Cumulative impact of SHDs on community
While I fully acknowledge the housing crisis that we are in, I feel we need to be extremely cautious about addressing it in a considered and sustainable way, which by and large SHDs fail to do. Instead, the SHD model facilitates a circumvention of the Dublin City Development Plan and the traditional planning process, and in an area like Drimnagh where a number of brownfield sites with exceptional development potential have recently been rezoned, we risk ending up with an oversupply of one type of housing. Build-to-rent apartments have the potential to be one part of the solution to the housing crisis, but they are not conducive to the sustainable, long-term development of our communities.
I share the concerns of Drimnagh residents about the impact of this proposed development on the community – not just as a stand-alone development, but as one of a number proposed developments that will permanently alter the landscape of this community. As it stands, this wide-scale development will be occurring without the benefit or guidance of a local area plan, and there is a legitimate fear that one after another these potential developments will turn to the SHD model, effectively working outside the remit of the Dublin City Development Plan, increasing heights and density beyond what would otherwise be allowed, and ultimately securing permission without a ‘big picture’ perspective being taken into consideration.
