Fingal County Council is pleased to announce that the Church Fields Link Road and Cycle Network Project was granted planning permission by the elected members at the full council meeting held in June.

This infrastructure is a key element in the ongoing progression of Fingal County Council’s Project Talamh initiative, which is the Council’s targeted response to the housing crisis in the form of significant new housing provision on several Council-owned land banks across the county.

The Church Fields Link Road project will open a greenfield site for the development of approximately 800 new-build homes of mixed tenure residential development including social, affordable purchase and cost rental homes with associated community facilities and strong sustainable transport provision. The scheme is supported by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the National Transport Authority.

The granted permission includes for the construction of 800m of road including upgrade works to Wellview Avenue with high quality cycling and pedestrian facilities as well as an additional 1.5km of fully segregated cycling and pedestrian facilities linking into the school’s campus on the Powerstown Road at Gaelscoil an Chuilinn and Powerstown Educate Together National School.

The scheme is being funded through a combination of Fingal County Council’s own funds and funding from the DPHLG Serviced Sites Initiative fund, whilst the cycling and pedestrian infrastructure provision has been made possible by a capital funding contribution from the National Transport Authority’s Sustainable Transport Management Grants programme and will form an important element of the NTA’s Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. David Healy said: “Investment of this sort is vitally needed as we improve the infrastructure for people walking and cycling in the area, to provide healthy and convenient transport options and reduce car usage. I’m particularly delighted that this project will provide an attractive, safe and healthy route to school for students at the Powerstown Road schools campus.”

AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, said: “Fingal County Council will continue to invest in transport infrastructure alongside our targeted mission to tackle the housing crisis. With support from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government as well as the National Transport Authority we are continuing our plan to build further cycling infrastructure in Fingal to provide alternative modes of transport for our residents, meet our Climate Action Plan goals as well as our Project Talamh objectives.”

Matthew McAleese, Director of Planning & Strategic Infrastructure, said: “This project is of significant strategic importance to Mulhuddart and will facilitate further growth and development in the area. I look forward to seeing this scheme moving onto the construction phase, which will hopefully get underway early next year.”

Paul Carroll, Senior Engineer stated: “This grant of planning permission will enhance road safety for all road users and will bring significant benefits to the Mulhuddart area by facilitating and promoting active travel in the community.”