A PLANNING APPLICATION is set to be submitted in the coming months to develop the contentious Oscar Traynor Road site in north Dublin. 

The application is set to propose that 853 homes be built on the site, with 40% (341 homes) to be social housing, 40% (341) cost rental and 20% (171) affordable purchase.

The site is contentious, with it officially being approved for development in November 2021 with 35 Dublin City councillors voting in favour of developing the site.

In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for property developer Glenveagh said that they would be submitting an application in the coming months.

“Preparatory activities are currently underway on our Oscar Traynor Road site, and the planning application will be submitted in the coming months,” said the spokesperson.

When asked when they anticipate construction on the site to begin, the spokesperson said: “The timing of a planning decision is a matter for the planning authority.”

The site itself is located off Coolock Lane in Dublin 5.

Of the 853 homes that are proposed, 435 are proposed to be apartments, 178 are proposed to be duplexes and 240 are proposed to be houses.

Alongside the housing on site, there’s set to be additional infrastructure works, new commercial buildings and open space.

Glenveagh was initially selected by Dublin City Council (DCC) following a procurement process.

Reacting to the new plans, Labour TD for Dublin Bay North Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said that the site “needs to be developed and it needs housing on it”, but said that he disagreed with handing the land directly to a developer.

He said that there needed to be a “legitimate conversation about who builds what and why”.

Currently, the developer has requested a Large Residential Development (LRD) meeting with Dublin City Council to formally progress the planning process for the site.

The LRD process is the replacement for the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process, which saw some large scale housing developments bypass individual local planning authorities and go straight to An Bord Pleanála.

Under the new process, LRD applications go to local planning authorities first, with a consultation stage before official documents are lodged.

However, similar to normal planning applications, it can still be appealed to An Bord Pleanála.