South Dublin County Council is due to publish plans for a new suburb the size of Wexford in Dublin.

The council hopes to give special status to the land at Clonburris along the Dublin-Kildare railway line near Adamstown.

The Irish Times reports that the land has been designated as a strategic development zone (SDZ) to help alleviate Dublin’s housing crisis.

If given the green light, the plan could see work starting on around 8,000 homes for up to 24,000 people as early as next year.

Strategic Development Zone

The proposed new development would come within metres of Adamstown – which was the State’s first Strategic Development Zone and is now just over 15% complete.

However concerns have been raised that the road network cannot cope with the additional traffic generated by the new development.

On The Pat Kenny Show, local councillor William Lavelle said traffic is the one big problem with the plan – with Adamstown, Lucan and Clondalkin already suffering considerable congestion.

“The real question is can we sustain a second strategic development zone in Clonburris, on top of Adamstown, at a time when we have such serious traffic congestion and, may I be honest, very few plans coming down to address that traffic congestion,” he said.

“We have to get the balance right here.”

The council owns 35% of the land at Clonburris – and plans to turn a large portion of that into a park.

The rest of the land is owned by established developers who are well placed to deliver housing.

Developer Cairn Homes – which owns approximately a quarter of the site – has said it is ready to start as soon as possible.

The company hopes to be able to deliver homes costing less than €300,000.