New zones in Dublin specially assigned for houses

About 800 acres in three parcels of land in the greater Dublin area have been designated "strategic development zones" in an effort to speed up house-building, the Government announced yesterday.

The move will facilitate the development of up to 12,000 housing units on a 500-acre site at Adamstown near Lucan, a 210acre site at Hansfield, Blanchardstown and 90 acres of the Clonmagadden valley near Navan. It is being introduced as part of a range of measures to tackle the State's current housing crisis.

Announcing the orders to create the new zones yesterday, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, also called on local authorities to bring forward more specific proposals for other strategic-development zones.

According to the Minister, the locations of the new zones take account of the existence or potential provision of water and sewerage services, the availability of public transport and the probability of comprehensive planning offered by the nature and scale of the sites.

Designation will provide a streamlined system for developers, following the adoption of planning schemes by local authorities. Under the scheme, planning applications in compliance with the designation must be granted within two months, with no leave to appeal to Bord Pleanala.

It is hoped that development of large numbers of housing units in planned zones will secure the best value for money for the State's investment in roads, water, sewerage, public transport, healthcare facilities and social infrastructure.

In the roads area alone, some £40 million has already been committed by the exchequer to Adamstown and Hansfield, Mr Dempsey said.

The use of strategic development zones was approved by the Government as part of a package of measures introduced last year in the programme, Action on Housing. Yesterday's orders represented the first time that such zones have been created. The zones chosen were drawn from a shortlist of sites submitted by local authorities at the end of last year. Mr Dempsey also urged other local authorities to bring forward proposals for designation.

In a further warning to builders and property developers, Mr Dempsey said provision for an annual levy of £3,000 per site unit for non-development within the zones would be introduced by the Government in a new housing Bill to be published in the autumn.