900 housing unit scheme imminent for Dunshaughlin

Rockture Limited, part of the Gem Group construction company, is preparing to resubmit plans for over 900 housing units on the south side of Dunshaughlin.

Plans for the massive development have been met with concern from local residents who fear it will cause major traffic problems in the area, but has been welcomed by others as it will provide 91 social houses and 2.3million in community funding.
A new planning application for the development is expected to be lodged with An Bord Pleanala shortly. The planning board recently refused to deal with the application as it did not "adequately describe the nature and extent of the proposed development."  
Cllr Nick Killian (left) has called on the developers to hold a public consultation evening on the project.
"They owe it to the community of Dunshaughlin to consult publicly and it can be done prior to the application being resubmitted," he said.
The proposals are for a residential development comprising of 913 units including 505 single, two, and three storey houses, 186 three storey duplex units  and 222 four and five storey apartments, a neighbourhood centre, including two retail units, a café / restaurant unit, a primary healthcare / gym facility, a community facility, a childcare facility and associated open
spaces.
The development will also include a section of the Dunshaughlin Outer Relief Road, internal roads, cycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
The  28.3 hectares site consists of lands to the north of the R147 / Dublin Road, Dunshaughlin. It is to the south of Kellett’s Grove and Coldrick’s Pass, to the east of Dunshaughlin Business Park and to the north of the housing development at The Willows.
The developers are a long established residential and commercial development company in the Leinster area, and are currently  building The Willows residential development.
Because the development consists of more than 100 units,  the application is determined by An Bord Pleanála under the Strategic Housing Development Act (SHD). The aim of this act is to fast track applications for housing.
Cllr Nick Killian said a lot of concern has been expressed locally about he level of traffic that will be generated by the development,
Most of the concerns are about traffic as there is a lot of big development proposed for the village.
However, he gave the development a "cautious welcome," as it will provide 91 social houses and 2.3million in community funding as well as local facilities.
He said the hue boost in population for the Dunshaughlin area that will result from these developments could now make the case for the extension of the railway line onto Dunshaughlin and Navan.
"The government has made no commitment to the railway line whatsoever. They said it would be revisited in 2021, but that is too far away," he said.
Cllr Gerry O'Connor said there are several big developments in the pipeline for Dunshaughlin which will double the size of the village and
will now pave the way for population targets for the railway line to be
met.
"The Celtic Tiger passed Dunshaughlin by because we hadn't the water infrastructure or
motorway.
"Now we have our water tower and motorway and we can develop a well planned town."
He pointed out the Gem proposal includes a creche and neighbourhood centre and there are proposals for a new primary school in the village.
Instead of Celtic Tiger era development where houses were built without necessary infrastructure, he was confident Dunshaughlin could be a well planned town.