Swords - Future City Status?

daymoh

Heard on the radio (98fm) this morning, that Fingal CoCo were considering plans to allow 25,000 new houses be built in Swords (as well as new commercial centres & maybe a hospital), thus increasing the population to about 100,000.. Apparently the status of Swords would then be changed to a city.

Anyone else hear that?

pinkypinky

Fingal is developing a new plan for the town. There's little orange booklets about it being delivered everywhere in the area and you can get them in the post office too. Very details and input invited from the public.

Dizzyblonde

I think it's great that they're finally putting some thought into the planning - and that we're going to have a say in it.
A hospital and city status would be fantastic progress. Swords stopped being a little village years ago and we need to move forward.

The Hill Billy

According to front page article in Herald AM they have earmarked 200 hectares in Lissenhall for this development.

Without rekeying the entire article, other developments being considered are:
Civic Plaza at Swords Castle
Western by-pass
New hospital
New primary & secondary schools
Third-level campus

miju

eh for an area to be called a city doesnt it need to have a cathedral ???

The Hill Billy

If that is true - I don't think that is really relevant in this day & age.
Anyway, I thought that 'city' status was historically granted by charter by the British monarch. Looks like we won't be having any more cities then. :rolleyes:

Fingalian

Would it be a city though? or just yet another endless suburb in the Greater East Coast Conurbation, Droglow I call it. I'd say we will end up like LA!!

Benjy

The following from Dictionary.com


cit·y /ˈsɪti/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sit-ee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural cit·ies.
1. a large or important town.
2. (in the U.S.) an incorporated municipality, usually governed by a mayor and a board of aldermen or councilmen.
3. the inhabitants of a city collectively: The entire city is mourning his death.
4. (in Canada) a municipality of high rank, usually based on population.
5. (in Great Britain) a borough, usually the seat of a bishop, upon which the dignity of the title has been conferred by the crown.
6. the City,
a. the major metropolitan center of a region; downtown: I'm going to the City to buy clothes and see a show.
b. the commercial and financial area of London, England.
7. a city-state.
8. (often initial capital letter) Slang. a place, person, or situation having certain features or characteristics (used in combination): The party last night was Action City. That guy is dull city.
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME cite < AF, OF cite(t) < L cīvitāt- (s. of cīvitās) citizenry, town, equiv. to cīvi(s) citizen + -tāt- -ty2]

dsmythy

Fingalian wrote: »

Would it be a city though? or just yet another endless suburb in the Greater East Coast Conurbation, Droglow I call it. I'd say we will end up like LA!!

If we could keep a green zone going around ourselves going we can avoid this. But we're failing already on that mark with East Swords and West Malahide getting very jiggy with each other with all the new developments in that area.

Unless Malahide wish to surrender their identity to us and become part of greater Swords!

Another option is to create well-known town limits to stay as a unique town.

How's about maybe in the future a Swords city-limit with Malahide one suburb of Swords?

I don't think they would agree.

daymoh

dsmythy wrote: »

East Swords and West Malahide getting very jiggy with each other with all the new developments in that area.

you can include kinsealy too..

SeaSide

daymoh wrote: »

you can include kinsealy too..

Is Kinsealy not a Principality?

m_stan

Whatever about the status of the town, Swords needs a serious investment in infrastructure before the 25,000 houses planned get anywhere near completion. As the lands proposed are already rezoned and in the ownership of a very influential developer, I would strongly encourage all residents to voice their concerns about any future development through any channel possible.

I would be of the mind that the developers should be forced to pay for this infrastructure to be completed before any bricks are laid in any future development. Their lies about funding permanent schools in the past have been shown up as exactly that, so it needs to be done before any houses are built. And I'm talking about schools, roads, leisure facilities, local shops, public transport links, cycle lanes, etc etc etc ...

Scratchface

Apparently, when the proposed development is completed, the new Swords City will have the same population as County Cork. God help us in the car park at Airside shopping centre or the three lane roundabout at the pavilliions !

m_stan

Scratchface wrote: »

Apparently, when the proposed development is completed, the new Swords City will have the same population as County Cork. God help us in the car park at Airside shopping centre or the three lane roundabout at the pavilliions !

How about just trying to get out of the town to get to work/school/etc everyday of the week ? At the moment its almost unbearable. Soon it will be impossible unless major changes are made.

Fingleberries

More on this topic today, from Fingal Co Co

Fingal County Council has unveiled plans to accommodate a new city of over 120,000 people in Swords as a result of Metro North.

Planners want a third-level university campus, a private hospital and their own bus service.

Fingal County Manager David O'Connor said he is not concerned about the impact of present economic difficulties on the development because this is planning more than 20 years into the future.

AdvertisementHe points out that Fingal has a booming population, and is set to benefit from Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, a new port at Bremore and the IKEA development, as well as Metro North.

The new rail line will have nine stops in the Fingal area.

Mr O'Connor predicted that Swords will merge into Drumcondra in the same way that Dundrum has merged into Ranelagh.

Fingal intends to double the region's employment to over 66,000 jobs to ensure that the new city of Swords does not become a commuter town.

The council is planning a hospital development and it is understood it is in talks with two third-level institutions to site a campus near Swords.

It also plans a bus service to link the housings estates with retail and work centres.

A good portion if this is included in the Draft Variation plan, which appears to be open for Public input until 10th June 2008 (details available here