Proper planning is about more than permission to build; it is about managing the future. And planning in Ireland, including the National Spatial Strategy, isn't working, writes CONOR SKEHAN and LORCAN SIRR
Unless we are prepared to make some politically unpalatable decisions and begin to plan for a new and rapidly changing reality that is already unfolding around us, Ireland is on the threshold of making critical planning errors that will significantly prolong the unfolding recession. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
In 2008, we face similar choices to Japan after the end of its property boom in the early 1990s. They failed to acknowledge change and take the hard but necessary decision to re-evaluate their economic and political model, and as a result Japan has seen its economy stagnate over the last 15 years with no end in sight.
Ireland now needs to address startling new challenges and old problems caused by outdated models of enterprise and client-based systems of governance.
To meet these challenges many familiar practices need to be questioned, none more so than our repeated failure to plan adequately and appropriately for the future.
Planning aims to support and enhance environmental, social and economic betterment. It cannot create jobs but it can create and sustain attractive conditions for creating jobs.
But "planning" in Ireland, in the words of Michael Smith, the minister for environment in 1993, has become a "debased currency".
Used almost exclusively to describe consent to build, it is almost never used for its original purpose - to make provision for the future. The Irish planning system's lack of foresight is now recognised as one of the fundamental causes of the recent property bubble. This has distorted our economy and ultimately undermined our competitiveness.
Planning for a successful Ireland of, say, 2030, means identifying, examining and working with, not against, the forces that will shape our future. To plan a future Ireland on a business-as-usual, or, worse still, on a political basis, as we have already done with the plan for the decentralisation of government, would be another exercise in folly.
Recent commentaries on Ireland's future have concentrated on the familiar topics of immigration and the high-tech industry, but they have overlooked a series of deeper spatial and social changes that are already completely changing Ireland. These changes are both tangible and intangible and the hardest decision will be to acknowledge their existence and accept the magnitude of these changes.
The biggest intangible change will be to our value systems. Urban attitudes are different, solutions are demanded immediately, and problems left unsolved are obvious and cumulative. Most Irish people now live urbanised lifestyles, living in or near towns. However, very few settlements have reached the critical size of 100,000 that allows all of the benefits of city life to begin to occur.
The small size and the markedly eastern distribution of Irish settlements is a reality that few policies recognise or accommodate, and the rate of urbanisation in Ireland means that our traditional rurally based value system will change more rapidly than any other European country.
Changing values, combined with increased urbanisation and a larger population mostly concentrated in the area around Dublin and four other cities, also have profound political implications.
For the last 25 years or so, the two largest and traditionally rural-based parties have been losing their share of overall voting percentages at each election. In less than 10 years urban agendas will dominate politics in Ireland. These large political parties will need to rethink their approach to local and national governance in order to survive in this changing society.
The first major tangible change will be our population and where we'll be living. By 2030, it is estimated that the population of the Republic will be around 6.45 million. Of these, 2.76 million, or 43 per cent, will be living in the greater Dublin area (GDA) - which occupies less than 10 per cent of the area of the State. If we include the seven counties adjacent to the GDA, then almost two-thirds of the population will be living on about a quarter of the land.
Although the population will continue to grow, there is unlikely to be much change in the pattern of low-density accommodation provision. This means that urbanised areas will spread both up and down the eastern region, creating a corridor of continuous development, ultimately stretching from Belfast through Dublin to Waterford and on to Cork. About two-thirds of the population will be living within 35kms of the entire east coast, and no plan for "balanced regional development" is going to prevent that.
By 2015, the Common Agricultural Policy will have been reformed and Irish agriculture as we currently know it will have been altered forever. For climatic and geological as well as economic reasons, it is likely Ireland will have two main agricultural sectors, with intensive agribusiness concentrated mainly in the south and east. In the north and west, it is likely that environmental designations will become common, and will be the main determinants of future development.
There will also be far fewer farmers in a future Ireland, which means larger landholdings, and, through necessity, the emergence of creative agriculture, food and farming practices.
The economy, too, will alter significantly. Our over-reliance on foreign direct investment (FDI) is a dated approach to economic planning. We have also failed to provide the infrastructure many large corporations need in time, and what is there is arguably too dear, too small and in the wrong location. FDI has also FSC - Found Somewhere Cheaper.
The future scale and distribution of Ireland is not crystal ball-gazing: several publications have dealt with likely future scenarios for Ireland, most recently the Urban Forum's Twice the Size report.
The indicators and patterns of development have been evident for some time, and yet, incredibly, no credible plan exists to deal with this clearly emerging future. Instead we have the National Spatial Strategy (NSS), a plan devised to achieve balanced regional development, thereby diverting resources from Dublin. The net result of this is a lack of investment for economic growth in the one region that sustains the rest of the country.
This in turn makes the transfer of funds from the advantaged areas to the disadvantaged more difficult.
The continued implementation of the NSS has serious implications for our future success. It proposes spreading the jam too thinly across the country, so everybody gets a taste but nobody's hunger is satisfied. Crucially, the NSS is planning for an Ireland that is probably not going to happen.
There is a need for plan for the future that is more likely to happen - the continued urbanisation of the eastern region - instead of trying to prevent it. This has obvious political implications.
Deliberately fostering, providing and sustaining the conditions for a human being to live an entire fulfilled lifetime is the business of planning, and it is a huge challenge. Where rural communities can survive in a laissez faire regime, the urban citizen is entirely dependent on the city to supply and sustain these conditions of life, potential and prosperity. We need to acknowledge our duty of care to urban dwellers, those whose prosperity will have direct positive economic and social impacts on the rest of the country.Many existing institutions, policymakers and professionals will find these changes and challenges difficult to accept. No one is saying planning for the future will be easy, but planning against the future is far more difficult.
Conor Skehan is head of the Department of Environment and Planning; Dr Lorcan Sirr is head of research, Faculty of the Built Environment at Dublin Institute of Technology
The Irish Times
www.buckplannng.ie
Monday, 31 March 2008
Shell denies failing to discuss drilling
SHELL E&P Ireland has denied it failed to consult coastal community interests on planned drilling in a Mayo estuary that is a special area of conservation (SAC).
The company was responding to criticism at the weekend by the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association, which says it was not consulted about the new work programme in the Sruwaddaccon estuary, including use of Ballyglass pier for the project.
Shell and its Corrib gas partners, Statoil and Marathon, have a foreshore licence from Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Mary Coughlan to drill boreholes in Sruwaddaccon Bay, which is an SAC.
The estuary is on a shortlist for a modified pipeline route linking the Corrib gas field offshore with the onshore refinery at Bellanaboy. Survey work by consultants RPS for a modified route was carried out in the estuary last year, but this phase involves "invasive" geotechnical work that was approved under ministerial licence, according to the company.
Eddie Diver, chairman of the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association, says his organisation was not formally contacted by the Corrib gas developers. A Shell E&P Ireland spokesman said he could not confirm whether fishermen's organisations had been contacted by the developers, but the company had invited public response.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The company was responding to criticism at the weekend by the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association, which says it was not consulted about the new work programme in the Sruwaddaccon estuary, including use of Ballyglass pier for the project.
Shell and its Corrib gas partners, Statoil and Marathon, have a foreshore licence from Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Mary Coughlan to drill boreholes in Sruwaddaccon Bay, which is an SAC.
The estuary is on a shortlist for a modified pipeline route linking the Corrib gas field offshore with the onshore refinery at Bellanaboy. Survey work by consultants RPS for a modified route was carried out in the estuary last year, but this phase involves "invasive" geotechnical work that was approved under ministerial licence, according to the company.
Eddie Diver, chairman of the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association, says his organisation was not formally contacted by the Corrib gas developers. A Shell E&P Ireland spokesman said he could not confirm whether fishermen's organisations had been contacted by the developers, but the company had invited public response.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Incinerator heating may be supplied to apartments
DUBLIN CITY Council has signed a contract with developer Treasury Holdings to provide heating for apartments in Spencer Dock from the Poolbeg incinerator, which has yet to be granted a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The council has secured planning permission for the incinerator from An Bord Pleanála, but it needs a waste licence from the EPA to operate the plant.
The EPA will hold an oral hearing on the council's licence application. This hearing begins in two weeks and will hear from groups who are opposed to the incinerator, as well as the council.
The proposed incinerator is being challenged in the courts by local opposition group Combined Residents Against Incineration. The action is being taken against the Minister for the Environment, the Attorney General, Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála and relates to certain EU environmental directives.
However, the council has decided to press ahead with agreements, and infrastructure, to provide heating generated by the plant to offices and apartments in the docklands area.
The council is to provide "district heating" for the equivalent of 20,000 people in Treasury's Spencer Dock development and has already begun laying the pipes from the proposed site of the incinerator to the complex.
The district heating system allows the heat to be pumped directly to apartments and offices without the need for a boiler in each building. The council estimates that once the system is up and running, the apartment owners will receive bills that are about 20 per cent lower than those of the ESB or Bord Gáis.
Although the plant does not have a licence, and will not be built until 2011/2012, assistant city manager Matt Twomey said it was prudent to plan ahead for district heating. The financial benefit to the council from this deal cannot be revealed because of commercial sensitivity, Mr Twomey said.
A feasibility study on the capacity for district heating once the plant is fully operational is to be published in the coming months and is to include details of the profits to be made by the council. The council is also in the process of choosing a service provider which will issue heating bills on its behalf.
While residents in new apartments will benefit from lower utility bills, existing residents living in older houses near the plant site will not, at least in the short to medium term, Mr Towmey said.
Several local residents expressed disappointment that they would not benefit from district heating at a meeting held by the council in Ringsend last Saturday. The meeting was organised to give residents further details of the plant's community gain fund consisting of an €8 million lump sum and €500,000 annually.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The council has secured planning permission for the incinerator from An Bord Pleanála, but it needs a waste licence from the EPA to operate the plant.
The EPA will hold an oral hearing on the council's licence application. This hearing begins in two weeks and will hear from groups who are opposed to the incinerator, as well as the council.
The proposed incinerator is being challenged in the courts by local opposition group Combined Residents Against Incineration. The action is being taken against the Minister for the Environment, the Attorney General, Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála and relates to certain EU environmental directives.
However, the council has decided to press ahead with agreements, and infrastructure, to provide heating generated by the plant to offices and apartments in the docklands area.
The council is to provide "district heating" for the equivalent of 20,000 people in Treasury's Spencer Dock development and has already begun laying the pipes from the proposed site of the incinerator to the complex.
The district heating system allows the heat to be pumped directly to apartments and offices without the need for a boiler in each building. The council estimates that once the system is up and running, the apartment owners will receive bills that are about 20 per cent lower than those of the ESB or Bord Gáis.
Although the plant does not have a licence, and will not be built until 2011/2012, assistant city manager Matt Twomey said it was prudent to plan ahead for district heating. The financial benefit to the council from this deal cannot be revealed because of commercial sensitivity, Mr Twomey said.
A feasibility study on the capacity for district heating once the plant is fully operational is to be published in the coming months and is to include details of the profits to be made by the council. The council is also in the process of choosing a service provider which will issue heating bills on its behalf.
While residents in new apartments will benefit from lower utility bills, existing residents living in older houses near the plant site will not, at least in the short to medium term, Mr Towmey said.
Several local residents expressed disappointment that they would not benefit from district heating at a meeting held by the council in Ringsend last Saturday. The meeting was organised to give residents further details of the plant's community gain fund consisting of an €8 million lump sum and €500,000 annually.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Owners to sue developer over 'cracked' homes
MORE than 430 people who have seen their homes plummet in value as a result of a allegedly defective building materials plan to sue for damages in an unprecedented legal showdown with the construction industry.
Hundreds of people who bought homes in three new housing developments in north Dublin resorted to legal action after cracks and other problems allegedly began to appear in their properties.
The developers have blamed the problems on defective building materials supplied by a north Dublin quarry and are repairing the defects.
That has not stopped residents from signing up with two of the city's biggest law firms, in what promises to be a protracted legal battle that will put building standards centre stage.
Arthur Cox is representing around 230 clients in Drynam Hall in Kinsealy and The Coast in Baldoyle, Co Dublin. Both developments were built three years ago by Menolly Homes, one Dublin's biggest home builders.
Solicitors Lavelle Coleman has been instructed by more than 200 clients, most in Beaupark, in Clongriffin, built by Menolly and Kiloe Developments. It will also act for a small number of residents of houses in Castlecurragh, an estate in west Dublin, which were built with the same allegedly defective material.
