Ballymun Gateway Housing Scheme

Density
The total site area is 1.776 Ha.(4.44 acres) divided between two sites.  Site A (the ‘monos’ or ‘Stonehenge’ site) consists of 1.584 Ha. (3.96 acres) (see section below on site area) and site B (between  Pearse Tower and the Comprehensive school)) consists of 0.192 Ha.(0.48 acres)  159 units in total are planned of which 129 are located on Site A.  However only 151 units are presented on the planning application form showing the breakdown of the types of housing to be provided.

Housing density on Site A	81.4 Units per Hectare (32.5 per acre)
Housing Density on Site B	156.2 Units per Hectare (62.5 per acre)
Total Density Sites A+B	89.5 Units per Hectare (35.8 per acre)

These densities far exceed anything found in suburban areas of Dublin with houses and have more in common with centre city locations.

The Plot Ratio for the total site is given as 0.672.  This exceeds the Department of the Environment ‘Residential Densities – Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ where it states plot ratios for outer suburban areas (of which Ballymun is one) should be 0.35-0.5 for areas close to public transport.  Plot ratios for inner suburban ratios is 0.5-1.0.  Therefore the plot ratio given in the planning application is for an inner suburban area and does not take cognisance of the fact that Ballymun is suburban both locationally and demographically.

The Department of the Environment brief was to re-house the population of Ballymun at existing bedspace densities.  The existing bedspace density in Ballymun is 115 bedspaces per acre.  The bedspace density on this site will be at least 206 bedspaces per acre.  At the very least, this will lead to an inequitable treatment of certain tenants compared to those in lower density sites (if there will be any) in order to balance the final total bedspace densities(if this occurs).  At the worst it indicates that Ballymun will experience the same on other sites once the precedent is set.  Such densities will create slums in future if maintenance is not maintained by the Corporation who will have to do this since local residents may not be able to afford it themselves regardless of estate management initiatives.  
It is worth noting that the tender advertisement published in the newspapers indicated that the two new Gateway Towers ‘are suitable for conversion to apartments’ and that the student accommodation (Towers) would have a 300 bed capacity..

Site Area
The application, the planner's report and the inspector's report refer to a total area of 1.776 ha., but the two reports indicate the area for site A as being 1.458 ha. and for site B as being 0.192 ha., giving a total of 1.740 ha. This is 0.036 ha. or 0.08892 acres less than in the application. It is not clear if permission has been given to build on 1.776 ha. or 1.458ha.  
The description of the development states the number of residential dwellings as being 159. However, in the breakdown of residential mix, the total is stated as 151. It is not clear if planning permission was given for 159 or 151 dwellings.

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