Planning permission has been applied for 127 apartments on the site of the old skatepark in Cherry Orchard Industrial Estate. David Gardiner, Workers’ Party representative for Palmerstown-Fonthill, has said that issues around facilities and infrastructure, combined with the cost of renting, means the proposal would not benefit working people.
Gardiner said “The proposal does not account for the issues around infrastructure and facilities that already exist in Palmerstown. “Traffic, for example, is already an issue on Kennelsfort Road, where this site is located. Combined with the apartments being built on the old Vincent Byrne site, as well as the approved plan to turn the Silver Granite pub into apartments, this proposal could add massively to the problem.”
“Furthermore, with the three developments numbering roughly 500 units and no doubt upwards of a thousand people, questions must be asked about the impact that the developments will have on access to the likes of schools, childcare and doctors. Some of these are issues that people already struggle with in the area. Building housing without putting the infrastructure and facilities in place is a recipe for disaster and a serious risk with private developments like these.”
“The cost of rent, in line with the Dublin private rental market, is likely to be sky-high. For example, the price of a one-bed apartment on the old Vincent Byrne site, now being marketed as Palmers Gate, is almost €2,000. Why would this site be any different? These developments aren’t being built to offer working people a solution to the housing crisis, they’re being built for landlords and developers to exploit it.” “Unaffordable housing, with a lack of facilities and infrastructure, does not benefit renters or indeed the people of Palmerstown as a whole. Only a system of mixed-income, universally-accessible public housing can provide people with secure and affordable homes well into the future.”
You can find more details on the Cherry Orchard Industrial Estate proposal at orchardgatelrd.ie. You can also find the Workers’ Party’s public housing policy at workersparty.ie/housing.
