Motorway is in place by the year 2003.

According to David Irvine, the Government has also indicated its intention to run the LUAS through Loughlinstown, with a spur to Stepaside, and there will be feeder buses to the industrial estates.

Donal Wills argues, however, that any LUAS extension is at least 10 years down the road. He says that an extra 6,000 cars in the area, based on the current growth of car ownership and the densities guidelines, will place an additional strain on the roads around Stepaside.

Most of the rezoned land is now in the hands of developers. Park Developments, Deane Brothers Developments, Castlethorn Developments and Dalegrove Construction between them owned over 111 hectares when the draft plan was published. When asked whether duplexes and apartments will be approved for Stepaside, David Irvine confirmed that he will be obliged to consider "a diversity of house type and style with a proportion of three-storey and four-storey apartments" in line with the density guidelines.

With council elections forthcoming, residents are enlisting the support of local representatives. Fianna Fail councillor Larry Butler has promised to put their request for more time to the council.

Stepaside is unlikely to turn into downtown Manhattan overnight, but the residents say they want a clearer understanding of what to expect when the draft plan is implemented.