Category Archives: Walking & Cycling / Siúil & Rothaíocht

Land Development Agency consultation on Kinsealy

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The Land Development Agency has drawn up proposals for housing on the land formerly used by Teagasc at Kinsealy. This will include a drop-in session on Tuesday 26th from 4pm to 8pm at St. Nicholas of Myra National School. Further information is on their website.

Central issues to be addressed include

  • access from the housing areas to both local schools, including temporary access as the development is planned to go ahead in phases;
  • the long-overdue greenway link from Kinsealy to Portmarnock station (which should have gone to planning in 2021) as well as the other greenway links (to Kettles Lane and Balgriffin)

NTA proposals for improved access to Clongriffin station

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The NTA is tendering for a new lift system in the temporary access tower (stairs and lift) to Clongriffin from Baldoyle, giving access to the railway station and the no. 15 bus. The tender includes a maintenance contract for between 3 and 5 years. They will also install CCTV in the access tower. They are continuing to look at options to improve the environment of the tower itself including better passive surveillance and sightlines. See NTA’s summary of progress.

I am deeply disappointed by Fingal County Council’s decision to accept a planning compliance submission from Richmond Homes, the developer responsible for replacing the temporary access with a permanent plaza on the Baldoyle side of the station which defers completion of the station to a later phase of the development, contrary to the phasing established inthe planning application on their site.

Land Development Agency proposals for Kinsealy are on public display; safe access to schools is a key issue.

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The Land Development Agency is seeking feedback on proposals for housing in Kinsealy on part of the former Teagasc lands.

My initial concern, which I have already fed back to the LDA, is that the project must provide safe access from the existing housing to the Educate Together National School and on to St. Nicholas of Myra National School. This needs to be in the final layout when the development is completed, and logically would be provided from the greenway proposed to be built in phase 1 of the LDA’s plans. But access must also be provided during the construction period, by providing a route through the land reserved for the second phase while the first phase is under construction.

In general the proposal has a welcome emphasis on prioritising walking and cycling. However, development of this land also is reliant on the greenway to Portmarnock station which should have gone to planning in 2021.

Additional issues include

  • the fact that some of the housing is proposed for land identified in the LAP for a school and pitches, amenities the rapidly growing community will require, and
  • the absence of cost rental housing from the development.

Although I immediately raised the safe school access issue with the LDA, and passed on some relevant contact details and background information, I will make a more detailed submission after the election.

Submission in relation to Dart+ Coastal North

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My observations to An Bord Pleanála can be summarised as follows:

  1. I strongly welcome the electrification of the railway to Drogheda.
  2. I am concerned by proposals for infrastructure changes at Howth Junction to facilitate the operation of an enforced transfer at that station for passengers to/from Bayside, Sutton and Howth. The European Investment Bank’s analysis unit, JASPERS, predicts a 50% reduction in passenger numbers due to the enforced transfer. In consequence, they recommended:
    “Further analysis and public consultations should be made on the ideal operating
    model for DART+CN, in particular whether or not to enforce transfer at Howth
    Junction for Howth route trains (with the overall operational consequences this
    implies).”
    The Minister for Transport has asked his Department to follow up with NTA and Iarnród Éireann in relation to the implementation of this recommendation. The only potential operating model which has been presented for the Howth Junction
    transfer infrastructure shows only disbenefits. In the absence of an operating model which shows benefits, this element of the project cannot constitute proper planning and sustainable development.
  3. Iarnród Éireann needs to improve walking and wheeling access to stations, especially where it would enable more direct routes for public transport interchange or to/from local destinations. Safe permanent access is needed at Clongriffin. Sutton Station is being addressed by Fingal County Council as part of the Sutton to Malahide scheme; these two projects need to be integrated and made complementary.
  4. The opportunity which Dart+ Coastal North presents to provide high quality additional bicycle parking to meet future needs should be taken.

