A local authority fighting a €47 million compensation claim from the controversial shelf company, Jackson Way Properties Ltd, is likely to rezone a vast tract of its lands within the next decade, it has emerged.
The rezoning of the Jackson Way land at Carrickmines in south Dublin would allow it be used for residential rather than agricultural use, significantly increasing its value.
On the 11th day of the hearing by an independent arbitrator of Jackson Way's compensation claim against Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council yesterday, the council's senior planner, Mr Richard Cremins, said the Jackson Way lands would be considered for rezoning during a review of the county development plan currently taking place.
He said the possibility of the land being rezoned would be looked at "in a serious manner" in the review of the next development plan in 2008.
A small portion of the Jackson Way holding, which runs to over 100 acres, was rezoned for industrial use in 1998 and Mr Cremins said it was unlikely this would have happened were it not for the proposed South Eastern Motorway. The motorway will cover 20 acres of Jackson Way's holding and divide the rest of its lands. This is the reason for the compensation claim.
Mr Cremins said that Jackson Way, in a submission to the council in 1997, argued its lands should be rezoned for residential use. "The main plank" on which it based this argument was that the land would soon be served by the motorway. Now, however, Jackson Way is claiming the motorway will destroy the development potential of its land and argues the lands would have been zoned residential were it not for the motorway.
Mr Cremins said the company, which is under investigation by the Flood tribunal and the Criminal Assets Bureau, had made no submission to have its land rezoned in the current review of the 1998 development plan.
In further evidence, he said there were a number of motions to rezone the Jackson Way lands over the years but only one was successful, allowing a portion of the land be used for industrial use. Inadequate road access to the property was the main reason zoning motions were rejected, he said.
He said some 77 hectares of other land was rezoned for residential use in the county in 1998. The land chosen was in Stepaside, which was closer to the city than Jackson Way's holding, and the council believed it was more than adequate to meet housing needs.
Mr Cremins said that while no planning application had ever been made in respect of developing the Jackson Way lands, he believed that in the long-term the motorway would enhance the development potential of the lands.
Meanwhile, Mr Cremins said it was up to developers to include in their plans measures to reduce noise in a housing development close to a motorway. Good double-glazing was usually adequate.
The hearing continues today.