THE rezoning of 195 acres of farmland in Swords by Dublin county councillors last night Would severely overload the local sewage treatment plant, a Labour Councillor and TD, Mr Sean Ryan, said last night.
The decision taken at a meeting of Fingal County Council also represented a breach of the outer limits of the area covered under the Local Development Plan for Swords and it was "mind-boggling", he said.
The chairwoman of the council, Ms Anne Devitt, however, described the rezoning as "very modest for a town of the size of words", and said the development would meet the huge demand for housing in the area.
Two urgently needed major link roads would also be built in the development areas, she stressed.
Councillors have rezoned 362 acres in the Swords region in eight days. The 195 acres of farmland rezoned mostly for housing could increase the value of the land from £900,000 to an estimated £8.5 million. The 167 acres rezoned last week are earmarked for housing, a hotel and hi-tech industrial facilities.
Fianna Fail, Fine Gael the Progressive Democrats and one independent councillor outvoted Labour, the Green Party and a socialist councillor to pass the latest rezoning in Swords.
Mr Ryan said: "Swords is the capital of Fingal, an attractive area for commerce and housing, and I want the best for Swords, but I want it in the context of proper planning. Apart from the inadequate roads network, the sewage plant is not designed to cope with such a population increase.
"It seems that the builders and developers are taking over the planning process and that concerns me a lot," he said.
The county manager's report stated that the extension of the Swords sewage treatment plant, which has been approved by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, would allow for an additional population of 5,200.
However, rezoning 195 acres of farmland, in addition to 167 acres rezoned last week, would increase the population by more than 11,000, said Mr Ryan.
Mr Michael Kennedy (FF) said planning permissions would not be granted for the rezoned land until adequate sewage treatment facilities were available. The agreed extension of the plant was only the first phase, he said.
The proposed developments would ensure that urgently needed shopping and medical facilities for local people and an improved road network would be built
"The Minister has recognised that Swords is the capital of Fingal, an area with 25,000 people living in it, many of whom will he flying the nest and will want to buy their own place in the area," said Mr Kennedy.
The largest part of the rezoned area is 160 acres on the northwest perimeter of Swords for housing, industry and commercial purposes. About 390 houses are already being built on part of the land under a material contravention.
The remaining 34 acres of rezoned land will be developed mostly for housing at Barryspark, with only two acres earmarked for industrial use. This scheme has been supported by local residents and business people.