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Departmental Properties.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 February 2010

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Questions (225)

Leo Varadkar

Question:

290 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on providing land for allotments on his lands at Abbotstown, County Dublin, pending the completion of the sports campus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5416/10]

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Written answers

A planning study for the Abbotstown site, which was a requirement under local objective 335 of the Fingal County Development Plan 2005 to 2011, was completed by an inter-agency group, which included my Department, the Office of Public Works, the Department of Finance and Fingal County Council in February 2007. This study set out the mix of sporting, leisure, and amenity facilities that would be appropriate for the site. The planning study, including a proposal to change the zoning of a large portion of the site to open space to allow for sports use and for the woodland area of the site to be zoned high amenity. The planning study was approved at a meeting of Fingal County Council on 9 July 2007.

In formal terms, the resulting variation to the Fingal County Development Plan specifies or maps five local objectives as follows: to provide sporting facilities and associated infrastructure related to the National Sports Campus incorporating appropriate office, administration and accommodation space; to provide sport and recreational facilities for community use, including minority sport and leisure activities, with local clubs, voluntary organisations and Fingal County Council having an input into the future allocation of space or facilities and with facilities being affordable and accessible to the local population; to provide for a hospice; to provide public access to this open parkland and provide the necessary footpath network, landscaping and related development; and that development of the Abbotstown sports campus and site be accompanied by frequent public transport links as a priority to allow access for the mostly young users of the sports and recreational facilities. In this context I do not believe that it would be appropriate to use the site for the purpose of allotments.

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