Pelletstown Planning Scandal

27 September 2001

by Cllr Joe Costello

The adjourned meeting of the Area Committee for Dublin Central was held on Tuesday 11th September.It was agreed that the motion tabled by me at the previous meeting on the 4th September would be responded to on the 11th.The motion is as follows: “That an independent legal opinion be sought to determine whether planning application No.0120/01 and No 4289/00 re. Pelletstown are in breach of the Area Action plan in relation to density, height and any other matter and if so what the legal implications are.” In their reply the Corporation acknowledged that there would be 4000 housing units though the Area Action Plan presented in conjunction with the rezoning application only referred to 1000 houses; that the proposed height was 2-5 stories in the Action Plan whereas the Developers' plans were for 2-8 stories; and that there was no provision for social and affordable housing in the present planning applications.Nevertheless they concluded that “the development complies with the Pelletstown Action Plan in relation to density, movement, urban design, land mix and key spatial components.”The Corporation have now granted full planning permission to the planning applications on Pelletstown."The decision by Dublin Corporation to grant planning permission for this monstrosity is an absolute disgrace, said Senator Joe Costello. "Over 2000 individual residents in the Navan Road area had lodged objections. The Area Action Plan has been fundamentally breached by substantial changes to the number of housing units, the height of the apartments, the mix of unit size, the absence of a traffic plan and the absence of social or affordable housing. There is a month for objections to be lodged to An Bord Pleanala. I will be requesting An Bord Pleanala to hold an oral hearing into the planning applications and I will be seeking independent legal advice on the substantial breaches of the Pelletstown Area Action Plan.”ENDS