Community group fighting to stop local high-rise plans

A Southside community group has launched a fundraising drive to stop high-rise developments in their area.

The Knocklyon based Abbots Grove Community Group say they have set up a GoFundMe campaign to save the Stocking Avenue area from overdevelopment.

Ballycullen SHD is the just the latest in a series of Strategic Housing Developments (SHD) submitted to An Bord Pleanála for the Stocking Avenue Area.

The past 15 months has seen plans for Taylors Lane SHD, Stocking Lane SHD and White Pines East SHD submitted to An Bord Pleanála and Scholarstown SHD commenced construction (former Cosgrave lands).

According to the group, if any of these SHDs get approved, it sets a precedent for more high rise buildings and high density development in the area.

An SHD is a fast track planning application for 100 units or more that bypasses the local authority for its planning permission.

The private developer submits their application directly to An Bord Pleanála (ABP) thus ensuring there is no appeal mechanism unlike normal applications.

Abbots Grove Residents are teaming up with Ballyboden Tidy Towns, White Pines Residents and Stocking Wood Residents to object to this latest SHD- Ballycullen SHD.

To do this, they say they have set up the GoFundMe page to raise funds to hire planning, traffic, legal consultants and an ecologist to prepare a submission to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála.

In a statement, Abbots Grove Community Group said:

“Abbots Grove Residents are teaming up with Ballyboden Tidy Towns, White Pines Residents and Stocking Wood Residents to object to this latest SHD- Ballycullen SHD.

“To do this, we need raise the funds to hire planning, traffic, legal consultants and an ecologist to prepare a submission to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála.

“Ballyboden Tidy Towns have previously worked with other resident groups to hire the above-mentioned professionals, in order to object to the other local SHDs.

“This includes working with White Pines residents to object to two other SHDs right on our doorstep – White Pines East and White Pines Central.

“They are still in the process of making submissions against White Pines Central SHD.

“After fighting these two SHDs within weeks of each other, some costs for consultancy and legal fees are still outstanding.

“Therefore, donations from this fundraiser will go towards fighting the Ballycullen SHD as well as contributing towards the remaining costs from the White Pines’ SHDs.

“This is because we strongly believe that these SHDs affect the entire community and we must come together to do what we can to stop them.

“All contributions matter.

“We have a very tight timeline of 5 weeks to do this, the final date for submissions for the Ballycullen SHD is 26th July 2021.”

The local residents say they did not envisage up to 6 storey apartment blocks along Stocking Avenue and did not envisage this kind of development for the area when they bought property here.

They say that high-rise apartments such as these do not belong at the foothills of the Dublin Mountains.