The scale of litigation has spiralled since problems were first encountered by residents more than a year ago.
Menolly Homes blamed the flaws on excessive levels of pyrite in the building materials used in the foundations and floors. The mineral reacts with oxygen and water to cause walls and ceilings to crack.
Menolly has promised to replace the allegedly faulty infill in all of the affected homes, a hugely expensive process that the company estimates will cost more than €20 million.
The company is already coming to terms with the downturn in the property market. It was ordered by the High Court earlier this year to pay €1,700 a month rent on property in Drynam Hall on a house that the owners couldn't sell. The company launched another 50 units in The Coast development yesterday, slashing the prices by up to 20 per cent. None of the new properties have been affected by the high pyrite concentrations.
The company is seeking to recoup those costs in what promises to be another protracted legal battle with the suppliers of the allegedly defective material, Irish Asphalt Ltd, which owns the quarry in Bay Lane, North Dublin.
The High Court case is unlikely to be straightforward, however. Irish Asphalt, which is owned by the Lagan Group, claims its own tests have so far found no evidence of "pyretic swelling" in the affected homes and blames the alleged defects in the three estates on "defects in the ground conditions, leading to subsidence, and/or defects in the design and construction of the properties. Cracks in floors were caused by settlement and not by pyrite."
As the construction companies prepare for battle over who was to blame, householders are still counting the cost.
Alan Dunne is still waiting to have his house tested for pyrite almost two years after cracks first started appearing on his newly built walls.
He bought the three-bed roomed semi-detached house in Beaupark off the plans for €299,000 in 2005 from Kiloe Developments.
Soon after he moved in, cracks appeared on the walls, the stairs began to separate from the walls, the downstairs floors swelled and the doors no longer close properly.
Frustrated that his house has now plummeted in value, he has retained solicitors, Lavelle Coleman, to act on his behalf.
"I have a hefty mortgage payment to make each month on what is basically an asset that is no use to me . at the moment."
MAEVE SHEEHAN
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Hundreds of people who bought homes in three new housing developments in north Dublin resorted to legal action after cracks and other problems allegedly began to appear in their properties.
The developers have blamed the problems on defective building materials supplied by a north Dublin quarry and are repairing the defects.
That has not stopped residents from signing up with two of the city's biggest law firms, in what promises to be a protracted legal battle that will put building standards centre stage.
Arthur Cox is representing around 230 clients in Drynam Hall in Kinsealy and The Coast in Baldoyle, Co Dublin. Both developments were built three years ago by Menolly Homes, one Dublin's biggest home builders.
Solicitors Lavelle Coleman has been instructed by more than 200 clients, most in Beaupark, in Clongriffin, built by Menolly and Kiloe Developments. It will also act for a small number of residents of houses in Castlecurragh, an estate in west Dublin, which were built with the same allegedly defective material.
The scale of litigation has spiralled since problems were first encountered by residents more than a year ago.
Menolly Homes blamed the flaws on excessive levels of pyrite in the building materials used in the foundations and floors. The mineral reacts with oxygen and water to cause walls and ceilings to crack.
Menolly has promised to replace the allegedly faulty infill in all of the affected homes, a hugely expensive process that the company estimates will cost more than €20 million.
The company is already coming to terms with the downturn in the property market. It was ordered by the High Court earlier this year to pay €1,700 a month rent on property in Drynam Hall on a house that the owners couldn't sell. The company launched another 50 units in The Coast development yesterday, slashing the prices by up to 20 per cent. None of the new properties have been affected by the high pyrite concentrations.
The company is seeking to recoup those costs in what promises to be another protracted legal battle with the suppliers of the allegedly defective material, Irish Asphalt Ltd, which owns the quarry in Bay Lane, North Dublin.
The High Court case is unlikely to be straightforward, however. Irish Asphalt, which is owned by the Lagan Group, claims its own tests have so far found no evidence of "pyretic swelling" in the affected homes and blames the alleged defects in the three estates on "defects in the ground conditions, leading to subsidence, and/or defects in the design and construction of the properties. Cracks in floors were caused by settlement and not by pyrite."
As the construction companies prepare for battle over who was to blame, householders are still counting the cost.
Alan Dunne is still waiting to have his house tested for pyrite almost two years after cracks first started appearing on his newly built walls.
He bought the three-bed roomed semi-detached house in Beaupark off the plans for €299,000 in 2005 from Kiloe Developments.
Soon after he moved in, cracks appeared on the walls, the stairs began to separate from the walls, the downstairs floors swelled and the doors no longer close properly.
Frustrated that his house has now plummeted in value, he has retained solicitors, Lavelle Coleman, to act on his behalf.
"I have a hefty mortgage payment to make each month on what is basically an asset that is no use to me . at the moment."
MAEVE SHEEHAN
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Owners to sue developer over 'cracked' homes
MORE than 430 people who have seen their homes plummet in value as a result of a allegedly defective building materials plan to sue for damages in an unprecedented legal showdown with the construction industry.
Hundreds of people who bought homes in three new housing developments in north Dublin resorted to legal action after cracks and other problems allegedly began to appear in their properties.
The developers have blamed the problems on defective building materials supplied by a north Dublin quarry and are repairing the defects.
That has not stopped residents from signing up with two of the city's biggest law firms, in what promises to be a protracted legal battle that will put building standards centre stage.
Arthur Cox is representing around 230 clients in Drynam Hall in Kinsealy and The Coast in Baldoyle, Co Dublin. Both developments were built three years ago by Menolly Homes, one Dublin's biggest home builders.
Solicitors Lavelle Coleman has been instructed by more than 200 clients, most in Beaupark, in Clongriffin, built by Menolly and Kiloe Developments. It will also act for a small number of residents of houses in Castlecurragh, an estate in west Dublin, which were built with the same allegedly defective material.
The scale of litigation has spiralled since problems were first encountered by residents more than a year ago.
Menolly Homes blamed the flaws on excessive levels of pyrite in the building materials used in the foundations and floors. The mineral reacts with oxygen and water to cause walls and ceilings to crack.
Menolly has promised to replace the allegedly faulty infill in all of the affected homes, a hugely expensive process that the company estimates will cost more than €20 million.
The company is already coming to terms with the downturn in the property market. It was ordered by the High Court earlier this year to pay €1,700 a month rent on property in Drynam Hall on a house that the owners couldn't sell. The company launched another 50 units in The Coast development yesterday, slashing the prices by up to 20 per cent. None of the new properties have been affected by the high pyrite concentrations.
The company is seeking to recoup those costs in what promises to be another protracted legal battle with the suppliers of the allegedly defective material, Irish Asphalt Ltd, which owns the quarry in Bay Lane, North Dublin.
The High Court case is unlikely to be straightforward, however. Irish Asphalt, which is owned by the Lagan Group, claims its own tests have so far found no evidence of "pyretic swelling" in the affected homes and blames the alleged defects in the three estates on "defects in the ground conditions, leading to subsidence, and/or defects in the design and construction of the properties. Cracks in floors were caused by settlement and not by pyrite."
As the construction companies prepare for battle over who was to blame, householders are still counting the cost.
Alan Dunne is still waiting to have his house tested for pyrite almost two years after cracks first started appearing on his newly built walls.
He bought the three-bed roomed semi-detached house in Beaupark off the plans for €299,000 in 2005 from Kiloe Developments.
Soon after he moved in, cracks appeared on the walls, the stairs began to separate from the walls, the downstairs floors swelled and the doors no longer close properly.
Frustrated that his house has now plummeted in value, he has retained solicitors, Lavelle Coleman, to act on his behalf.
"I have a hefty mortgage payment to make each month on what is basically an asset that is no use to me . at the moment."
MAEVE SHEEHAN
www.buckplanning.ie
Hundreds of people who bought homes in three new housing developments in north Dublin resorted to legal action after cracks and other problems allegedly began to appear in their properties.
The developers have blamed the problems on defective building materials supplied by a north Dublin quarry and are repairing the defects.
That has not stopped residents from signing up with two of the city's biggest law firms, in what promises to be a protracted legal battle that will put building standards centre stage.
Arthur Cox is representing around 230 clients in Drynam Hall in Kinsealy and The Coast in Baldoyle, Co Dublin. Both developments were built three years ago by Menolly Homes, one Dublin's biggest home builders.
Solicitors Lavelle Coleman has been instructed by more than 200 clients, most in Beaupark, in Clongriffin, built by Menolly and Kiloe Developments. It will also act for a small number of residents of houses in Castlecurragh, an estate in west Dublin, which were built with the same allegedly defective material.
The scale of litigation has spiralled since problems were first encountered by residents more than a year ago.
Menolly Homes blamed the flaws on excessive levels of pyrite in the building materials used in the foundations and floors. The mineral reacts with oxygen and water to cause walls and ceilings to crack.
Menolly has promised to replace the allegedly faulty infill in all of the affected homes, a hugely expensive process that the company estimates will cost more than €20 million.
The company is already coming to terms with the downturn in the property market. It was ordered by the High Court earlier this year to pay €1,700 a month rent on property in Drynam Hall on a house that the owners couldn't sell. The company launched another 50 units in The Coast development yesterday, slashing the prices by up to 20 per cent. None of the new properties have been affected by the high pyrite concentrations.
The company is seeking to recoup those costs in what promises to be another protracted legal battle with the suppliers of the allegedly defective material, Irish Asphalt Ltd, which owns the quarry in Bay Lane, North Dublin.
The High Court case is unlikely to be straightforward, however. Irish Asphalt, which is owned by the Lagan Group, claims its own tests have so far found no evidence of "pyretic swelling" in the affected homes and blames the alleged defects in the three estates on "defects in the ground conditions, leading to subsidence, and/or defects in the design and construction of the properties. Cracks in floors were caused by settlement and not by pyrite."
As the construction companies prepare for battle over who was to blame, householders are still counting the cost.
Alan Dunne is still waiting to have his house tested for pyrite almost two years after cracks first started appearing on his newly built walls.
He bought the three-bed roomed semi-detached house in Beaupark off the plans for €299,000 in 2005 from Kiloe Developments.
Soon after he moved in, cracks appeared on the walls, the stairs began to separate from the walls, the downstairs floors swelled and the doors no longer close properly.
Frustrated that his house has now plummeted in value, he has retained solicitors, Lavelle Coleman, to act on his behalf.
"I have a hefty mortgage payment to make each month on what is basically an asset that is no use to me . at the moment."
MAEVE SHEEHAN
www.buckplanning.ie
Shell gets go-ahead to drill in Mayo
SHELL E&P Ireland says it has received State approval to drill boreholes in Sruwaddaccon Bay, a special area of conservation (SAC) in north Mayo, as part of work on the Corrib gas project.
The company has also confirmed it is "reviewing" grant aid it has earmarked for a north Mayo community affected by the 2003 Dooncarton landslide, due to local dissent over the application.
The "geotechnical ground investigations" in Sruwaddaccon Bay are due to begin "shortly", as part of the continuing research work on a modified onshore pipeline route for the Corrib gas project, according to the company.
A jack-up platform is due to be delivered next week to Ballyglass pier in north Mayo, where it will be assembled using a mobile crane. A Shell E&P Ireland spokeswoman said it had been awarded a foreshore licence for the work by Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Mary Coughlan.
The spokeswoman said this licence covered the fact the area is an SAC and comes under the EU habitats directive. An environmental management plan would be put in place.
Last year, the Minister for Environment, John Gormley, issued a public reprimand to the Corrib gas partners over unauthorised work on an SAC on land at Glengad. Mr Gormley ordered that restoration work be undertaken by consultants for Shell, RPS, who have been engaged to come up with a modified onshore pipeline route.
Mary Corduff of the Shell to Sea campaign questioned the validity of the work, as the bay is an SAC and has not yet been the subject of an independent baseline study.
"Work was carried out in the bay by RPS for Shell last year, so what is the reason for this further survey which will undoubtedly have an impact on the environment?" asked Ms Corduff.
The Corrib gas partners are to review their allocation of a €10,000 grant to the Dooncarton Landslide Committee in Pollathomas, Co Mayo. No money has as yet been paid, a Shell spokeswoman said.
Committee member Gerry Sheeran told The Irish Times his group was unaware such money had been applied for to erect safety barriers along a stretch of road overlooking Broadhaven Bay.
The application had been made by one committee member without authorisation, and the committee had decided last week to dissolve on this account, Mr Sheeran said. Any financial aid for safety barriers should be a matter for Mayo County Council, he said.
Mr Sheeran and his family were among those affected by the landslide in September 2003.
