At the March county council meeting a proposal was made by council management to build 500 homes in Killinarden through a joint venture project. The proposal include 300 affordable homes, 100 social homes and 100 private homes. It was approved by 28 votes in favour with 8 votes against. People Before Profit Councillor Madeleine Johansson commented on the proposal: “It is welcome that the numbers on this site include more affordable and social homes than previous projects such as Kilcarbery, where 70% were private. However, this proposal is a continuation of the Rebuilding Ireland plan and once again involves the selling of public land to a private developer.
“Following the historic general election recently it is possible that a new national housing policy will be developed. Instead of going ahead with a development which includes using public land for private housing, the council should develop this site directly for social and real affordable homes. “As of January 2020 there were 6846 households on the housing list according to the monthly statistics report and 587 individuals and families registered as homeless. Housing is needed urgently, however similar projects have taken up to 2 years to get to the stage of starting construction. Housing could be built quicker, and cheaper, if it was developed directly by the council.”
People Before Profit Tallaght representative Emma Hendrick said: “The proposed community facilities are very welcome. However, there is still a lack of amenities in the Killinarden area. The new BusConnects proposal will remove the bus link to the local post office. There is also a need for more schools in the area as local schools are full to capacity.”
