While Greystones has led the charge for the past 15 years at least in Wicklow’s residential property market with the construction of vast swathes of new houses and apartments, its nearest neighbour, Delgany, would appear now to be following its lead.
Having witnessed a flurry of activity within the past year with some 140 new homes being offered for sale across D|Res Properties’ Eastmount scheme and at Wood Group Homes’ Churchlands estate, residents of the area surrounding the once-sleepy village are awaiting the hearing and the outcome of a judicial review of a decision by An Bord Pleanála to approve the development of 232 units on the site of the village’s former Carmelite convent.
Should the decision be upheld by the High Court, the proposed scheme by developer Drumakilla Ltd would see the development of 96 houses and 136 apartments distributed between two four-storey apartment blocks and five three-storey duplex blocks located between Convent Road and Bellevue Hill.
The houses would consist of 32 two-bedroom units, 44 three-bedroom units and 20 four-bedroom units and comprise a mix of four detached, 36 semi-detached, 56 terraced homes. The proposed apartments, meanwhile, would consist of 28 one-bedroom units, 82 two-bedroom units and 26 three-bedroom units.
Residential density
But while the Carmelite scheme by itself would see a significant increase in Delgany’s residential density, it’s just one of a number of new developments coming down the tracks for the north Wicklow hamlet.
Just outside the village itself, Trinity Biotech chief Ronan O’Caoimh is pursuing a plan for the delivery of 99 new homes on a site at Chapel Road. The development which secured planning permission from Wicklow County Council in July of last year is to include 12 four-bedroom two-storey detached houses, six four-bedroom three-storey semi-detached houses and 10 four-bedroom two-storey semi-detached houses.
The plan also provides for 44 three-bedroom two-storey semi-detached houses, four three-bedroom semi-detached bungalows, 19 three-bedroom two-storey terraced houses and four two-bedroom two-storey terraced houses.
While the combination of the existing units at Eastmount and Churchlands and those planned for the Carmelite site and Chapel Road could see the number of houses in Delgany village and its closest environs grow by 471 in the near terms, that figure doesn’t take the other 77 units that could be on the way across two sites that have just come on the market.
The lands at Convent Road and at the long-abandoned Kindlestown House, which are being sold on the instructions of receiver BDO at guide prices of €1.9 million and €5.75 million respectively, are sure to attract the interest of developers, and of the locals too.
