Grangegorman project reaches the next milestone

The plans for the development of Grangegorman into a major new urban quarter with health and education as its foundation took a major step forward on Thursday 28th April 2011 with the submission of the draft Planning Scheme to Dublin City Council.

The Grangegorman project will see the re-location of Dublin Institute of Technology to a single campus in Dublin’s north inner city as well as new health and community amenites for the local community. In the construction phase alone it is expected that at least 4,000 new jobs will be created, with a lot more to follow in the operational phase.  

This milestone in the Grangegorman project comes following a major Government decision back in September 2010 to give the project the go ahead and a further Government decision in December 2010 to designate the site as a Strategic Development Zone. These two decisions paved the way for the adoption of the Strategic Plan and the creation of the draft Planning Scheme which is very much based on the former document.

The current Government also named the Grangegorman Project in their Programme for Government, which was published following their recent election success.

Dublin City Council’s public consultation process on the draft Planning Scheme began on Friday 29th April and will end on Wednesday 15th June 2011. Following this process a report on the submissions received will be prepared by City Manager, Mr. John Tierney and presented to the Elected Members of the City Council. It will then be up to the members to make a decision on the draft plan. 

Former City Manager and Chairman of the Grangegorman Development Agency, Mr. John Fitzgerald believes that this is a fantastic achievement for the Agency and for all involved in the project. He said “Grangegorman is a vital shovel ready project for Dublin and indeed for the country. With the planning process now underway we are moving ever closer to getting the major construction phase up and running.”

Mr. Michael Hand, Chief Executive Officer of the Grangegorman Development Agency echoed Mr. Fitzgerald’s comments and added that while the planning process was ongoing other aspects of the projects were proceeding. He said “It will be only a matter of weeks before we will be appointing the contractor to begin work on the HSE Mental Health Replacement Facility, which will be the first large scale construction part of the project. In addition, Mr. Finbar Flood has taken up the chair position on the Grangegorman Labour and Learning forum who are currently seeking to recruit a coordinator. Once onboard, this coordinator will ensure that local people will be in a great position to avail of the opportunities that will come a part of this project.”

All details on the public display period for the Grangegorman draft Planning Scheme can be found on www.dublincity.ie and at www.ggda.ie.