Council committed to delivering additional high-quality community facilities on Donabate peninsula

Fingal County Council is committed to delivering additional high-quality community facilities to support Donabate and Portrane’s growing population .

The population on the Donabate peninsula rose by 35% over 11 years from 8,733 in 2011 to 11,783 in 2022 according to the Central Statistic Office and  is continuing to rise as development gets underway on land unlocked by the €15m distributor road which opened in 2020 and was funded by the Council and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The Council has committed significant investment  to projects in the area with a focus on three key locations - Ballisk,  Ballymastone and Newbridge House and Demesne - as part of an approach which ensures better facilities, shared resources, and efficient use of infrastructure to the benefit of the whole community.

AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council said: “This significant investment reflects Donabate’s planned population growth and ensures top-tier amenities for residents now and in the future. We continually assess needs right across the county,  including the Donabate peninsula, and then plan strategically to address deficits having taken everything into account.”

A major project about to get underway is the Council-funded €4m refurbishment of the Donabate Portrane Community Centre over the next two years. This will take advantage of the opportunity to repurpose the space being freed up by the relocation of Donabate Library to Ballisk House and will further enhance the centre’s offering.

Using the space made available by the Library’s relocation, two large high quality new community rooms will now be available for use by community and cultural groups throughout the week. The project also includes a significant investment in the community centre building to bring it up to modern building regulation standards and enhance the comfort and safety of all users. 

Refurbishment work at Ballisk House commenced in January and the €1.9m project is due to be completed by the end of the year. The Council purchased the building in 2022 after the closure of Donabate Credit Union following representations from local councillors and the community who were keen to retain the building as a piece of community infrastructure. 

Phase one will deliver a contemporary library with children’s and young adult areas on the ground floor of the building. The installation of wheelchair accessible lifts will provide access to the adult lending area and a library events space on the first floor. The new library will also be a ‘My Open Library’, which will give registered members access to the building beyond normal staffed hours.

Planning has begun for Phase Two of the project which will consider the addition of an extension to the building to further enhance library facilities.

The Council has also identified funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for the Ballymastone Recreation Hub where a large-scale multi-million euro community and education campus is in development with the first phase almost finished. This funding is contingent on the ongoing provision of affordable homes as part of the Balmoston project. 

When completed the Hub will house all-weather GAA and soccer pitches and an athletics track as well a playground and skate park. The Donabate Local Area Plan sets out the land zoning and vision for how the Ballymastone campus will ultimately include a number of schools , on land provided by Fingal County Council, with shared community facilities that will be made available to cultural, community and sporting groups from the peninsula. This concentration of educational, sporting and cultural activities at the one location will facilitate delivery of higher quality facilities based on shared construction, operating and management costs.

The funding for this €10m project has been identified through the Government’s Service Site Fund however the expenditure of the funding is contingent on the delivery of  affordable housing at Balmoston where the Council and Glenveagh Homes have partnered to provide 1,200 homes of which 20% will be affordable and 20% will be social. 

The Council also makes a substantial annual investment in Infrastructure and Green Spaces in Donabate and Portrane as well as specific projects such as the award-winning wetlands restoration at St Ita’s in Portrane and the Donabate Pedestrian Bridge. 

The Council is currently working with the National Transport Authority to link Newbridge House and Malahide Castle through the creation of a six kilometre pedestrian and cycling route across the Broadmeadow Estuary and this will link into the Fingal Coastal Way which is a 32km pedestrian and cycle route from Donabate to Balbriggan and is being planned in partnership with Transport Infrastructure Ireland. Another major transportation project is the improvement of the Hearse Road which links Donabate to Junction 4 on the M1 and is currently at the design stage.

Donabate is also home to the 370 acre Newbridge House and Demesne which one of Fingal’s major regional parks and where the Council is continually investing in upgrade and conservation projects to the house, farm and park. Current projects include the restoration of the heritage glasshouses and the reintroduction of Giant Redwoods to the park. A recent project to repair the roof of Newbridge House and restore the front façade cost over €1m. 

The Councill is also working on a €20m plan with the Office of Public Works to protect The Burrow in Portrane from coastal erosion and has already spent in excess of €1m on Seabees as a temporary measure to protect the dune system as well as housing and businesses. 

The Donabate Framework Plan, which was approved by councillors a year ago, will guide future development within the Donabate town centre area to create a vibrant and sustainable town core which will support and encourage economic, social and cultural development and provide an attractive, high-quality environment for existing and future residents.

The ambition of the Donabate Local Area Plan is to provide for the structured development of the identified new residential areas of Donabate so that they integrate into the established village and support the continued growth of a vibrant and attractive town for existing and future residents. New development will be accompanied by the required community, educational, transport, drainage and recreational infrastructure to ensure the protection and enhancement of local amenities and the continued growth of local services in Donabate.

“There is a robust set of plans in place for Donabate from the County Development Plan to the Local Area Plan to the Framework Plan,” noted AnnMarie Farrelly. “All these plans have been through public consultation and approved by our councillors. Between them, they set out the Council’s vision and objectives for Donabate and form the roadmap for our substantial investment in community infrastructure on the peninsula.”