Dundrum Phase 2 Granted Planning Permission

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council today granted permission for Phase 2 of the Dundrum "Town Centre" development, subject to 61 conditions. If anyone is looking for a copy of the grant, please email me. It's 19 pages long, so there's no point posting it.

It is disappointing that more substantial conditions were not put on the development. In particular, the failure to reduce the height of the nine-storey hotel element is to be regretted. Conditions on phasing the development, on insisting that the shops on Main Street cannot turn inwards, and the development levy conditions are all welcome, but the substantive issues have not been addressed.

Dundrum cannot remain the way it is now with a semi-derelict shopping centre dominating an increasingly depressed Main Street. Redevelopment is vital for its future. However, this decision will prolong the agony for the community, as there is now long period of waiting for the almost-certain appeal.

Beyond all this though, is a certain sense of unreality about issues of development on this scale in the current economic climate.

What is needed now is a plan for the short to medium term for the old village. That means putting councillors, residents, the developers, the remaining traders, and other agencies around a table to come up with some ideas on how to manage the place for the next few years, and to look further into the future to find a way forward.