Minister for Housing Simon Coveney has dropped plans to block the development of 500 houses and a new enterprise zone near Dunboyne, Co Meath, close to the Dublin border.
Mr Coveney last June told Meath County Council to reverse its decision to zone land at Pace – a townland 1.5km-2km north of Dunboyne and close to the M3 motorway and Parkway rail station – for housing, retail and employment.
The housing would be isolated and remote from Dunboyne and had the potential to generate traffic which would limit the operation of the M3, he said.
Mr Coveney's predecessor Alan Kelly warned the council on two previous occasions, in January and April this year, not to zone the land in the townland of Pace, but councillors voted unanimously last May for the zoning, on the recommendation of council chief executive Jackie Maguire.
Mr Coveney subsequently used his powers under the planning Acts to issue a draft ministerial direction last June ordering the council to remove the new zoning from the County Development Plan.
Submission
However, following a submission from Ms Maguire, Mr Coveney has now dropped the direction.
The draft direction had stated the proposed development of 500 homes would be “detached and distant from the existing urban area of Dunboyne and disconnected from the established social, community and other infrastructure of the town”.
Zoning an area 1.5km-2km away from Dunboyne would be a clear breach of the sequential approach to development which discourages “leapfrogging” to remote areas, it stated.
The plan to allow “high technology/office/logistics employment” development at the lands had the potential to generate traffic volumes which would limit the operation of the M3.
It stated the council had ignored or not taken sufficient account of the submissions made in January and April and was not in compliance with the planning Acts.
Ms Maguire had made a robust defence of the zoning decision last January and April, and again wrote to Mr Coveney last August, largely making the same points.
She said she had made “considered evidence based proposals for the proper planning and sustainable development” of the area.
Close proximity
“It is essential that housing, community facilities and employment are located in close proximity to each other in a manner which maximises investments in public transport and creates opportunities for greener travel,” she said.
She included a number of letters already sent to the Department of Environment since 2014 on Meath’s housing needs and economic strategies.
In reply, Mr Coveney said given the “lack of new housing supply coming forward in the Dunboyne area” and the “prerequisite for attracting new FDI [foreign direct investment]” he was not going to implement the direction.
He also cited the Meath Economic Development Strategy that designated Dunboyne as a “live-work community” – which had been submitted to the department in July 2014.
His decision also took into account the proximity of the lands in question to transport infrastructure, including two railway stations, as well as projected demographic patterns “and need to provide adequate housing and other infrastructure to serve the potential growth”, he said.
