The developers behind the proposed Adamstown scheme in Lucan, west Dublin, want to accelerate the rate of home building in the development and have indicated it should be less dependent on the phasing in of schools and other infrastructure. Conor Lally reports.
They also want certain new roads in the area to remain closed until the construction of housing is well advanced to encourage residents out of private cars and into public transport, a Bord Pleanála hearing was told yesterday.
Chartridge Ltd, a consortium of developers, said the fact South Dublin County Council (SDCC) has built infrastructure phasing so tightly into the scheme means there is a danger the entire 500-acre, 10,000-dwelling development will be blighted by a "stop-start" process. It wants the provision of schools in phasing completely removed.
Rather than SDCC's plan to build 800 dwellings in each of the 13 phases, Chartridge said it wanted that number increased to 1,200 in the first five phases. It contended a much greater number of houses are needed in early phases because revenue from house sales will provide the only income stream with which to build the infrastructure needed to support the new community. Houses in the first phases will be three and a half times more costly to build than those in the latter phases.
Adamstown is the first of the country's Strategic Development Zones (SDZ). Under the SDZ concept, a development is split into phases. Developers building houses are obliged to provide a set amount of infrastructure and facilities before they may continue to the next phase. It is the first time in the history of the State the phasing method has been proposed.
Chartridge yesterday told a Bord Pleanála hearing into the scheme that too much responsibility for non-residential development was being placed on the shoulders of developers.
On phasing, Mr Bernard McHugh, representing Chartridge, said a system based on dialogue was needed rather than a "series of guillotines" and "a stick to beat everybody with".
Mr Christy O'Sullivan, also representing Chartridge, said, unlike SDCC, Irish Rail did not agree that building at Adamstown should be halted at phase six if the Dublin-Kildare rail line had not been upgraded from two tracks to four and a new Adamstown train station built.
He also disputed the need to upgrade roads in the area as part of phasing.