Preliminary plans for the redevelopment of Swords, Co Dublin, as a city with a population of 100,000, have attracted strong interest from the public.
More than 40 submissions were received by Fingal County Council by close of business yesterday.
An outline proposal for the new city, which will be 2½ times bigger than the current town, was released by the council last October and submissions from the public were invited until yesterday. These will be considered as part of the framing of a Swords draft plan, likely to be put out to statutory public consultation next year.
The new city will be built over 20 years and is being developed to take advantage of metro north, the rail line proposed to connect Dublin city to Dublin airport and Swords by 2013. The huge population increase is also required, Fingal says, to ensure there is a sufficient critical mass to make the extension of the line from Dublin airport to Swords viable.
About 25,000 homes, mostly apartments, will be built, most in the vicinity of Lissenhall in north Swords where the metro terminus will be located.
The council plans to set aside 200 hectares, currently zoned agricultural land, for residential and commercial development at Lissenhall. The current population of Swords is just under 40,000.
Land already zoned for development around the town can accommodate a further 20,000 people with the new land bank at Lissenhall taking 40,000 people.
A council spokeswoman said the majority of submissions related to housing mix, density and design.
