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Cairn Homes gets sign off for €240m west Dublin development

No objections to builder’s plans for 607 apartments at Clonburris

A rendering of Cairn Homes's phase-two development at Clonburris
A rendering of Cairn Homes's phase-two development at Clonburris

South Dublin County Council has given the green light to Cairn Homes for a €240 million apartment scheme for Clonburris in west Dublin after not receiving a single objection against the proposal.

This follows the planning authority granting planning permission to Cairn Homes to construct 607 apartments for Clonburris.

The initial scheme comprised 255 one-bedroom apartments, 307 two-bedroom apartments and 32 three-bedroom apartments across eight blocks including two rising to seven storeys tall and the applicants added a further 13 units in revised plans lodged with the council.

The mixed-use scheme also includes offices, six retail units, a creche and an urban square.

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Cairn told the council there was currently no market requirement for a hotel at the site, as well as serious viability issues.

Cairn Homes has separate plans before the council for 565 units at Clonburris, made up of 230 houses, 216 duplex units and 119 apartments.

Already Cairn has secured planning permissions for 569 homes in one Clonburris application and obtained planning for an additional 157 dwellings in a separate plan.

It also told the council a large portion of Clonburris would have to be developed before Cairn considered pubs for the overall scheme.

The overall SDZ lands at Clonburris consist of 691 acres within the Lucan, Clondalkin and Liffey Valley areas.

Planning documentation lodged with the initial 594-unit scheme states that the subject site is the third phase of a multiphase development intended to deliver a new community of the western edge of Dublin.

The documentation cautioned that a “do-nothing” scenario represented an inappropriate unsustainable and inefficient use of these serviced residential zoned lands within the SDZ.

John Spain, planning consultant for Cairn Homes, told the council that the proposed development sought to provide a good mix of high-quality dwellings and “will result in a high-quality residential development”.

Mr Spain told the council that “the mix of dwelling types have been designed to ensure that the scheme caters for a wide range of choices and demographics including starter homes for young professionals and families, older people trading down”.

Mr Spain added that the proposed development was “a key building block in realising the council’s strategic development zone vision for a new vibrant community”.

Cairn Homes is to sell 60 apartments to the council for social housing to comply with its Part V obligations under the Planning and Development Act.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times