Last week the Land Development Agency published a document laying out its vision for the 18-hectare Stapolin Square development.
As the Dart approached Clongriffin station at 8.20am on Tuesday, a crowd of some 30 people hurried to catch their train.
Most marched up the ramped steps on the west side from the Clongriffin area.
Only one woman and two kids came from the east side, climbing up the rusting steel tower that gave residents in Myrtle, the Coast and Baldoyle areas access to the platforms.
The tower was only supposed to be a temporary connection for people living to the east of the tracks since the station opened in 2010, But in the many years that followed, those residents time and again complained as its condition deteriorated, vandals damaged it, and its lift consistently malfunctioned.
But the lift was working fine on Tuesday, and it has largely been a success since it was upgraded by the National Transport Authority in December, said Samantha O’Flanagan of Myrtle The Coast Residents Association. “We’ve had very few incidents. Maybe two occasions where we’ve had to phone the contractors who are looking after the lift.”
There were no more limits on the hours in which it could be used either, she said. “That was so disruptive.”
“So it’s been really fantastic to have full working access to the Dart station,” she said, “and to not have to worry about turning up and finding the lift out of service.”
Just inside the tower, the Land Development Agency (LDA) had fixed a print-out of its newsletter from last summer to the cage-like walls.
The slightly smudged newsletter told locals that the LDA had acquired 125 acres of land to the east of the station from developer Richmond Homes, including the site on which the tower stands, and they were in the process of redesigning an area called Stapolin Square.
Still just a vast stretch of grass with muddy paths, the Stapolin Square development lands currently have planning permission for 1,931 homes, as well as parks and a village centre with shops, cafes, a playground and more.
But, on Friday, the LDA published a document elaborating on what the regeneration project will entail for the village square and its surrounding apartment blocks.
Among those amendments is a proposal to bulk up the village square leading up to the station, with a new sloping route set to replace the old tower.
It has also hinted at revised designs for homes in the blocks to the east of Stapolin Square, with 596 homes expected rather than 528 – subject to an amended planning application being put in and approved.
Adjacent to Stapolin Square, to the west, the LDA owns another site, where it is developing approximately 2,000 more homes on its Clongriffin lands.
A more Stapolin tomorrow
Re-designing the permanent access to the station is one of the key alterations in the LDA’s document.
The previous landowner, The Shoreline Partnership, sought permission from An Bord Pleanála to alter an existing planning permission in June 2021, committing to knock the temporary tower outside the station.
An Bord Pleanála approved their application in September 2021, noting in its conditions that the proposed development would be amended to remove two public lifts within the village square.
Instead, Stephen Rhys Thomas, a senior planning inspector said an alternative means of access for all, such as a ramp, should be provided.
Now, the LDA is proposing to deliver a gently sloped, landscaped route that links the Longfield Road to Clongriffin to ensure universal access, its document says.
This village centre will also feature shop and commercial spaces, a cafe and a playground at the Longfield Road end, with a planned creche set to be expanded from 539 sqm to 733 sqm.
There will be a new bus ramp on the eastern side of the tracks to create a road that connects Stapolin to Clongriffin, it says.
The LDA is also looking to increase the number of homes, including social homes and affordable cost rental apartments, from 528 to 596, with the widths of apartment blocks being reduced, it says.
They have reconfigured layouts and the mix of units “to reflect current housing needs”, it says. Because of those adjustments, the document says, the agency is in a position to up the amount of semi-private amenity space from 5,357 sqm to 6,337 sqm, it says.
It would be good if they might consider allocating more storage space in the planned car parking areas for every apartment, said Green Party Councillor David Healy on Monday evening.
“For whatever outdoors activities they may have, like if they have golf clubs or a surfboard, goodness knows what to do with it in these modern Irish apartments,” he said.
“If the LDA is building apartments for people to live in long-term, then these, which are kinda fundamental amenities of a permanent resident, need to be made available,” he said. “This is, you know, not rocket science. It’s the way apartment living works in other countries.”
Due to the sheer scale of the project, the agency will be carrying out a series of workstreams concurrently, the document says..
The first of these, which it says is slated to commence during the second quarter of 2026 is “workstream two”, and that will entail the delivery of 279 apartments, Haggard Park, a “green link”, pocket parks, cost rental and social apartments, and a new foul pump station.
During the summer then, the LDA plans to lodge its large-scale residential development application for “workstream one”, with a planning decision expected in the final quarter of the year, it says.
That workstream comprises the village centre, a playground, a creche, the connective bus route, the new ramp up to the Dart station, as well as 596 apartments. The LDA is lining up to start construction work on those projects during 2027, it says.
The third workstream concerns legacy issues at the station, like the lift, security and 24 hour access to the tower, all of which are interim measures that have been carried out, with further upgrades being implemented until the square itself is delivered, it says.
At an unspecified time, listed under “future phases”, the LDA says it will carry out a review to look at more pocket parks, access to Racecourse Park, the creche and retail facilities, as well as more of its planned apartments, it says.
They will also look at a potential primary health care centre, it says.
The agency is set to put the new document on display at a pair of drop-in clinics in Baldoyle’s Racecourse Community Centre on Wednesday 29 April, and Wednesday 6 May.
A spokesperson for the LDA said they also aim to develop a full public stakeholder engagement plan to communicate on their future plans in the coming months.
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