Madam, – South Dublin County Council has granted planning permission for the first phase of 11,500 homes less than 1km from Adamstown (Home News, February 10th). I would ask all concerned in the decision whether anything has been learned from the the current crisis relating to property development and the recession as a whole?
With Adamstown still in an early phase of development and with many units there lying dormant (when complete it should increase the population of Lucan by an estimated two-thirds), how does the council see the need for so many more new homes, to include many high-rise apartment blocks in the development to be known as Clonburris?
Lucan (adjoining both these areas) with all its traffic problems, is still awaiting a Luas connection, and will now face increased congestion as a result of this decision. Building high-rise apartments is not in keeping with local surroundings. Also, facilities that should be built before any new development proceeds have not be provided. Lucan still has no swimming pool, no fire station and there are difficulties regarding the number of school places in the area.
The argument from the council that we can’t stop development because of the current crisis doesn’t stand up. The council appears to be happy to approve these large developments without proper consideration to the needs of the local community or population at large.
Given current market conditions it is likely we will have another ghost town in a commuter belt. Even if the area becomes fully populated, the assumption that two-thirds of people will use public transport is unrealistic. Do we have evidence of that occurring in any other area of a similar size? Yours, etc,