Dublin People - Residents fear development levies

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Residents fear development levies

Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Residents in South Dublin who intend building a new home could be hit with a massive bill for two separate development levies after Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council failed to come to an agreement with developers over funding for the construction of a new road.The local authority is currently proposing to charge developers and individuals who want to build new houses in the Glenamuck area a development levy of e43,000 per unit.
The levy scheme will go towards funding a new distributor road for the area, which is seen as a vital piece of infrastructure to opening up 17 hectares of land in the area to development.
While locals who want to build a new house would be entitled to a reduced levy of e14,000 per unit some residents in the area already are liable for another levy of e22,000 to fund an extension to the Luas.
If councillors ratify the new proposals in November, many residents would have to pay both levies if they wanted to build a new home.
As part of the local area plan (LAP) for Kilternan, developers were to pay for the new road before they could launch into a massive building spree in the area. However, they could not come to an agreement with the council and have now refused to pay for the road.
Instead the council has come up with a proposal whereby it would fund the new road and then recoup the money over 25 years through the higher levy.
The local authority estimates that the entire scheme will cost a massive e143 million. Some e128 million will be required to CPO the land from developers – who have snapped up much of the lucrative land in recent years – and local landowners.
Aileen Eglington of the Kilternan Residents' Association (KRA) said the proposals would unduly penalise residents and would in effect mean that taxpayers’ money from the levies would indirectly be given to developers when the council pays them much of the e128 million for the land.
“The developers up here have already bought all the land,” she said. “The council is using a huge amount of taxpayers’ money to give straight back to the developers. They are going to spend e128 million and give it back to the developers. The cost of building the roads is only e22 million.
“I think the way they intend to fund this should be questioned by all of us. The cost of this is being passed on to the taxpayer because the council is being forced to borrow the money to CPO the land.”
A spokeswoman for the council said development in the Kiltiernan/Glenamuck area could not take place without the road and ponds.
“These are essential pieces of infrastructure that in the normal course of events would be provided by developers and included in a schedule of costs for a development,” she said.
“In undertaking to complete the infrastructure, the council is underlining its commitment to the development of the Kiltiernan/Glenamuck area in accordance with the Local Area Plan and in doing so is bearing the costs that would otherwise be borne by a developer.”
In addition, Declan McCulloch, Senior Executive Officer in the Planning and Economic Development Department said it was necessary to recover these costs from developers and that was proposed to do this through the Section 49 planning scheme. “Everyone in the area will benefit from the improved infrastructure, in particular roads, water and drainage and public transport. Infrastructure must go hand in hand with development,” he said.

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