Fingal County Council gets €15m from developers in lieu of green areas

Community leader says County Development Plan’s open space stipulations should be honoured, and calls for transparency on spending of levies

A spokeswoman said the council uses the levies collected in lieu of the provision of open space to fund other open space and green initiatives, including recreational facilities, walking routes and cycle lanes. Picture: Getty

Housing developers have given Fingal County Council more than €15 million in lieu of providing open space in new residential projects.

The Fingal County Development Plan specifies that new residential schemes should provide a minimum of 2.5 hectares of open green space for every 1,000 new people in an area. Furthermore, the plan stipulates that the open space should be a minimum of 10 per cent of the development site area.

When the minimum requirement ...