A computer-generated image of Tully Park, one of the recreation areas which is being proposed under the ambitious development at Cherrywood in south county Dublin

A rendering of the huge town centre style development Hines is planning for Cherrywood in south Dublin

Developers behind a plan to build 3,800 homes in south county Dublin will seek planning permission from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for the first phase of work at the site as early as today.

US developer Hines' Irish arm is submitting a planning application to develop roads, parks and other infrastructure to allow the first stage in the construction of a new Town Centre and upgraded Business Park at the Cherrywood Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) in south Dublin.

The plan is ultimately to develop a new town that will become home to as many as 30,000 people.

The initial infrastructure work is expected to cost upwards of €90m to €100m and will be funded mainly by Hines, the largest landowner in the SDZ, with other property owners also contributing.

Read More

Neighbouring landowners WM Neville & Sons and Nama support the plans, according to Hines.

Contracts for the work are currently going out to tender, and the initial construction project will create 150 jobs.

Depending on planning authorities the work could start as early as next spring.

Hines would then seek planning for its proposed housing scheme in the middle of next year.

That detailed planning application will include retail areas, a cinema, other leisure uses, restaurants and the initial 1,400 apartments.

Depending on planning approval construction will commence towards the end of next year.

Before that, the initial phase planning application is being sought for 5.4km of new roads while additional applications for three large parks, with a combined size of 57 acres, will be submitted in the coming weeks. The planning applications include proposed pedestrian footpaths, cycle paths and greenways.

The scheme includes planting over 3,000 mature trees including oak and cherry varieties.

Tenders are under way with contractors to begin the multi-million euro construction project of the roads and parks in spring 2016, Hines said.

"This is an exciting step forward for this landmark development and signals our ambition to create a very high-quality, amenity-led environment for the residents of Cherrywood," said Brian Moran, senior managing director of Hines Ireland.

Mr Moran was also speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland this morning and said that Hines intends to get planning through as quickly as possible.

"So this will see an application going in today and hopefully trough the fast-track planning process with a permit being received early in the new year. It will involve the roll-out of about 6 kilometres of new road and three major parks which we hope to start the construction of in February," Mr Moran said.

"It’s very much an American model where you put in the infrastructure and the parks up front and allow them to mature before the houses start to get built. So indeed next year we’ll see the planting of about 3,000 mature trees on the site and they’ll be growing for about two years before the actual houses start to get delivered.

"All going well now that we have the infrastructure planning gone in we’ll start to focus on the detail application for the town centre and the houses themselves. Those applications we hope to lodge toward the middle of next year and with the completion of the infrastructure and the parks towards the end of next year around this time next year we should see the beginning of the first apartments and houses," Mr Moran said.

In Numbers

400 - Number of acres at Cherrywood bought by Hines

3,000 - Number of trees to be planted.

5.4km - Length of roadways being laid to serve the site

Irish Independent