Last year, Shell's support for the Feile Iorrais arts festival was also the subject of a row.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The company has also confirmed it is "reviewing" grant aid it has earmarked for a north Mayo community affected by the 2003 Dooncarton landslide, due to local dissent over the application.
The "geotechnical ground investigations" in Sruwaddaccon Bay are due to begin "shortly", as part of the continuing research work on a modified onshore pipeline route for the Corrib gas project, according to the company.
A jack-up platform is due to be delivered next week to Ballyglass pier in north Mayo, where it will be assembled using a mobile crane. A Shell E&P Ireland spokeswoman said it had been awarded a foreshore licence for the work by Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Mary Coughlan.
The spokeswoman said this licence covered the fact the area is an SAC and comes under the EU habitats directive. An environmental management plan would be put in place.
Last year, the Minister for Environment, John Gormley, issued a public reprimand to the Corrib gas partners over unauthorised work on an SAC on land at Glengad. Mr Gormley ordered that restoration work be undertaken by consultants for Shell, RPS, who have been engaged to come up with a modified onshore pipeline route.
Mary Corduff of the Shell to Sea campaign questioned the validity of the work, as the bay is an SAC and has not yet been the subject of an independent baseline study.
"Work was carried out in the bay by RPS for Shell last year, so what is the reason for this further survey which will undoubtedly have an impact on the environment?" asked Ms Corduff.
The Corrib gas partners are to review their allocation of a €10,000 grant to the Dooncarton Landslide Committee in Pollathomas, Co Mayo. No money has as yet been paid, a Shell spokeswoman said.
Committee member Gerry Sheeran told The Irish Times his group was unaware such money had been applied for to erect safety barriers along a stretch of road overlooking Broadhaven Bay.
The application had been made by one committee member without authorisation, and the committee had decided last week to dissolve on this account, Mr Sheeran said. Any financial aid for safety barriers should be a matter for Mayo County Council, he said.
Mr Sheeran and his family were among those affected by the landslide in September 2003.
Last year, Shell's support for the Feile Iorrais arts festival was also the subject of a row.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
€8m medical and educational facility for Limerick jail
A NEW €8 million medical and educational facility has been officially opened at the oldest prison in the Republic.
The state-of-the-art facility is at Limerick Prison, which houses 275 male and 20 female prisoners. This is the latest phase in the redevelopment of the 19th-century building where two new prisoner blocks have been developed in the past 10 years.
According to Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan, who performed yesterday's opening, plans are also under way to replace the remaining two Victorian cell blocks at the Limerick jail.
All of the female prisoners and 175 of the male prisoners at Limerick have in-cell sanitation, leaving 100 prisoners still engaging in the practice of "slopping out".
Mr Lenihan said the new development was just one aspect of a major capital programme "into which the Government is currently investing significant resources".
This building programme, he added, included the relocation of the four prisons on the Mountjoy campus to a 140-acre site at Thornton Hall, north Co Dublin, the replacement of Cork Prison and the redevelopment of Portlaoise Prison.
"Between them, these comprise nearly 40 per cent of the entire prison estate and the completion of these projects will thankfully see the end of the practice of slopping out."
The new €8 million facility at Limerick will cater for prisoners' educational, work training and medical needs. A fully equipped gymnasium and sports hall have also been provided with equipment for prisoners' recreation.
Mental healthcare along with primary care will be provided in the medical area of the new facility where drug-treatment services will also be provided to prisoners.
Prison governor Tadhg O'Riordan acknowledged the input of the late governor of the jail Pat Laffan, who died suddenly two years ago.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The state-of-the-art facility is at Limerick Prison, which houses 275 male and 20 female prisoners. This is the latest phase in the redevelopment of the 19th-century building where two new prisoner blocks have been developed in the past 10 years.
According to Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan, who performed yesterday's opening, plans are also under way to replace the remaining two Victorian cell blocks at the Limerick jail.
All of the female prisoners and 175 of the male prisoners at Limerick have in-cell sanitation, leaving 100 prisoners still engaging in the practice of "slopping out".
Mr Lenihan said the new development was just one aspect of a major capital programme "into which the Government is currently investing significant resources".
This building programme, he added, included the relocation of the four prisons on the Mountjoy campus to a 140-acre site at Thornton Hall, north Co Dublin, the replacement of Cork Prison and the redevelopment of Portlaoise Prison.
"Between them, these comprise nearly 40 per cent of the entire prison estate and the completion of these projects will thankfully see the end of the practice of slopping out."
The new €8 million facility at Limerick will cater for prisoners' educational, work training and medical needs. A fully equipped gymnasium and sports hall have also been provided with equipment for prisoners' recreation.
Mental healthcare along with primary care will be provided in the medical area of the new facility where drug-treatment services will also be provided to prisoners.
Prison governor Tadhg O'Riordan acknowledged the input of the late governor of the jail Pat Laffan, who died suddenly two years ago.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council's €8m accessibility plan
DUBLIN CITY Council is to spend almost €8 million this year on improvements to public buildings, parks and footpaths to make them more accessible to people with disabilities and mobility difficulties.
The improvements are part of a seven-year implementation plan to upgrade all the city's buildings and public spaces to meet the accessibility standards set down by the EU and by the 2005 Disability Act. The council is also seeking to encourage businesses in the city to make their premises accessible and last night launched a new website, www.accessdublin.ie, which will carry lists of businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, pubs and shops that are accessible. The information will be linked to websites in other countries to allow tourists to find accessible services.
The website will allow the public and interested groups to inform the council about areas that need improvement. It will also allow people to comment on the measures to increase accessibility. The information will be used by the council to audit its progress.
The council aims to achieve "universal accessibility" in the city. The upgrades will not just focus on the needs of wheelchair users, but on those with other mobility difficulties and visual or hearing impairments. The council will spend €3.4 million on improving public footpaths this year. Its improvements to public buildings will be carried out on an area by area basis and will concentrate on the inner city in 2008 with improvements to the Civic Offices, and nine public libraries at a cost of €3.2 million.
More than €1 million will be spent on improvements to public parks in the inner city this year. Improvements to road crossings, disabled parking bays, public transport and public lighting will be made on an ongoing basis.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The improvements are part of a seven-year implementation plan to upgrade all the city's buildings and public spaces to meet the accessibility standards set down by the EU and by the 2005 Disability Act. The council is also seeking to encourage businesses in the city to make their premises accessible and last night launched a new website, www.accessdublin.ie, which will carry lists of businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, pubs and shops that are accessible. The information will be linked to websites in other countries to allow tourists to find accessible services.
The website will allow the public and interested groups to inform the council about areas that need improvement. It will also allow people to comment on the measures to increase accessibility. The information will be used by the council to audit its progress.
The council aims to achieve "universal accessibility" in the city. The upgrades will not just focus on the needs of wheelchair users, but on those with other mobility difficulties and visual or hearing impairments. The council will spend €3.4 million on improving public footpaths this year. Its improvements to public buildings will be carried out on an area by area basis and will concentrate on the inner city in 2008 with improvements to the Civic Offices, and nine public libraries at a cost of €3.2 million.
More than €1 million will be spent on improvements to public parks in the inner city this year. Improvements to road crossings, disabled parking bays, public transport and public lighting will be made on an ongoing basis.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin Airport to expand once again as short haul flights take off. . .
The Dublin Airport Authority is planning a /25m extension to its Pier D facility to help meet the huge demand for quick turnaround short-haul flights from Ryanair and Aer Lingus. The new two-storey extension will increase the size of the existing Pier D facility by about 30% adding seven new boarding gates serving eight aircraft parking stands. Subject to planning permission being granted, construction of the 4,500 square metre extension should begin in December and the facility will be completed by January 2010.
Pier D itself opened on budget on 28 October 2007. The facility cost /120m including the cost of the new elevated Skybridge (pictured) that links the pier to the existing passenger terminal.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Pier D itself opened on budget on 28 October 2007. The facility cost /120m including the cost of the new elevated Skybridge (pictured) that links the pier to the existing passenger terminal.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Rathgar pub plan rejected
AN BORD PLEANÁLA has refused permission for the redevelopment of a well-know Rathgar pub.
Bartlett Inns Limited was looking to partially demolish the 108 pub on Rathgar Road to make way for a four-storey mixed-use development comprising five apartments and a public house.
The scheme had been approved by Dublin City Council but was appealed to the planning board by Rathgar Residents' Association.
The board's planning inspector stated in his report that the proposed development would be appear "unduly tall, out-of-scale and out-of-character with the streetscape". It would also strike a discordant note in relation to the nearby Christ Church.
He also expressed concerns that the proposed study rooms for the one-bedroom flats could be used as bedrooms.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Bartlett Inns Limited was looking to partially demolish the 108 pub on Rathgar Road to make way for a four-storey mixed-use development comprising five apartments and a public house.
The scheme had been approved by Dublin City Council but was appealed to the planning board by Rathgar Residents' Association.
The board's planning inspector stated in his report that the proposed development would be appear "unduly tall, out-of-scale and out-of-character with the streetscape". It would also strike a discordant note in relation to the nearby Christ Church.
He also expressed concerns that the proposed study rooms for the one-bedroom flats could be used as bedrooms.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council rejects plan for 2.8-acre Killiney site
An unsafe playground was cited as one of the reason for refusing planning permission for a residential development in Killiney.
Planners at Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council have turned down plans to build 29 houses at the home of fashion retailer Seán Barron on Ballinclea Road.
O'Flynn Construction was looking to demolish the house on the 2.8-acre site to make way for three detached houses, 22 semi-detached houses and four terraced houses.
The Cork-based developer purchased the six-bedroom house - called Broadlands - from Barron, the man behind the Pamela Scott brand, in 2006 for €22 million. The house had its own tennis court and lots of mature trees.
The site has a prime location opposite the entrance to Killiney Golf Club. It backs on to Cluny Park and has extensive frontage on to Ballinclea Road.
Six of the proposed 29 houses were ear-marked for social and affordable housing. A pedestrian link from the scheme to Cluny Park formed part of the plans.
There were eight objections to the scheme. Issues raised included concerns about traffic hazard, overshadowing, overdevelopment and loss of trees and hedgerows.
O'Flynn Construction's proposals were refused by the council on a number of grounds. The planning inspector found that the proposed development would "seriously injure" the amenities of property in the vicinity.
The council was also critical of the depths of rear gardens at the proposed houses and the provision of open space in the scheme.
The parks department of the council deemed that the location of the play area in the scheme beside the entrance onto Ballinclea Road was "not safe" and did not appear to have any protective fencing. It would be necessary to rearrange the entire layout of the site to remedy these problems, the parks department said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Planners at Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council have turned down plans to build 29 houses at the home of fashion retailer Seán Barron on Ballinclea Road.
O'Flynn Construction was looking to demolish the house on the 2.8-acre site to make way for three detached houses, 22 semi-detached houses and four terraced houses.
The Cork-based developer purchased the six-bedroom house - called Broadlands - from Barron, the man behind the Pamela Scott brand, in 2006 for €22 million. The house had its own tennis court and lots of mature trees.
The site has a prime location opposite the entrance to Killiney Golf Club. It backs on to Cluny Park and has extensive frontage on to Ballinclea Road.
Six of the proposed 29 houses were ear-marked for social and affordable housing. A pedestrian link from the scheme to Cluny Park formed part of the plans.
There were eight objections to the scheme. Issues raised included concerns about traffic hazard, overshadowing, overdevelopment and loss of trees and hedgerows.
O'Flynn Construction's proposals were refused by the council on a number of grounds. The planning inspector found that the proposed development would "seriously injure" the amenities of property in the vicinity.
The council was also critical of the depths of rear gardens at the proposed houses and the provision of open space in the scheme.
The parks department of the council deemed that the location of the play area in the scheme beside the entrance onto Ballinclea Road was "not safe" and did not appear to have any protective fencing. It would be necessary to rearrange the entire layout of the site to remedy these problems, the parks department said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Foxrock scheme appealed
FOXROCK RESIDENTS have called on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to refuse permission for the redevelopment of a prime site in Foxrock village.
Foxrock Area Development Ltd is among seven objectors to Michael McNamara's plans to redevelop his home - Clonbur - at the junction of Torquay Road and Westminster Road. McNamara wants to knock the house to make way for 11 apartments, an office, shop and 33 car-parking spaces.
Foxrock Area Development Ltd says the redevelopment of the site, surrounded by a screen of evergreen trees, "may be desirable if it were to make a positive contribution to the consolidation of the village". Any development of this "important site" needs to be addressed in the context of a village improvement plan, which is being prepared by the council, according to the group.
