South Dublin County councillors have voted against a controversial redesign of Lucan village’s Main Street after thousands of objections were lodged by concerned residents.
At the monthly council meeting on Monday, councillors voted for an amendment to the part 8 planning application process, which scrapped the redesign.
The €2 million investment would have seen the creation of a “shared space” for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
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However, over 7,317 submissions were lodged against the proposed development by local businesses and residents over concerns that ten car parking spaces would have been lost.
Michael Mulhern, the council's director of land use, planning and transportation, said they had met traders and residents and understood their concerns about the loss in parking, and that this was why the 14 additional spaces were added to the final design.
Three were wheelchair spaces and two “age friendly” spaces to alleviate concerns raised by doctors about elderly patients accessing the GP surgery, according to Mr Mulhern.
He added that there could be "no further redesign" to add more parking spaces.
Council chief executive Danny McLoughlin said the plan has been viewed as “some sort of aberration” when it is a significant investment.
The amendment to reject the plans were proposed by Cllr Vicki Casserly and Cllr Paul Gogarty, both from the Lucan area.
Cllr Gogarty said elderly residents and those with mobility problems would have had difficulty accessing medical care if the plans had gone through.
He said during the meeting: "It won’t do anything to reduce through traffic, you’ll still have cars careering around the corner to get to Lucan bridge to avoid the M50."
Meanwhile, Cllr Casserly said the village green should be developed, but any reduction in parking spaces would affect the village’s firms and residents should be listened to.
Cllr Madeleine Johansson said the village as it is now laid out is less than ideal, and that more bus routes are needed to reduce car use in the area.
She said: “You have a really nice village with huge potential but it’s full of cars. It’s really just a car park.”
The amendment to reject the plans was carried by 20 to 15 votes.
The other half of the part 8, the public realm improvement of the village green, will now proceed.
This will involve better access to the river, more seating and the creation of an amphitheatre-style space and bandstand.
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