News that An Bord Pleanála had turned down a proposed development of 881 apartments on the site of the old Dundrum shopping centre follows an all-too-familiar pattern. A lengthy and complicated process has a project shot down due to objections and the decision of planners that rules had been contravened. Initial plans to redevelop this site go back as far as 2004, with the latest decision relating to an application process that started towards the end of 2021.
I am not qualified to give an opinion on the reasons the scheme was turned down, which ranged from height to the nature and scale of the residential plans, to flood planning and transport concerns and a view that it did not fit within planning guidelines. Reading the decision gives an insight into the complexity of factors involved.
But what is clear when we stand back is that this is another example of the planning and development system not acting in the wider national interest. There is, after all, a housing crisis. Here is a site that is ideally suited to development. It is in an urban area where, on the basis of all the national and local plans, development is desirable. National guidelines underline the vital goal of more “compact” living – developing sites near city and town centres and transport links, necessary to achieve climate goals. This site is 50m from a Luas stop, beside a host of bus services and near schools, shops and other services.
Read the full article at the Irish Times
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