I strongly the support the decision of the elected members of South Dublin County Council not to proceed with the
proposed residential rezoning of the lands at St. Edmundsbury, Lucan, under
Proposed Variation No. 2 to the South Dublin County Development Plan 202–2028.
SDCC has a responsibility to ensure there is sufficient land available to meet
Government housing targets under the revised National Planning Framework (NPF). I
fully support that objective.
The Council's own figures show that the revised National Planning Framework (NPF)
baseline housing requirement has already been met. The overall package of proposed
rezonings provides approximately 30% more residential capacity than the
Government's baseline requirement. Because of this, there is no planning necessity
to remove the existing High Amenity (HA-LV) zoning from the St. Edmundsbury lands in
order to comply with national housing policy, at this point.
These lands make a highly important contribution to the ecology, ancient landscape,
biodiversity, Green Infrastructure and the visual amenity of the greater Liffey Valley.
Once High Amenity zoning is removed, it is extremely difficult to restore.
For these reasons, I respectfully ask that the elected members' decision be upheld and
that the existing High Amenity zoning remain unchanged.