Plans to build 1,000 apartments in the village of Donabate have been described by the area’s community council as a “declaration of war” on the residents.
An application has been made directly to An Bord Pleanála by Aledo Limited to build 1,368 housing units at the Corbillis East site behind Smyth’s pub.
The Strategic Housing Development application outlines plans for 353 houses and 1,015 apartments, three childcare facilities and associated site works.
However, An Bord Pleanála on its website combines the apartments and duplexes and describes the application as consisting of “1,015 no. apartments”.
The lands concerned, which run down to the ecologically sensitive Broadmeadow Estuary, were controversially zoned for housing a decade and a half ago.
Donabate Portrane Community Council said: “The plans for so many apartments and duplexes are totally inappropriate given the village setting.
“The application amounts to a declaration of war against the community.”
The peninsula has no garda station, a congested rail service, limited infrastructure and inadequate amenities, a DPCC spokesperson argued. The application, if it succeeds, could mean an additional 3,000 people living in an area straining to cope with its existing population levels.
Earlier this year Donabate Portrane Community Council welcomed An Bord Pleanála’s decision to refuse permission for works associated with the development of the same Corballis East site.
Aledo was granted permission by Fingal County Council to construct roads and other services to enable the future construction of more than 1,000 houses on the site, but it was overturned on appeal.
