Plans For Major Bluebell Housing Development To Proceed With Public Consultation:
By: Aidan Crowley:
Comprehensive plans for a major new housing development in Bluebell, adjacent to the 5th lock on the Grand Canal, are to go out to public consultation soon, according to a recent meeting of Dublin City Council (DCC).
The state-of-the-art development, consisting of three hundred and eighty-two new homes, called Bluebell Waterways, will be divided between two hundred and thirty-three cost-rental apartments and one hundred and forty-nine social homes, according to the plans. The new housing project will aim to provide much-needed social and affordable homes in this part of Dublin 12.
The high-quality, sustainable homes will feature a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments. These homes will be built on a 2.8 hectare site, at the former filter bed complex, which is owned by DCC. The plans also include a provision for a crèche, community facilities and spaces and landscaped open areas. There may also be a provision for building shops, cafes and other facilities, going forward.
All the new homes will be certified up to the standards of the Irish Green Building Council’s “Home Performance Index”, which outlines mandatory requirements in areas such as water efficiency, ventilation, thermal bridging and enhanced airtightness.
Community allotments will support existing community services and also provide opportunities for new services to develop. Approximately 65% of the new homes will be cost-rental apartments, while the remaining 35% will consist of social housing.
This catchment area is already well served by road and public transport services. The new development will build on the existing connections, by prioritizing new footpaths and cycleways, while also creating a green corridor which will link to the planned canal greenway.
One of the key points contained in the project designs is to allow greater access to the canal for members of the local community, according to Richard Doorly, a director of Henry J. Lyons, who are the architects for the development.
“There’s very little engagement with the canal at the moment”, he said at a recent DCC meeting for the Dublin South-Central Area.
Hazel De Nortuin , a local People Before Profit councillor, explained that the new housing programme has experienced better early-stage consultation with local residents than previous housing schemes. The new Bluebell housing development is the fourth across the city which involves a partnership between the city council and the national Land Development Agency (LDA). The cost-rental apartments will be managed by the LDA, while the social housing will come under DCC management.
“Keeping that up is going to be important. The LDA is going to have such an influence in the neighbourhood in coming years”, said De Nortuin.
The LDA has purchased the large Royal Liver site on the Naas Road and is also seeking to redevelop a portion of the extensive Inchicore Railway Works complex, going forward,, she explained.
“So, that’s a huge effect they’re going to be able to push forward in the area”, she said.
The recent presentation to councillors informed them that council officials are aiming to formally put the plans out to public consultation, which is the next official phase in the planning process for public projects, known as “Part 8”.
Following this phase, the council officials will peruse the submissions and compile a report on these and their responses. Then, the final plans will go before the full city council for a collective vote.
According to Doorly, the new housing development is to be constructed in two distinct phases. This is to accommodate the residents who are currently living in maisonettes on the site.
During the first phase of building, these maisonette dwellers will remain “in situ” during the construction of two hundred and forty-eight homes, a mix of cost-rental and social housing, he explained.
The maisonette residents and people living nearby in La Touche Court will go to the top of the priority list for these new social homes, according to the presentation to councillors.
Once they have moved into their new homes, the maisonettes will be demolished and the second phase of homes will undergo construction, Doorly explained.
Daithi Doolan, a local Sinn Fein councilor, said that it was good to see the construction of social housing as part of the new development.
“The state also needs to make sure that the cost-rental homes in the development are affordable. We need to make sure that the economic model delivers affordable housing”, he added.
Head of Property at the LDA, Phelim O’ Neill, said: “We are delighted to be moving to the next phase of this exciting project, which will see much needed social and affordable homes delivered in Dublin 12. This consultation provides residents, businesses and community groups with the opportunity to see the details of the proposed development. Everything from a typical floor plan for the homes to a characteristic streetscape, capturing what the final neighbourhood could look like. Engagement is at the heart of all LDA-DCC partnerships and we want local people to feed in to these plans and help shape for this and future generations”.
DCC’s Director of Housing Delivery, Dave Dinningan, said: “We have reached a vital stage in the process of delivering Bluebell Waterways. This project will revitalize the Dublin 12 area by supporting existing services, while creating a safe and social environment with new community amenities for existing and future residents”.
Cost-rental homes in Dublin City are designated for both low-income and middle-income households whose incomes are above the threshold for social housing, but below Euros 66,000 a year. Rents are fixed to cover construction, management and maintenance, over a forty-year period. Meanwhile, social housing is used to accommodate people on the city’s social housing waiting list.
Department of Housing officials have, in the past, expressed concern that the rising costs of building cost-rental homes means that they are only affordable to people at the higher end of that income bracket.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, last year, revealed that council officials were working on guidance for cost-rental homes providers, to ensure that they offer this type of housing to people on lower as well as higher incomes. It was also suggested that they monitor who is successful in procuring these homes, using anonymous data.
They have also been considering whether the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage may introduce legal requirements for direct providers to prioritise particularly vulnerable cohorts of prospective purchasers, according to the documents.
