Higher densities, taller buildings and a new civic core are all part of the new district centre planned for Stillorgan in south Dublin as envisaged in the Stillorgan Local Area Plan (LAP), which has just been put out to public consultation.
The LAP, which has statutory powers to govern all future development in the south Dublin village, has set a guideline height of up to five-storeys for the district centre of Stillorgan.
It has also identified two areas along the N11 - roughly the Leisureplex site and the Blake's/Esmonde Motors sites - where heights of up to nine storeys will be permitted.
The plan aims to address population decline in the village by reviving the heart of the village, enhancing the diversity of housing and promoting higher densities.
Stillorgan, which has experienced a net population loss of almost 10 per cent in the last 10 years, now has a population of just under 16,000 and a population density of just 33.2 persons per hectare.
The area is dominated by large detached and semi-detached homes and does not provide for "empty nesters" who wish to trade down, according to the strategy.
Stillorgan also fails to make "efficient use of urban building land", it says.
Five sites in the village have been identified as areas with "significant development potential" - Blake's, Leisureplex, Esmonde Motors, the Millhouse and Stillorgan shopping centre.
Planning permission has already been secured by Treasury Holdings for the Stillorgan shopping centre and the Blake's site, and the owners of the Esmonde Motors site have recently secured permission for an 11-storey development.
While the plan does not incorporate any significant road changes, it does envisage the creation of a civic core around the existing junction of the Kilmacud Road Lower and the Old Dublin Road/The Hill, which has been identified as the retail core of the village.
Three of the four corners of this core area are in the ownership of the same developer, Treasury Holdings, and new junction layouts may form part of planning applications.
A bus/taxi/cycle/pedestrian-only area of the Old Dublin Road, between the Leisureplex and the shopping centre, has also been identified.
The LAP raises more questions than it answers, according to a spokeswoman for Stillorgan District Community and Residential Alliance, an umbrella group representing 23 residents groups in the area.
In particular, the lack of clarity on road layouts and densities are "disappointing" she said.
The LAP will be on public consultation for five weeks before it is presented to councillors for approval.
