In July 2018, I, along with the Housing Minister, local Councillor Ray McAdam and others, marked the turning of sod in O’Devaney Gardens which began the redevelopment of the Council-owned lands.
Much progress has been made since then with Carey Construction progressing well since the economy re-opened in June following the first lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 56 new homes, directly funded by Fine Gael in Government are being constructed and it is expected that these new homes will be ready for allocating next year. Previous residents in O’Devaney Gardens who indicated their interest for one of these 56 new homes have letters of priority, which they would have received when relocating to alternative accommodation prior to the demolition works taking place.
In terms of the current status of redeveloping the remainder of the O’Devaney lands, Bartra Capital who have a Development Agreement with Dublin City Council expect to be in a position to lodge a formal planning application directly to An Bord Pleanala by March. Bartra officials met with local Councillors in recent weeks and my colleague, Councillor Ray McAdam has provided a detailed update on the outcome of that meeting which you can read here – https://bit.ly/35hbisL. Please get in touch with either Ray or I if you have any questions arising from his update.
Under normal circumstances, a planning application submitted to An Bord Pleanala under the Strategic Housing Development legislation would take between twelve and sixteen weeks to be decide upon. It is likely, in my view, that it will take longer for the Board to make final determination on any application relating to remaining City Council-owned lands in O’Devaney Gardens. Notwithstanding this, you can be assured that myself and Councillor McAdam will work to keep you fully updated of developments in this regard across the coming months.