Horror at Monster Plans for Development in Sallynoggin
Locals say that they are horrified at proposals for a development on the site of the former Deerhunter pub at the Glenageary/Sallynoggin roundabout. The site of the proposed development is zoned NC ‘neighbourhood centre’ with a zoning objective to ‘To protect, provide for and/or improve mixed-use neighbourhood centre facilities, however campaigners say the latest plans from Red Rock Glenageary for blocks apartments up to 7 storeys does not chime with that objective.
Red Rock was refused permission for nine storey scheme following a strong local campaign in 2022. Nicola Coleman, a community organiser who started a petition against the previous plans says that the campaign is being resurrected and the communities are joining forces to resist this latest plans.
Red Rock Glenageary lodged a planning application on the 10th of May for an LRD development of 140 apartments and commercial units to include a pharmacy, a florist, a restaurant and a creche.
Coleman says that the campaign is very concerned at CGI images presented on the developer’s website which she says give a distorted view of the plans.
‘These images were created using wide angle lenses that make tall buildings look smaller and farther away. Realistically, a 7-storey building on top of a hill beside small houses and cottages will look, overbearing and enormous.’
This site is not zoned for high-rise high-density development and should not be mis-purposed in such a cynical way. Neighbourhoods must be properly planned and designed based on people’s needs and wellbeing, not based on the pursuit of profit. A site zoned NC should provide real, useful, social neighbourhood facilities and must respect the surroundings and the people that live there.
She says ‘These proposals are a mockery of the zoning objectives of the site and that the people of Sallynoggin and Glenageary deserve a proper neighbourhood centre.
‘Why should just one developer, alone, with no roots in the area, get to produce a plan for our neighbourhood centre? Surely such a plan should involve everybody in the community and be part of a proper Local Area Plan.
Unlike other areas in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, Sallynoggin does not yet have a Local Area Plan.
Coleman says -
‘Until a proper Local Area Plan is in place it would be madness to grant permission on a site zoned neighbourhood centre.
Our neighbourhood is full of families with young children who have nowhere to play and teenagers who frequently hang out in the forecourt of Lidl. We have people in later years who need services. We have recently witnessed the tragedy of an elderly member of our community who died during the pandemic and lay undiscovered for over a year. Would a park bench nearby and place to meet without having to spend a fortune have made a difference?
She says we need a neighbourhood centre that nurtures our community and that provides safe spaces where people can gather, to sit, play and socialise so nobody is left isolated.
She says housing built in the area must provide the sort of homes people need and be social and affordable. Instead, we have proposals for a development with where the majority are single aspect, one and two beds with only three, three bedroomed apartments.
People have many environmental concerns. In an era of climate change the field which has been fallow for years has acted as soak and people living nearby are concerned that such a large development could pose a flooding risk especially to the small houses nearby and further down the hill. She says reliance on an old Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not good enough when locals say they have seen hedgehogs nesting in the long grass and there is evidence of burrows. She says that the last EIA was conducted outside of the migration season and that the buildings could be in the flight path of Brent Geese who reportedly feed on the grass at Kilboggot park. There are big questions that need to be addressed about not just in terms of biodiversity and habitats but also the impact that such a massive development will have on sewage infrastructure and water pressure as well as the anticipation of utter traffic chaos at an already busy and dangerous junction.
She says several meetings held locally to discuss the chaos of a developer led planning system and its and it inability to provide housing drew large crowds from across the city including groups like ‘Love Dublin 8’ campaign and Monkstown Road Residents Association.
Communities across Dublin are just sick to the teeth of plans for unruly development and that it is an incessant battle for ordinary people to have their voice heard in a system where the property industry has huge lobbying powers and is heard at the highest level while the citizen is largely ignored.
She points out a developer gets pre planning meetings with the Planning Authority while the citizen gets a piece of paper pinned to a post with only five weeks to read and respond to complex information. Why are the community not involved at the earlier stages?
Our campaign called for consultation with the developer on any plans for this site. Instead in the weeks leading up to their planning application the field was fenced in and locked. DLRCOCO say that they issued a warning letter to the owners. However, the fence remains in situ. Coleman says people are concerned that maybe developers think they can do what they like?
She says –
It’s time to take a stand, everybody can use their voice to make an objection and ask their Local Politicians to stand up for the community. It’s just not good enough for government TDs to rattle out a mantra that they won’t oppose any planning applications housing, a nonsensical view that makes no difference at all. What our politicians should be doing is ensuring that social and affordable housing is built on state land and that any private developments provide quality homes and ones that do not end up in the hands of corporations and investment trusts.
Red Rock Glenageary’s plans can be viewed on its website www.glenagearygatelrd.ie
Observations can be made to DLRCOCO using the REFERENCE ID – LRD23A/0303 DEADLINE JUNE 13th
From an article published in the Southside People on 31st May