WRONG HOUSING, WRONG MODEL, WRONG LOCATION

Small community group to challenge An Bord Pleanála once more in relation to Old Navan Rd. co-living scheme

We are seeking support from surrounding neighbours and beyond, as we find ourselves once again having to fund and challenge An Bord Pleanála’s decision, under the Strategic Housing Development, to approve a large 186 unit co-living development on the site of the former Brady’s Castleknock Inn.

We, as a small community, join the voices of many communities and concerned citizens across Ireland in expressing our objection to the glaring democratic deficit in the current planning process. Not solely a co-living problem, the current planning process , unless challenged by individual cases such as ours, will result in the wrong housing being built in the wrong areas, and priced at the wrong prices - at an enormous future environmental and social cost.

Our small community group successfully challenged a highly controversial application by Bartra Capital – which was approved by An Bord Pleanála in contradiction to their own inspector’s recommendation– in June 2020. Yet – incredulously - in a climate where our Minister for Housing has cited his belief that “inappropriate locations away from the core city centre have undermind the concept” of co-living, we find ourselves once again having to fund and challenge An Bord Pleanála’s decision to allow this co-living development to go ahead.

We have been left with no option but to challenge the Board’s decision, and fund a judicial review. This is a mammoth financial challenge – we have raised just under €40,000 (50%) of the projected required funding to date – but we now need YOUR help. As a community – and as a nation – we now face a situation where there is no longer any over-riding vision of how we want our suburbs, cities, towns, villages – our communities - to look and function.

We must have our voice heard – and together we are stronger.