Irish Glass Bottle site should be transferred to Dublin City Council

The Nama-controlled Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend should be transferred to Dublin City Council to secure more social housing at the site, according to local residents.

The site is designated for around 2,500 homes in the Poolbeg Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), the fast-track planning scheme approved by the Government last May.

Under currently legislation, only 10 per cent of these homes must be made available for social housing. However, if the land was transferred into the ownership of the council, it would be able to determine the appropriate “tenure mix” and designate more land for social housing.

“Planners have to work within the law, and so currently they can’t increase the social housing requirement beyond 10 per cent, but Minister Coveney, who has declared his support for social and affordable housing could change that,” Mark Price, an architect and member of the Irish Glass Bottle Housing Action Group said.

Low income tenants

The group is seeking to divide the site equally between social housing, private housing, co-operative voluntary housing, and co-housing – a concept similar to co-operative housing but done on a private self-built model, rather than for low income tenants.

“Under the model we are proposing the 25 per cent social housing would be funded by the State, but co-operative housing bodies use private capital, and the private housing and the co-housing would also be privately financed, so that would not be a burden to the State,” Price said.

The group has sought meetings with Mr Coveney and Nama, but none have yet been arranged.

The SDZ, currently being drafted by the council, covers 84 acres of land at the Poolbeg peninsula, around 20 acres of which are at the glass bottle site. Owners of land in the zone will be allowed to seek planning permission from Dublin City Council which cannot be appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

Windmill Lane Studios founder James Morris and film producer Alan Moloney had asked the council to set aside 20 acres of the glass bottle site to develop an €80 million studio complex.

Mr Morris now says he would be happy for the same amount of land to be set aside elsewhere in on the peninsula.

The council hopes to have its first draft of the SDZ available for public consultation in January.