Sir, – There is a provision in Dublin City Council’s planning rules that laudably declares its aim to move towards a more compact city, by allowing land that is in social use to be sold and reused without rezoning, so long as the buyers are defined as also being engaged in some socially useful activity. So far so good.
Who would not want to limit Dublin’s awful sprawl, and who would oppose preserving land for use for socially desirable purposes? However, the main effect of this provision, as far as I can see, is to facilitate the sale of school playing fields by religious orders to the nursing home industry.
My view may be distorted by the fact that large parts of two different playing fields quite near to my home are due to be covered in concrete shortly, in order to build more nursing homes. – Yours, etc,
TIM O’HALLORAN,
Dublin 11.