Concerns at 364 build-to-rent apartments

PLANS for 364 build-to-rent apartments on a site at Terenure College has led to concerns in the community, regarding lack of available housing to buy in the area, and impact on local infrastructure and services.

The Carmelites, who own the site and run Terenure College, say the sale of former playing pitches at the Fortfield Road side of the school, will help secure the future viability of the college.

The Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) comprises four apartment blocks rising to seven storeys in height – 15 studios, 166 one-bed apartments, 174 two-bed apartments and nine three-bed units.

Housebuilder Lioncor lodged plans – which also include 21 houses – for the scheme that is the first to be lodged with Dublin City Council under new planning rules for large-scale house developments, under a system that replaces the contentious Strategic Housing Development system.

A letter enclosed in the planning application from Fr Michael Troy, provincial of the Irish Province of Carmelites, said the development would “allow for a capital injection into Terenure College and secure the college’s future viability as a secondary school as well as benefit the ongoing work of the Carmelite Order in Ireland, Zimbabwe and other parts of the world.”

Fr Troy stated that the development site area at 6.2 acres would not impact on the operation of the school.

He said the remaining lands at 15 hectares “would be vastly more than that required for the school and associated uses”, adding that the site in question was “surplus to the requirements” of the order and Terenure College.

A resident meeting was held in St Mary’s Rugby Club on June 27, hosted by Senator Mary Seery Kearney.

In a letter sent out to residents ahead of the meeting by the Senator, it states additional housing is welcomed but local residents have expressed “grave concerns regarding the need for build to sell housing.”

It also details concerns on the impact of transient populations in a rental development, lack of investment in community capital, lack of parking at the site, inadequacy of infrastructure and amenities for proposed new residents, the area is located on a flood plain.

Armstrong Planning state in the planning application that the scheme will help address the housing shortage identified in the National Planning Framework and provide an alternative to larger houses that dominate the area.

The report states that the seven-storey height exceeds building heights that are generally permitted for the area in the City Development Plan but argues that Government’s building height guidelines leave it open for the council to approve such a development.

Closing date for third-party submissions on the scheme is July 18.