Background

The 1998 County Development Plan included Specific Local Objective 81 to carry out a Housing and Planning Study of the Glenasmole/Bohernabreena area in consultation with the local community. The Development Plan identified a Study Area wherein it was considered it was particularly difficult for local people to obtain planning permission for single dwellings.

Following consultation with the local community the ‘Glenasmole / Bohernabreena Housing and Planning Study 2002’ was adopted by Council in November 2002. The aim of the Study was to achieve a balance between the pressures for individual housing in the area on one hand and the environmental sensitivities of the area on the other hand, while taking account of the zoning objectives of the area and the need to protect water sources that feed into the Bohernabreena and Poulaphuca Water Reservoirs. The Study also examined the need to sustain the local community and its school.

Update and Review

A submission from local residents was received by the Council in 2007 highlighting a number of planning issues which were of concern to the residents in relation to the Study.  An Update and Review of the Study was carried out in mid-2007.  This involved an analysis of all applications for one-off houses within the Study Area since November 2002 and an examination of what planning permissions had been taken up and houses commenced or built and what permissions for houses had yet to be taken up.  A copy of the Update and Review is submitted to the Area Committee and an electronic copy is on CMAS.

The following paragraphs outline some of the main conclusions of the Update and Review.

Decisions

Between the period of the adoption of the Study in November 2002 and August 2007, 95 planning applications for single dwellings were received by the Council within the Study Area.  Of the 81 decisions made on these applications, 62% have been granted permission and 38% have been refused permission. This is in contrast with the period leading up to the adoption of the Study in 2002 where 64% of applications for houses were refused permission.

Refusals

In 48% of refusals of planning permission for housing since 2002, the reason given was that the proposed development was located on a site deemed to be in a restricted area.  Restricted areas include:

• lands within the reservoir catchment,
• certain areas with slopes steeper than 20%,
• natural heritage designated areas such as SAC’s and NHA’s and
• areas restricted due to the steepness of roads or dependence on dangerous road junctions that would require engineering works.  Figure 6 in the Housing and Planning Study 2002 show restricted areas – this is reprinted in the Update and Review.

In 45% of refusals the development was deemed to be prejudicial to public health, in 42% of refusals it was considered that the proposal would have a significant negative impact on the visual amenity of the area, and in 31% of refusals it was deemed that the development would result in a traffic hazard.

Restricted Sites

39% of the total planning applications received were located on sites deemed to be ‘restricted’ or partially ‘restricted’ (as shown in Figure 6 of the Housing and Planning Study 2002). Of those applications 57%, were granted permission, while 43% were refused permission. It should be noted that where permission was granted the planning authority required the dwelling, its wastewater treatment facility and percolation area to be located on a part of the application site outside the ‘restricted’ area.

Protected Views

There is an objective to preserve a view (as shown on the County Development Plan Maps) across 62% of the sites in the Study Area where planning applications were received.  In 61% of these applications, planning permission was granted and in 19% of these applications planning permission was refused.  In 15% of applications, where there is an objective to preserve a view across the site, one of the reasons given for refusal was that the proposal would have a significant negative impact on the visual amenity of the area.

Junctions

The Glenasmole/Bohernabreena Housing and Planning Study identified a number of junctions that are deemed to be dangerous and indicated four junctions to be upgraded. To date the junction at Ballinascorney Lane has been upgraded. The other three junctions remain to be upgraded.

Construction to Date

Following site visits to the Study Area in Autumn 2007, 27 dwellings were identified as having either been constructed in the area or are currently under construction.

It would appear that some 17 decisions to grant permission for houses in the Study Area issued by SDCC remain unimplemented.  (This allows for planning decisions of the Council currently on appeal with An Bord Pleanala (ABP) or which have been overturned by ABP.)

Housing Need Criteria

• 52.6% of applicants for new housing demonstrated they were born in the Study Area,
• 10.5% of applicants demonstrated that they have close family ties in the area,
• 1% of applicants demonstrated that they resided in the area for at least 15 years and
• 20% of applicants did not demonstrate compliance with the housing need criteria as set out in the Study.

Cluster Sites

Three cluster sites were identified in the Study where clusters of new housing could be accommodated for local people who could not get planning permission on their own sites, because of constraints, or for local people who did not own a site. These cluster sites are located opposite the church, in Friarstown and beside the Primary School.  To date the aims behind the development of the cluster sites as envisaged in the Study have not been realized.

Derelict Sites

25 derelict dwellings were identified in the 2002 Study and to date 8 planning applications have been received by the Council on these ‘derelict’ sites. 4 applications were granted permission, 3 applications were refused permission and 1 application was withdrawn.

Glenasmole National School

In 2001, prior to the adoption of the Study, 44 students were enrolled and 1 teacher and 1 principal were employed in Glenasmole National School.

In 2006 61 students were enrolled and 2 teachers and a principal were employed in the school.

Conclusions

It is considered that the Glenasmole/Bohernabreena Housing and Planning Study has been largely successful in achieving the aims of local residents in securing planning permission for single dwellings. The Council has applied the policies and objectives of the Study which has enabled the granting of planning permission for 50 dwellings by SDCC (3 grants of permission were overturned on appeal to An Bord Pleanala).

In relation to the decisions made by South Dublin County Council to grant permission

a)  43 dwellings were granted on isolated sites

b)  7 dwellings were granted, on foot of individual planning applications, on sites identified as suitable for cluster housing,

To date 27 dwellings have been constructed, or are under construction. The location of sites where planning permission has been granted for houses or where houses have been constructed or where they are under construction are indicated in Figure 3 of the 2007 Update and Review.

It is clear from the analysis of planning applications lodged in the Study Area since the adoption of the Glenasmole/Bohernabreena Housing and Planning Study that the local community has benefited from:

Ø      The increased grants of planning permissions for single dwellings

Ø      The increased enrolments in the local school and increase in the teacher numbers and

Ø      The improved safety of one junction

It is also apparent that to date the cluster site identification for wider community use did not benefit the local community in the manner envisaged – other than for individual owners of land within the cluster sites. Residual site availability within clusters should now be examined as to how these can benefit non-land owners within the community.  For the most part new housing has been constructed on individual sites throughout the Study Area.

DOEHLG Guidelines – ‘Sustainable Rural Housing’ – Guidelines for Planning Authorities’

Subsequent to the adoption of the Glenasmole/Bohernabreena Housing and Planning Study (2002) a national policy document, ‘Sustainable Rural Housing’ – Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ was issued in April 2005 by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The Guidelines highlight the necessity of protecting the quality of water resources and advise that wastewater treatment facilities in rural areas should be located to ensure minimal impacts on water quality and particularly groundwater quality.

The Guidelines also refer to the impact of rural housing on landscape character and advise that the ‘capacity of a particular landscape to absorb change without significantly changing its character can be directly related to the quality of location and siting of development within that landscape.  The location and siting of rural housing should be informed by landscape character, quality and distinctiveness’.[1]  The Council must have regard to these Guidelines in the continuing implementation of the Housing and Planning Study.

Table 1:        Planning Applications for Single Housing in the Study Area between November 2002 and August 2007