A public meeting last week endorsed a call for a temporary ban on new large-scale developments in Donabate – as the peninsula suffered flooding at the weekend.
Residents at the meeting overwhelmingly called for infrastructural deficits to be dealt with before planning permission is granted for any more major building projects.
Donabate Portrane Community Council wants a halt to new builds until the Donabate Distributor Road is completed later this year and the road at the railway bridge has been widened.
At the weekend, DPCC posted photographs showing the extent of the flooding (right) adjacent to the distributor road arising from the inclement weather.
Donabate has been identified as having a high risk of flooding in the Fingal East Meath flood assessment report commissioned by the local authority.
The community council warned: “The current levels of development, combined with inadequate levels of oversight by the planning authority, have caused a number of gullies to become blocked on the Main Street where flooding has occurred.”
A motion calling on Fingal County Council to impose a temporary moratorium on new construction projects has now been submitted by Cllr Paul Mulville (SD).
The large attendance at last week’s meeting heard that Donabate had generated €15.5 million in rates and development levies last year, yet its operational expenditure budget for 2019 is less than €180,000.
Speaker after speaker raised concerns about the volume of heavy goods vehicles, the poor state of the roads and paths, and the risks posed to motorists and pedestrians.
Cllr Adrian Henchy (FF) said he recognised residents’ frustrations but was not in support of a moratorium – a view shared by Deputy Darragh O’Brien (FF) and Cllr Cathal Boland (Ind).
Local Labour representative Corina Johnston said she was in favour of a moratorium, along with Fine Gael candidate Bob Dowling and Independent Glenn Brady.
