Site in southwest Dublin earmarked for new town

The Government has designated 170 hectares of land in southwest Dublin for a new town with up to 8,000 houses along with commercial and transport facilities.

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche yesterday announced the designation of land at Balgaddy/Clonburris as a strategic development zone (SDZ), saying it would allow for "substantial residential and related development".

Treasury Holdings owns much of the land, sources have confirmed. Other landowners include Dunloe Ewart, with smaller amounts in the hands of South Dublin County Council.

Mr Roche said SDZs provided an ideal opportunity for integrated development whereby residential and commercial development were planned hand-in-hand with required transport and community infrastructure. The site lies west of the M50 motorway, north of Clondalkin and south of Lucan.

The Dublin-Kildare railway line bisects it, while the Grand Canal borders its southern end.

The core of the site was originally earmarked for a town centre for Lucan/Clondalkin but South Dublin County Council opposed the plans as did An Bord Pleanála. It was also proposed for a rail-based national freight distribution centre and in recent years as a location for a new national indoor arena.

A spokesman for Mr Roche said 7,000 to 8,000 houses could be developed on the site. The town would be similar to Adamstown in west Dublin which the Government previously designated as a strategic development zone.

There would be "substantial residential and related development in the area", Mr Roche said. This would be consistent with the National Spatial Strategy, which sought to consolidate such development in or adjacent to the metropolitan area, in well-designed and integrated urban environments, which were serviced by public transport.

The Department of the Environment said the proposed SDZ would address some of the key issues in the Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area 2004-16, including accommodation of economic and population growth within the region in a sustainable manner; improvement of the quality of life by reducing the average journey time to work, as well as providing supporting infrastructure such as community, education and employment facilities.

The 170 hectares (420 acres) of the SDZ is the gross area of the site including roads and the canal. The net area with development potential is about 140 hectares.

The department said the proposal designation came from South Dublin County Council which, as the planning authority for the area, would now be charged with the site's development. The council will have to prepare a planning scheme for Balgaddy-Clonburris by the end of July 2008. If the scheme is approved by An Bord Pleanála, the planning authority must grant permission for any development which is consistent with it. There is no right of appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the decision of the planning authority in such cases.