Abolishing car parking requirements and developing car-free neighbourhoods – Green Councillors’ submission to consultation on sustainable settlements

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The Green councillors on Fingal County Council have a made a submission to the consultation on Sustainable and Compact Settlements Guidelines run by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Our submission focusses on car parking issues, pointing to good policies adopted in the Fingal Development Plan 2023-2029.

Two aspects of the Fingal Plan are worth copying. First we advocate that minimum parking standards should be abolished from the planning system. The Fingal Plan does this for areas near public transport (which are effectively the entire developed area of Fingal.)

This is not abolishing parking entirely, it is that the planners will no longer require developers to provide more car parking than they want to, i.e. than they think the market is looking for. Our recommendations as regards car parking are informed by the work of planners like Donald Shoup and campaigns such as the Parking Reform Network. We are very conscious that minimum parking requirements have two significant negative effects. Minimum parking requirements reduce housing affordability, and it has been found again and again that removing the parking requirements enables the building of more housing. The cost minimum parking requirements imposes on housing becomes a subsidy which builds in an incentive to car use, contrary to our climate, health and quality of life goals for transport.

Secondly, we recommend that urban areas be designed primarily for walking, cycling and public transport, and that car parking be clustered rather than spread through out residential or mixed use areas as is often the case. We point to the provision of the Fingal plan providing for car-free neighbourhoods as a good example to be followed nationally. These recommendations are informed by positive experiences in pedestrianising existing areas and by the development of new car-free neighbourhoods in cities and towns across Europe and the world.

Comments on Kilbarrack Road / Oscar Traynor Road cycle route design

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I have sent the following observations to Dublin City Council in response to their public consultation:

Thanks very much for coming to the meeting of the Howth/Malahide Area Committee to present this cycle route.  As Chair of the Committee, I know I speak for the Committee as a whole that we welcome the improvements for active travel that you propose. 
The following comments (some of which were raised at that Committee but are repeated for completeness) are made with the goal of further improvements:

Orcas at junction narrowing

​The consultation document says that ​“radii of all the junctions are tightened up to a maximum radius of 6.0m with road marking.”​ This is very welcome. On the maps,​ in some locations. these are also marked by orcas. In others they aren’t. e.g. Alden Road, Verbena Avenue, Kilbarrack Avenue, St. Margaret’s Avenue etc.​ They should be marked by orcas/bollards at all junctions.​

​N​arrowing of wide side roads at junctions

As well as the radius of the kerb, the width of the road at the junction should be narrowed where it’s very wide (e.g. St. Margaret’s Avenue.)

Tonlegee Road/Raheny Road/ Grange Road junction. ​

This is a r​eal problem junction​ for less confident cyclists​. In the absence of a more fundamental redesign, steps need to be taken to ensure that the use of the junction is ​appropriate for mixed traffic. Maybe ​a)​ a 30km/h speed ​at this junction for the interim scheme​ and b) signage reminding cyclists to take the lane and reminding other road users to expect cyclists to take the lane.​

Kilbarrack Road/Howth Road junction​. 

This junction needs to be addressed in this scheme. There are​ no ​traffic light​ phase​s​ to access​ and leave the​ cycle route.​ The consultation documentation says​ “Cyclists are encouraged to access the existing two-way cycle lane along Howth Road via the proposed toucan crossing.” ​With the narrowness of the footpath, t​his is geometrically difficult for ​users of ​all bicycles, impossible for​ users of​ some​ bicycles (e.g. cargo bikes) at all times and impossible for all bicycles when there are people walking. I understand Fingal has already forwarded correspondence from one cargo bike user describing the diffi​culties she experiences at this junction; if this isn’t to hand, I would be happy to send it on.

Cycle lane width

The width of the cycle lane, stated to be 1.5m, is however showing in the drawings as less than 1.5m because of orcas placed in the cycle lane. They should be outside the cycle lane, between cycle lane and general lane.​

Bus stops

The scheme should provide island bus stops at any opportunity and should consider whether moving bus stops can help with achieving this.

