Abbeville part of new road plan

A proposed new road to Malahide on Dublin's northside will cut through land at Abbeville, formerly owned by the late taoiseach Charles Haughey.

The preferred route for the new Malahide road, presented to Fingal County Council councillors at a closed meeting late last week, will reroute Malahide traffic before it reaches Clare Hall shopping centre.

The proposed road will take traffic over the N32, through lands at the former Belcamp College and through the grounds of Abbeville, before reconnecting with the existing Malahide Road just beyond Kinsealy village.

Abbeville House, a protected structure on 235 acres, was sold to Manor Park Homes in 2003. It has planning approval from Bord Pleanála for a 70-bedroom hotel, a spa leisure centre, an 18-hole golf course and 15 tourist residential units and 30 houses.

Manor Park Homes is currently for sale, and there is speculation that Abbeville may be sold as a separate entity.

However, industry experts say it is unlikely to realise as high a price as its owners would wish since land values have dropped by about 15 per cent in the last 12 months.

A previous proposed route for the new road reconnected it with the existing Malahide Road at St Doolagh's Church. However, following concerns raised by councillors and locals about the archaeological sensitivity of St Doolagh's, this route was rejected.

The proposed new road is part of traffic plans for major future developments at Belcamp, Balgriffin, Belmayne, and Clare Hall.

Cllr Peter Coyle said if the proposed new route was accepted it could mean further development of the Abbeville lands.

"My concern is that if the road goes through that land, there will be huge pressure to allow extra development along its route."

He said the proposed road would also impact on a thriving local business, the Kinsealy Riding Centre, through which it would run.

Mr Coyle said key arguments in support of the proposed route included that it would bring traffic away from the newly-designated village at Kinsealy and from the local national school, St Nicholas of Myra.

However, he said the council would need to assess whether the road was still required given that an alternative route was being provided to Portmarnock, which would remove some traffic from the Malahide Road.

He added that the council still needed to secure funding for the road.

If it is to go ahead it will require a variation to Fingal County Council development plan. The proposed variation is expected to come before the council in the autumn.