One of the country’s biggest residential building projects in over a decade could be headed for Carrickmines.
Dublin house-builder Victoria Homes will seek planning permission under the fast-track process – which will go straight to An Bord Pleanala – for up to 850 homes on its site on Glenamuck Road.
The €375m scheme will comprise a mix of apartments, duplexes and houses, ranging in size from one-bedroom to four-bedroom homes.
It will be the largest project undertaken by the Dublin house-builders to date.
Directors Derek Byrne and Danny Whelan are backed by strong international investors and have been acquiring zoned lands in and around the capital over the past 18 months.
The first phase is expected to deliver 200 new homes, in line with current local infrastructure.
Director Derek Byrne said: “We know that the future of housing is changing, both in terms of what new buyers want and in how we can deliver on those expectations. Our development in Carrickmines will be the model for modern housing.”
There has been some concern expressed by locals about traffic in the area getting worse with an increase in developments.
Local councillor for the Glencullen-Sandyford Ward, Lettie McCarthy (Lab) told Dublin Gazette she in inundated with complaints from locals about the traffic, and she would like to see the issue tackled, before planning applications are considered.
She said: “The amount of complaints I’m getting by phone, email and Facebook about traffic delays of up to 40 minutes on the Glenamuck and Enniskerry Road, would be evidence enough that any further development is premature in the absence of the new road going in.
“I would like to see the road infrastructure progressed before new planning applications are considered.
“There simply isn’t room for any additional cars, and granted permissions are progressing which will bring more traffic.”
In a statement, Green Party Deputy Leader Catherine Martin said: “The application has not yet been noted on the An Bord Pleanala website, so the following statement is based only on the media reports surrounding the development, as I have not seen the specific plans.
“While new housing developments are very much to be welcomed, given the ongoing housing crisis, I am concerned that this development – alongside Clay Farm Phase 2 and the development plans for Cherrywood – needs to be done in as sustainable and well-planned a way as possible.
“We have seen in recent months serious capacity issues on the Luas line, so further investment in upgrading public and road transport infrastructure in the area needs to happen sooner rather than later.”
Locals took to social media to express their views to the news of the proposed development in Carrickmines.
On local Facebook page ‘Kilternan, Glenamuck & Carrickmines Areas’ one wrote: “Such a narrow road for all the housing that’s being built there already. Traffic [is] terrible there some evenings.”
Another wrote: “How the hell are they going to fit this on Glenamuck road?”
However, one person commented on the need for building in the midst of the housing crisis: “Heaven forbid some houses get built to help with the shortage of houses available needed for people needing to buy houses.”
