Sir, – Your article about Red Rock Glenageary’s intended high-rise development in Sallynoggin in Dublin cites support for the proposal by Kevin Hughes, of Hughes Planning and Development Consultants (“Some 80 objections lodged against build-to-rent scheme in Glenageary”, News, February 23rd).
However, I wish to take issue with a number of points made in the article, namely:
That the scheme is “located on residentially-zoned land”. This is wrong. The site on which the scheme is intended is zoned as a “neighbourhood centre”, which is defined as a location “to protect, provide for, and/or improve mixed-use neighbourhood centre facilities”. The site is not zoned for the construction of high-rise apartment buildings.
That the scheme is “in an existing urban settlement”.
This is also wrong. The site is in a suburban settlement.
That the scheme is “adjacent to existing infrastructure and services”.
This is inaccurate. The existing infrastructure and services do not support the proposed development. Specifically, the site in question is immediately adjacent to a roundabout, which is flanked by a minor road into an existing housing estate, as well as a single-lane carriageway. The junction itself is notoriously dangerous and could not safely support either the development as designed or the increased traffic that it would bring.
That the “positioning of the nine-storey element had been arranged to offer maximum separation from any adjoining amenities, which could be considered sensitive”.
This is nonsense. The nine-storey “element” to which Mr Hughes refers is only one of four apartment blocks Red Rock proposes to fit within a space no larger than a standard football pitch. The development would have a unit-per-hectare density that exceeds that of Manhattan in New York City, and sits just metres away from a row of single-storey cottages and a special-needs school.
Like so many communities across the country, residents of Sallynoggin are fed up with proposals like this one, especially where they are fast-tracked through a planning system that is designed to exclude meaningful engagement between developers, planners, and the community. The current system side-lines democratic process and instead grants exceptional power to the unelected appointees of An Bord Pleanála who too often permit developments even when their own inspectors and countless local voices are opposed.
This failure to provide for meaningful engagement incentivises and rewards the commoditisation of our homes in the name of reckless pursuit of profit. This is in no way an appropriate response to the housing crisis.
Red Rock should concede to the numerous requests to withdraw their application and should instead engage with the community in the interest of developing sensible and appropriate solutions to the housing crisis. The Irish Times should refrain from publishing erroneous and inaccurate statements without a complete assessment of the facts. – Yours, etc,
NICOLA COLEMAN,
Stop the Highrise
Campaign Coordinator,
Sallynoggin,
Co Dublin.