Residents concerned over work on modular home development

Residents in Brittas have raised concerns in recent months over an ongoing development on an infamous site in the area, which has seen “attacks” against it.

Chianti Park has been undergoing development works in the past months, almost 60 years after housing was initially set up on the site, sparking a legal battle spanning decades.

The mobile homes and chalets installed there in the sixties are now being replaced with modular homes, with the developer claiming that acts of arson and attempted arson have been carried out in the dead of night.

A concerned resident shared their worries that the new homes will overpopulate Brittas without providing the services necessary to accommodate the overload.

The concerned resident said: “We’re only, I think, a population of maybe 250 people in the Brittas area, and if this place is fully populated with 55-60 modular homes over the course of the next six months.

“And you have minimum two adults in each of them, like that significantly affects the population of the area.”

The most recent census figures from 2022 show that 166 people reside in Brittas, with one school servicing the children in the area.

A 2012 whole school evaluation report from the then-Department of Education and Skills noted 85 pupils were in attendance that year, with a 2011 census figure of 171 complementing it.

The resident noted that the area lacks piped water and sewage mains and is also without public transport.

They described the area that they live in as “completely rural”: “It’s not even safe to walk.”

Councillor Linda De Courcy has met with residents in the area to discuss the issue and has seen the site.

No planning permission application that correlates with the ongoing development at Chianti Park is visible on the South Dublin County Council planning portal or on An Comisiún Pleanála’s website.

Cllr De Courcy noted that signage for the site is also not very visible: “There’s no site safety information, there’s no ‘hard hats should be worn on site’, you know.

“When you go to a building site there’s all these signs…there’s none of that.”

The Clondalkin councillor added that trees have been felled, hedgerows have been cut, and local wildlife has been displaced.

Cllr De Courcy feels that the council should have moved quicker to solve this problem.

A letter sent to councillors at the start of October by Developer Paddy Byrne of Branach Developments Ltd detailed “deliberate attacks” against the site, including instances of attempted arson and vehicles set on fire.

The developer believed that these attacks correlate to rumours of an International Protection Accommodation Service centre being installed there.

Mr Byrne stated: “These works are fully in line with the Minister for Housing’s national housing objectives under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which direct planning authorities to facilitate the renewal, upgrading and replacement of existing residential units.

Chianti Park’s redevelopment is entirely consistent with these national policy directives, contributing directly to improving housing quality and energy efficiency in South Dublin County.”

When queried on the matter, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage issued the following statement.

“This is solely a matter for the Local Authority, the Department does not keep copies of planning applications.

“Section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended applies and the Minister shall not exercise any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or the Commission is or may be concerned.

“If there is any enforcement issue, then it is also a matter for the local authority under Part VIII of the Act and Section 30 also applies.”

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