The NTA is also considering how to extend the N6 to the coast as originally planned in the Bus Connects redesign, with a possible terminus at Blackbanks. It would be important to ensure that any new bus stops are well sited.​

Shops on Kilbarrack Road

Although this area is lined for parallel car parking between the cycle lane and the pavement, cars currently usually park diagonally, partly on the cycle lane and reverse out across the cycle lane. The proposal effectively intends to maintain the current road markings, which can be expected to mean that the current dangerous use of the road will continue. The scheme should provide for car parking outside the cycle lane.


Thanks for considering the above.

Commissioner for Environmental Information has upheld my appeal on refusal of access to information on Station Road junctions

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The Commissioner for Environmental Information has ruled on my appeal against Fingal County Council’s refusal to release planning compliance documentation in relation to condition 2 of planning permission SHD/012/19. The condition required the redesign of the junctions at either end of Station Road before development started, which didn’t happen. One has since been redesigned. The other still hasn’t. More background here.

The Commissioner found

36. Articles 7(4) and 11(4) of the AIE Regulations require public authorities to provide reasons for refusal at both original and internal review decision stages, consistent with Article 4(5) of the AIE Directive. It is clear that the Council did not provide adequate reasons for refusal of the appellant’s request.

37. I am satisfied that the Council adopted a blanket approach to its refusal of the records at issue under article 8(a)(i) of the AIE Regulations and to its refusal of the records at issue under articles 8(a)(iv) and 9(2)(d) of the AIE Regulations, without having regard to the nature or content of the records.

The Commissioner has now directed the Council to undertake a fresh decision-making process.

Kinsealy Greenways update

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At the September Council meeting I asked when for an update on the design of the Kinsealy-Portmarnock Greenway and was told it had gone to tender. I couldn’t find it on e-tenders so I raised at the Area Committee where I was told that the information at the Full Council was wrong and the request for tenders wouldn’t issue until early next year.

At the October Council meeting we considered the Capital Programme for 2023-2025. It only included the design work for Kinsealy Lane and the Kinsealy-Portmarnock Greenway. I submitted these motions to add to the plan the construction of the Greenways to Portmarnock and Kettle’s Lane and the redesign of Kinsealy Lane:

  • That this Council recommends that the capital programme line for the Kinsealy- Portmarnock Greenway continue subsequent to 2023 with a total expenditure of €12 million (based on the Feasibility Study already carried out) with funding to be from grants and levies.
  • That this Council recommends that the capital programme line for the Kinsealy Lane upgrade continue subsequent to 2023 with a total expenditure of €4 million (based on the Feasibility Study already carried out) with funding to be from grants and levies.
  • That this Council recommends that a capital programme line be included for the Kinsealy- Kettles Lane Greenway with a total expenditure of €9 million (based on the Feasibility Study already carried out) with funding to be from grants and levies.


The first was defeated after the Mayor wouldn’t let me amend it to delete the words “and levies”. The other two were agreed with that amendment. 

In our Development Plan process, I have submitted motions to include the two greenways on the Development Plan maps. Unfortunately the Chief Executive is opposing these motions. This is despite the feasibility study done in 2018 which is at https://davidhealy.com/?p=907.

Observation on Belcamp SHD application – need for light rail-based development

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A very large urban development application has been made on the Belcamp lands, in advance of the Local Area Plan which the zoning provides for. I have made an observation to An Bord Pleanála (version with appendices) focussing on the need to develop around high-quality public transport.

It has been clear to me for over 15 years that the large development area planned between Clonshaugh and Clongriffin, of which this Belcamp application forms part, should be served by an orbital light rail or metro connection to the Dart in the east and the Metro in the west, a link which will also be of wider benefit to the public transport network.

The only additional recent element is that NTA, in its proposals for revising the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy, now recognises that there will be a need for a light rail service on the Malahide Road, so it’s proposing a further link in the network.