The development of both Clonbur and the nearby Gortanore site, which is being turned into apartments by David Arnold, are of "fundamental importance" to the proper planning and sustainable development of the village, says the group. "A detailed design guide for these sites should form an intrinsic part of the village improvement scheme and all proposals for the redevelopment of these sites should be judged within the context," says Feargall Kenny of Kenny Planning Consultants on behalf of Foxrock Area Development Ltd.
Granting permission for any additional development will put extra pressure on parking in the village, according to the group.
Failing to explore the potential of important sites such as Clonbur, Bortanore and the horse racing lands at Leopardstown racecourse is "premature and short-sighted", it says.
McNamara's scheme would put extra pressure on the already "inadequate road infrastructure" of Foxrock village, it adds.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Foxrock Area Development Ltd is among seven objectors to Michael McNamara's plans to redevelop his home - Clonbur - at the junction of Torquay Road and Westminster Road. McNamara wants to knock the house to make way for 11 apartments, an office, shop and 33 car-parking spaces.
Foxrock Area Development Ltd says the redevelopment of the site, surrounded by a screen of evergreen trees, "may be desirable if it were to make a positive contribution to the consolidation of the village". Any development of this "important site" needs to be addressed in the context of a village improvement plan, which is being prepared by the council, according to the group.
The development of both Clonbur and the nearby Gortanore site, which is being turned into apartments by David Arnold, are of "fundamental importance" to the proper planning and sustainable development of the village, says the group. "A detailed design guide for these sites should form an intrinsic part of the village improvement scheme and all proposals for the redevelopment of these sites should be judged within the context," says Feargall Kenny of Kenny Planning Consultants on behalf of Foxrock Area Development Ltd.
Granting permission for any additional development will put extra pressure on parking in the village, according to the group.
Failing to explore the potential of important sites such as Clonbur, Bortanore and the horse racing lands at Leopardstown racecourse is "premature and short-sighted", it says.
McNamara's scheme would put extra pressure on the already "inadequate road infrastructure" of Foxrock village, it adds.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Crane drain to city centre and south suburbs
YOU'VE HEARD OF a brain drain? Well now they're talking about a "crane drain" from the north-western edge of Dublin where building operations have slowed down quite a bit in the opening weeks of this year.
The latest Jones Lang LaSalle "Crane Watch" report, out today, notes that there are now 18 cranes operating in Dublin north-west compared to 21 in the last three months of 2007 - by no means a significant fall but, on the ground, the cut back in building activities is more severe as developers board up sites until they have found buyers for housing stock already completed.
Elsewhere in the city, the number of cranes operating is happily on a par with the last quarter of 2007 as developers push ahead with office developments that have been mainly pre-let to thriving Irish companies. Not surprisingly, the biggest density of cranes (24) is now in the north docklands where a range of vast office schemes are under construction, as well as the National Conference Centre and the Point Village shopping centre. Treasury Holdings and Liam Carroll account for a great deal of the building activity in this once forlorn area. On the opposite side of the docks, there is a huge concentration of cranes around the Lansdowne Road rugby grounds as it slowly takes shape.
It is much the same out in Sandyford where those lucky enough to have secured planning permission before the planners' embargo came into effect are pushing ahead with a mixture of shops, offices and apartments. With 63 cranes in the skyline around Dublin city and suburbs, there is still life in the property market.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The latest Jones Lang LaSalle "Crane Watch" report, out today, notes that there are now 18 cranes operating in Dublin north-west compared to 21 in the last three months of 2007 - by no means a significant fall but, on the ground, the cut back in building activities is more severe as developers board up sites until they have found buyers for housing stock already completed.
Elsewhere in the city, the number of cranes operating is happily on a par with the last quarter of 2007 as developers push ahead with office developments that have been mainly pre-let to thriving Irish companies. Not surprisingly, the biggest density of cranes (24) is now in the north docklands where a range of vast office schemes are under construction, as well as the National Conference Centre and the Point Village shopping centre. Treasury Holdings and Liam Carroll account for a great deal of the building activity in this once forlorn area. On the opposite side of the docks, there is a huge concentration of cranes around the Lansdowne Road rugby grounds as it slowly takes shape.
It is much the same out in Sandyford where those lucky enough to have secured planning permission before the planners' embargo came into effect are pushing ahead with a mixture of shops, offices and apartments. With 63 cranes in the skyline around Dublin city and suburbs, there is still life in the property market.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Quarry owner assaulted council men, court told
TWO PLANNING officers with Kerry County Council were assaulted in the headquarters of the council by a man whose quarry had been closed down on foot of enforcement procedures taken some years previously, the District Court in Tralee heard yesterday.
Brian O'Connor (44), Moyderwell, Tralee, pleaded guilty to assaulting Kerry Barrett and Keith Parrott at Áras an Chontae in April 2007.
Supt Pat Sullivan said that at 9.45am on April 13th, 2007, Mr O'Connor entered the council offices in Tralee. He assaulted Mr Barrett by dragging him over a desk and tearing his shirt. Mr Parrott intervened and got a kick on his leg from Mr O'Connor.
Other members of the council had to restrain Mr O'Connor until gardaí arrived and arrested him, said Supt Sullivan.
Mr O'Connor had no previous convictions. His solicitor, Pádraig O'Connell, said the incident had its origins in a decision by the council to close his client's quarry "and his livelihood" in 1999.
The father of five was accompanied by his wife in court. He had at one stage been forced to live in a mobile home because of the council decision, Mr O'Connell said.
On the day in question, his client had gone there "with peace in his heart", but felt he had been treated with derision, the solicitor continued. Judge James O'Connor adjourned the matter to December 2009 and granted free legal aid to Mr O'Connor.
The Irish Times
ww.buckplanning.ie
Brian O'Connor (44), Moyderwell, Tralee, pleaded guilty to assaulting Kerry Barrett and Keith Parrott at Áras an Chontae in April 2007.
Supt Pat Sullivan said that at 9.45am on April 13th, 2007, Mr O'Connor entered the council offices in Tralee. He assaulted Mr Barrett by dragging him over a desk and tearing his shirt. Mr Parrott intervened and got a kick on his leg from Mr O'Connor.
Other members of the council had to restrain Mr O'Connor until gardaí arrived and arrested him, said Supt Sullivan.
Mr O'Connor had no previous convictions. His solicitor, Pádraig O'Connell, said the incident had its origins in a decision by the council to close his client's quarry "and his livelihood" in 1999.
The father of five was accompanied by his wife in court. He had at one stage been forced to live in a mobile home because of the council decision, Mr O'Connell said.
On the day in question, his client had gone there "with peace in his heart", but felt he had been treated with derision, the solicitor continued. Judge James O'Connor adjourned the matter to December 2009 and granted free legal aid to Mr O'Connor.
The Irish Times
ww.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Gormley to intervene in row over industrial rezoning
ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley is to intervene with Waterford County Council over the controversy surrounding the rezoning of plots of land in the greater Dungarvan area.
A major garda investigation is under way into alleged planning irregularities in Dungarvan, with a number of local politicians quizzed by detectives in the past fortnight.
The rezoning issues being examined all relate to planning matters over the past decade.
Yesterday, it was officially learned that the Department of the Environment is now to intervene. Officials are to write to Waterford County Council to make a specific request that they do not move ahead with proposed variations -- rezonings -- in the county development plan.
Minister Gormley believes there has been an "excess of rezoning" in the area, with a particular focus on land zoned industrial.
Concerns
He said: "I can't comment on the garda investigation. However, I and my department have had concerns going back to last year concerning some rezoning proposals, specifically the proposed rezoning of some land for industrial purposes. "I'll be asking my department to write out and engage with Waterford County Council on this issue."
It is understood that Mr Gormley will proceed to invoke Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act if the local authority fails to act on his request, meaning he can override their designations and block any proposed changes of use.
Last year Mr Gormley applied the provisions of Section 31 in order to overturn a series of rezonings ordered in Monaghan, which would have had the effect of quintupling the population of some villages.
The current garda probe was launched in early 2005, when a Waterford County Council employee raised concerns over specific planning matters with senior local authority officials.
After an internal inquiry, the matter was referred to the gardai. One person has already been charged in relation to the investigation, and a number of arrests made under anti-corruption legislation.
Senan Molony Deputy Political Editor
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
A major garda investigation is under way into alleged planning irregularities in Dungarvan, with a number of local politicians quizzed by detectives in the past fortnight.
The rezoning issues being examined all relate to planning matters over the past decade.
Yesterday, it was officially learned that the Department of the Environment is now to intervene. Officials are to write to Waterford County Council to make a specific request that they do not move ahead with proposed variations -- rezonings -- in the county development plan.
Minister Gormley believes there has been an "excess of rezoning" in the area, with a particular focus on land zoned industrial.
Concerns
He said: "I can't comment on the garda investigation. However, I and my department have had concerns going back to last year concerning some rezoning proposals, specifically the proposed rezoning of some land for industrial purposes. "I'll be asking my department to write out and engage with Waterford County Council on this issue."
It is understood that Mr Gormley will proceed to invoke Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act if the local authority fails to act on his request, meaning he can override their designations and block any proposed changes of use.
Last year Mr Gormley applied the provisions of Section 31 in order to overturn a series of rezonings ordered in Monaghan, which would have had the effect of quintupling the population of some villages.
The current garda probe was launched in early 2005, when a Waterford County Council employee raised concerns over specific planning matters with senior local authority officials.
After an internal inquiry, the matter was referred to the gardai. One person has already been charged in relation to the investigation, and a number of arrests made under anti-corruption legislation.
Senan Molony Deputy Political Editor
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
City centre areas to be no-go zones for private cars
PLANS TO to limit the use of private cars in Dublin city centre are being finalised for presentation to a special Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) steering group, next May.
The proposals, which were initially intended to be for the duration of construction works for the Metro, were outlined to members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport recently. They include a ban on private cars in the central city areas of O'Connell Street, College Green and lower Grafton Street/Nassau Street.
The duration of the construction works on Metro North is expected to be at least three years.
Access is to be maintained to O'Connell Street via alternative routes, but cars entering the northbound section will be unable to exit through the top of O'Connell Street, while a similar arrangement will be put in place for cars entering southbound lanes.
Four lanes of traffic from Dame Street into Westmoreland Street are to be declared public transport only, as are the reverse lanes coming around from D'Olier Street. Lower Grafton Street to the Dawson Street/Nassau Street corner is also to be made a no-go zone for private cars. The work will also see a reorganisation of the inner and outer orbital routes.
The opening of the Macken Street Bridge is crucial for the plan, the start-up of which is to be in place for the start of the Transport 21 works in 2010. The installation of a temporary bridge between Hawkins Street and Marlborough Street is also being considered.
Ownership of the plan is set to move from the DTO steering group to Dublin City Council after a steering committee meeting and city council sources indicated the intention is to make the changes permanent.
The steering committee accepts that there is a deficit in public transport but points out that additional buses are planned, as well as new measures to give priority to all buses.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The proposals, which were initially intended to be for the duration of construction works for the Metro, were outlined to members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport recently. They include a ban on private cars in the central city areas of O'Connell Street, College Green and lower Grafton Street/Nassau Street.
The duration of the construction works on Metro North is expected to be at least three years.
Access is to be maintained to O'Connell Street via alternative routes, but cars entering the northbound section will be unable to exit through the top of O'Connell Street, while a similar arrangement will be put in place for cars entering southbound lanes.
Four lanes of traffic from Dame Street into Westmoreland Street are to be declared public transport only, as are the reverse lanes coming around from D'Olier Street. Lower Grafton Street to the Dawson Street/Nassau Street corner is also to be made a no-go zone for private cars. The work will also see a reorganisation of the inner and outer orbital routes.
The opening of the Macken Street Bridge is crucial for the plan, the start-up of which is to be in place for the start of the Transport 21 works in 2010. The installation of a temporary bridge between Hawkins Street and Marlborough Street is also being considered.
Ownership of the plan is set to move from the DTO steering group to Dublin City Council after a steering committee meeting and city council sources indicated the intention is to make the changes permanent.
The steering committee accepts that there is a deficit in public transport but points out that additional buses are planned, as well as new measures to give priority to all buses.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning board seeks Ringsend sewage plant report
AN ENVIRONMENTAL report on plans to extend the modern sewage treatment plant at Ringsend has been ordered by An Bord Pleanála, on grounds the project would be "likely to have significant effects on the environment".
