Major new housing development plan

A PUBLIC consultation process will begin in the New Year on a new social housing development planned for Station Road in Portmarnock.

Councillors on the Malahide/Howth Area Committee have voted to put a proposal for 26 new social housing units, north of Station Road, out on public display.

The site lies north of Portmarnock Train Station and south of the trotting-track and measures just over an acre in area.

One tenth of an acre has been put aside for public open space and the development will have a relatively high density of 23.5 dwellings per acre.

The development will include 13 two-bed dwellings that will be specially adapted for people with special needs and suitable for up to three people.

There will also be six three-bed duplexes suitable for four people and a further seven three-bed duplexes, suitable for five people.

The development will have 33 car parking spaces, including 13 disabled spaces and each dwelling will have a minimum of 31 square metres of private open space.

Senior Planner, James Caffrey presented the plans to the latest meeting of the Malahide/Howth Area Committee and said that the council was ‘very pleased’ with the design of the development.

One large house exists on the site but Mr Caffrey told the committee that there was ‘no sustainable way to develop the site and retain the house’.

‘We think this is a very good proposal. It makes good use of the site and we think it will be an attractive development,’ Mr Caffrey told the committee.

Cllr Peter Coyle (Lab) reminded council officials that there was an objective in the County Development Plan to link housed in Drumnigh and Station Road to the mains and asked if that could be achieved through this development.

Senior Executive Officer at the Housing Department, Brendan Fleming said the council would have to see what was the optimum way of achieving the objective in the development plan.

‘It may be with this development or it may not be with this development,’ Mr Fleming told the committee.

Following a motion put by Cllr Coyle on the matter, Mr Fleming said that the possibility of achieving the objective with this development will be investigated and if it is not the right time to do it, a statement on the matter will be attached to the plans when they go on public display.

‘If it can be done and it is the optimum place then we have to put it in,’ Cllr Coyle said.

Cllr Darragh O’Brien (FF) asked if local people will be given priority when the units are allocated and Mr James Caffrey confirmed that priority would be given to people on the housing list for the Malahide and Portmarnock areas.

Mr Caffrey said the council was ‘satisfied’ that it could come up with a safe access route to the site and that sustainable materials would be used in the development’s construction, where possible.

It was unanimously agreed at the committee to allow the plans for the development go out on public display in January.

By John Manning

Fingal Independent