Socialist Party representative in the Howth/Malahide area, Brian Greene, is leading the fight against developer-led rezoning at Brickfield, Baldoyle.

Twice last year our local councillors were briefed on proposals that included a development of over 165 apartments in three to six storey blocks, accessing through Park Vale and Meadowbrook. Local people have united to "Save Our Park" from developer led rezoning of our open space / amenity area on Seagrange Park.

This has gone on long enough. It is time that residents let the local councillors know that we will not stand for development on this open space.

Residents have had an alternative plan for the area which was given to all councillors in 2004. Sporting organisations from both sides of the railway line were involved in the draft community plan which the council has continued to ignore. At a public meeting in July, local councillors will be quizzed and pressed by residents to oppose the rezoning. 

In the area over the years we have proven that if united, people power can save these lands from over-development and ensure the land is used as its current zoning suggests for amenities for the people of our area.

The Socialist Party has held a number of public meetings and canvassed door to door on the issue of the Kellystown rezoning. Through this work we have been involved in a real debate on the issue of the urgent need for a secondary school and the attempt to blackmail people into accepting the rezoning of land to allow the construction of 1,500 houses and apartments.

The majority of people are initially opposed to the idea of the rezoning. However, many are conflicted by the genuine need for a school and how will it be provided.

As outlined below the Socialist Party representatives in the area Councillor Ruth Coppinger and Joe Higgins have out forward a credible and viable way for a school to be built without giving into the developer’s blackmail. 

The rezoning is up for decision at the council in July. The Socialist Party’s councillors will vote against the proposal and will continue to stand alongside the community against planning decisions that will enrich developers instead of being in the interest of the community   

The proposal from Fingal County Council to rezone 150 acres of green belt buffer between Lucan and Blanchardstown has created division throughout the Castleknock/ Clonsilla community. The Kellystown rezoning proposal represents everything wrong in planning, using all the worst tactics of blackmailing the local community to surrender green belt in exchange for much-needed land for schools. Exploiting the fears of parents about where their children will go to school is reprehensible.

The previous decisions by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to rezone lands for development without adequate provision for schools and infrastructure that have led to this crisis. Making another corrupt rezoning decision will only extend it. School sites are needed for the existing community – more schools would be needed for Kellystown residents in only a few short years. Meanwhile, the existing community will suffer the extra traffic and strain on infrastructure arising from another 1,500  houses/apartments.

School sites are urgently needed and can be acquired in a number of ways. Fingal County Council and the Dept of Education can use their considerable influence with the Kellystown developer to sell them land for a school with the existing zoning. Why has Castlethorn never provided one school site for all the thousands of houses it has profited from throughout Castleknock? Why has it been allowed to owe Class 1 open space for its developments in Carpenterstown for over nine years?

Kellystown was only one of five sites previously identified. Others included sites along the Navan Road, Diswellstown, College Fort/Castleknock College and the Phoenix Park Racecourse, where the primary school is currently unviable. The suitability of all these sites should be immediately investigated by the Council/Dept and reported upon to the local community.

If  Kellystown is deemed the only site feasible for a secondary school, then the Department of Education/Fingal Council has very strong legal grounds for a Compulsory Purchase Order of the land.  This doesn’t have to take years as it would be a demonstrated social need.

Even if Kellystown is rezoned, there is no guarantee a secondary school will actually be built as the Department of Education has not allocated funding.

There is no market for more housing, as thousands of houses sit unsold in the area; banks are not lending; and prices have plummeted.  Land is already zoned for thousands more houses. There is thus no urgent requirement for this rezoning.

Outrageous claims are being made regarding the proximity of Kellystown to quality transport! The rail services cannot cater for the current population. Peak demand can only be improved with an Interconnector and an electrified rail line. Nor is there any guarantee that Metro will ever be built, given the economic downturn. If built in 10 years time, Metro will not take most commuters to work. Bus services in the area are also under-resourced.

The existing Dublin 15 population has a right to basic facilities that should not be dependent on even more development.

On planning grounds, this rezoning would set a dangerous precedent for other developers. It would make school sites or recreation lands difficult to acquire unless significant development was agreed in exchange.

Energy Answers International has applied to build a “resource recovery project” in Behan’s Quarry in Rathcoole. On first sight, this may seem like a brilliant example of Green Party policy in action, however, the reality behind the “doublespeak” is very different.

Energy Answers International is owned by Covanta, the company behind the proposed incinerator at Ringsend, and a “resource recovery project” actually means a massive incinerator!
The proposed incinerator will burn over 365,000 tonnes of waste a year. It will produce toxic emissions and waste as well as tiny toxic particles that can pass into the deepest parts of the lungs and into the blood stream. The wind will carry these right across Dublin, with a fallout zone of 30-40 miles. There are many studies which link these emissions to cancer, damage to organs, birth defects, coronary heart disease and strokes.

This incinerator poses serious health risks to the local community and people across Dublin. The promotion of these polluters as the only alternative to landfill is a false choice. What is needed instead is a proper integrated waste management plan – a drastic reduction of packaging at source combined with a serious approach to recycling and composting.

An Bord Pleanala is due to consider the incinerator in the coming months, and residents and campaign groups should make submissions opposed to it by 28 July. However, an Bord Pleanala has ruled in favour of these incinerators elsewhere like in Ringaskiddy in Cork, and in Poolbeg and may well do so again.

What is needed is to prepare for a campaign of “people power” to stop the incinerator. Already a meeting of around 500 people was held in Rathcoole. This could be added to by many more hundreds if not thousands more from the surrounding communities – Tallaght, Lucan and Clondalkin. If necessary, the campaign could follow the example of successful campaigns in the US, by mobilising to physically block construction of the project. Contact Cllr Mick Murphy on 4934696 to find out more.