Oh! to have a little house - housing opportunities in central Tullamore

LONG, long ago, I spent three months labouring on a study on housing supply which eventually produced the unsurprising conclusion, which was evident to anyone with a bit of sense, that what the aspiring Irish house purchaser wanted above all was a home with its own front door and a bit of a private garden.

Not everyone wants to own a separate house however. An apartment may suit transient workers who are deferring purchase, or downsizers who want to find a more manageable base closer to local facilities or those whose work is elsewhere but need a second dwelling without the trouble of maintenance. In some cases, the cost and location of a town centre apartment may well outweigh the advantages of the suburban house.

But while the single house ticks many boxes, it needs one or more on site parking spaces, a rear garden of a generous size and has to be located far enough away from its neighbour to avoid overlooking. Put all those together, add a generous road layout and a local park and the only location that can justify the building and site costs is probably on the edge of town and that makes the ownership of a car essential.

A New Policy

Today we are facing the twin crises of climate change and housing supply and building and acquisition costs and the car based nature of this suburban model are no longer supportable. A more productive direction may be to encourage higher density own door single family homes in town centres. Some weeks ago, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage proposed new policies promoting this approach.

The Department’s new guidelines will encourage smaller plot sizes, a tighter arrangement of houses, narrower roads, reduced car parking and the distribution of private open space in the form of patios and/or upper level terraces and balconies. There will be more of an emphasis on the creation of attractive streets and open spaces to deliver a strong sense of place and community. Modern internal standards will be combined with traditional town and village form resulting in densities of between 40 and 100 dwellings to the hectare. With careful design this can be achieved in own door two storey form, whether as houses or apartments.

How might this new policy work out if applied to future development in Tullamore town centre?

Tullamore Opportunity Sites

Seven sites have been earmarked in the Town Plan for regeneration and comprehensive redevelopment.

Two of these enjoy consents for large scale retail and are therefore unavailable for housing. The Grand Canal Harbour is the subject of a separate study, but seems more appropriate for high rise residential, while the lands around the railway station should be devoted to transport uses, leaving three which could accommodate large scale housing schemes.

Two sites stand out by virtue of location and potential. One - the former County Council Machinery Yard - is cleared and shovel ready. The other is the 1970s retail warehousing on the Tanyard which, being surrounded by housing on three sides, seems very suitable for higher density residential. This may have to be delivered on a phased basis, but in the light of national policy, housing seems a desirable ultimate use and all around Ireland low density central area uses are migrating to edge locations with better car access.

Applying the new standards, my sketch layouts suggests that the Machinery Yard which has access from Cormac Street and Spollenstown could provide for about 77 dwellings.

The central location of the Tanyard lands calls for a more mixed character with own door apartments on the north west corner but a yield of approximately 152 dwellings seems possible.

Provision might be made for a walking and cycling link through to Colaiste Choilm which would give better access for pupils on the northern side of town.

Homes for the People

Back in the 1950s a progressive Urban District Council built Pearse Park, Marian Place and Clontarf Road. Later, the visionary developer John Flanagan delivered ‘Roselawn’ and ‘Glenfircal’ right in the centre of town. Today, houses in these schemes are much sought after.

The development potential of the Machinery Yard and Tanyard sites offer economies of scale and should result in cheaper homes. A new population of about 600 people would support town centre businesses. Safer journeys to school, shops and work would be possible. More attractive urban environments would be delivered. .

Hopefully, the opportunities which the new standards bring can be explored further.