Santry village deserves its fair share of €740K development levies. -McAuliffe

Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North West, Paul McAuliffe, has called for investment in Santry village following information which was disclosed to him by Dublin City Council stating they had received over €740,000 in development levies for the area over a three-year period.

Development levies are paid by developers when new buildings are built and Santry has seen a massive explosion in development in recent years. There have been several planning applications which will see over 1000 apartments in the village. This will provide housing, but the money collected from development levies must be used for community gain. The village of Santry has been long forgotten because it sits on the boundary of Fingal and Dublin City Council. It is unacceptable that Dublin City Council are sitting on a pot of three quarters of a million euro while residents are fighting for planters and footpath improvements.

In 2020 alone DCC has only spent €60,000 on small scale enhancements in Santry area. However, in the same period they collected over €400,000 in Development levies, there is a massive disparity there.

“The council need to increase its ambition for the village and build new public spaces which residents can enjoy. There is a severe lack of public open space in the village which seems crazy given the sheer number of apartments which have been approved. “said McAuliffe

“Having received representations from the Santry Whitehall Forum, I would like to see the development of a civic space or village square in Santry and this view is supported by local Fianna Fáil councillor Racheal Batten. I have also written to the National Transport Authority to seek assistance in funding enhancements for the area in conjunction with any proposed works on the quality bus corridors as part of the Bus Connects project.” Concluded McAuliffe.