The board has directed Dublin City Council to prepare the environmental impact statement (EIS) in advance of the council's submission of a planning application to extend the plant.
The council has already told the board the extension will have greater visual impact than the original plant and "odour" was likely to be a contentious issue with any development of the facility.
The council has for several years intended to extend the plant, which currently processes the sewage of the equivalent of 1.9 million people, to a capacity of 2.2 million and possibly greater, but has had to delay because of a foul odour problem which has persisted since the plant opened in 2003.
Last December, city manager John Tierney said the odour problem would be eliminated by July, which would allow the plans for the extension, likely to cost in excess of €50 million, to proceed.
The council wrote to An Bord Pleanála late last year stating that it believed an EIS would be required for the development.
In its submission, it said there would be a "higher degree of visual impact" than had been the case with the original sewage plant because there would be an intensification of facilities on the same site. The submission also states that odour control has been a major issue with the existing plant and would be one of the most contentious aspects of the proposed extension.
In his report, the board's inspector said the council could have conducted an EIS without asking the board, but he said it was his recommendation that an EIS should be prepared.
The development was likely to have significant effects on the environment because of its size, capacity and "other cumulation effects including that of the adjoining waste-to-energy facility [Poolbeg incinerator] The council yesterday said it had not decided when it would submit an application to the board for the
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The board has directed Dublin City Council to prepare the environmental impact statement (EIS) in advance of the council's submission of a planning application to extend the plant.
The council has already told the board the extension will have greater visual impact than the original plant and "odour" was likely to be a contentious issue with any development of the facility.
The council has for several years intended to extend the plant, which currently processes the sewage of the equivalent of 1.9 million people, to a capacity of 2.2 million and possibly greater, but has had to delay because of a foul odour problem which has persisted since the plant opened in 2003.
Last December, city manager John Tierney said the odour problem would be eliminated by July, which would allow the plans for the extension, likely to cost in excess of €50 million, to proceed.
The council wrote to An Bord Pleanála late last year stating that it believed an EIS would be required for the development.
In its submission, it said there would be a "higher degree of visual impact" than had been the case with the original sewage plant because there would be an intensification of facilities on the same site. The submission also states that odour control has been a major issue with the existing plant and would be one of the most contentious aspects of the proposed extension.
In his report, the board's inspector said the council could have conducted an EIS without asking the board, but he said it was his recommendation that an EIS should be prepared.
The development was likely to have significant effects on the environment because of its size, capacity and "other cumulation effects including that of the adjoining waste-to-energy facility [Poolbeg incinerator] The council yesterday said it had not decided when it would submit an application to the board for the
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Waterford officials ruled out of zoning inquiry
THE GARDA has confirmed that an investigation into an attempt to rezone 400 acres in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, does not involve any serving council member or official, the mayor and county manager of Waterford County Council insisted last night.
Clearly angered by recent publicity surrounding the bid to change the county development plan, chairman Billy Kyne and manager Ray O'Dwyer called for the Garda investigation to end quickly.
In a joint statement, they said: "In response to the alarming amount of interest concerning the recently covered Garda investigation, Waterford County Council wishes to point out that the gardaí have advised that this investigation does not concern any county councillors, nor any member of the council's planning staff.
"The council is fully co-operating with the gardaí in their inquiries and requests that the media take a fair and balanced approach in their coverage.
"Despite this setback, the members and staff of Waterford County Council remain committed to ongoing development and job creation within the county. We urge that this investigation be concluded as speedily as possible."
The statement was released by Waterford County Council last evening.
The National Roads Authority warned that an earlier plan to rezone the lands - which differs only in the most marginal way to the latest application - would add millions to the cost of buying land needed to upgrade the Cork-Waterford road, since some of the lands run right across the proposed route.
The latest version of the plan has been strongly opposed by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who has warned councillors that he will veto it if they insist on going ahead and approving it.
The closing date for consultations on the application - the 10th variation to the 2005-2010 Waterford County Development Plan - has been set for tomorrow.
However, a copy of the ninth application - the one objected to by the NRA - cannot be found on the council's website - even though all others are listed.
Last week Garda detectives interviewed all 28 members of Waterford County Council and Dungarvan Town Commissioners about their knowledge of the rezoning application, though the investigation is not linked to any prior planning investigation.
Some of the owners of the lands in the townlands of Killadangan, Ballygagin, Mapestown, Lackenfune, Ballinure and Middlequarter townlands affected by the rezoning application had no part in the issue and only discovered that some of their lands were included following last week's publicity.
Mr Gormley must write to the local authority outlining his objections by tomorrow, but he intends to veto any changes to the plan - which would allow industrial, retail and office developments, along with a hotel - if the council persists with the application. He is understood to be concerned that such a major change would be considered three years after it came into force and one year before planning for its successor begins.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Clearly angered by recent publicity surrounding the bid to change the county development plan, chairman Billy Kyne and manager Ray O'Dwyer called for the Garda investigation to end quickly.
In a joint statement, they said: "In response to the alarming amount of interest concerning the recently covered Garda investigation, Waterford County Council wishes to point out that the gardaí have advised that this investigation does not concern any county councillors, nor any member of the council's planning staff.
"The council is fully co-operating with the gardaí in their inquiries and requests that the media take a fair and balanced approach in their coverage.
"Despite this setback, the members and staff of Waterford County Council remain committed to ongoing development and job creation within the county. We urge that this investigation be concluded as speedily as possible."
The statement was released by Waterford County Council last evening.
The National Roads Authority warned that an earlier plan to rezone the lands - which differs only in the most marginal way to the latest application - would add millions to the cost of buying land needed to upgrade the Cork-Waterford road, since some of the lands run right across the proposed route.
The latest version of the plan has been strongly opposed by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who has warned councillors that he will veto it if they insist on going ahead and approving it.
The closing date for consultations on the application - the 10th variation to the 2005-2010 Waterford County Development Plan - has been set for tomorrow.
However, a copy of the ninth application - the one objected to by the NRA - cannot be found on the council's website - even though all others are listed.
Last week Garda detectives interviewed all 28 members of Waterford County Council and Dungarvan Town Commissioners about their knowledge of the rezoning application, though the investigation is not linked to any prior planning investigation.
Some of the owners of the lands in the townlands of Killadangan, Ballygagin, Mapestown, Lackenfune, Ballinure and Middlequarter townlands affected by the rezoning application had no part in the issue and only discovered that some of their lands were included following last week's publicity.
Mr Gormley must write to the local authority outlining his objections by tomorrow, but he intends to veto any changes to the plan - which would allow industrial, retail and office developments, along with a hotel - if the council persists with the application. He is understood to be concerned that such a major change would be considered three years after it came into force and one year before planning for its successor begins.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Permission to develop Ballsbridge site to be appealed
THE REDEVELOPMENT of the former veterinary college in Ballsbridge, Dublin, which includes plans for a 15-storey apartment block, is the subject of more than 20 appeals to An Bord Pleanála.
Dublin City Council granted planning permission last February to developer Ray Grehan for the 40,000sq m complex of shops, offices, an arts centre and 109 apartments on the site adjoining the Jurys/Berkeley Court site owned by Seán Dunne.
Local councillors had recommended that the planners not grant permission for the development on the grounds of its height, although its tallest structure is less than half the height of the 37- storey tower sought by Mr Dunne.
Mr Dunne was last month granted permission for his development by the council but with the omission of the 37-storey building. He did secure permission for an 18-storey building on the site, but has decided to appeal the project in full to An Bord Pleanála.
Mr Grehan, however, was granted permission for his development in its entirety, and in this case it is mostly local residents and An Taisce who have appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
Just under 90 objections were made to the city council against the plans, largely on the grounds that the 15-storey building, at more than 50 metres high, was out of proportion with the surrounding streetscape, and that the density of the site development was too great. The appeals follow similar lines. Although fewer appeals have been made, they are significant in number given that the cost of an appeal to the board is €200, compared with €20 to appeal to the council.
Local appellants to the board made their objections through residents' groups, including the Lansdowne and District Residents' Association and the Ailesbury Road Residents' Association.
In its appeal to the board, An Taisce claims the council contravened the city development plan by granting permission, in that the office and retail parts of the development are not allowed under current zoning rules. The 15-storey building would be "extremely imposing and would totally dominate the area", An Taisce said.
The development would have "seriously negative impacts" on Ballsbridge's architectural setting; residential amenities would be damaged; the public and private open spaces were inadequate; and the development would cause traffic safety problems.
An Bord Pleanála is due to deliver its decision on the appeal in July. While entirely separate to any appeal in relation to the neighbouring Jurys/Berkeley Court development, the decision is likely to be seen by locals as a marker of the board's attitude to tall buildings in the area. An Bord Pleanála is also likely to receive a large number of appeals against Mr Dunne's development in addition to his own appeal.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin City Council granted planning permission last February to developer Ray Grehan for the 40,000sq m complex of shops, offices, an arts centre and 109 apartments on the site adjoining the Jurys/Berkeley Court site owned by Seán Dunne.
Local councillors had recommended that the planners not grant permission for the development on the grounds of its height, although its tallest structure is less than half the height of the 37- storey tower sought by Mr Dunne.
Mr Dunne was last month granted permission for his development by the council but with the omission of the 37-storey building. He did secure permission for an 18-storey building on the site, but has decided to appeal the project in full to An Bord Pleanála.
Mr Grehan, however, was granted permission for his development in its entirety, and in this case it is mostly local residents and An Taisce who have appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
Just under 90 objections were made to the city council against the plans, largely on the grounds that the 15-storey building, at more than 50 metres high, was out of proportion with the surrounding streetscape, and that the density of the site development was too great. The appeals follow similar lines. Although fewer appeals have been made, they are significant in number given that the cost of an appeal to the board is €200, compared with €20 to appeal to the council.
Local appellants to the board made their objections through residents' groups, including the Lansdowne and District Residents' Association and the Ailesbury Road Residents' Association.
In its appeal to the board, An Taisce claims the council contravened the city development plan by granting permission, in that the office and retail parts of the development are not allowed under current zoning rules. The 15-storey building would be "extremely imposing and would totally dominate the area", An Taisce said.
The development would have "seriously negative impacts" on Ballsbridge's architectural setting; residential amenities would be damaged; the public and private open spaces were inadequate; and the development would cause traffic safety problems.
An Bord Pleanála is due to deliver its decision on the appeal in July. While entirely separate to any appeal in relation to the neighbouring Jurys/Berkeley Court development, the decision is likely to be seen by locals as a marker of the board's attitude to tall buildings in the area. An Bord Pleanála is also likely to receive a large number of appeals against Mr Dunne's development in addition to his own appeal.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 23 March 2008
"I was tricked," says tunnel girl Squeak
ECO-WARRIOR Lisa Feeney has no intention of going back down the hole she lived in for several days while protesting against the M3 motorway.
However, the 26-year-old from Kerry said she will continue to fight against the construction of the motorway, which passes close to an ancient fort in Rath Lugh near the Hill of Tara in Co Meath.
Speaking to The Star yesterday the chirpy Psychology graduate said she is "furious" at the National Roads Authority for "breaking the deal" that resulted in her finally coming out of the 33ft deep tunnel. "I was tricked," she claimed yesterday.
But 'Squeak', as she is known to friends, said she will find time to leave the protest camp to play saxophone with her funk band Kellie Marie and the Unmentionables tomorrow night.
"I can't wait. They've missed me since I started protesting down here, so it will be really good," she said.
Deal
She had stayed in the chamber underground for several days threatening to pull a jack that would see the tunnel collapse on top of her if builders continued to work at the site or if anyone tried to force her out.
The NRA and gardai tried to persuade her to come out for her own safety - but it wasn't until her father and uncle took part in this plea that things changed.
So after an agreement was made that no work would take place there for 30 days and that protesters would not interfere with fences being erected, Lisa emerged from her hole.
Work
"They told my family that I was going to die," she said.
Lisa had gone back to her hometown in Kerry with her family but returned on Wednesday this week when she learned that building work had continued at the site.
"I was tricked," she claimed yesterday.
Now Lisa, her ex-boyfriend Paddy and the other protesters at the camp at Tara are trying to gain access to the building site where they hope to create a human shield against the diggers.
The NRA said that there are security guards and 50 gardai at the site on a 24 hour basis trying to keep the protesters at bay.
They say they are building obvious markings of where the road will be in a bid to alleviate protesters' concerns over its proximity to the national monument.
