COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN, NEWCASTLE, RATHCOOLE, SAGGART AND BRITTAS AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

QUESTION NO. 8

QUESTION: Councillor E. Ó Broin

To ask the Chief Executive if they can establish the basis for the claim published in national media recently that the vacant site behind the Mill Shopping Centre in Clondalkin has capacity for up to 1,400 residential units is accurate?

Given residential densities outlined in the SDCC County Development Plan 2022 - 2028, the forthcoming Clondalkin Local Area Plan, and the housing National Planning Framework. See link : https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/1223/1550286-ardstone-buys-dublin-site-with-capacity-for-1-400-homes/

REPLY:

SDCC had no involvement in this newspaper article.  As set out in the current Variation no. 1 to the County Development Plan, the Clondalkin Local Planning Framework, the site falls under the applicable density range set out in the Sustainable Residential and Compact Settlement Guidelines (the Compact Guidelines) which were issued by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in January 2024. The applicable density for the Ninth Lock Framework site as a town centre site, is between 50 - 250 dwellings per hectare (dph). The Guidelines state in Policy and Objective 3.1:

‘It is a policy and objective of these Guidelines that the recommended residential density ranges set out in Section 3.3 are applied within statutory development plans and in the consideration of individual planning applications, and that these density ranges are refined further at a local level using the criteria set out in Section 3.4 where appropriate.’

The Clondalkin Local Planning Framework indicates that the potential capacity for the site is 1000+ dwellings and sets out development parameters to guide development. At planning application stage the refining of the density range based on accessibility to public transport, and considerations of character, amenity and the natural environment will allow for more detailed examination of any planning application and the density within the applicable range which is appropriate to the site or to areas within the site.