Local planning designs are facilitating drug running, Dundalk JPC meeting is told

The planning designs for a number of upcoming, newly built and existing housing estates in the town came under scrutiny at the public meeting of the Dundalk JPC held on Wednesday night. 

One resident from the Glenwood Estate raised the issue of “Permeability” at the meeting stating that local planning designs have allowed for the creation of pathways and alleyways between and inside estates to facilitate the running, distribution and dealing of drugs.

They specifically raised the proposed connecting of the Glenwood Estate with Hoey’s Lane and the new adjacent estate currently in development. 

The resident stated that if allowed to go ahead the connection would result in dealers being able to travel from College Manor, College Heights, Muirhevnamore and Glenwood and having to come out on the main road only once.

“The main road is where the gardai patrol and can see these fellas,” they said, further stating that gardai were finding it increasingly difficult to police these “rat runs.” 

The resident called for the council to work with gardai while making planning decisions to avoid such issues arising in the future.

Councillor Kevin Meenan agreed that it was a serious issue that had to be resolved stating that “alleyways and rat runs” were also a serious issue in Muirhevnamor.

“It is one area of the state working against another area of the State [gardai vs planners], it serves to devalue the houses, nobody wants living next to an alleyway. 

“Housing estates should be designed safety first. I’ve always maintained that [the plans] are probably done by someone in Dublin who has never seen a housing estate and has just gone through college thinking that it’s a lovely fluffy idea to have everybody walking and moving through the estates, it does not work, it never has worked, we have never learned from the mistakes made from when Muirhevnamore was built and parts of Coxes too.”

In response Paddy Donnelly, Director of Housing Services at Louth County Council said that the council were bound by legislation brought about by directives from Europe.

He stated that there were benefits to connectivity and permeability but that the need to eliminate rat runs was not something that was lost on planners and that, ”there is a legacy there that we do have to address and design those out.”

He also committed to having a look at the proposed connections at the Glenwood estate.