“It started out as a football project and it's turned into a game changer for the area and surrounding areas,” says John Hayden, the chairman of Belvedere Football Club.
Requests for a school warden were previously turned down because it was considered too dangerous, said a councillor. In recent times, two other schools have been told the same.
Dublin City Council would sell the site to developer Glenveagh, which would agree to build 853 homes there, which would all be social and affordable, say officials. But what does affordable mean?
It examined deals done between 2016 and 2019 and found that councils generally got a good deal, but that there wasn’t a rigorous, standardised process.
There are two-bed homes renting for €935 a month as part of a cost-rental scheme in Balbriggan, and for €1,100 in Cork city. But nothing yet in Dublin city.
“I believe this application is the definition of developer-led planning,” said Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam, at a meeting of the Central Area Committee on 22 July.
For one tenant, advertised rents for similar apartments in a neighbouring block are much lower than hers, raising the possibility of a downward rent review.
