Councillors in Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown last night voted to begin a public consultation process to rezone land for residential development at a protected site in Killiney, south Dublin.
The 1.5-hectare site at Kilmarnock House on Military Road is currently zoned 0/0, which does not allow any increase in residential density.
The Affordable Homes Partnership (AHP) requested that Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council vary the county development plan to remove the 0/0 objective and allow the development of 70 per cent affordable homes and 30 per cent market-value homes.
The partnership envisages a development of three four-storey blocks and the conversion of Kilmarnock House to allow for 140 units.
Councillors were told 98 of these units would be twobedroom apartments for affordable housing at an estimated cost of €299,000 each. If a lower density of 100 units was given permission the cost would rise to €340,000 each.
Speaking on the issue, Cllr Maria Bailey (Fine Gael) said the rezoning was a smokescreen to allow development.
"This is not about affordable housing; it is about rezoning land," she said. Military Road was a very delicate junction, and could not take the strain of development.
The proposal is to go on public display within the next few weeks, and will then go back to councillors to make a final decision.
Meanwhile, almost two hours of last night's council meeting was taken up with wrangling over the control of the chairs of the council's strategic policy committees (SPCs).
The chairs of three of the committees had initially resigned. However, Cllr Tom Joyce (FG), chairman of the transportation committee, withdrew his resignation 20 minutes before the meeting.
If he had not withdrawn his resignation, Fine Gael and Labour would have risked losing control of one of the three SPCs, giving other parties an opportunity to put forward an agreed candidate.
The withdrawal of his resignation was accepted by a vote of 15 councillors to 12.
This prompted an unprecedented motion of no confidence in the cathaoirleach, Cllr Eugene Regan (FG).
The motion was defeated by 15 votes to 12.
