CIVIC: Dunsink

20-01-2022 10:50am #1

https://www.independent.ie/business/dunsink-landfill-to-be-rezoned-by-fingal-to-allow-for-7000-new-homes-41240024.html

I don't know how they'll ever remove the sheer mass of waste and tainted soil but there is no denying that Dunsink represents a great opportunity to build a new Quarter not distant from the City Centre with recreational areas, bus routes, rail, airport and motorway near by.

7000 new residences seems under-ambitious considering how massive the site is and its proximity to the City justifying higher densities.

This is an example of where having separate UDCs in the Metropolitan area runs contrary to the interests of the residents of the City. Dublin City needs residential space and this "space" is in the gift of Fingal. Fingal themselves can deliver their own residential space all the way to the border with Meath and beyond.

20-01-2022 11:03am

If it was planned and built right I'd live there.

That is the litmus test for urban design. People make great plans for regeneration or urban design where unspecific people could live but would ya live there yerself? The location has so many advantages going for it that I could see myself living there and embracing a full-on urban lifestyle.

L1011 · 20-01-2022 12:48pm

They won't remove the tainted soil (where would they put it? another landfill? - when you're confident its not settling anymore and has a manageable or no off-gassing you just build on top of it.

Dunsink has now been closed for longer than many other landfills in European cities were before they got built on. Reading FC's stadium was built on top of a ~8 year closed one I believe - it is fitted with gas flareoff vents still. Dunsink has a gas collector system with a power station, the methane is slowly running down in volume.

20-01-2022 12:55pm

Based on Fingal's track record with Tyrrellstown I wouldn't trust them to deliver the project. It is hell on earth but then Ballymun regeneration should have been so much more than it is which is low rise, low density so DCC might not do better.

Supposedly there was very little separation of domestic from industrial waste at Dunsink so comparing it to another municipal dump in another jurisdiction might be unsafe.

magicbastarder · 20-01-2022 1:48pm

if they did decide to remediate the site, would i be able to down and ask for my old bike back which my dad chucked without asking me?

Spanish Eyes · 20-01-2022 2:09pm

Could someone show the site on google maps please? Is it between Cappagh Hospital and Dunsink Observatory?

Dunsink Lane was once notorious, not sure if the Finglas end has improved, but maybe it has.

magicbastarder · 20-01-2022 2:38pm

i assume it's the triangle of land here; bordered by the M50, the hospital/ratoath road, and dunsink lane:

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3902768,-6.3321621,2040m/data=!3m1!1e3

Spanish Eyes · 20-01-2022 2:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118505653#Comment_118505653

Thanks, that's where I was thinking it was, but it doesn't look like half the size of the Pheeno as mentioned in the Indo article! But I'm no surveyor either.

20-01-2022 2:44pm

I'd also redevelop Elm Green Public Golf Course which I suppose is easy for me to say as I don't Golf and I see it as a criminal misuse of scarce resources within the M50. Fingal Co. Co. care not a jot that Dublin is bursting at the seams.

magicbastarder · 20-01-2022 2:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118505670#Comment_118505670

if it's just that triangle, it's not even close. that triangle is about 250 acres, one seventh the size of the phoenix park.

if you include the golf course, and all the farmland between dunsink lane, including the teagasc facility and other properties nearby, you're not far off half the phoenix park.

i just learned that google maps has a handy area calculator; right click on the map and select 'measure distance', and keep right clicking to draw a shape around your area (using 'distance to here' each time), and when you click back on the original dot to close the shape, it'll tell you the area.

Markcheese · 20-01-2022 3:01pm

Won't it be expensive to build on ?

"Fancy" foundations probably needed

magicbastarder · 20-01-2022 3:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118505670#Comment_118505670

the article is paywalled - did they actually state spefically how much land is being rezoned?

it may well be that the whole parcel is being rezoned, but they're referring to the whole chunk as if it was just the landfill.

20-01-2022 3:21pm

"Dunsink site set for rezoning for 7,000 homes

The Sunday Independent reports that Fingal County Council is set to rezone the Dunsink site that previously was the location of Dublin’s biggest landfill facility to provide for the building of 7,000 homes.

The site comprises about 435 hectares (1,074 acres), of which 200 will be made available for development. The plan would see the closed landfill turned into a regional park. The dump was closed in 2004. The rezoning has been recommended by the chief executive of council, the report said."

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/us-private-equity-giant-apollo-eyes-checking-out-of-11-irish-travelodges-1.4777764

magicbastarder · 20-01-2022 3:27pm

i wonder are they including some land on the other side of the M50 too? i can't get to 435Ha using that google tool, it's maxing out at about 370Ha, including the land for the hospital but excluding the land south of the tolka. so i suspect that land is in play too.

Spanish Eyes · 20-01-2022 6:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118506027#Comment_118506027

Here is a paragraph C+P from the article.

The area to be rezoned is located just six miles from Dublin city centre and comprises approximately 435 hectares, of which approximately 200 will be available for development, it said.

magicbastarder · 20-01-2022 7:03pm

what would be the purpose of rezoning land without the intention of changing its use, which would seem to be what they intend to do with just over half that land? just a paperwork exercise?

horse7 · 20-01-2022 7:09pm

How much will it take to pay the present residents/squatters to vacate from the area?

20-01-2022 7:16pm

I thought the got rid of the worst of them but must admit I have not ventured down that lane in quite a while and even when I did I did not dally.

Some of them were running their own waste "management" services from there to the less than exacting standards that you'd expect.

crushproof · 21-01-2022 12:25pm

What a great opportunity, would be great if they could model it on Aspern Seestatt in Vienna, an incredible development for expected population of 25,000 residents and 20,000 jobs. It looks wonderful, lightyears ahead of anything here. Two metro stops and a tramline...one can dream! https://www.aspern-seestadt.at/en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twfrEpHeLfw

donaghs · 07-07-2022 1:51pm

Seems like an ideal place for a park, and some greenways. i.e. there are some proposals in place already for the "Hamilton greenway".

The Hamilton Greenway – DIAS Dunsink Observatory

A north-south greenway which could connect with Ashtown, and then onto the phoenix park (on roads).

But also a greenyway following Dunsink Lane, or parrallel to the M50 which would connect Blanchardstown/Castleknock/royal canal with Finglas.

Maybe some high density apartments too. Green spaces are disappearing fast in Dublin and need to be preserved. Housing is clearly needed, but if the population surge continues, how much building is needed, and where?

Its a pity the Phoenix Park racecourse was completely built over, as there was a proposal to create a "green corridor" from the Phoenix Park itself to the countryside. e.g. phoenix park to the racecourse, over the N3 and the Canal to remaining green spaces on River Rd, onto Dunsink Observatory, over the M50 to the green areas in Abbotstown. etc

CIVIC: Dunsink

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"Dunsink site set for rezoning for 7,000 homes