On Thursday I made a submission on behalf of the Dublin West Green Party to Fingal regarding the Kellystown Variation. I have called for significant amendments to the existing plan, primarily linking the building of new homes with the delivery of the Metro West.
The submission is attached at the bottom of this post if you want to have a look at the detail.
I believe that when Metro West is complete and the Maynooth line has been electrified, the lands at Kellystown will be the best served with public transport in all of Dublin 15, possibly in all of Dublin. The soaring price of oil, and Irelands rapidly rising carbon emissions from transport shows us we have to start designing towns that are based around public transport – with Kellystown, we have the opportunity to start making that change in Dublin 15.
However, in light of previous broken promises about the delivery of infrastructure, I can understand how people are naturally going to be suspicious about allowing more residential building, which could put pressure on already over stretched roads, bus and rail services. That is why in my submission to Fingal County Council I am calling for a condition to be inserted stating that no residential development should take place within these lands until the Metro-West is up and running. This will mean that the transport infrastructure has to be in place before the houses can be developed.
I know there has been some concern regarding the loss of greenbelt that would result from building on Kellystown. However, in recent months, we have seen Fingal County Council undertake a study of greenbelt lands around Tyrrelstown, with the suggestion that new residential development should take place in the future. This area is grossly unsuited to new housing – already the thousands of residents of the estate are poorly served with public transport. I think it is crucial that Fingal County Council move away from zoning land that is isolated, and demonstrate that in future, it will concentrate new homes around high quality public transport links. I know that no one likes to see greenbelt being built upon, but from the point of view of long term sustainability, Kellystown with its public transport infrastructure is the most suitable location in all of Dublin 15 to built houses.
I think it also has to be recognised that the Kellystown variation will provide substantial community gain including much needed land for primary and secondary schools, a large public park and a graveyard. However, before the Council agrees to the variation, it is absolutely vital that the councillors are shown the legal agreements entered into between the developer and the Council management, so that they can be assured that the Community gain will be swiftly taken into public control.
My submission also highlights the need to promote high quality, family friendly homes in Kellystown.
One of the worst aspects of development in the Dublin 15 area has been the construction of high density ‘shoe-box’ apartments, which are not suitable for families. This in turn means that people move on regularly which prevents communities forming. In order to avert this in Kellystown, I am calling for a condition to be inserted stating that any apartments built there will comply with the new Dublin City Council guidelines on apartments, which require larger sized apartments, fewer one bed apartments and more three bed family friendly apartments. By applying these measures to the land at Kellystown, we will ensure that the new community here will be family friendly.
