Sir, – I refer to the article on the Mitchell McDermott report ("Number of housing units stalled by judicial reviews jumps by 1,000 per cent", Business, February 23rd).
The report refers to complaints by developers that the “fast-track” process of strategic housing developments (SHDs) is being frustrated by judicial reviews.
This is part of a narrative from the property industry that has never been challenged.
The report notes that 65,000 residential units have been granted permission under the SHD process. How many of these have been built? How have those that have been built contributed to the provision of housing that is within the reach of the ordinary citizen? To what extent have they fulfilled their promise to “alleviate the current housing supply crisis”?
Instead of blaming the only redress that remains to the citizen against overwhelming development, they might look at whether this profoundly anti-democratic SHD process has managed “to ramp-up the delivery of housing”, as they promised. – Yours, etc,
ROBIN MANDAL,
Dublin 6.