Council kicks off ideas-gathering for shape of development on edge of Balbriggan

On the outskirts of north Balbriggan, roughly 1.5km beyond the town centre, a large plastic sign reads Flemington in gold letters on white, with the letter O replaced by a sword and shield.

The sign resembles an advert, telling motorists leaving the county via the big R132 that development is imminent. But it doesn’t provide anything else in the way of information.

The townland of Flemington spreads either side of the busy regional road, running alongside Flemington Lane, a calm residential area with rows and rows of bungalows.

Behind the bungalows on the north side of the modest grassy lane is a long stretch of fields, over some 17.5 ha.

These lands are zoned for housing, says local independent Councillor Gráinne Maguire, Fingal’s deputy mayor. “However, there was a condition on it that nothing was to be built on it until a local area plan was done.”

Locals have waited for that plan for eight years, if not more, she says. Fingal County Council has marked it as one of six areas to get a local area plan (LAP) within the lifespan of its own 2023 to 2029 development plan.

Some 650 homes could be built here eventually, says a council leaflet announcing the first leg of consultation for that LAP.

For Maguire – and other community representatives – the hope is that any future housing in Flemington doesn’t go up without community facilities and infrastructure, they say.

Says Maguire: “Doctor services in the town are already at a breaking point. Schools are fairly full.”

“Building something that is accessible and usable by all, young and old, is important,” she says.

Getting going

The local area plan is focused on lands zoned for residential on the northern side of Flemington Lane, a long thin road that runs across the top of Balbriggan, from the R132 road to the M1 motorway.

Just south of the Flemington Lane, Dean Swift Property Holdings Unlimited Company applied in July to Fingal County Council for planning permission for a big project with 564 homes.

The council’s decision is currently pending.

Meanwhile, on the north side of Flemington Lane, any housing projects have been halted because of the lack of a local area plan, says Maguire. “These are private landowners that own this land.”

Developers John and Cormac Smith had applied to the council to build 73 dwellings on part of these lands in March 2018.

But the council refused permission that May, saying that the lands formed part of the Flemington Lane Masterplan. The council had to develop a masterplan before it could be developed, the response said, and it hadn’t.

An Bord Pleanála turned down the Smiths’ appeal in December 2018.

In 2023, Smith lobbied councillors and TDs within the Fingal area, asking for the early completion of a local area plan, according to the lobbying register.

All of the landowners want to build houses on their land and for the LAP to be done as soon as possible, said an email from Smith to council officials in May 2023.

Not just houses

Fingal County Council is running a first consultation inviting people to weigh in on priorities for the LAP, giving a deadline of 1 March for submissions.

In its submission, Balbriggan Community Council, a local voluntary organisation, pointed to the speed of recent housing developments in the town, and how amenities and infrastructure had not been able to keep up.

They flagged a need for community services, including crèches and services for older people, green spaces, road and transport infrastructure, education, water and sewage treatment capacity, and access to medical care.

Tony Murphy, the independent councillor, says that the LAP needs to grapple with whether the community can absorb the needs of its growing population.

“It’s not just about aesthetics. Do we have the capacity? Do we have enough doctors?” he said.

Balbriggan has a primary care centre, he says. “But it doesn’t serve the needs. So somewhere along the lines, the state needs to step up.”

In its submission, Balbriggan Community Council says the primary care centre has staffing shortages and long waiting lists.

Maguire says Balbriggan needs more medical services. “There is a doctor’s surgery up in Castle Mill. But we need more health services generally, be it doctors, mental health organisations, any state agency.”

Damien White, a Bremore local, who went to a recent public information meeting on the LAP, agreed.

Waiting two-weeks for an appointment is normal now, he says. “A lot of people are now saying, feck that for a game of soldiers, I’ll go off the Beaumont if you’ve the patience to sit in there for a day.”

Crèches need to be prioritised, says Mary Osakwe, a resident in Taylor Hill. “There are people already who can’t get their children on waitlists, and if there’s going to be more houses, there’s going to be no facilities for childcare.”

The LAP should also make sure that Flemington Lane doesn’t turn into a carriageway, says Murphy.

Flemington Lane is beside the R132 regional road and the M1 motorway. But it is exactly what the name suggests: a lane, Murphy says.

“It’s a rural lane, populated with small housing estates, but is there to service the agricultural land,” he says.

Any new housing on the Flemington lands should have its own road, and shouldn’t rely on the lane, he says, pointing to the council’s refusal of the Smiths’ 2018 application which noted the need for improved road infrastructure.

Once Fingal County Council officials have done this first consultation, they’ll prepare a draft LAP, says the council’s information leaflet.

Councillors will get a report on the draft, and there will be more public consultation, which will conclude the drafting, the leaflet says.

A spokesperson for Fingal County Council did not respond to a query about when it expected the LAP to be done.