Why is the Council proposing to zone amenity park lands for housing?

The first draft of the Fingal Development Plan 2011-2017 proposes to re-zone Brickfields and a section of Seagrange Park, Baldoyle. The re-zoning if it proceeds will change the use of the land from open space and recreational amenity to residential.

The proposed re-zoning raises a number of questions.

Not least given the surpluse of zoned land in Baldoyle, the unfinished developments, the problems with dangerous hoarding on abandoned building sites and the security problems caused by vacant properties in the area why is there a need to re-zone amenity land for housing?

The Council by its own admission has 1,300 hectares of land zoned for development throughout Fingal. It seems to me that the best way to encourage completion of unfinished sites and occupancy of completed sites is to oppose the re-zoning of further land especially when part of this land is in use as a public park.

I have submitted a motion to the Council which will be debated in a few weeks seeking to remove this proposed re-zoning from the draft development plan.