The NRA also confirmed that work had advanced on the M3 but only after their agreement with the protesters had been broken after work on fencing and at a haul road past the monument had been interfered with.
An NRA spokesman said they tried to deal with the protesters, but found they "did not keep to their word" and were "irrational".
Lisa says protesters are now pinning their hopes on a Supreme Court appeal next month against the High Courts refusal to grant an injunction stopping works at the site.
Lisa said her parents sympathise with her cause after visiting the Tara site but are worried for her safety.
"Like all parents they worry, but they understand," she said.
Lisa "misses" her life back in Dublin where she's been living for over seven years since she began studying psychology at Trinity College.
It was while working as a bicycle courier that she earned the nickname 'Squeals'.
Other bikers christened her so because of the way she sounds on their radios.
Lisa said she looks forward to pursuing a career as a music therapist following a post graduate course.
Kevin Jenkinson
The Star
www.buckplaning.ie
However, the 26-year-old from Kerry said she will continue to fight against the construction of the motorway, which passes close to an ancient fort in Rath Lugh near the Hill of Tara in Co Meath.
Speaking to The Star yesterday the chirpy Psychology graduate said she is "furious" at the National Roads Authority for "breaking the deal" that resulted in her finally coming out of the 33ft deep tunnel. "I was tricked," she claimed yesterday.
But 'Squeak', as she is known to friends, said she will find time to leave the protest camp to play saxophone with her funk band Kellie Marie and the Unmentionables tomorrow night.
"I can't wait. They've missed me since I started protesting down here, so it will be really good," she said.
Deal
She had stayed in the chamber underground for several days threatening to pull a jack that would see the tunnel collapse on top of her if builders continued to work at the site or if anyone tried to force her out.
The NRA and gardai tried to persuade her to come out for her own safety - but it wasn't until her father and uncle took part in this plea that things changed.
So after an agreement was made that no work would take place there for 30 days and that protesters would not interfere with fences being erected, Lisa emerged from her hole.
Work
"They told my family that I was going to die," she said.
Lisa had gone back to her hometown in Kerry with her family but returned on Wednesday this week when she learned that building work had continued at the site.
"I was tricked," she claimed yesterday.
Now Lisa, her ex-boyfriend Paddy and the other protesters at the camp at Tara are trying to gain access to the building site where they hope to create a human shield against the diggers.
The NRA said that there are security guards and 50 gardai at the site on a 24 hour basis trying to keep the protesters at bay.
They say they are building obvious markings of where the road will be in a bid to alleviate protesters' concerns over its proximity to the national monument.
The NRA also confirmed that work had advanced on the M3 but only after their agreement with the protesters had been broken after work on fencing and at a haul road past the monument had been interfered with.
An NRA spokesman said they tried to deal with the protesters, but found they "did not keep to their word" and were "irrational".
Lisa says protesters are now pinning their hopes on a Supreme Court appeal next month against the High Courts refusal to grant an injunction stopping works at the site.
Lisa said her parents sympathise with her cause after visiting the Tara site but are worried for her safety.
"Like all parents they worry, but they understand," she said.
Lisa "misses" her life back in Dublin where she's been living for over seven years since she began studying psychology at Trinity College.
It was while working as a bicycle courier that she earned the nickname 'Squeals'.
Other bikers christened her so because of the way she sounds on their radios.
Lisa said she looks forward to pursuing a career as a music therapist following a post graduate course.
Kevin Jenkinson
The Star
www.buckplaning.ie
Home permits up despite downturn
DEVELOPERS are getting the green light to build far more properties now than they were last year.
But they are holding back on building the properties for which permission has been granted because of the prices slide and the fall-off in demand.
The number of houses and apartments granted planning permission in the final quarter of last year was up 9pc on the previous year's figure, despite the downturn in the housing market.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said yesterday that almost 17,800 units were approved in the last three months of 2007.
The number of houses granted permission was up just 0.5pc to just over 13,000.
The CSO report shows that, for the fourth quarter of 2007, planning permission was granted for 17,733 houses and apartments, compared with 16,251 units for the same period in 2006 -- a 9.1pc increase.
The fourth quarter figures from the statistics office also show that:
l Planning permissions were granted for 4,598 apartment units, compared with 3,197 units for the same period in 2006, an increase of 43.8pc
l Permissions were granted for 13,135 houses compared with 13,054 in the fourth quarter of 2006.
l One-off houses accounted for 24pc of all new properties approved.
l The total number of permissions granted for all developments was 12,330. This compares to 12,962 in the fourth quarter of 2006, a decrease of 4pc.
l Planning Permissions for new buildings for agriculture fell to 1,232 this quarter, down from 1,715.
Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
But they are holding back on building the properties for which permission has been granted because of the prices slide and the fall-off in demand.
The number of houses and apartments granted planning permission in the final quarter of last year was up 9pc on the previous year's figure, despite the downturn in the housing market.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said yesterday that almost 17,800 units were approved in the last three months of 2007.
The number of houses granted permission was up just 0.5pc to just over 13,000.
The CSO report shows that, for the fourth quarter of 2007, planning permission was granted for 17,733 houses and apartments, compared with 16,251 units for the same period in 2006 -- a 9.1pc increase.
The fourth quarter figures from the statistics office also show that:
l Planning permissions were granted for 4,598 apartment units, compared with 3,197 units for the same period in 2006, an increase of 43.8pc
l Permissions were granted for 13,135 houses compared with 13,054 in the fourth quarter of 2006.
l One-off houses accounted for 24pc of all new properties approved.
l The total number of permissions granted for all developments was 12,330. This compares to 12,962 in the fourth quarter of 2006, a decrease of 4pc.
l Planning Permissions for new buildings for agriculture fell to 1,232 this quarter, down from 1,715.
Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Developer to demolish 10-year-old apartments
LIAM CARROLL, the developer, has secured planning permission from Dublin City Council to demolish a five-storey city centre apartment complex built just 10 years ago under a tax incentive scheme which expires this summer, and replace it with a six-storey office block.
The 47-unit apartment block on the corner of Watling Street and Island Street, just south of the city quays and adjacent to the Guinness Brewery, was built under the Section 23 tax incentive scheme designed to rejuvenate rundown areas of the city.
The tax reliefs available to owners of Section 23 apartments expire on July 31st.
The apartment building is part of the Maltings complex built by Mr Carroll's company Zoe Developments in the mid-1990s. The Maltings blocks A, B and C were completed by 1996 and were sold to private owners; a fourth block, block D, and called the New Maltings, was built in 1998. Mr Carroll retained ownership of block D and rented out the 47 apartments. It is this block he now intends to demolish and replace with offices.
The city council granted permission for the plans last week, despite receiving 39 objections from local TDs, councillors and Maltings residents.
Labour TD Mary Upton said she was particularly concerned that the council's decision would set a precedent for the demolition of apartments that were no longer earning tax relief for developers.
"There is a very serious issue raised by this decision. What now is the future for Section 23 developments?"
Section 23 relief had been designed to rejuvenate areas such as the southwest inner city and it would be a retrograde step if apartments built to achieve this aim were now levelled, she said. "It appears that since the Section 23 relief will now expire, the developer wants to demolish these apartments. This sets a worrying precedent for other Section 23 areas, as developers who notice that the relief has expired may now apply to knock other Section 23 residential developments and replace them with offices, retail or commercial uses."
The 47 apartments have been consistently occupied in the last decade and remain habitable. Fine Gael TD Catherine Byrne, appealing against the proposals, said the demolition was contrary to the City Development Plan, which discouraged the demolition of habitable homes.
In their application to the council, the developers argued that the area was one of "economic decline", was "strongly in need of investment and urban regeneration" and that the apartments were currently located opposite "a number of derelict-looking warehouses" and a building owned by a charity for the homeless, the Simon Community.
The design of the new office building would significantly improve the streetscape. The area had lost industries and needed economic regeneration, and the proposed offices would bring employment to the areas, they said.
They would also meet the needs of the services sector, which would be "instrumental in underpinning and directing sustainable economic development" of the area and would be in tune with developments in the nearby Digital Hub, developers said.
Residents of the Maltings complex said the imposition of an office building in their residential complex would adversely affect their quality of life. Residents are to meet next Tuesday to formulate their appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the council's decision.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The 47-unit apartment block on the corner of Watling Street and Island Street, just south of the city quays and adjacent to the Guinness Brewery, was built under the Section 23 tax incentive scheme designed to rejuvenate rundown areas of the city.
The tax reliefs available to owners of Section 23 apartments expire on July 31st.
The apartment building is part of the Maltings complex built by Mr Carroll's company Zoe Developments in the mid-1990s. The Maltings blocks A, B and C were completed by 1996 and were sold to private owners; a fourth block, block D, and called the New Maltings, was built in 1998. Mr Carroll retained ownership of block D and rented out the 47 apartments. It is this block he now intends to demolish and replace with offices.
The city council granted permission for the plans last week, despite receiving 39 objections from local TDs, councillors and Maltings residents.
Labour TD Mary Upton said she was particularly concerned that the council's decision would set a precedent for the demolition of apartments that were no longer earning tax relief for developers.
"There is a very serious issue raised by this decision. What now is the future for Section 23 developments?"
Section 23 relief had been designed to rejuvenate areas such as the southwest inner city and it would be a retrograde step if apartments built to achieve this aim were now levelled, she said. "It appears that since the Section 23 relief will now expire, the developer wants to demolish these apartments. This sets a worrying precedent for other Section 23 areas, as developers who notice that the relief has expired may now apply to knock other Section 23 residential developments and replace them with offices, retail or commercial uses."
The 47 apartments have been consistently occupied in the last decade and remain habitable. Fine Gael TD Catherine Byrne, appealing against the proposals, said the demolition was contrary to the City Development Plan, which discouraged the demolition of habitable homes.
In their application to the council, the developers argued that the area was one of "economic decline", was "strongly in need of investment and urban regeneration" and that the apartments were currently located opposite "a number of derelict-looking warehouses" and a building owned by a charity for the homeless, the Simon Community.
The design of the new office building would significantly improve the streetscape. The area had lost industries and needed economic regeneration, and the proposed offices would bring employment to the areas, they said.
They would also meet the needs of the services sector, which would be "instrumental in underpinning and directing sustainable economic development" of the area and would be in tune with developments in the nearby Digital Hub, developers said.
Residents of the Maltings complex said the imposition of an office building in their residential complex would adversely affect their quality of life. Residents are to meet next Tuesday to formulate their appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the council's decision.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Controversial firm Gama lost €45m building Ennis bypass
A CONSTRUCTION firm accused of exploiting migrant workers in Ireland lost up to €45 million on building a major roadway after underestimating the cost of labour and materials and incurring financial penalties for delays. Carl O'Brien, Social Affairs Correspondent, reports.
Gama Construction was awarded a contract to build the 21km Ennis bypass in Co Clare four years ago, before it became embroiled in controversy over paying hundreds of Turkish builders in Ireland less than the minimum wage.
However, the company went on to lose significant amounts of money on the €200 million project due to factors including underestimating the cost of labour and financial penalties for delays in the project.
The final leg of the Ennis bypass was finally opened in December, eight months after it was due to be completed. As a result, the company was forced to pay an undisclosed sum to Clare County Council.
The extent of the losses has come to light in a ruling by the Labour Court on a claim by Siptu for workers for a "finishing bonus" of between one and two weeks' additional pay. The union said the project went over budget because Gama failed to take into account the true cost of its legislative obligations towards its workers. It said members should be entitled to a bonus as it was becoming the norm on large projects.
In its submission, the company said such a bonus was not part of the deal with its employees. It did not give reasons for its losses, but said they were projected to be as much as €45 million.The court rejected the union's claim.
The contract for constructing the bypass was €123 million, while additional sums were spent on acquiring land, planning, design and archaeological work.
While it has been involved in some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the State, Gama's Irish operation has made significant losses recently. A pre-tax profit of €10 million in 2006 included €55m from the sale of its share in a power plant. In the previous year it made a €44 million loss.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Gama Construction was awarded a contract to build the 21km Ennis bypass in Co Clare four years ago, before it became embroiled in controversy over paying hundreds of Turkish builders in Ireland less than the minimum wage.
However, the company went on to lose significant amounts of money on the €200 million project due to factors including underestimating the cost of labour and financial penalties for delays in the project.
The final leg of the Ennis bypass was finally opened in December, eight months after it was due to be completed. As a result, the company was forced to pay an undisclosed sum to Clare County Council.
