Council to consider proposal to tackle county’s housing crisis

A FULL meeting of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council is to consider a cross-party proposal to tackle what has been described as the most serious problem facing thousands of people across the country – the lack of social and affordable housing.

A group of councillors have put their political difference aside to propose a ‘Shanganagh Urban Village Cooperative Housing Development’ for Shanganagh Castle.

The councillors, including Shane O’Brien, John Bailey and Michael Merrigan, are proposing that 200 social houses/apartments and 140 ‘rent to buy’ homes are built on the site of the former open prison.

This co-sponsored proposal was presented to the council following the successful adoption of the Woodbrook-Shanganagh Local Area Plan.

The group of councillors who engaged in extensive research and made several site visits over the past two months, claim their idea could provide a solution to the current crisis in housing supply and homelessness.

  “With the adoption of the Woodbrook-Shanganagh Local Area Plan, 2017-2023, at the July council meeting, we immediately decided to research and develop an innovative, imaginative and realistically sustainable model for the delivery of social and affordable homes on the council-owned lands at the former open prison site at Shanganagh Castle,” Cllr Michael Merrigan (Ind) said.

“The availability of council-owned land at Shanganagh Castle is the essential driver of this proposal, which we believe could represent a model of housing delivery that may be suitable for other areas of the county and indeed, further afield.”

Cllr John Bailey (FG) added: “We put our political differences aside and sought to assist the council’s executive in its endeavours to meet their obligations as a housing authority and committed ourselves to finding a deliverable solution to the current crisis in housing supply and homelessness.”

Councillor Shane O’Brien (SF) said: “We decided to think outside the box in our efforts to get a speedy and efficient delivery of quality homes in a mixed tenure development on the castle site.”

 The proposal was presented to the Chief Executive of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Philomena Poole, and her management team by a delegation of councillors.

The outline proposal will be presented to the full meeting of the council next week when a more detailed  plan will be prepared.