A planned farewell concert at Dún Laoghaire Golf Club this afternoon is to be the subject of a "dignified protest" by members of up to 43 local residents' associations.
The locals, members of Combined Residents to Save Open Space (CRSOS) claim a deal between the club and property developers Cosgrave Brothers will leave them facing up to 10 years of "major difficulties" as the golf club site is redeveloped.
Chairwoman of CRSOS Gene Feighery said the association wished the members luck in their new home, but "we will be making a dignified protest to let people know that while it is a good deal for Cosgraves, and a good deal for the club, it is not a good deal for the people of surrounding areas".
This is the last weekend the club will spend at the Dún Laoghaire course and a concert featuring singers Chris de Burgh and Red Hurley has been planned to mark the occasion. It is understood the club has hired its own security for the event. From Tuesday next the club will be based at its new 300-acre home at Ballyman Glen, near Enniskerry.
Under the terms of the deal Cosgrave Brothers provided the club with a new 27-hole course designed by the world famous Hawtree Limited, and a clubhouse designed by architects Campbell Conroy Hickey. Cosgrave Brothers also provided €20 million in cash for the club.
In return, the property developers will take possession of the 78-acre, town-centre site on which it proposes to develop a total of 1,700 new homes as well as shops and offices over coming years.
In the first phase of development about 46 acres at the southern side of the course is to be the location for more than 800 new homes alongside a shopping centre and office development.
However, since the application for phase one was lodged last February DúLaoghaire-Rathdown County Council has repeatedly asked for clarification of aspects of the plan, including items relating to traffic management, access to the Dart lines, water and waste water issues and planting.
Council planners are understood to have taken issue with an assertion in the application that the new homes would be located within an eight-minute walk of the Dart station. The developers subsequently offered to subsidise a bus service between the development and the Dart for a period of three years.
Following the development of the southern side of the golf course Cosgrave Brothers plan to develop the northern side of the course with a new entrance from Kill Avenue.
Carriglea Gardens and Kill Avenue Residents' Association have called for a school to be provided by the developer on the site, pointing out that all three local schools are now full.
Other residents' associations have made submissions to the council criticising the grouping of social housing elements in one area, which they feel may give rise to ghettoisation of that area.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillors recently voted in favour of drawing up a local area plan to guide future development in the area.
It was unclear yesterday if the council would delay a decision on the golf club lands until the plan is in place.
