COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, April 08, 2019
QUESTION NO. 9
QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney
To ask the Chief Executive for an update on the Council’s URDF projects, and to make a statement on the matter.
REPLY:
In July 2018, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (the Minister) announced the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF). The URDF was established to facilitate the urban regeneration of State’s five cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the National Planning Framework (NDF) and National Development Plan (NDP). The URDF will fund the delivery of key infrastructure projects to enable private and public sector delivery of residential and mixed-use development on brown field sites within the existing cities and towns. This will ensure that exiting urban areas become attractive and vibrant places in which people choose to live, work, invest and visit.
The URDF contains two categories:
Category “A” – Projects that are in a position to draw down funding and commence work in 2019.
Category “B” – Projects that require further development prior to commencing in 2019.
On the 28 November 2018, the Minister allocated URDF to the following SDCC projects:
Category “A” – Tallaght Town Centre
The Minister allocated €3 m for the following public realm projects in Tallaght town centre:
- Belgard Square and Link Streets/Pedestrian Links; and
- Library Square and Pedestrian Link.
The URDF allocation will be used to procure landscape architects to prepare a detailed public realm design for the above. In Q3 2019, planning consent under Part 8 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2000 (as amended) will be undertaken. The project will be subject detailed design and construction by Q1 2020.
Category “B” – Naas Road /Ballymount
The Minister has allocated €200,000 to fund the following studies to support the preparation of a masterplan for the Naas Road / Ballymount area:
- Transport Assessment & Strategy;
- Constraints Study;
- Economic Viability Study;
- Flood Risk Assessment & Surface Water Management Strategy;
- A review of Land Use Zoning and Naas Road Framework Plan (2010); and
- Environmental assessment to ensure compliance with the EU Directives in relation to Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats.
The URDF allocation will be used to procure a multi-disciplinary team led by urban design consultants to undertake the survey/ analysis stage and full masterplanning of the land, in collaboration with Dublin City Council (DCC). In 2019 the delivery of this Category “B” project will position SDCC, in collaboration with DCC, to prepare a Category “A” application for these lands in 2020.
SDCC has established a Capital Projects Team (CPT) to deliver a range of capital projects which includes the Category “A” and Category “B” URDF projects. The CPT will project manage the delivery of both projects from inception to planning stage in conjunction with internal SDCC sponsoring departments and external stakeholders, including the public. The CPT is finalising project briefs for both URDF projects in order to engage the relevant consultancy services in Q2 2019.