Planning sought for 564 homes in Balbriggan

Dean Swift Property Holdings seeks 10-year permission

Plans have been lodged for a €251.5 million 564 unit residential scheme for a site off Flemington Lane near Balbriggan in north Co Dublin.
Plans have been lodged for a €251.5 million 564 unit residential scheme for a site off Flemington Lane near Balbriggan in north Co Dublin.

Plans have been lodged for a €251.5 million 564-unit residential scheme for a site off Flemington Lane near Balbriggan in north Co Dublin.

In the large scale residential development (LRD) scheme application lodged with Fingal County Council, Dean Swift Property Holdings is seeking a 10-year planning permission for 378 houses, 102 apartments and 84 duplex units.

The proposal also includes the provision of nine commercial units and six communal units and the 56-acre greenfield site 2.4km from Balbriggan town centre is currently used for agriculture including crop-growing.

As part of its Part V social housing obligations, the firm has put an indicative price tag of €50 million on 114 units to be sold to Fingal County Council for social housing.

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The units will have an average indicative price tag of €439,046 and a final price will be agreed if and when planning permission is secured.

As part of a 127-page planning report lodged with the application, planning consultant Kevin Hughes of Hughes Planning and Development Consultants has told the council that the scheme “presents an appropriately-scaled residential development on residentially-zoned land”.

Mr Hughes stated that the application site “has the capacity to accommodate additional residential accommodation and respond to the current housing shortage apparent in the north Dublin area”.

He also stated that the scheme “will significantly enhance the vitality of the area”.

The planning report further states that “the scheme caters for growing families and those trading up from apartment living, offering two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four-bedroom dwellings in various configurations”.

A planning permission for 532 dwellings on the lands expires in 2025 and Mr Hughes states that “this new application essentially seeks to improve the quality of the scheme and bring the density and design further in line with more recent planning policy”.

Mr Hughes also stated that “the layout and design changes incorporated into the final scheme are considered to result in improvements to the overall development and ensure that a high-quality mixed-use development will be provided”.

He contends that the development of the lands in question will see the delivery of key infrastructure and amenities, including a ring road and a public park “which will not only serve the proposed development but will further benefit the wider surrounding environs”.

In its report Ferreira Architects state that these lands provide the applicants “with a marvellous opportunity to develop a landmark residential development outside Balbriggan near the coast of north Co Dublin”.

A decision is due on the application in September.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times