The Dublin Port Company has paid almost €1.7 million in a vacant site levy for an empty piece of land in its portfolio. The property, which was valued at €4 million in 2019, was added to the vacant site register of Dublin City Council in 2018.
The city council looked for payments of €280,000 for each year that the land remained vacant. Dublin Port Company appealed that decision but was unsuccessful. The company has since paid a total of €1.68 million to the council and said it was now hoping to dispose of the site as it was remote from the port and not of core use.
Dublin Port Company said it had at one stage been in discussions with the Land Development Agency about using the site for residential use. However, plans for its sale fell through when the zoning of the site – which is next to the Dublin Port Tunnel control building – was changed.
In discussions with Dublin City Council last year, the port company also asked if the money paid could be used for a greenway project nearby. The company suggested it be allocated to the Liffey Tolka project, which will create a “new boulevard” between the estuary of the Tolka river and the Liffey.
A letter to the council said: “The project will mitigate against the existing harsh landscape of East Wall Road and create a safe pedestrian and cycle route away from the main traffic movements.”
It would also provide a route for communications and power cabling as well as connecting two existing cycleways, the letter said.
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“Dublin Port Company will be ceding several metres of its frontage to this greenway. This project will have significant community gain, and it will be a project that will positively impact on all users of the East Wall Road,” the letter said.
However, Dublin City Council said they could give no assurances on how the funds would be used and they were currently developing a policy on what to do with the vacant site levy.
The council said it would be open to discussions on the Liffey Tolka Project but that it would have to be the subject of a legal agreement.
The documents were released following a request under the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations.
Dublin Port Company had originally argued that the correspondence was not “environmental information” but, following an appeal, were told to release the records by the Commissioner for Environmental Information.
A statement from the Dublin Port Company said: “[We were] in discussions with the Land Development Agency about the Polefield site near the port tunnel between 2019 and 2022 regarding its potential redevelopment for residential use.”
“However, due to a change in the zoning, the sale could no longer proceed. The port challenged the vacant site levy decision in relation to the site and the decision was upheld on appeal.”
“The port subsequently made a payment of €1.68 million to Dublin City Council in 2024. Being remote from the port, the site is not core to port use, and DPC is open to disposal of it.”
