Traffic blocks plans for high-tech industrial park close to Dublin Airport

The proposed development could have catered for at least 100 staff, based on the number of parking spaces the developers were seeking to provide. But the plan was rejected because it would “negatively contribute to a reduction in the operational efficiency of the strategic road network”.

The rejection by Fingal County Council planners of the plan to build five industrial units highlights the constrained traffic situation in the area, with a far bigger proposal to expand the nearby airport also likely to raise traffic concerns.

The site is close to the busy junction of the M1, the M50 and R139

The proposal by development firm Genvest was for a three-hectare site at Stockhole Lane that is zoned for high-tech manufacturing uses next to a large petrol station and two major hotels. The site is close to the busy junction of the M1, the M50 and R139. A smaller version of the plan with fewer units was previously permitted by the planners.

“The Transportation Planning Section considers that this application and the scale of the application proposals over and above that which has already been consented for the same site would negatively contribute to a reduction in operational efficiency of the strategic road network,” said the local authority in its decision to refuse the new plans.

A smaller version of the plan with fewer units was previously permitted by the planners

The planners rejected the new plan “in the absence of larger strategic infrastructural upgrades in the vicinity, which are not on the current capital works programme”, it said.

“The proposed development, by itself or by the precedent which the grant of permission for it would set for other relevant development, would adversely affect the use of a national road or other major road.”

A planning expert writing in support of the proposal claimed it had been “designed to a high-quality finish with a fully considered landscape scheme” and that it “represents a significant investment”.

The proposal was “strategically located” and “of sufficient size and scale to accommodate market demand”, they said.