Residents delighted with Newlands Farm decision

KINGSWOOD residents are “absolutely delighted” after a proposal centred around the 100-acre Newlands Farm was voted not be considered for future development for the time being.

The large site in the north of Tallaght was not put forward after a motion passed against the proposal to designate the site as a future strategic development area.

The well-known site by Newland’s Cross and between Tallaght and Clondalkin is a large stretch of green that separates the two communities and is currently designated for agricultural use, and the vote maintains its current zoning – including RU (rural protection), EE (enterprise and employment) and OS (open space).

The proposal has now been rejected by councillors twice this year, with a meeting in June seeing the lands turned down for consideration also.

Mary Keogh of Kingswood Heights welcomed the latest update in the situation and noted the importance of the site as a “green belt.”

Mary said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the outcome. Obviously, we would have liked more numbers voting for us… “…There’s no infrastructure in place for the green belt to sustain any sort of housing on it, and at the end of the day, we just don’t want it destroyed.

This year’s proposals came five years after plans to develop the area into a site with 3,500 homes were shelved.

Hibernia Real Estate Group acquired the Newlands Farm site just over a decade ago and has been interested in delivering developments there.

The owners had lodged an unsuccessful submission during the consultation process for the initial version of the 2022-28 county development plan, seeking to rezone the 144-acre greenfield site from agricultural to residential use.

Per the Chief Executive’s report on the recent round of public consultation regarding the lands, ‘Proposed Material Alterations to Proposed Variation No. 2 to the South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028’, it is noted that Hibernia Real Estate Group objected to the council’s initial vote to reject the proposal and sought the reinstatement of these plans.

She noted that more could be done with the land – she had previously stated that the location is “awash with biodiversity” and described wetlands and several protected species such as the Irish common frog, and other animals like badgers, hedgehogs, owls and bats living on the land.

“I believe the people that are on our side will remain so, and that they have the green belt as top priority, and they see the value of it – the environmental value, the biodiversity value – and the possibility of a nature reserve down there is just incredible.

“It’d be incredible if something like that could happen.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme