Residents speak of drainage, congestion and transport concerns around the area
Residents of Dunsinea Lane in Dublin 15 are calling for Fingal County Council (FCC) to rethink its plans of 18,500 new home for Dunsink.
People in the area say that drainage, traffic and basic resources are “already strained” and have been calling for an extension of the consultation process for the plan.
In its draft stages, FCC’s Dunsink Urban Area Plan envisions 18,500 homes on over 400ha of land around 3km away from Dunsinea Lane.
“There’s been drainage and flooding issues in this area since we moved here 37 years ago,” said Suzanne Phelan, who moved from Waterford.
“When it rains, water comes off Dunsink Hill to our homes all the time. It would come in through the back door.
“We had to put in drains ourselves to stop it coming into the house. What happens when more people move in?”
Congestion has been even worse issue locally, she added.
“It’s already a nightmare, you don’t leave here if you don’t have to,” Ms Phelan told the Irish Independent.
“I try not to. I would never leave the house at rush hour. If I have a meeting in town, I know I can’t get there on time because of how busy it gets.
“It takes around 25 minutes to get to the M50 from my house. It’s supposed to be five minutes. I can’t get around this city on public transport either because the buses are always late.”
Shane and Tara McEneaney who have lived in the neighbourhood for eight years worry that neighbouring towns will not be able to “cope” with the development.
“This development proposes that a population the size of the entire county of Longford be housed in an area with no infrastructure like adequate public transport are in place,” said Tara.
“There is only an aspirational hope of the Luas and talk of bus corridors in the future. But what about right now?
“Our concerns are on behalf of the Finglas and Ashtown communities which are already struggling to cope with the lack of infrastructure and on behalf of the communities which they propose to move into these ‘compact living arrangements’.”
The family have struggled themselves due to a lack of infrastructure, they said.
“My daughter gets the bus to school in the morning and they don’t show up,” said Shane.
“She’s late to school for school every week and I have to write in to the school. It’s not even an option anymore for us to drive to school, that’s how congested it gets at that time in the morning.”
Earlier this month, councillors voted for a motion by Labour councillor John Walsh calling for a Luas extension to Tyrrelstown through Dunsink to be brought forward to cater to the increased population.
The motion agreed to send a letter to the National Transport Authority calling for the same.
“There is a need for an urban area plan for Dunsink but we need to get it right,” said Cllr Walsh.
“We need to make sure Dunsink doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the past. We can’t have badly planned substandard developments that neglect the delivery of infrastructure.
“That infrastructure needs to be there right from the start.”
He added that the plan needed to include more infrastructure for the new homes.
“I have serious concerns about infrastructure. We’ve failed to plan the essential infrastructure needed to provide for more people,” said Cllr Walsh.
“The most glaring is public transport. That’s where the government has completely failed to step up in planning for Dunsink.
“It’s farcical that the Luas won’t happen until 2043 at the earliest – there’s no way that it can be developed at the proposed scale unless public transport is brought forward by at least 10 years.”
The delivery of the new quarter in Dunsink is dependent on “significant investment” in infrastructure, said a spokesperson from FCC.
“These are issues that extend beyond the remit of any one local authority and require investment and delivery by national and regional infrastructure providers,” they said.
“The Urban Area Plan must, however, progress in the context of the infrastructure that is planned and proposed for the area, and the proposals being advanced by the relevant infrastructure providers.
“FCC is working with all statutory agencies to ensure the Urban Area Plan aligns with the delivery of key infrastructure and this is built into the phasing arrangements contained in the draft Plan.”
The draft plan was placed on public display for the six weeks between July 19 and 31.
“The draft plan provides an opportunity to ensure that land use and infrastructure planning are properly coordinated,” they said.
“It’s so that new development can be aligned with the delivery of transport, utilities, schools, community facilities and other essential infrastructure.”
They also added that the consultation for the plan was publically advertised in line with “statutory requirements”.
“We have received a significant number of submissions on the draft Urban Area Plan, reflecting strong public interest in the future development of the area,” they said.
“As the plan-making process is governed by statutory requirements and timelines and the consultation period has been publicly advertised, it is not possible to extend the consultation period.”