Councillors in County Louth have voted to rezone residential land near Dundalk, claiming there are not enough facilities to deal with hundreds more residents.

Despite the planning regulator formally recommending against the rezoning, this vote has potentially halted the development of hundreds of new homes.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Dundalk-South Fianna Fáil Councillor Shane McGuinness explained that there are multiple issues with the areas of land that were zoned for housing.

“One of the problems we have is, we have a site that's right on a National Heritage area - which is Dundalk Bay - especially next to it is a special area of conservation and a special protected area within the National Heritage,” he said.

“I think the infrastructure deficit within an area like Blackrock is the main fundamental problem.

“At the minute, we have two waste water treatment plants - they're at capacity.

“In their written statements, they said they may be able to allow a certain number of units - there's nothing actually set in stone.”

A housing estate, © PA Wire/PA Images

Cllr McGuinness further added to the list of deficits in the area where land was rezoned, saying: “There's no creche facilities available and we have no numbers available now in our schools in Blackrock and Haggardstown, they're at capacity.

“We have one community centre that was built in 1977 in Blackrock and that's the same community centre that's there 50 years later [and] we have one soccer pitch that the club's using.

“Yet we've nearly 15,000 people living within the community - so I think that's the real problem.”

Stock picture of housing in Lexlip, Co Kildare taken from a Helicopter. Image: Alamy

Cllr McGuinness gave two examples of sites in Dundalk who have better facilities and how it has worked out.

“I’ll give you an example of two sites in the middle of Dundalk, Cox's Demesne and Muirhevnamor, which have roughly the same amount of houses as what's planned for this Blackrock site, but three times the size and area,” he said.

“So if you take Cox's Demesne with around 650 or 700 houses, you have multiple entrances in and multiple entrances out, you have a community centre, a church, a primary school, shops, football pitches.

“You have all that in one site in Dundalk and similar in Muirhevnamor, a similar amount of houses on three times the size of the area, yet you have all those facilities available.”

Housing construction, © PA Wire/PA Images

Cllr McGuinness said he thinks the solution to the issue of needing more housing built in the area is looking at low density and high density housing.

“What I'm saying is in an area like Blackrock, where there is a pattern of planning there, we should only have low density housing in an area like that,” he said.

“So we have an opportunity now, as Councillors, we're now looking at the county development plan.

“We're looking at, hopefully, what I would like to see is us bringing in a low density housing for suburban areas like Blackrock and Haggardstown and outside Dundalk.

“Then put the high density into the middle of Dundalk, where you have the infrastructure, and especially looking at a secondary school on the south side of Dundalk, so that that would produce maybe 1,000 cars going in and out of Dundalk to the town centre.”

Builders at work on new homes being constructed at Curragh Farm in Newbridge County Kildare. 11/01/2022 Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie