We're surrounded by empty houses - so why did council give go-ahead for even more homes?
RESIDENTS in an area of north Dublin awash with empty homes are objecting to plans to build even more new properties.
Homeowners in Brackenwood, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, say there is no need for a new development of 18 units, since they are already flanked by empty homes in surrounding estates.
The developers, Parkway Partnership, were last week granted planning permission for the units, which will be located adjacent to Brackenwood, after they modified their original application.
CRAMMED
But local resident Rose Allen said: "We don't need any more houses. Who has the money to buy houses now?
"Now we have a developer coming in who wants to build 18 houses and it's the only green that we have in our estate. They're all going to be crammed in because the site is no bigger than a football pitch.
"It's in our own green area. We've no field, no trees in the whole estate, this is the only green we have.
"And they're planning to build a by-road as well which would bring a lot of traffic into the estate."
Another resident Siobhan Curtis pointed out that there are already idle units in Brackenwood, and a new development would be ludicrous.
"I really feel strongly against this. There are houses empty around us and I really don't want this to go ahead. I don't understand it.
"There are idle apartments in Brackenwood.
"We don't need more houses, ideally we need a playground there or something like that.
"In the estate behind us, we can actually see houses behind it that are idle, and the houses haven't been finished either."
However, a spokesperson for Parkway Partnership said that he believed there would be a market for the new housing development which, he added, would be sympathetic to the surrounding area.
"We got the planning permission a couple of years ago, and we're just varying it now. We're actually putting in a much more sympathetic plan with less housing units, lower density and lower height.
"We already had permission for 44 duplex apartments on that site, and we're now looking for 18 houses so it's a lot more sympathetic. The open space there will be better and the existing road will be better maintained."
Fingal County Council declined to comment on the issue yesterday.
A spokesperson said: "Fingal County Council does not comment on any individual planning applications... the decision for this application may be appealed to An Bord Pleanala within a four-week period from the date of the decision granted."
Report by Geraldine Gittens - Evening Herald.
RESIDENTS in an area of north Dublin awash with empty homes are objecting to plans to build even more new properties.
Homeowners in Brackenwood, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, say there is no need for a new development of 18 units, since they are already flanked by empty homes in surrounding estates.
The developers, Parkway Partnership, were last week granted planning permission for the units, which will be located adjacent to Brackenwood, after they modified their original application.
CRAMMED
But local resident Rose Allen said: "We don't need any more houses. Who has the money to buy houses now?
"Now we have a developer coming in who wants to build 18 houses and it's the only green that we have in our estate. They're all going to be crammed in because the site is no bigger than a football pitch.
"It's in our own green area. We've no field, no trees in the whole estate, this is the only green we have.
"And they're planning to build a by-road as well which would bring a lot of traffic into the estate."
Another resident Siobhan Curtis pointed out that there are already idle units in Brackenwood, and a new development would be ludicrous.
"I really feel strongly against this. There are houses empty around us and I really don't want this to go ahead. I don't understand it.
"There are idle apartments in Brackenwood.
"We don't need more houses, ideally we need a playground there or something like that.
"In the estate behind us, we can actually see houses behind it that are idle, and the houses haven't been finished either."
However, a spokesperson for Parkway Partnership said that he believed there would be a market for the new housing development which, he added, would be sympathetic to the surrounding area.
"We got the planning permission a couple of years ago, and we're just varying it now. We're actually putting in a much more sympathetic plan with less housing units, lower density and lower height.
"We already had permission for 44 duplex apartments on that site, and we're now looking for 18 houses so it's a lot more sympathetic. The open space there will be better and the existing road will be better maintained."
Fingal County Council declined to comment on the issue yesterday.
A spokesperson said: "Fingal County Council does not comment on any individual planning applications... the decision for this application may be appealed to An Bord Pleanala within a four-week period from the date of the decision granted."
Report by Geraldine Gittens - Evening Herald.