COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

MOTION NO. 30

MOTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

 SD-C195-143 Pages 259- 260.That the land at Whitestown Business Park fronting on to Whitestown Way outlined in blue on the attached extract map from the current Development Plan and circled in blue on the extract map from the Tallaght Local Area Plan be zoned REGEN and in adopting this Motion the Council notes:

That the land is strategically located within th Tallaght Centre Area as identified in the adopted Tallaght Local Area Plan in close proximity to all services and infrastructure.

 The land is in walking distance of The Square, Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght Stadium,Tallaght Hospital etc. is designated as suitable for 4-6 storeys residential and/or 3-4 storeys commercial in the Tallaght Local Area Plan.

The land has remained underdeveloped for decades under its current zoning and woud be a ready to go site for much needed housing provision when appropriately zoned

REPORT:

The motion proposes to rezone the subject lands at Whitestown Business Park fronting on to Whitestown Way from Objective EE – Employment and Enterprise be Objective REGEN. 

This issue was submitted to the Draft Plan through the public consultation period under submission SD-C195-143 and the Chief Executive responded under Chapter 2 Core Strategy and Settlement Strategy – Regeneration Zoning Submission, pg259.

Having examined and considered the content of the motion, the view of the CE remains unchanged for the following reasons:

The Draft Plan sets out a potential for 31,824 jobs assuming an average of 51 jobs per hectare. In addition to this, there are 425ha of Regeneration (REGEN) zoned brownfield land forming part of the Tallaght Town Centre Local Area Plan (LAP) and the Naas Road area. The subject lands are located in Tallaght Town Centre LAP, and both are located in close proximity to the Naas Road lands.

There remains a need within the County for lands to facilitate general employment type uses in order to facilitate a range of continued economic development and employment growth in the County over the Plan period. It is considered inappropriate to rezone the lands s requested given the existing quantum of REGEN land in the area, the on-going need for general employment lands and the surplus capacity of zoned residential land in the County.

Furthermore, the subject site is located within an established industrial setting with general employment uses. As such, having regard to the context and characteristics of the subject lands, it is considered that the lands would be incompatible with the primary objective of REGEN zoning ‘to facilitate enterprise and/or residential-led regeneration’. It is also noted that the REGEN land use zoning is strategic in nature, and the application of the REGEN zoning in a piecemeal fashion is not recommended as it would undermine the Core Strategy of the Draft Plan and intention of the REGEN zoning.

The County Development Plan seeks to guide enterprise and employment development to appropriate locations by identifying economic clusters. The current zoning of the subject lands as EE to support enterprise and employment is therefore considered appropriate in this instance.

Furthermore, as noted above the subject lands are located within Tallaght Town Centre LAP and it is considered that the provisions of the LAP and the policies and objectives of the Draft Plan are aligned and appropriately support the development and growth of Tallaght LAP lands in a sustainable manner.

CE Recommendation: It is recommended that the motion is not adopted and the EE zoning is retained on the site.