This update 31st May. Video created at various dates prior. Additional items in text below.
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Council gets feedback from An Bord Pleanála about "non-material" changes to plan
Video of slideshow below refers. As part of SDCC’s ongoing work around the delivery of the Adamstown Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), SDCC submitted an application to An Bord Pleanála for proposed non material amendments to the Adamstown SDZ Planning Scheme in accordance with Section 170A of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) in February 2023.
The proposed changes, in summary, are as follows:
1 - Update references to County Development Plan, National Cycle Manual and BusConnects, as well as other typos, numbering and references within document to replace outdated information from 2014
2 - Increased Non Residential Floorspace in Adamstown Castle from 3,000sqm to 6,000 to take account for the phase 7 requirement shown in presentation (see below point 4).
3 - Subject to SDCC, as Development Agency, agreement, the transferring of units from one immediately adjacent development area to another development area. This is capped at 20% of the maximum allowed units within a development area.
4 - Inclusion of additional wording around the Phase 7 requirement for a leisure centre and pool, to include or equivalent community facility and/or community gain, to be agreed with the Development Agency/SDCC.
I've consistently raised the need to consult with the local community in this regard. SDCC says that they have done some in-house work themselves to look at the potential alternative uses, but that it needs a lot more work to bring to Councillors and at that point they will go back with our feedback to a stage where they are ready to engage with the public. My own view continues to be that a pool and leisure centre will be needed, but at all times I will be guided by the views and wishes of residents living in Adamstown.
5 - Inclusion of additional wording, following discussions with the Department of Education and Skills , to allow school site 4 to be a primary or a secondary, rather than just a primary school.
When queried on this SDCC said the Department has not been clear do date on the progress timeline of School Site 4. I asked about School Site 3 during the discussion and there is still no clarification on when construction will commence (see separate item Planning permission sought for upgrade to Tandy's Lane school site),
6 - Amend the wording related to the delivery of a Fire Station. Currently the Fire Station an optional requirement in the SDZ requirements, but if not delivered elsewhere in SDCC. At present the station is likely to be delivered in Clonburris SDZ because it is considered more accessible to a wider area. A few months ago the Fire Service gave us a presentation suggesting 2028 as a date. The current Planning Scheme allows for this Fire Station zone to be replaced by ‘courtyard housing’, the new amended text allows additional flexibility to also allow ‘perimeter housing’. For clarity, this will only occur, if a site is definitely found elsewhere, otherwise the site will be used as a Fire Station if Dublin Fire Brigade require it. So SDCC are waiting for formal clarification in this regard.
7 - Amendment to allow, provided sufficient justification and evidence is supplied to SDCC, the consideration of timing of phasing requirement by the Planning Authority.
The Adamstown plan and related sections can be seen further down the page at this link:
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New retailers coming to The Crossings
Quintain says they are are in active dialogue with five new tenants (who would not be on the tenant directory) and they hope to release the names soon (negotiations are ongoing). These uses comprise a mix of food/café offerings together with leisure which they believe will be a welcome addition to the area. For those retailers that are committed, the developer is actively working with them on their fit-out plans and would expect that residents can see some activity in the summer months (building regulation requirements take time and as I mentioned in the video there are often connection delays with ESB networks).
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Primary Care Centre at No. 1 Adamstown Boulevard
I previously updated people about this in a separate post. Discussions are ongoing between Quintain and the HSE, and they are making good progress to be on site by later this summer. Quintain says it will contact residents (with the proposed contractor) closer to the time about construction works, once the tender process is completed. It is anticipated the construction programme will be 12-18 months. The various departments from the HSE have been out to inspect the property with active dialogue.
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Airlie House sale - No interest from SDCC
This property is currently on the market with Coonan Property. Quintain are actively involved in this process with the appointed sales agent and interviews are being held with prospective purchasers to ensure the intended use of the property is appropriate. There is ongoing dialogue with the planning department and the heritage officer in SDCC. I suggested that SDCC use the budget allocated for the purchase the Old School Master's house in Lucan village, which has currently stalled, to put in an offer for Airlie, but officials were not inclined to do this when I raised the issue.
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The Crossings Car Park - 90 minutes free parking
Regular visitors to the supermarkets will have noted that the owners Quintain have now introduced 90 minutes' free car parking into The Crossings. They said they will review this on an ongoing basis to manage numbers, but it should be a welcome addition to the area now that Urban Vets and The Grafton Barbers are open. Other retailers are due shortly including a café, butchers, pharmacy and food retailer, as well as a leisure-type facility.
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Tennis court pricing again raised as well as safe exiting of all weather pitch
The Council has still refused to lower the pricing for the tennis courts. But when the gates aren't working the place is always occupied. This doesn't make sense. They did agree to look at a few minutes' grace period to exit the courts before the gate locks again. This is also relevant to the all weather pitch where children have gone in and then found themselves locked out. Have highlighted with SDCC but not much of a response to date. There is a number on the gate but there is no-one on site to let people out if they get stuck - parents be vigilant about this.
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Park Ranger required
This has been mentioned to me and I will raise at the next available meeting. The park is too small for a full time ranger but we definitely need more of a presence in Tandy's Lane Park and Airlie Park.
