The Adamstown scheme for a phased provision of up to 10,000 housing units in west Dublin is clear evidence that town planning can deliver a practical and workable vision, writes Kieran Kennedy
The plan for the Adamstown development beside Lucan, Co Dublin, has generated a great deal of controversy. Unfortunately much of the published material is seriously misinformed and misleading.
As director of the Adamstown project on behalf of South Dublin County Council, with no political or ideological agenda to advance, I would like to set the record straight.
On May 7th last, the elected members of South Dublin County Council voted by a significant majority (15 to 2) to endorse a new town plan for Adamstown.
The plan will guarantee the phased delivery of up to 10,000 housing units and 125,000 square metres of retail, commercial and leisure development, together with schools, parks, roads, a railway station and dedicated busways (QBCs), on a 220-hectare (550-acre) site adjoining the Dublin-Kildare railway line, approximately 10 miles west of Dublin city centre.
Almost two years in preparation, the Adamstown Planning Scheme is a detailed masterplan for the physical development of privately owned land in suburban Dublin.
As a masterplan its purpose is to set out a blueprint for the design of the scheme, identify the supporting infrastructure required and set out a mechanism to secure its delivery. It represents a radical new departure from the traditional approach to development in this country.
The plan is different because it provides certainty for the delivery of housing and supporting facilities over a long period of time.
This is possible because of a number of specific decisions:
Government designation as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ);
The up-front identification of all required infrastructure and amenities, including transportation, schools, childcare, community buildings, shopping and parks;
Phasing of required infrastructure and amenities in tandem with development to ensure that if infrastructure and amenities are not provided, development cannot proceed. "No infrastructure, No Adamstown".
There are 13 phases of development, each comprising 800 dwelling units together with specified infrastructure. Such infrastructure includes:
Rail: A new railway station must be provided as part of phase 1. Irish Rail has purchased new railcars and is upgrading platforms and turnback facilities to improve service on this line by 2004.
Irish Rail proposes to double the existing track and segregate suburban and inter-city services which will deliver significant capacity enhancement on this line. This is scheduled for completion by 2008. Development cannot move beyond phase 5 until this has been delivered.
Bus: Two new QBC busways.
Traffic: New link roads, construction roads and on-site roads.
Schools: Four new schools, three primary and one secondary, are required at phases 2, 4, 6 and 8.
Parks: Not less than 14 per cent of Adamstown must comprise public open space and major parks, to include playgrounds, pitches, courts and landscaping.
Shopping: Shopping, commercial and leisure facilities in two local village centres and in the proposed town centre.
Drainage (Flooding): Detailed studies have been undertaken and comprehensive surface water drainage works are detailed in the scheme.
An environmental appraisal of the project has already been carried out and is detailed in the scheme, having been prepared by independent consultants. Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) will be required, as normal, for all future planning applications above a certain threshold size (e.g. 500 dwelling units). Even for below threshold development the planning authority has discretion to require EIS and will use its powers in this regard where necessary.
Implementation of the planning scheme will be constantly monitored and evaluated by a steering group of elected members of the council, professional staff and representatives of key public agencies. A mid-term review of development will be undertaken to ensure that all infrastructure and amenities are fully operational.
Adamstown offers real transport, housing and employment choice for future residents with emphasis on providing a high quality of life in a medium-density setting. The alternative is further long distance commuting and a continuation of the unsustainable pattern of low-density suburbanisation which has been the hallmark of metropolitan Dublin.
However, the plan does not purport to deal with the future management of the facilities it will deliver. It has been criticised by opponents because it makes no attempt to control the number of teachers in the new schools, the frequency of buses or the management of trains. I make no apology for this. The operational management of such facilities is the statutory responsibility of the relevant service provider and cannot be controlled in a masterplan or at local government level. To pretend otherwise is simply dishonest.
However, the existence of a long-term masterplan provides the certainty against which all agencies can prepare their future operational programmes.
The scheme is clear evidence that town planning can deliver a practical and workable vision. These are the facts. Check for yourself. Read the plan and the 62 amendments adopted directly as a result of public consultation. (South Dublin County Council website: http://www.sdcc.ie).
Kieran Kennedy is Director of Planning of South Dublin County Council