Press Release: Dún Laoghaire 21 November 2006

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Dún Laoghaire, Environment, Justice and Latest Press Releases

21 November 2006 

Green Party asks why Council extends huge credit to developers  - €9m owed, when services badly need funding

The Green Party has called for action to claim over nine million Euro of development levies owed to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council by the developers of the Grange Development on the site of the former Esso offices on the Stillorgan Road at the Galloping Green. 

In a recent reply to a question tabled by Green Party Councillor Nessa Childers, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council indicated that although the developers of The Grange development on the old Esso site have been levied for over nine million euros, to date they have not been asked to hand over any of that sum. 

Local Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe stated: “Nine million euros is a huge amount of credit to afford to any company. If this is standard practice then the County is surely owed tens of millions of euros by developers. I am not sure if this is still how Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council handle all their agreements on levies with developers but I it raises serious concerns. It simply doesn’t make sense that levies aren’t claimed until the units are occupied, as the Council is expanding on providing services in those areas all the time.” 

“Many people in Stillorgan Park and Brewery Road who opposed this development did take some consolation from the fact that the levies generated from this scheme would contribute to much needed local services. I think these people will rightly feel that allowing the developer a couple of years before he actually has to pay over any money is unacceptable. Residents are waiting for road resurfacing, traffic calming and green space improvements will be understandably annoyed at this news. 

“I really surprised that the county can afford to extend this kind of credit. This County has a housing waiting list of seven years for young families and has over three and half thousand people on the housing list. We badly need to invest in parks, playgrounds, libraries and transport, do we really have the resources to be extending such credit?”

“The Green Party wants to see these levies paid up front so that local authorities can provide more social and affordable housing and other vital services.”, concluded Deputy Cuffe.