Major projects are ‘very exciting’ time period for South Dublin

THE role of Director of Economic, Enterprise and Tourism Development in South Dublin County Council covers an extensive portfolio, but new Director Jason Frehill is looking forward to “exciting” times ahead.

Mr Frehill is only in the job about three weeks, but has hit the ground running due to his background in public service.

He was a senior planner with South Dublin County Council for five years, involved in the Clonburris SDZ. Previously, he worked with Dublin City Council, and before that, Frehill worked at the Dublin Docklands.

“It has been a pretty good transition, the role now is much broader,” he said.

Major regeneration projects in Clonburris, Adamstown, the Naas Road, and proposals for further development at Grange Castle, naturally garner much of the public’s attention, but Frehill says local businesses won’t be overlooked.

“There are about 6,000 employers in the county, it’s about supporting those businesses and how we can attract new businesses to the area, local businesses, SME’s and foreign investment,” he said.

“In local enterprises, we have been inundated by people looking for supports and we will support them. There was a lot of uncertainty last year, a level of flux, but all going well, the economy is on the up, and with a government strategy in place to get back on track, it is up to us to lead on that.”

Earlier this year, the council was awarded

€186.32 million in funding for the SDZ’s

(Strategic Development Zones) in Clonburris and Adamstown, to support the delivery of over 9,000 new homes.

Delivery of housing is already underway in the SDZ’s but Frehill says it is full steam ahead for the next phases of the work schedule.

“Houses should be occupied in Q2/Q3 2023. The plan is for 9,000 houses over a 10-year period. On our own land, we will have 2,500 units, starting construction next year.”

Referencing the work his fellow council management colleagues Mick Mulhern and Colm Ward are involved in, Frehill says these major projects, which include strategic town centre infrastructures, represent a “very exciting” time period for the county.

The Naas Road City Edge project was met with suspicion by local residents, concerned at the impact 40,000 new homes will have on local infrastructure.

Frehill says careful planning by South Dublin County Council, Dublin City Council and other shareholding agencies for the project on 700 acres of land, will address these concerns, and public consultations will feed back into the decision-making process.

In other areas, Frehill states the green economy is “one of the big issues” facing the council in their efforts to support a seven per cent reduction in carbon output and the goal of becoming “carbon-neutral by 2050”.

He said: “Arts and culture is very important as well, a lot of public realm projects are about to happen. It is about getting people back on the streets and supporting the local economy.”

The conversation leads to one such local initiative, the Urban Picnic, a new market at Corkagh Park, that has been piloted for September and October.

So far, the response to the market has been good, and the council plan on investing millions more at Corkagh Park in the years ahead, to develop a family friendly location capable of hosting all manner of activities, including live music events.

“We will look at the piloting for the eight-week period, make informed decisions, there was huge demand for it,” said Frehill.

“Corkagh Park is a flagship project for South Dublin County Council.

“See if we can make the best use of it, attract in other people, not just in Corkagh Park, but across the whole county, on similar markets elsewhere, what the parameters are and what works.

“We are looking at it very clsely. Trying to support local vendors and local businesses involved in food manufacture and supply.”