Lessons must be learnt from Castleknock Planning Decision – O’Gorman

06/02/10

Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has demanded that villages in Dublin 15 get protection from inappropriate development and that this be written into the new Fingal County Development Plan. He was speaking after the decision of An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission for a large development in Castleknock village.

“Like everyone else in the area, I am hugely disappointed to see the decision of An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission for a large development in Castleknock village. Along with local residents, I objected to the development and made a submission to the appeal to the Board. In light of the decision, I’m calling on our local councillors to ensure that villages such as Blanchardstown and Clonsilla are given specific protection from high rise buildings and that this is written into the new Fingal County Development Plan.”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“What has happened in Castleknock should be a lesson to us all. Where there is undeveloped land close to the centre of a village, there needs to be specific local area objectives put into the new County Development, stating that buildings cannot be constructed over a certain height. Planning bodies like An Bord Pleanala will be bound by these and this will stop them granting permission for inappropriate developments”.

“I think our councillors let us down in the last Development Plan by not having the foresight to realise that open space, like the one in Castleknock, was clearly a magnet for big property developers, looking to squeeze as many buildings onto it as they could”.

“In Blanchardstown village, we already know there are proposals to allow high rise buildings of five or even six stories on sites like Superquinn and on the Bell pub. These were contained in a recent Draft Urban Strategy for the village. It is essential that our local councillors act to have local objectives inserted into the new Development Plan, stating that high rise will not be permitted here”.

“I’ll be keeping up pressure on our local representatives, to make sure that the same mistake that was made in Castleknock isn’t made again”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

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