Abandoning limits on residential densities is proving the most controversial issue in the draft development plan for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. Fears are being expressed that it could mean an "open season" on some of Co Dublin's most desirable areas.
When the draft plan was unveiled last May, Dun Laoghaire's longest-serving councillor, Ms Jane Dillon-Byrne (Labour), described the move as a "recipe for disaster", threatening over-development and exploitation of "every square inch of these very special districts".
Residents' associations in mature, leafy suburbs such as Glenageary are believed to be preparing detailed objections to the proposed change, because they fear that it would lead to the colonisation of back-land areas for high-density schemes of apartments and townhouses.
But the planners insist that their draft plan "represents a step towards sustainability" because it would help to consolidate the existing built-up area, making better use of its infrastructure and thereby relieving the pressure for new housing on greenfield sites.
Mr John O'Sullivan, transport spokesman for An Taisce and a former Dun Laoghaire councillor, is not convinced that scrapping residential density controls "to fill in everywhere you can" in the built-up area will necessarily reduce the spread of suburban housing.
"The urban-renewal experience over the past 10 years has shown that, despite intensive residential development in inner-city areas, land is still being gobbled up on the periphery," he said. "My fear is that we would be walking into a trap by getting rid of density controls."
Although Mr O'Sullivan accepts that higher densities may be justified along public transport routes, he does not believe that new residential development in the mews lanes of Dun Laoghaire - as provided for in the plan - would have any impact on the market for suburban housing.
With Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown's population set to reach 200,000 within the next five to 10 years, it is expected that county councillors will come under strong pressure from property interests to rezone more agricultural land in the area for residential development.
Despite pledges in the draft development plan to "strictly control further expansion of the suburbs into rural and high-amenity areas" and to "minimise the consumption of . . . land", it seems almost inevitable that hundreds of acres will fall prey to housing.
Incredibly, half of the new county's land area is still rural, of which nearly 80 per cent consists of upland or mountain terrain, but it is a "central element" of the draft plan to protect the Dublin Mountains from "visual and physical erosion by urban-generated development".
The draft includes measures aimed at deterring the spread of bungalows in high-amenity areas, above the 400-ft contour line. Applicants must be natives of the area and must be able to show a "genuine need" for housing before the planners will consider it.
The lands most likely to come under pressure for suburban housing are located in the remaining 20 per cent of the county which retains a rural character. These would include the Carrickmines Valley, Glenamuck, Sandyford and the remaining undeveloped parts of Rathfarnham.
And the council itself is investing heavily in major drainage schemes to facilitate development. "This will ensure that an ample supply of serviced residential zoned lands will be available to cater for the projected needs of the county well beyond the period of this plan."
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown's population grew from 180,675 in 1986 to 189,836 in 1996 and is forecast to increase to 200,000 by 2007, if not sooner. This is mainly due to in-migration, which "will rise with the volume of residential land made available for development".
The demand for housing in this choice part of Dublin has "consistently outstripped supply", according to the draft plan. But its aim to promote a "more compact urban form" by conceding higher residential densities in the existing built-up area is unlikely to deter further rezoning.
It is anticipated that the prospective developers of virgin land at Cherrywood, in the Carrickmines Valley, will seek to have its density substantially increased from the four-to-six houses per acre permitted under the current plan to 10 houses per acre or even more.
They will be able to point to a provision in the draft plan that higher densities "may be permissible along strategic public transport corridors", such as the proposed Luas line, which the Dun Laoghaire planners want to see extended southwards as far as Cherrywood.
Sixty acres of land at Cherry wood is zoned for a "science and technology park", although this may no longer be viable given that the last government designated another site near Tallaght for a similar development. If so, the 60 acres could be rezoned for housing.
Such a reversal would run counter to the repeated references in the draft plan to the concept of "sustainable development", which the planners have defined as including the provision of job opportunities close to where people live "to help reduce the need to travel".
For example, the plan would facilitate "home-based economic activities", such as running a creche or nursery school, where they can be accommodated "without detriment to the amenities of residential areas". There would be a limit of eight children in any such creche.
In employment terms, as the draft plan concedes, the new county must be viewed as part of the Greater Dublin area, with "significant numbers" of its residents commuting to work in the city centre, in other parts of the metropolitan area and beyond.
Reflecting its relative prosperity, car ownership rates in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown are high, with nearly two-thirds of households having two or more cars, roughly double the rate for Dublin as a whole. However, 24 per cent of households do not have a car.
The planners concede that they have prepared the draft plan "in the absence of a coherent and co-ordinated overall land-use policy for the Dublin region". But they say the "metropolitan interest" has been taken into account in relation to policies which have a regional impact.
This applies particularly to transport, where the council is committed to implementing the Dublin Transportation Initiative's strategy, including major road schemes as well as measures "to upgrade the public transport system and provide a viable alternative to the private car".
In terms of shopping, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown has the highest level of retail floor-space per capita in the State, and the draft plan focuses on the need to support the viability of existing centres against competition from large-scale developments near the C-Ring motorway.
It takes on board the Dublin Regional Authority's objective to "protect and enhance the unique coastline of the region". As a result, it designates several areas - notably in Dalkey and Killiney - where no new development will be permitted between the coast road and the sea.
The council also intends to prepare a more detailed Coastal Zone Management Plan with the aim of maximising the "economic, recreational and amenity benefits of the coastline and to ensure that the long-term integrity of this prime natural asset is protected".
It pledges to maintain Dun Laoghaire Harbour as "the premier passenger ferryport and amenity harbour in the State". The harbour, with its stone-cut granite piers forming a "unique landmark in Dublin Bay", is recognised as a "public asset of major importance".
The council remains committed to developing The Gut area adjoining the West Pier, with a "properly planned landfill" to facilitate harbour-related activities, accessed by a new bridge over the railway line at Salthill. This will be subject to an environmental impact assessment.
The draft plan reaffirms the council's willingness to facilitate a marina in the harbour, probably along the lines of a scheme put forward by the yacht clubs a few years ago, which would install berthage for at least 500 boats beside a completely remodelled Carlisle Pier.
Mr O'Sullivan, of An Taisce, said he would not be opposed to such a scheme, providing that public access was maintained and that no area within the harbour was infilled for car-parking. But he felt that the plan to develop The Gut, now more than 10 years old, should be dropped.
However, he was impressed by the inclusion in the draft of the European Charter of Pedestrian Rights as well the Aalborg Charter, which commits its signatories, some 90 cities and towns throughout Europe, to adopt policies aimed at securing "sustainable development".
The draft also includes an extensive list of historic buildings scheduled for preservation or protection, including 27 important interiors ranging from St Helen's House, off Stillorgan Road, to the late Michael Scott's modernist house in Sandycove, which was built in the late 1930s.