Have your say on vision for Tallaght Town Centre

Have your say on vision for Tallaght Town Centre

By Mary Dennehy

THE Proposed Draft Tallaght Town Centre Local Area Plan (LAP) has gone to public consultation, and is open for viewing and submissions until October 24.

The draft plan outlines a vision for the Tallaght Town Centre area between 2020 and 2026.

LAP views of Tallaght 8 compressor

It’s important people living in the area have their say

However, while the proposed plan has a statutory six year timeframe, its full build out, which includes “significant regeneration and intensification of brownfield lands and changing character areas”, is envisaged over a longer period of 20 years.

Proposals made within the LAP focus purely on Tallaght Town Centre, which consists of eight ‘neighbourhood areas’.

These include the Centre (Square and surrounding areas), Cookstown, the Village, Broomhill, Greenhills, TUD Tallaght Campus, Whitestown and the Town Park (Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght Stadium).

According to the council, the purpose of the LAP is to provide a “strategic framework for the sustainable development” of Tallaght Town Centre – the Capital of South Dublin County.

“This Local Area Plan seeks to deliver high quality housing and well connected neighbourhood areas with a strong sense of community and social cohesion”, the council writes in the draft plan.

“It seeks to promote prosperity and opportunity in terms of employment, economic development and tourism while ensuring the conservation and enhancement of green infrastructure and built heritage.

LAP Tallaght Village stock shots 8A compressor

The Dancers in Tallaght Village

“The LAP is a blueprint to ensure Tallaght Town Centre and the Plan lands are developed in a sustainable and liveable manner, where a sense of community is forged, as its population increases”.

The Tallaght Town Centre LAP is a big deal and it’s important that people living in the area have their say on how their hometown develops over the next five years, and into the future.

The draft plan is broken down into a number of key areas, including individual chapters on each of the eight neighbourhood areas – making the plan easy to work through and digest.

Residential development is one key area, and according to the draft plan, the regeneration lands could deliver up to 5,000 homes in the years up to 2026.

With an area of 270 hectares, the full development of the LAP could accommodate between 9,700 to 12,800 new homes, 4,700 to 12,800 additional jobs and a population of up to 38,000 people over the next 20 years.

The Council outlines its policy for housing/occupancy mix, which will be applied across the LAP on a site by site basis – a minimum of 30 per cent of units for owner occupation/private sale; a maximum of 60 per cent units for Build to Rent; and a minimum of 10 per cent of units for social housing.

According to the council: “To avoid an over proliferation of a single, housing tenure, new housing developments in the plan must make provision for a balanced mix of private, build to rent and social housing to accommodate the needs of a mixed and balanced community.”

LAP Tallaght stock views 13 compressor

Tallaght

Housing alone cannot build connected and sustainable communities, with the draft plan also looking at neighbourhoods, community facilities and services, economic development and tourism and heritage and conservation.

Climate Change, and proposed plans for parks and recreation, biodiversity, green infrastructure and flood risk management, also feature.

According to County Mayor Vicki Casserly: “The success of the plan depends on the active participation of communities, business and residents and I encourage all interested parties to engage in the public consultation process.”

During the six-week public consultation stage, the proposed plan can be viewed at County Library and County Hall during normal working hours.

Council staff will be available to answer general queries in the foyer of County Hall every Wednesday, during the consultation period, between 11am and 1pm.

People with queries are also invited to visit the County Library in Tallaght on Monday, September 23 from 1pm to 4pm; Tuesday, October 1 from 4pm to 7.30pm; Thursday, October 10 from 1pm to 4pm; and Tuesday, October 15 from 4pm to 7.30pm.

The plan is also available to read online at http://consult.sdublincoco.ie.

Submissions on the proposed plan can be made online through the council’s consult portal or in writing to the council.

What will LAP deliver over next 6 years?

Delivery of the following will be sought within the lifetime of the LAP (2020 – 2026)

● Delivery of between 3,000 and 5,000 new homes

● A mix of new employment spaces

● Development of Tallaght Stadium’s Fourth Stand

● Redevelopment, enhancement of the Square

● Cycling and pedestrian infrastructure links

● New schools

● Improvements to the street network including extensions to Airton Road and Cookstown Road

● Enhancement of existing green spaces

● Creation of a network of public open spaces

● New transport interchange at The Square

● Enhanced bus service across the centre

● District heating system (HeatNet)

In the longer term, over a period of up to 20 years, it is envisaged that the full build out of LAP lands could deliver

● Between 9,700 and 12,800 homes

● Achieve a population of up to 38,000 people within the LAP land

● An additional 570,000m2 to 918,000m2 of non-residential floor space could accommodate an additional 4,700 to 12,800 jobs

Over the next few weeks we will be covering different aspects of the LAP plan. Let us know your thoughts on the Local Area Plan. Email: news@echo.ie

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