The number of homes planned for a new suburb at the former Dublin Industrial Estate opposite Glasnevin Cemetery has been revised upwards by 40 per cent to a potential 8,500.<\/p>\n
Dublin City Council<\/a> last April published the Ballyboggan draft master plan for the development of 6,000 homes within a 77-hectare zone, the largest industrial land bank to be regenerated since the Dublin docklands.<\/p>\n However, the plans were criticised for lacking ambition in the midst of a housing crisis, with landowners and State agencies seeking the highest possible densities to ensure the maximum number of apartments are built.<\/p>\n The area, just 3km from the city centre, is surrounded by the established suburbs of Glasnevin<\/a> to the east, Cabra to the south, Finglas to the north and the expanding neighbourhood of Pelletstown to the west.<\/p>\n More than 140 submissions were made to the council on the draft master plan, most of which called for increased housing density and height on the lands. Many of these were from existing industrial landowners, though Irish Rail<\/a> and the National Transport Authority<\/a> (NTA), as well as several members of the public, called for maximum densities to be pursued on the site.<\/p>\n Irish Rail chief executive Jim Meade said rail services were due to \u201cincrease substantially\u201d through Broombridge, a Luas and train station at the zone\u2019s west end, making it \u201cclearly an ideal location\u201d for additional population growth.<\/p>\n \u201cConsiderable increases in passenger capacity due to Dart+ West means that Broombridge station could facilitate the maximum level of density provided for under current planning guidelines,\u201d he said. \u201cDublin City Council should consider whether the proposed densities are sufficient to realise the full benefits of transport-orientated development and optimise respective investments.\u201d<\/p>\n In its submission, the NTA said Ballyboggan was \u201can appropriate location for intensive residential and commercial redevelopment\u201d due to its \u201cexceptional level of transport accessibility\u201d.<\/p>\n