HIGH LEVEL OF INTEREST IN COUNCILS VISION FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF CLONBURRIS AREA AND LIFFEY VALLEY CENTRE

Since 20 August 2007, South Dublin County Council has been undertaking public consultation on the two new draft plans it has prepared for the Clonburris area and the Liffey Valley Centre. The Plans set out frameworks for the future development of both areas.

To inform the public about the consultation process on the draft plans and provide opportunities to view information on them, the Council distributed 18,000 newsletters in the local area, set up exhibitions in the Mill Shopping Centre in Clondalkin and Liffey Valley Shopping Centre as well as the Councils civic offices and Lucan library, and made copies of the draft Plans available for viewing on the Councils website www.southdublin.ie and a new website set up specially for consultation on the Clonburris plan www.clonburris.ie

Tom Doherty, the Councils Director of Planning said :

We are very pleased with the response to the public consultation exercise on the draft plans to date. Many hundreds of people have visited the exhibitions and asked questions of the Council officials staffing them, underlining the high level of local interest in the future of both these areas. Council staff will again be available at the exhibition in the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre this coming Thursday 13 September between 12 8pm and on Saturday 15 September between 10 1pm.

The response from the public to the Councils vision for the future development of both areas at the exhibitions has generally been positive. We look forward to receiving written submissions from the local community on both plans and these will be taken into consideration by the Council when deciding upon the draft Plans at the end of this year.

The exhibitions on the draft Plans will remain in place at the Mill Centre and Liffey Valley Shopping Centres until Saturday 15 September. After that, they will continue to be available at the civic offices in Tallaght and Clondalkin and Lucan library. Written submissions on the draft Liffey Valley Local Area Plan should be made to the Council by 4pm on Monday 1 October, and written submissions on the draft Clonburris SDZ Planning Scheme/Local Area Plan should be made to the Council by 4pm on Monday 15 October.

Once the public consultation period has ended for each of the draft Plans, a report on the written submissions made in respect of each Plan will be prepared by Council staff for consideration by the elected members of the Council at the end of this year.

In bringing forward Plans to address the potential of these two areas, simultaneously, the Councils Planning Department is seeking to achieve the best possible planning outcome for the future, especially in the context of investment in major public transport projects as the Kildare Rail Project and Metrowest. This proactive approach is modelled on the success of the Councils ongoing involvement in the Adamstown SDZ.

Background information

The Clonburris area covers 265 hectares, and part of it was designated as a Strategic Development Zone in July 2006. The proposed SDZ Planning Scheme and Local Area Plan for the Clonburris area sets out the Councils vision of a highly sustainable new urban district that will build on the environmental and public transport assets of the area such as the Grand Canal, the new rail stations to be built as part of the improvements to Kildare rail line, and in the longer term, the orbital Metro West line that will run through the site.

The new district could accommodate substantial new development that is delivered in tandem with improvements to the public transport accessibility of the site. Based around a new Main Street adjacent to the new rail and metro station at Fonthill Road and eight new neighbourhoods, Clonburris urban district could include significant shopping and employment floorspace, between 11,800 and 16,000 new homes, and a range of community and other facilities such as schools and parks to support the new community. New bridges across the canal and railway will provide good links across the area. To ensure the development of a sustainable new district, the Plan includes a Sustainability Toolkit that sets out standards that new development will need to meet, for example, A rated energy efficient new homes, and the use of renewable energy sources.

The proposed Local Area Plan for the Liffey Valley Centre sets out a framework for the upgrading of the existing shopping centre and surrounding area to provide a high quality new urban centre with streets and civic squares, and space for a range of new uses such as shopping, housing, recreation, community and cultural uses including a new library and community building.

The proposed plans can be inspected at the Council offices in Tallaght and Clondalkin and at Lucan library. The Clonburris Plan can be viewed on www.clonburris.ie and the Liffey Valley Centre plan can be viewed on www.southdublin.ie

Only written submissions can be taken into consideration in making decisions on both Plans. Submissions on the draft Liffey Valley Local Area Plan should be made to the Council by 4pm on Monday 1 October, and written submissions on the draft Clonburris SDZ Planning Scheme/Local Area Plan should be made to the Council by 4pm on Monday 15 October. Further information on making submissions can be found on www.clonburris.ie and www.southdublin.ie

Date of release: 10 September 2007

Contact: Fionnuala Lennon

South Dublin County Council

Tel: 01 4149000 Ext 3714

Email: flennon@sdublincoco.ie