The extent of the losses has come to light in a ruling by the Labour Court on a claim by Siptu for workers for a "finishing bonus" of between one and two weeks' additional pay. The union said the project went over budget because Gama failed to take into account the true cost of its legislative obligations towards its workers. It said members should be entitled to a bonus as it was becoming the norm on large projects.
In its submission, the company said such a bonus was not part of the deal with its employees. It did not give reasons for its losses, but said they were projected to be as much as €45 million.The court rejected the union's claim.
The contract for constructing the bypass was €123 million, while additional sums were spent on acquiring land, planning, design and archaeological work.
While it has been involved in some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the State, Gama's Irish operation has made significant losses recently. A pre-tax profit of €10 million in 2006 included €55m from the sale of its share in a power plant. In the previous year it made a €44 million loss.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning probe deepens as gardai quiz politicians
GARDAI stepped up their three-year investigation into planning irregularities yesterday, by questioning a number of politicians.
Waterford gardai questioned a number of officials in the Dungarvan area as part of their ongoing investigation into alleged planning irregularities.
The questioning was confirmed last night by the gardai but no arrests were involved.
Rezoning
A senior source indicated that all the individuals involved co-operated fully with the garda inquiry.
The politicians are understood to include members of both the county council and town council.
Several politicians were questioned without prior notice by the gardai. Detectives will now liaise over the detailed interviews which were all conducted over the past eight days.
The Irish Independent understands that the move was focussed on issues surrounding rezoning of specific plots in the greater Dungarvan area.
The rezoning issues being examined by the gardai all relate to planning matters over the past decade.
The west Waterford town -- which is home to Waterford County Council -- is one of the fastest expanding urban areas in Ireland and has witnessed dramatic development over the past decade.
The garda probe was launched in early 2005 when an individual Waterford County Council employee raised concerns over specific planning matters with senior local authority officials.
After an internal inquiry, the matter was referred to the gardai and a major investigation was launched, led by Dungarvan gardai.
To date, Waterford County Council has refused to allow an open council debate on the matter -- stressing that it would be inappropriate, given the ongoing nature of the garda inquiry.
One person has already been charged in relation to the investigation.
Gardai have made a number of arrests since 2005 in relation to their inquiry, all of which were made under anti-corruption regulations.
- Ralph Riegel
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Waterford gardai questioned a number of officials in the Dungarvan area as part of their ongoing investigation into alleged planning irregularities.
The questioning was confirmed last night by the gardai but no arrests were involved.
Rezoning
A senior source indicated that all the individuals involved co-operated fully with the garda inquiry.
The politicians are understood to include members of both the county council and town council.
Several politicians were questioned without prior notice by the gardai. Detectives will now liaise over the detailed interviews which were all conducted over the past eight days.
The Irish Independent understands that the move was focussed on issues surrounding rezoning of specific plots in the greater Dungarvan area.
The rezoning issues being examined by the gardai all relate to planning matters over the past decade.
The west Waterford town -- which is home to Waterford County Council -- is one of the fastest expanding urban areas in Ireland and has witnessed dramatic development over the past decade.
The garda probe was launched in early 2005 when an individual Waterford County Council employee raised concerns over specific planning matters with senior local authority officials.
After an internal inquiry, the matter was referred to the gardai and a major investigation was launched, led by Dungarvan gardai.
To date, Waterford County Council has refused to allow an open council debate on the matter -- stressing that it would be inappropriate, given the ongoing nature of the garda inquiry.
One person has already been charged in relation to the investigation.
Gardai have made a number of arrests since 2005 in relation to their inquiry, all of which were made under anti-corruption regulations.
- Ralph Riegel
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Gardaí speak to councillors over planning claim
GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING suspected planning irregularities have been interviewing members of Waterford County Council.
A number of councillors have been informally spoken to by gardaí in recent days, and others are expected to speak to gardaí in coming days.
The investigation relates to a planning application that was submitted to the council for approval.
Gardaí in Dungarvan have been told that a developer had offered incentives to people involved in the planning process in an effort to get a mixed-use application approved.
As an initial part of their inquiry gardaí have decided to speak to all members of the county council informally to ascertain if the developer at the centre of the allegation had offered them any incentive for voting favourably on the application.
The Irish Times understands gardaí also plan to informally interview members of Waterford City Council when the current phase of their investigation is complete.
Some county councillors last night confirmed they had been informally interviewed.
Informed sources said gardaí asked the councillors if the developer or their agents had offered the councillors foreign trips or had pledged to make investments in local projects if they voted in favour of the planning application.
It is understood a member of the public approached an elected representative and relayed the allegations.
The representative then passed the information to gardaí in Dungarvan, and an official Garda investigation was begun.
Sources stressed that the investigation was at a very early stage and it was unknown at this point if corruption or criminal charges would follow or if a file would even be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The investigation is the latest in a series of alleged corruption matters involving the council.
In 2005 all councillors were spoken to informally by gardaí when a complaint about alleged planning corruption was made to gardaí in the county. That allegation related to suspected irregularities with Part V contributions by building developers.
Part V planning contributions are payments made by developers to local authorities in lieu of providing a portion of a development for social and affordable housing as set out in the Planning and Development Act 2000.
Separately, one former employee is currently facing charges relating to allegations of corruption in the awarding of a building contract.
Joseph Brennan, of Ceithre Gaoithe, An Rinn, last appeared at Dungarvan District Court on March 11th on a charge that in November 2002 he induced a named individual to award a kerbing contract to another man with the intention of making gain for the contractor.
The accused, who has been granted bail, has not worked with the local authority for the last two years.
He is to appear again in court on Tuesday, when a date will be fixed for hearing.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
A number of councillors have been informally spoken to by gardaí in recent days, and others are expected to speak to gardaí in coming days.
The investigation relates to a planning application that was submitted to the council for approval.
Gardaí in Dungarvan have been told that a developer had offered incentives to people involved in the planning process in an effort to get a mixed-use application approved.
As an initial part of their inquiry gardaí have decided to speak to all members of the county council informally to ascertain if the developer at the centre of the allegation had offered them any incentive for voting favourably on the application.
The Irish Times understands gardaí also plan to informally interview members of Waterford City Council when the current phase of their investigation is complete.
Some county councillors last night confirmed they had been informally interviewed.
Informed sources said gardaí asked the councillors if the developer or their agents had offered the councillors foreign trips or had pledged to make investments in local projects if they voted in favour of the planning application.
It is understood a member of the public approached an elected representative and relayed the allegations.
The representative then passed the information to gardaí in Dungarvan, and an official Garda investigation was begun.
Sources stressed that the investigation was at a very early stage and it was unknown at this point if corruption or criminal charges would follow or if a file would even be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The investigation is the latest in a series of alleged corruption matters involving the council.
In 2005 all councillors were spoken to informally by gardaí when a complaint about alleged planning corruption was made to gardaí in the county. That allegation related to suspected irregularities with Part V contributions by building developers.
Part V planning contributions are payments made by developers to local authorities in lieu of providing a portion of a development for social and affordable housing as set out in the Planning and Development Act 2000.
Separately, one former employee is currently facing charges relating to allegations of corruption in the awarding of a building contract.
Joseph Brennan, of Ceithre Gaoithe, An Rinn, last appeared at Dungarvan District Court on March 11th on a charge that in November 2002 he induced a named individual to award a kerbing contract to another man with the intention of making gain for the contractor.
The accused, who has been granted bail, has not worked with the local authority for the last two years.
He is to appear again in court on Tuesday, when a date will be fixed for hearing.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Low-capacity design favoured for Metro North
THE RAILWAY Procurement Agency (RPA) is to go ahead with a low-capacity design for Metro North, according to briefing documents circulated to the four consortiums which are bidding for the project. Tim O'Brien reports.
The agency confirmed to bidders at a specially organised "workshop" in recent weeks that it wanted to develop an underground which uses vehicles that are longer but similar in width and height to the overground Luas trams.
The Luas has already faced criticism from commentators, including Dr Garret FitzGerald, who say its current capacity problems relate to the fact that it is a lower-capacity tram system rather than a heavy-rail metro line.
However, the Green Line Luas was constructed so that it could be converted to a heavy-rail metro line by the addition of faster, wider-bodied carriages - at least from the Beechwood stop outbound.
However concern has been expressed that such an approach would not be possible under ground, unless the tunnel was constructed to a wider specification than that which has been indicated in the pre-tender advice given to the bidding companies at the workshop.
The agency's specification envisages a maximum 18,000-20,000 passengers an hour in each direction, in what would essentially be a 90m (295ft) underground tram.
In contrast, the overground Dart has a capacity of at least 36,000 passengers per direction per hour.
In a further difficulty for Metro North, its catchment area is much wider than the coastal Dart line, encompassing much of the mid-city, and taking in major installations such as the Mater hospital and its future extensions, DCU, Dublin airport and the expanding Fingal area of north Dublin.
RPA chief executive Frank Allen has said Metro North is fully compliant with population projections in the Fingal Development Plan.
However, the Dublin Institute of Technology Futures Academy has calculated that more than one million people could migrate to the Dublin-Belfast axis by 2020.
This would create additional development pressure beyond the Fingal administrative area, which would critically affect the usage projections for Metro North.
Faced with the problem, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has decided against asking the Railway Procurement Agency to build additional capacity in the Metro North tunnel, a feature he acknowledged would affect the cost.
However, Mr Dempsey failed to give the agency's plans his outright blessing, remarking that he "could not guarantee" that the capacity of the proposed Metro North was sufficient to meet population forecasts.
Speaking at the recent launch of plans for the CIÉ's underground Dart interconnector, which will use the wider-bodied trains, Mr Dempsey said he had been assured by the RPA that Metro North had sufficient capacity and, while he acknowledged that there were industry concerns about the issue, "the time for consultation and talking is finished".
The agency expects to issue tender documents to the bidders by May.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The agency confirmed to bidders at a specially organised "workshop" in recent weeks that it wanted to develop an underground which uses vehicles that are longer but similar in width and height to the overground Luas trams.
The Luas has already faced criticism from commentators, including Dr Garret FitzGerald, who say its current capacity problems relate to the fact that it is a lower-capacity tram system rather than a heavy-rail metro line.
However, the Green Line Luas was constructed so that it could be converted to a heavy-rail metro line by the addition of faster, wider-bodied carriages - at least from the Beechwood stop outbound.
However concern has been expressed that such an approach would not be possible under ground, unless the tunnel was constructed to a wider specification than that which has been indicated in the pre-tender advice given to the bidding companies at the workshop.
The agency's specification envisages a maximum 18,000-20,000 passengers an hour in each direction, in what would essentially be a 90m (295ft) underground tram.
In contrast, the overground Dart has a capacity of at least 36,000 passengers per direction per hour.
In a further difficulty for Metro North, its catchment area is much wider than the coastal Dart line, encompassing much of the mid-city, and taking in major installations such as the Mater hospital and its future extensions, DCU, Dublin airport and the expanding Fingal area of north Dublin.
RPA chief executive Frank Allen has said Metro North is fully compliant with population projections in the Fingal Development Plan.
However, the Dublin Institute of Technology Futures Academy has calculated that more than one million people could migrate to the Dublin-Belfast axis by 2020.
This would create additional development pressure beyond the Fingal administrative area, which would critically affect the usage projections for Metro North.
Faced with the problem, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has decided against asking the Railway Procurement Agency to build additional capacity in the Metro North tunnel, a feature he acknowledged would affect the cost.
However, Mr Dempsey failed to give the agency's plans his outright blessing, remarking that he "could not guarantee" that the capacity of the proposed Metro North was sufficient to meet population forecasts.
Speaking at the recent launch of plans for the CIÉ's underground Dart interconnector, which will use the wider-bodied trains, Mr Dempsey said he had been assured by the RPA that Metro North had sufficient capacity and, while he acknowledged that there were industry concerns about the issue, "the time for consultation and talking is finished".
The agency expects to issue tender documents to the bidders by May.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin housing glut totals €3.6bn
A TOTAL of 8,000 new apartments and almost-completed houses, valued at 3.6bn, across more than 100 building developments in the greater Dublin region remain to be sold as the last stage of the spring buying season gets under way following the Easter weekend.
The estimates, which were prepared by leading property figures in the capital for the Sunday Tribune, are the first glimpse of the challenge that faces house builders after sales of new homes all but came a stand still up to the end of last year. The figures also give an insight into the exposure Irish banks still face in loans to residential building schemes in the capital and surrounding commuting counties, including parts of east Meath, east Kildare, southern Louth, and north Wicklow.
