CORBALLIS EAST UPDATE

Corballis East Image

Following the public meeting held by DPCC on February 21st at the Shoreline Hotel with regard to the Corballis East site, the DPCC has now entered into an agreement with the developer (Aledo) to withdraw the outstanding Judicial Review on the SHD and agree and series of community gain initiatives.

The meeting on February 21st was intended to seek community opinions and take a democratic vote on whether or not to enter into an agreement with the developer (Aledo) to drop the outstanding Judicial Review on the development and enter into a community gain package with the developer. The meeting was moderated by Alan Boyce, a Peace Commissioner appointed by the Minister of Justice.

The meeting was extremely well attended, with 350 residents present, of whom approximately 70% voted in favour of entering into the agreement, providing a clear and numerically robust community mandate to take things forward.

Since then, the JR on the SHD has been withdrawn, and DPPC has finalised formalities and signed an agreement with the developer. The overall implications of the agreement are as follows:

The Corballis East development will now reduce from the original plan of approx. 1350 housing units, or 50 units per hectare, to 1,020 housing units, or approx. 40 housing units per hectare.

The developer will be forced to pay a penalty of €6 million euro in the event of breaching the stipulated density of 40 units per hectare.

The planning permission granted for the development features provision for a number of amenities including:

  • A medical centre
  • Additional retail space and café space
  • Childcare facilities
  • A facility for a youth / community / outreach centre
  • Age-friendly housing
  • A series of public parks, open spaces, pocket parks and communal open spaces throughout the development
  • The Corballis Nature Park, which will be 13 hectares in size and have a pedestrian connection to the Broadmeadow Greenway project.
  • Zoning for a school

With regard to the land around Smyths Pub, the agreement also makes provision for the developer will make an application within 6 months of works commencing for:

  • The building of connectiing road between the Corballis East site and the Smyth’s Pub lands to relieve traffic from the Railbridge bottleneck
  • The refurbishment of Smyth’s Pub and the adjacent stone buildings
  • The development of further retail units.

The agreement also confirms:

  • A community fund of €10,000 per year for 10 years
  • The use of a 70 metre square unit for a community / youth centre, rent-free for 10 years OR the option to convert this to a 1-off payment of €150,000