Developer concerns with proposed objectives

THE owner of an 18-acre brownfield site on the Naas Road said they ‘welcome the review of the South Dublin County Development Plan’ and the ‘inter-authority approach’ to regenerating lands on the Naas Road, but have concerns about the potential impact of one of the proposed objectives.

The O’Flynn Group owns the former Nissan site with frontage onto the Naas Road, Walkinstown Avenue and the Longmile Road.

The plan-making team for the development framework of the site should collaborate with the O’Flynn Group, according to the submission, to consider an “optimum land use strategy” for the site.

Plans for the site include the permitted Southwest Gate development of 1,123 new residential units with mixed residential tenure, along with permitted commercial and retail uses such as a hotel, offices, and a primary care centre.

A proposed objective for the Naas Road area, Objective CS2, in the County Development Plan aims for the preparation of a Local Area Plan or “other appropriate mechanism” for the regeneration lands on the Naas Road.

The O’Flynn group stated: “It is important that the plans proposed under Objective CS2 of the Draft South Dublin Development Plan do not affect the delivery of this permission [for the Southwest Gate development] in a timely manner.

“Phased and sequential development can have unintended consequences in the context of permitted developments, and this must be given full consideration so as not to undermine the timely implementation of Southwest Gate and other local permissions that provide for regeneration opportunities.”

In concluding their submission, the O’Flynn Group advised the council to “actively pursue” the objectives outlined in the Draft Development Plan and that they should “engage with all relevant stakeholders”, including the O’Flynn Group, in relation to the regeneration of lands at the Naas Road and Ballymount.