I support the proposed Material Alteration removing the proposed residential rezoning of the St Edmundsbury lands and retaining their existing High Amenity – Liffey Valley designation.
The previous consultation demonstrated the exceptional public interest in these lands and the elected members subsequently resolved that the High Amenity zoning should be retained. I believe that decision represents the more appropriate planning outcome.
The statutory submissions from the National Transport Authority highlight that St Edmundsbury is accessible by public transport and therefore should be prioritised for housing. While transport accessibility is an important planning consideration, it should not, by itself, determine whether land that has long been protected as High Amenity should lose that designation.
The role of the planning authority is necessarily broader than transport planning alone. It must balance housing need with the protection of landscape character, biodiversity, green infrastructure, recreation, community wellbeing and the long-term environmental objectives of the Development Plan and the National Planning Framework.
The St Edmundsbury lands are not simply an undeveloped parcel adjacent to the urban area. They form part of the wider Liffey Valley landscape and contribute to the integrity of that High Amenity designation. Once residential zoning is introduced, the principle of development has been established and the permanent loss of part of that protected landscape cannot be reversed.
I also believe the councillors were correct to reject the principle that protected High Amenity lands should be rezoned first and their environmental impacts managed afterwards through park provision, buffers, masterplans and planning conditions. Those measures may mitigate development, but they are not an equivalent substitute for retaining the existing strategic protection.
Finally, decisions affecting lands of this significance should be considered within the context of the wider Liffey Valley and its long-term role for South Dublin County, rather than through piecemeal changes to individual parcels. Retaining the existing High Amenity designation preserves the opportunity for any future strategic review of the wider valley to be undertaken comprehensively rather than incrementally.
For these reasons, I support Proposed Material Alteration 6.1 and ask the Council to adopt the alteration retaining the St Edmundsbury lands as High Amenity – Liffey Valley (HA-LV).