COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE
Monday, September 27, 2021
QUESTION NO. 13
QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor
"To ask the CEO if he can now report progress on plans to provide the long awaited Community Centre at Citywest; will he detail contacts he has make in the matter and make a statement?".
REPLY:
The provision of appropriate community facilities in the Fortunestown LAP is a priority for the Community Department, with substantial provision made for same in the Council’s Three-Year Capital Programme 2021-2023. However, as has been outlined previously to this Area Committee, the major constraining factors in the delivery of such facilities are the provisions of the LAP and the lack of Council owned land in the area.
The LAP commits, under its Objective LUD1, to the provision of “community facilities….across the Plan lands at a rate of 300sq.m per 1,000 dwellings”, equating to 990m2 of community floor space over the lifetime of the plan to serve the proposed 3,300 residential units envisaged in the plan. This requirement has increased with the higher density residential development in the area due to amended planning guidelines, with more than 3,700 homes granted approval to date.
Despite associated approvals for a combined 610m2 of community space, across a number of planning permissions to date in line with the phasing requirements of the LAP, no community facilities have been delivered within the area to date. The Community Department’s view is that a number of smaller community facilities throughout the LAP lands are not the optimal response to community needs, with such smaller units historically proving very challenging to be functional and usable as community space -the preference is for suitable facilities of scale to be sustainable and capable of providing for multi-use community activities.
While exploration of potential options/sites is ongoing, the constraining factors outlined earlier and, unfortunately, a lack of progress in discussions with landowners means that a suitable site has not yet been secured to meet the Community Department’s aspirations for the area.
Given the nature of the various issues involved it is proposed to provide a briefing to members of this Committee to provide further context on this matter and to reassure the Members that the delivery of such facilities in Fortunestown/Citywest is a priority for the Council.