The proposed rezoning of “high amenity” lands in the Liffey Valley near Lucan, protected from development for decades, would be “unthinkable” and “an absolute disgrace” according to submissions made to South Dublin County Council.Racing and investment magnates JP McManus and John Magnier in partnership with property developer Michael O’Flynn want to build more than 500 houses on 16 hectares at St Edmundsbury on the southside of the river Liffey between Lucan and the Hermitage Golf Club.The land is part of 110 hectares bought by McManus and Magnier in 2013 for just €4.3 million. The low price reflected not only the straightened economic times, but the restrictive environmental designations which “protect and enhance the outstanding natural character and amenity of the Liffey Valley”.Successive rezoning attempts had been scotched since the early 1990s. In 1993, Saint Patrick’s Mental Health Services at St Edmundsbury Hospital sought to develop housing to fund the hospital’s services. It offered Dublin County Council, the local authority at the time, 100 hectares for a park in exchange for permission to build on 32 hectares.The Liffey Valley Defence Alliance, which in the previous decade successfully resisted the development of a landfill downstream along the Liffey in Palmerstown (now a public park), lobbied against the rezoning. Their campaign secured support of all four local TDs, Brian Lenihan, Joan Burton, Austin Currie and Liam Lawlor. The rezoning did not go ahead. Another unsuccessful rezoning attempt was made in 1998. The hospital board eventually sold the land to Sean Mulryan in 2007. The following year a proposal was put to South Dublin County Council for 1,600 houses on 40 hectares, with 75 hectares for a park. This was rejected, the property crash followed and the land came under the control of Nama which auctioned it in 2013, when it was snapped up by Magnier and McManus. More housing and park proposals followed, but were rejected.Council chief executive Colm Ward is now recommending councillors accept rezoning of 16 hectares for housing, with the proviso of a master plan, traffic and transport assessment, and the delivery of “a substantial Liffey Valley park, which protects and enhances the landscape setting, maintains a strong green infrastructure framework, and provides significant amenity value”. The provision of a park is “particularly significant in addressing concerns regarding the cumulative loss of green space”, Ward said.However, rezoning is vigorously opposed locally with close to 1,600 submissions, calling for its rejection.One objector, born and raised in Lucan, said the lands were “sacred to local Lucan people”. Another said: “housing estates would be an absolute disgrace and disaster in this location” and “development of this land for such uses is just wrong.”[ Dublin’s Liffey Valley retail park primed for €60m saleOpens in new window ]Several referenced the wider regional and national importance of the Liffey Valley. One woman said the rezoning would be “a terrible shame for the people of Dublin” akin to “rezoning Sandymount Strand for housing”.Another said there were places where housing was “not appropriate at all. The Liffey Valley is sacred green space. It should be purchased for the people of Lucan and Dublin and Ireland”. This submission concluded: “Think big. Resist rezoning. Purchase the land.” Hundreds raised concerns about traffic: “Why would you want to build more houses in an area already choked with congestion?” and “public transport serving Lucan is a disgrace.”Another said: “we don’t need extra people and extra cars in Lucan. We are already fed up with the crowded area and slow moving traffic, so please don’t add to our problems.” Meanwhile, several raised environmental concerns. “The area is a beautiful place for a walk and is a hub for biodiversity in the area – ruining all this for housing would be tragic to locals now and in the future.”Another said: “To contemplate building on this oasis which is a green lung and natural lifeline for the area for both the local residents, not to mention the flora and fauna thriving there is unthinkable” adding “developing this area would be beyond the beyonds!”St Edmundsbury was “about the only remaining green space in the Lucan area that residents and wildlife along the Liffey Valley area can enjoy. Please leave it alone and do not build any more ugly modern houses on it,” a long-term resident said.Of all the areas proposed for rezoning, St Edmundsbury was “the most baffling”, one said. “Please leave this area alone. The social contract is eroded when people ask for some special areas to remain undeveloped and their requests are ignored.”Ward acknowledged “a significant number of submissions object to the proposed zoning”, and a number highlighted a “strong personal and sentimental attachment to the lands”.Although the council “acknowledges and appreciates these connections, it is inherently difficult to objectively assess or quantify personal attachment within the formal planning process. The evaluation of these lands has therefore been undertaken based on established planning criteria,” he said.