Last week saw a number of marathon meetings about the Dunsink Urban Area Plan and councillors ultimately agreeing to a scaled-down plan.
First announced in June, the planned 18,500-home development was greeted with strong reaction from both local residents and local elected representatives.
Politicians from both government and opposition parties voiced their apprehension about the plan; while welcoming that 18,500 homes would put a major dent in Dublin’s housing crisis, they also said the initial plan ran the risk of adding pressure to local systems.
Following four days of marathon meetings, members of Fingal County Council agreed to a revised plan, which will see somewhere between 5,400 and 15,000 homes built as part of the project, down from the initial figure of 18,500.
In the interest of space constraints, not all topics discussed at the meetings can be printed, but the topics ranged from residents in Scribblestown expressing concerns about laneways, discussion of M3 and M50 traffic, threats to local wildlife, and discussion on population growth; all meetings are available to view, in their entirety, on the Fingal County Council website.
Roisin Burke, director of planning and development at Fingal County Council, said that the council wanted to have 2,500 homes in the construction process by 2029.
In August, this publication highlighted concerns from Finglas residents, with local resident Niamh Lambert saying, “Finglas should not be expected to absorb the traffic, construction, environmental impacts and high-density development for an entirely new town without the infrastructure, environmental protections and genuine engagement that any community deserves.”
With Dublin 15 residents already noting poor bus services and oversubscribed local services, the grievances were aired in Fingal County Council chambers across nearly 20 hours of meetings this week.
Politicians from both government and opposition parties had the chance to weigh in on the development, with the meetings often becoming terse.
Sinn Féin councillor Angela Donnelly said “I have never attended meetings like those for the Dunsink Urban Area Plan; the lack of information and transparency is astounding” at the start of the process.
The Ongar councillor stated that councillors received a 483-page report from council management before 8pm on the evening of October 16, and were expected to have an informed debate and discussion about the plan at a meeting scheduled for 2pm on the afternoon of October 19.
She stressed that “we all want homes, but we want those homes to be safe and well served in terms of transport, education, health care, and community facilities,” but had concerns about the initial plan.
The Sinn Féin councillor stated, “we have a gun to our heads” to accept the plan, and that councillors were being “railroaded” into accepting the plan without further scrutiny at the outset of the process.
Proposals from Green and Labour councillors to include a Luas stop in the plans were discussed at the meeting.
The Greens’ sole member on Fingal County Council, David Healy, said that a Luas stop at Dunsink should be included in Phase 2 of the plan and not Phase 3 of the plan.
Phase 1 of the plan, the meetings were told, would be reliant on buses and the DART+ West scheme to facilitate public transport needs.
However, the higher-capacity Luas was sought after by opposition councillors.
Healy said that as it stands, the Dunsink plan was going to cause “significant traffic congestion.”
“Without the Luas, Navan Parkway is the busiest train station on the Maynooth-Bray route; Maynooth is the busiest, but Navan Parkway would become the busiest,” he told one of the meetings.
He warned that the trains would reach their design capacity by 2035 if the plan proceeds as planned, noting that the DART would be full by the time commuters got to the Pelletstown train station.
The Green councillor said that the Luas was “essential” to the operation of the DART in the area.
The meetings were told that a Luas stop would not materialise until the 2040s, roughly in line with the existing timeline to deliver a Luas line to Blanchardstown.
Labour councillor John Walsh warned that the whole affair would be “undemocratic” if all of the proposed 200 motions were not heard and discussed.
Walsh also backed plans for the Luas to be included in Phase 2 and not Phase 3 of the plan, along with expanded bus services between Blanchardstown and Dunsink.
The Labour councillor also secured support for the provision of extra secondary schools in the area in order to keep up with the projected rise in population.
He said that the limited role of local government in Ireland was hindering plans in the context of school delivery.
“We have experiences here in Dublin 15 of school refurbishments lagging behind; even when we adapt a local area plan, there is no sign that the Department of Education is going to act on education plans.”
During the consultation process, over 1,000 submissions were received from residents, local businesses, organisations and elected representatives.
Councillors from the Ballymun and Finglas area (Keith Connolly (FF) Anthony Connaghan (SF) Marry Callaghan Mary Callaghan (SD) Leslie Kane (SF), Conor Reddy (PBP) and Gavin Pepper (ind) all signed a letter in July which called for the consultation process to be extended as people may have been unaware of the consultation process owing to the summer holidays.
“The situation is made more difficult by the fact that we are in the middle of the Summer, when many constituents are away and less engaged than they would be at other times of the year,” the letter read.
Fellow Castleknock councillor Ted Leddy said that the Department of Education and Fingal County Council should be in engagement on new school buildings in the context of the Dunsink plan.
The Fine Gael councillor said “it is my experience that while sites may be reserved for schools, many years can go buy without any progress on it; it is a joint operation here. We provide the buildings, but they provide the land.”
Leddy said there were a “number of inaccuracies” in the debate, saying that infrastructure was the “buzzword.”
“People are talking about the DART as if it’s some aspirational project; it’s not. It is at an advanced stage. The DART has gone through planning, funding and it is out for railway order.”
A CGI of the planned new development at Dunsink. (Picture credit: Fingal CC)
Solidarity councillor John Burtchaell expressed concern that the school sites would not materialise.
“If one was cynical, you would think it was deliberate that communities are trapped between the department and whatever services they need. This is a strategic plan that involves thousands of new residents. It isn’t just significant for Dublin 15, but for the city. We should be doing things differently, and better,” and said that it was important to have the right social infrastructure in place.
Fianna Fáil councillor Eoghan O’Brien remarked, “it may suit certain members not to see any development here.”
He expressed concern that the proposed amendments would “hamstring” the plan.
“I don’t think we are looking at coming out with a better plan than we came in with,” the Northside councillor said at the Wednesday meeting, with O’Brien ultimately abstaining from voting on the revised plan.
At the second meeting on October 20, O’Brien stated “it is up in the air if we even get to phase one at this stage.”
The final meeting took place on the evening of October 22, the fourth meeting of the week.
Over 200 agenda items later, the revised plan was passed by a majority of Fingal County Council members with just one councillor voting against it.