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Issues regarding booking slots in Adamstown Community Centre
I have been contacted by various groups and individuals regarding the revising of the booking system at AYCC. The management committee are trying to strike a balance between the need for individual residents to be able to make bookings and also various clubs using the site. Concerns were expressed about which clubs would be designated as anchor tenants and be able to still make block bookings. As a Councillor I have no role in the day to day running of the centre but I did contact the Manager suggesting that a sit down meeting for everyone to be able to put their points of view across would be a good idea as well as extensive advertising of any AGMs etc. Clearly additional space is also required but as with the tennis courts in Airlie Park I had already raised queries regarding pricing at the centre, which SDCC dismissed as did some other Councillors. I still maintain that full use of all facilities is better than restricted use and pricing at various times for all amenities needs to be reviewed.
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Taking in charge of roads, including for C2 bus route past Lidl
This has dragged on for many years in some cases. The developers and Council are actively trying to get as many areas as possible in charge and hopefully we will see progress on this soon. SDCC will work to widen the C2 route past Lidl once the roadway has been handed over.
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Pedestrian junction on Adamstown Boulevard
Quintain are again looking at this pedestrian crossing junction which some cars are using to take short cuts. The construction team are looking at the junction but are trying to find a solution that does not block. A cone was placed here previously but was since removed.
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Broken swing in Airlie Park
I reported this so hopefully it will be repaired soon.
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Filling up of water fountain in Tandy's Lane Park
A resident mentioned that sometimes stones are being placed in the water fountain and the tap left on to leave it overflowing. Please keep an eye out for this and don't let children fill it up as it can lead to a huge amount of water wastage.
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Light filter on Adamstown Boulevard
This continues to be operating to allow exiting off a road that is currently closed. The signals are not ones that are automatically controlled, however. Construction works are proceeding rapidly at the new housing so hopefully this will be resolved one way or the other.
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Details of upgrade to Castlegate playground awaited
It was good to see that the surface of this playground was repaired. However the wider refurbishment still needs to be scheduled, something I raised before, and I will be raising this again at the next available meeting.
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Broken pedestrian crossing light at Celbridge Link Road junction, Hallwell side
This has been broken for some time and I asked the SDZ team to get the developer to fix it. The cycle crossing light is still in operation so pedestrians should use this for the time being. This crossing is thankfully not used much at present due to the other part of the road being still under construction.
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Measures requested to prevent speeding both sides of Adamstown Avenue to and from the Adamstown Link Road near junction with Station Road
I sent SDCC a photo in relation to the latest speeding incident where a vehicle ploughed into a traffic light the far side of Adamstown Avenue from Londis. I don't know if this was turning right from Station Road or heading straight from Adamstown Avenue, but residents have pointed to sustained speeding of vehicles all along this location.
I asked, whether additional measures to slow vehicles down could be examined. SDCC did not consider these necessary at this point as per reply below.
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Disabled parking spaces query at Adamstown station
I've asked for clarification regarding the agency responsible for monitoring disabled spaces parking beside Adamstown train station. Does SDCC have a role in monitoring non-wheelchair pass vehicles parking in disabled spaces at this location?
Irish Rail has said it has no responsibility for this car park. Clamping signs only relate to parking in the cycle lane, so I need to know which agency is responsible to follow up further. Query has been submitted to SDCC in the first instance.
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Safety issues raised at junction of Castlegate Way and Adamstown Avenue
This appears to be an ongoing and serious problem. According to a resident:
´Most people treat it as a permanent yield rather than a traffic light, and don´t stop at the red light at all. Drivers also travel at significant speed around the corner from the Way and don´t realise (or care) that the pedestrian light could be green, making their light red. I frequently cross with my children at this point in the mornings, and many, many times have had to stop in the middle of the road as drivers come at speed over the line, especially if there is a larger vehicle (eg a bus) turning right blocking their vision of pedestrians. Again this morning we were halfway across when a car which I´d say was driving at least 70-80km/hr and seemed to have no intention of stopping, screeched to a halt directly in front of us.´
If many drivers seem to forget/ignore that this light is not a permanent filter light and treat it as a yield, it will be an ongoing safety issue.
The Council response is below:
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Application to amend current planning permission for school off Tandy's Lane
The Board of Management of Adamstown Castle Educate Together have put in a submission to amend the current planning permission for a 32-classroom school off Tandy's Lane. To view the submission please click here: https://planning.agileapplications.ie/southdublin/application-details/66042
It has been planned for some time that Adamstown will double in size and move from its existing location to the new site. My understanding is that the existing location may become part of a junior and senior national school for John The Evangelist, although this has not been officially confirmed.
This does raise some issues for the ability to temporarily add additional capacity at junior infants, especially as the Department does not appear to be heeding calls to open the new building for autumn 2025. It is at stage 2A of the Large Scale Project List and according to the Council the Department does not feel the need to open another school yet. Officials pointed out that the original two primary schools were supposed to be 8-classroom schools but changed to 16-classroom schools. However this means that a lot of parents have to send their children outside Adamstown which - crucially - also impacts on their second level school options.
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