The Land Development Agency (LDA) and Dublin City Council (DCC) have published draft plans for a new social and affordable housing development in Dublin 12.
Bluebell Waterways, located beside the 5th Lock on the Grand Canal at the former filter bed complex, will provide almost 400 homes, as well as community spaces and active travel links.
The publication of the draft plans follows initial engagement with residents, business and community groups in the area. Further meetings and workshops are planned over the next two months while interested parties and members of the public can also provide feedback on the design of the development through an online process.The plans include proposals for 389 high quality, sustainable homes involving a mix of studio, one, two and three bed apartments.
The homes will be delivered on a 2.8-hectare site, owned by Dublin City Council, in addition to community spaces, a creche and landscaped open spaces. Community allotments will support long established community services and there will be opportunities for new services to emerge.Around 35% of the homes will be social and the remaining 65% will be cost rental apartments. The latter will provide secure long-term rental accommodation at discounted market rates and will be managed by the LDA. Meanwhile, DCC will offer existing residents of the Bluebell maisonettes the first of the social homes.
The area is already well served by road and public transport services. The proposed development will build on the existing connections by prioritising new footpaths and cycleways and creating a green corridor linking to the planned canal greenway.
The draft plan can be accessed on the Bluebell Waterways website, and information about upcoming meetings and events will be made available online.
Phelim O’Neill, Head of Property at the Land Development Agency said:
“We are delighted to be moving to the next phase of this exciting project, which will see much needed social and affordable homes delivered in Dublin 12. This consultation provides residents, businesses and community groups with the opportunity to see the details of the proposed development – everything from a typical floorplan for the homes to a characteristic streetscape – capturing what the final neighbourhood could look like.
“Engagement is at the heart of all LDA-DCC partnerships and we want local people to feed in to these plans and help shape the area for this and future generations”.
Dave Dinningan, Director of Housing Delivery at Dublin City Council said:
“We have reached a vital stage in the process of delivering Bluebell Waterways. This project will revitalise the Dublin 12 area by supporting existing services while creating a safe and social environment with new community amenities for existing and future residents.
“Alongside our project partners, we look forward to meeting with and hearing from the local community so that we can refine our design to create the best possible development for the Bluebell community”.
The LDA is the State’s affordable housing delivery body. It is in the process of delivering more than 10,000 homes on State-owned or acquired land and over 8,000 through the Government’s Project Tosaigh initiative.
The Agency has existing planning permission for around 6,000 affordable homes on State-owned or acquired lands with many projects already under construction and others at advanced planning stage.
In addition to the direct delivery of homes, the LDA is overseeing Project Tosaigh, an initiative whereby the agency steps in to purchase stalled or unviable housing projects and then makes the homes available to renters at rents significantly below market rents or to purchasers using shared equity schemes. The LDA recently produced the Report on Relevant Public Land, which advised the government of the potential to deliver 67,000 homes on 83 underutilised State-owned sites.
The LDA’s direct delivery projects include the construction of 265 homes at St Kevin’s Hospital in Cork, a former HSE site, and the development of 597 homes in Shanganagh in Dublin in partnership with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. It also includes 817 homes at a site at Castlelands in Balbriggan in Dublin, 345 in Hacketstown in Skerries in Dublin, 219 at Devoy Barracks in Naas, Co. Kildare, 852 on the former Central Mental Hospital site in Dundrum, Dublin 14 and 543 at St Teresa’s Gardens in Dublin’s south inner city in partnership with Dublin City Council. The Agency also recently purchased a major site in Clongriffin in Dublin, which has the potential to deliver 2,200 homes.
Project Tosaigh is an LDA initiative, whereby the Agency steps in to kick-start stalled or unviable housing projects and then makes the new homes available to renters on a cost rental basis or to purchasers at an affordable price. The LDA has already launched a number of Project Tosaigh schemes. They include the release of 142 cost rental homes in Archers Wood in Delgany in Wicklow and the phased release of 95 homes in Parklands on Fortunestown Lane in Citywest in Dublin. In January 2024, the LDA announced the release of over 600 homes in four locations including 247 at Barnwell Point Apartments in Hansfield in Dublin 15, 236 at The Quarter in Citywest, 86 in Dun Óir in Kilternan in Dublin and 52 in Harpur Lane in Leixlip, Co Kildare. The Agency has also launched a number of affordable purchase Project Tosaigh developments. These include the phased launch of 92 homes in Clonmore in Mallow in Cork, 95 in Summerfields in Kilbarry in Waterford and 50 in Baker Hall in Navan.
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