Social housing apartment residents complain about having ‘just half a parking space each’
Residents of more than 300 social housing apartments in Tallaght have complained about what they say is a lack of parking spaces, with some resorting to illegally parking their vehicles on public roads.
“People who have waited years to move into their homes have been wondering if they should surrender their homes and look for something else,” said councillor for Tallaght, Mick Duff, at a recent South Dublin County Council (SDCC) meeting.
“Many residents of Airton Plaza have reached out to us because they only have 0.56 parking spaces for each apartment – for around 320 odd apartments, there are only 184 total parking spaces.
“The problem is that residents are now parking on Airton Road – where you have double yellow lines, motor companies and supermarkets with high footfall – it’s a dangerous area to park and we saw a very serious incident where a motorbike was seriously injured.”
The councillor introduced a motion calling on SDCC to meet with management company for the apartments, Clúid Housing, to use unused commercial spaces in the development for tenants in need of parking.
“These cars are not just being used for taking kids to school or going to the supermarket – some people work out of their vans or cars, it’s their little office. Parking that out on the road where they will be clamped is not right,” he added.
Sinn Féin councillor for the area, Niamh Whelan, supported the motion, adding that residents with disabilities and pregnant women had raised their concerns.
“I spoke to a couple where one of them had a disability and to a woman who is heavily pregnant who are all struggling to get to and from their home because of the parking issue,” she said.
“This madness of half a space between two apartments is not feasible. The more mistakes we make, the more difficult we’re making it for them – people are having to refuse homes because they have nowhere to put their cars.”
A spokesperson from Clúid Housing told the Irish Independent that the number of parking spaces was in line with SDCC’s climate goals.
"It is in line with similar developments of this size and SDCC’s achieving climate goals. Where a site is located in an urban area close to public transport, services and active‑travel infrastructure, reduced car parking is encouraged under both national and local policy,” they said.
“While all residents were informed of the limited parking spaces in Airton Plaza before they accepted the offer of a home there, Clúid understands that situations change and that some residents may now require a car for medical, family or work reasons.
“Although options are limited due to both planning conditions and the physical size and layout of the basement area, we have been working closely with SDCC, the developer and other partners to explore a range of options."
The spokesperson said that Clúid is working with a nearby housing development to convert unused spaces for residents of Airton Plaza to rent.
"We’re in a transition period – public transport isn’t coming through as quickly as we expected, so we have to take account of that and find alternate arrangements in that time,” said SDCC manager John Hegarty.
“We’re looking at parking hubs where we can account for transition period. While we wait for public transport to come, overflow car parking can be put in place in the development, which we can repurpose later.
“That said, we can’t have a sea change in policy. If we want to get a high density of housing, the only way is to go with a low car parking strategy.”
Councillor Duff and other councillors called for an immediate intervention by SDCC to work out an agreement for remaining residents left without parking spaces.
"Our development in Airton Plaza was given planning permission with twice the number of cycle spaces as there are car spaces – it’s not sufficient to their needs,” he said.
“We’re dealing with people who have been waiting on the housing list for 10 years or more and have been delighted to get the opportunity for a modern apartment at the centre of Tallaght.
“People needs their cars so they are taking their chances and parking in double yellow lines and private parts of the industrial estate – they are being clamped, receiving parking tickets and fines."
The councillor added that public transport in the area would need to adapt before introducing policies focused on climate goals.
“We are putting in a planning framework of less car parking spaces and more cycling spaces when public transport hasn’t kept up with that. If we had a complete active travel scheme for the entirely of Tallaght, it would encourage more people to cycle, but we’re not ready for that,” said cllr Duff.
“Housing is a priority but when we are housing people, we need to take their lifestyle and needs into account. You can’t impost these things without alternatives.”