Huge north Dublin housing scheme faces court challenge ‘regardless’ of plan to scale it back

One of the biggest residential developments approved under State fast-track planning rules, comprising more than 1,300 proposed units, in Donabate, north Dublin, looks set to face a High Court challenge following a meeting of local residents on Tuesday.

Development firm Cannon Kirk has offered to scale back the estimated €360 million Corballis East scheme and reduce the number of apartments in a fresh planning application to allay local concerns. But local opponents who spoke to The Irish Times say they intend to bring a legal challenge “regardless” to scupper the developer’s existing permission under Strategic Housing Development (SHD) rules.

The project, which received SHD approval last month from An Bord Pleanála, is proposed for a site close to the Dublin-Belfast rail line and the Malahide estuary, a sensitive nature site. It is believed to be the second-largest SHD scheme in the State after the 1,600-unit Holy Cross development in Drumcondra.

Cannon Kirk, owned by Mayo brothers Michael and Cathal Cannon and property developer Owen Kirk, received permission on the site for 346 houses, 625 apartments and 352 duplex units, which local opponents say are also effectively apartments.

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The developer this week said it acknowledges the “concerns” of local opponents and will apply early next year to the local authority in Fingal for scaled-back permission under normal planning rules, outside the SHD process. It said it intends to remove the “majority” of apartment buildings and reduce the height of the remaining structures.

Cannon Kirk later clarified to The Irish Times that in the scaled-back scheme, the number of houses will increase by almost 200 to 545, while the number of apartments will fall by more than 450 to 162. Overall, the number of units in the updated scheme will drop from 1,323 to 1,059.

Michael Cannon said the revised plan “could be beneficial to align our respective objectives and hopefully address local concerns”. Aledo Donabate, the Cannon Kirk entity that owns and plans to develop the scheme, also said it had “reached out” to local opponents.

David Fletcher, chairman of the Donabate Community Council, which opposes the scheme, said the group received an email on Tuesday from Aledo but that it had responded to say that the overture was “inappropriate”.

“Regardless of what is proposed now, it is irrelevant. They would still have the SHD to fall back on [if the alternative planning application failed],” he said. Mr Fletcher said the community council is “planning to proceed regardless” with a judicial review application and will look to raise up to €40,000 from residents to fund the action.

“The time for consultation with us was at the start of the whole process,” he said.

Cannon Kirk could not be reached for further comment about the proposed legal action.

Local Fingal councillor Adrian Henchy, of Fianna Fáil, said that if the developer had originally come up with a “more appropriate scheme ... we could have lived with it”.

“We are not anti-apartment in this area, but this scheme has an imbalance that is far too great in favour of apartments over family homes.”

Mr Fletcher also said the local area did not yet have the social and physical infrastructure to cope with the number of new homes that developers want to build in the area.

Cannon Kirk has owned the site for decades. The firm is currently backed by Oaktree Capital, which financed its 2017 exit from Nama.