GAA Club supports development of 250 houses with promise of new sport facilities
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A LOCAL GAA club and a property developer in Newcastle have submitted a joint proposal to South Dublin County Council for the rezoning of land in Rathcoole from agricultural to residential use, with potential for the development of 250 houses.
St Finian’s GAA Club and developer and club member Con McCarthy recently submitted the proposal, concerning a site at Rathcreedan, adjacent to Newcastle Cemetery.
A joint proposal was submitted for rezoning of this site from agricultural to residential
According to the proposal, Mr McCarthy has committed to providing a minimum of 3.2 hectares of the 26-acre site, and “significant funding”, to develop leisure and recreational facilities at the site for use by the GAA and the wider community.
These facilities, including an all-weather pitch, basketball courts, dressing rooms, and walking, cycling and jogging tracks on a c.10-acre recreational facility, are to be developed as part of the proposed rezoning and subsequent development of the subject lands.
The subject lands are owned by Mr McCarthy, who stated that the aim of the proposal is to “outline the need to deliver sporting facilities” for St Finian’s and the community, “which would be developed in tandem with the delivery of a housing project”.
St Finian’s stated that Newcastle is “starved of recreational facilities” and, in relation to the housing aspect of Mr McCarthy’s plans, they said the development would result in “a very significant planning gain that will benefit generations of children and young adults.
“The developer wouldn’t make the proposal at all without it being a joint proposal and without it having widespread community support.”
Thornton O’Connor Town Planning, in a proposal submitted on behalf of St Finian’s and Mr McCarthy, stated that in the midst of “an acute housing crisis”, lands zoned for new residential development in Newcastle have “not been forthcoming to an extent that meets the demand” envisaged in the County Development Plan and within the Newcastle Local Area Plan 2012.
“The subject lands have the potential to provide residential development, in addition to community facilities to enable the growth of Newcastle as a small town,” according to Thornton O’Connor.
A possible motion was also included in the proposal, which suggested seeking to extend the boundary of the Newcastle Local Area Plan to encompass the subject site and the adjacent cemetery.
It’s also noted in the suggested motion compiled as part of the proposal that the “land and the facilities must be provided before any development can take place on the remainder of the site”.
Decisions relating to the rezoning of sites in the county are ultimately decided by councillors – who can submit motions suggesting the rezoning of sites – when they vote on the draft County Development Plan, which is currently under review.