However, the lenders, builders and agents will be cheered by evidence that the unsold stock of new homes overhanging the capital's new housing market has been reduced significantly since builders started slashing prices on their new build schemes in recent weeks. Leading property agents and builders, who did not wish to be named, said that the overhang of new homes and apartments has fallen by 2,000 units since the start of the year.
"The peak was 10,000 units of unsold new housing units at the end of last year. But since Christmas many developers completely smashed their prices.
New homes are selling at last and we have reached the bottom now in terms of prices and that has stimulated sales, " a senior property figure said.
"Practically nothing sold this time last year, " he added.
Established builders Albany Homes, Park Developments, Capel Developments and Manor Park Homes either cut prices of apartments by up to 100,000 or marketed new homes in headline grabbing promotions at competitive prices since January.
Experts say prices have been cut by 15-25% in some schemes in the last three months. Significantly, increased supply has stopped as few big schemes have started but it will take some time for the stock to be cleared. Property agents hope that new home prices will start creeping up at end of this year as the overhang of unsold stock in some city areas is cut.
On sales of second homes, leading agents said that the picture was mixed across four broad price bands.
Simon Ensor, director at Sherry FitzGerald, said sales activity for second homes costing up to 500,000 had "definitely" been stimulated by the budget cuts in stamp duty and was "quite active and busy".
Sales of houses of 500,000 to 1m had improved considerably from this time last year but remained "patchy" in the capital, Ensor said, as potential buyers have delayed purchases or remained nervous about selling their existing homes.
Activity in house sales valued at 1m to 3m had also improved but was "the most difficult of the four" bands, he said.
Ensor added that sales of second homes above 3m to 10m "had remained remarkably resilient".
Ronan O'Driscoll, a director at Savills Hamilton Osborne King, said: "I think that next year will show an increase in prices, as supply of housing dries up."
Paul Murgatroyd, economist and partner at Douglas Newman Good, said the length of time it took houses to sell in Ireland, from first marketing to initial agreement, had increased to an average of 115 days last August from only 47 days at the peak of the housing boom in mid-2006. At the end of 2007, the average time to sale had stretched to 132 days.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The estimates, which were prepared by leading property figures in the capital for the Sunday Tribune, are the first glimpse of the challenge that faces house builders after sales of new homes all but came a stand still up to the end of last year. The figures also give an insight into the exposure Irish banks still face in loans to residential building schemes in the capital and surrounding commuting counties, including parts of east Meath, east Kildare, southern Louth, and north Wicklow.
However, the lenders, builders and agents will be cheered by evidence that the unsold stock of new homes overhanging the capital's new housing market has been reduced significantly since builders started slashing prices on their new build schemes in recent weeks. Leading property agents and builders, who did not wish to be named, said that the overhang of new homes and apartments has fallen by 2,000 units since the start of the year.
"The peak was 10,000 units of unsold new housing units at the end of last year. But since Christmas many developers completely smashed their prices.
New homes are selling at last and we have reached the bottom now in terms of prices and that has stimulated sales, " a senior property figure said.
"Practically nothing sold this time last year, " he added.
Established builders Albany Homes, Park Developments, Capel Developments and Manor Park Homes either cut prices of apartments by up to 100,000 or marketed new homes in headline grabbing promotions at competitive prices since January.
Experts say prices have been cut by 15-25% in some schemes in the last three months. Significantly, increased supply has stopped as few big schemes have started but it will take some time for the stock to be cleared. Property agents hope that new home prices will start creeping up at end of this year as the overhang of unsold stock in some city areas is cut.
On sales of second homes, leading agents said that the picture was mixed across four broad price bands.
Simon Ensor, director at Sherry FitzGerald, said sales activity for second homes costing up to 500,000 had "definitely" been stimulated by the budget cuts in stamp duty and was "quite active and busy".
Sales of houses of 500,000 to 1m had improved considerably from this time last year but remained "patchy" in the capital, Ensor said, as potential buyers have delayed purchases or remained nervous about selling their existing homes.
Activity in house sales valued at 1m to 3m had also improved but was "the most difficult of the four" bands, he said.
Ensor added that sales of second homes above 3m to 10m "had remained remarkably resilient".
Ronan O'Driscoll, a director at Savills Hamilton Osborne King, said: "I think that next year will show an increase in prices, as supply of housing dries up."
Paul Murgatroyd, economist and partner at Douglas Newman Good, said the length of time it took houses to sell in Ireland, from first marketing to initial agreement, had increased to an average of 115 days last August from only 47 days at the peak of the housing boom in mid-2006. At the end of 2007, the average time to sale had stretched to 132 days.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Tara protester is a hero
Sir -- I disagree with descriptions of Lisa Feeney's tunnel protest as "extremist" and "irresponsible". In my view, it is the politically ordained desecration of an area dotted with precious ancient ruins and historic sites that those words more aptly describe.
Lisa's brave stand against the bulldozing of part of Ireland's treasured and irreplaceable heritage reminds me of another woman whose protest was condemned by all the "proper authorities" and who endured the full force of the law for her efforts: Rosa Parks.
She sat in the "whites only" section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, and refused to stand when supremacist bullies demanded she did. This gesture sparked a national civil rights campaign for Afro-Americans in the USA.
But success came only after Rosa was taken from that bus by police for her gentle act of defiance, arrested, finger printed, questioned like a suspect in a major crime probe and accused of breaching Montgomery's transportation laws. It was her courage that roused the conscience of a nation. Rosa Parks took a stand against injustice by sitting down.
Lisa Feeney seized the high moral ground on the Tara question . . . by squatting in a small underground chamber.
She has clearly embarrassed the Big Boys. They had hoped to be able to quietly get on with the business of ripping out the very heart of Ireland.
John Fitzgerald,
Kilkenny
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Lisa's brave stand against the bulldozing of part of Ireland's treasured and irreplaceable heritage reminds me of another woman whose protest was condemned by all the "proper authorities" and who endured the full force of the law for her efforts: Rosa Parks.
She sat in the "whites only" section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, and refused to stand when supremacist bullies demanded she did. This gesture sparked a national civil rights campaign for Afro-Americans in the USA.
But success came only after Rosa was taken from that bus by police for her gentle act of defiance, arrested, finger printed, questioned like a suspect in a major crime probe and accused of breaching Montgomery's transportation laws. It was her courage that roused the conscience of a nation. Rosa Parks took a stand against injustice by sitting down.
Lisa Feeney seized the high moral ground on the Tara question . . . by squatting in a small underground chamber.
She has clearly embarrassed the Big Boys. They had hoped to be able to quietly get on with the business of ripping out the very heart of Ireland.
John Fitzgerald,
Kilkenny
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Bray Town Plan variation
A variation to the Bray town development plan regarding guidelines for the core retail area was unanimously approved after Executive Engineer Stephen Fox said that the specified average height of buildings on the main street would not result in a uniform roof line. He said that the variation would accommodate those who wanted extra height at ground level. Councillors expressed conc
A variation to the town development plan regarding guidelines for the core retail area was unanimously approved after Executive Engineer Stephen Fox said that the specified average height of buildings on the main street would not result in a uniform roof line. He said that the variation would accommodate those who wanted extra height at ground level.
Councillors expressed concern that having four stories would result in large buildings at the south end of the Main Street that would overpower the Town Hall.
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
A variation to the town development plan regarding guidelines for the core retail area was unanimously approved after Executive Engineer Stephen Fox said that the specified average height of buildings on the main street would not result in a uniform roof line. He said that the variation would accommodate those who wanted extra height at ground level.
Councillors expressed concern that having four stories would result in large buildings at the south end of the Main Street that would overpower the Town Hall.
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
Florentine site could be taken back by Council
On the night that campaigner Shane Rowan delivered the signatures of over 6,500 people demanding an improvement to parking in Bray, members of Bray Town Council signed a resolution promising to take land back from Ballymore if work does not begin by the end of April. The written resolution, handed out during the meeting with the names of all councillors present at the bottom, s
On the night that campaigner Shane Rowan delivered the signatures of over 6,500 people demanding an improvement to parking in Bray, members of Bray Town Council signed a resolution promising to take land back from Ballymore if work does not begin by the end of April.
The written resolution, handed out during the meeting with the names of all councillors present at the bottom, said that if work on the Florentine did not get underway by the end of April 2008, councillors would instruct the town manager to cease all negotiations with the developer and initiate proceedings to take back their property, with a view to providing much needed car parking in the town centre.'
The council looks with dismay at the continuing and repeated failure of Ballymore Properties to begin their development of the Florentine over 12 years,' it read. We recognise the blight that this has caused in an important retail and trading area of our town.'
Earlier, members received copies of a petition carried out by traders led by Shane Rowan. The Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Bríd Collins said that she had decided to accept the petition and wished to do so without any discussion.
The resolution was signed by Cllrs John McManus, Anne Egan, Ciarán O'Brien and Steve Matthews, as well as Caroline Burrell, Pat Vance, Bríd Collins and John Brady.
Absent on the evening were Cllrs Anne Ferris, John Byrne, Michael Lawlor and David Grant.
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
On the night that campaigner Shane Rowan delivered the signatures of over 6,500 people demanding an improvement to parking in Bray, members of Bray Town Council signed a resolution promising to take land back from Ballymore if work does not begin by the end of April.
The written resolution, handed out during the meeting with the names of all councillors present at the bottom, said that if work on the Florentine did not get underway by the end of April 2008, councillors would instruct the town manager to cease all negotiations with the developer and initiate proceedings to take back their property, with a view to providing much needed car parking in the town centre.'
The council looks with dismay at the continuing and repeated failure of Ballymore Properties to begin their development of the Florentine over 12 years,' it read. We recognise the blight that this has caused in an important retail and trading area of our town.'
Earlier, members received copies of a petition carried out by traders led by Shane Rowan. The Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Bríd Collins said that she had decided to accept the petition and wished to do so without any discussion.
The resolution was signed by Cllrs John McManus, Anne Egan, Ciarán O'Brien and Steve Matthews, as well as Caroline Burrell, Pat Vance, Bríd Collins and John Brady.
Absent on the evening were Cllrs Anne Ferris, John Byrne, Michael Lawlor and David Grant.
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
Luas could yet join with DART
The option to extend the Luas to the front of the Dart station has been left open by Councillors approving a variation to the Town Development Plan at last week's meeting of Bray Town Council. This is an important piece of infrastructure,' said Cllr. Ciarán O'Brien. Bray will be one of the best served towns in the country.'
The option to extend the Luas to the front of the Dart station has been left open by Councillors approving a variation to the Town Development Plan at last week's meeting of Bray Town Council.
This is an important piece of infrastructure,' said Cllr. Ciarán O'Brien. Bray will be one of the best served towns in the country.'
Cllr. Pat Vance remarked that with so many negatives being bandied about, it should be recognised that the Luas will be a marvellous development in the centre of the town.' Cllr. John McManus welcomed the variation, saying that while development of the Luas would bring problems, but problems that could be solved.
Cllr. John Brady said that Irish Rail should address the condition of the station, to which the Cathaoirleach responded that the Town Clerk had written to the company asking that a full and proper refurbishment of the area be carried out. Cllr. Pat Vance asked that a representative from Irish Rail come to the Council.
Any derelict buildings will be full after the Luas comes to Bray,' said Cllr. Collins. It will be fantastic for tourism and business.'
Meanwhile, Cllr. Caroline Burrell insisted that an associated reference to a faster bus service' should be changed to frequent and more efficient'.
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
The option to extend the Luas to the front of the Dart station has been left open by Councillors approving a variation to the Town Development Plan at last week's meeting of Bray Town Council.
This is an important piece of infrastructure,' said Cllr. Ciarán O'Brien. Bray will be one of the best served towns in the country.'
Cllr. Pat Vance remarked that with so many negatives being bandied about, it should be recognised that the Luas will be a marvellous development in the centre of the town.' Cllr. John McManus welcomed the variation, saying that while development of the Luas would bring problems, but problems that could be solved.
Cllr. John Brady said that Irish Rail should address the condition of the station, to which the Cathaoirleach responded that the Town Clerk had written to the company asking that a full and proper refurbishment of the area be carried out. Cllr. Pat Vance asked that a representative from Irish Rail come to the Council.
Any derelict buildings will be full after the Luas comes to Bray,' said Cllr. Collins. It will be fantastic for tourism and business.'
Meanwhile, Cllr. Caroline Burrell insisted that an associated reference to a faster bus service' should be changed to frequent and more efficient'.
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
Developers blame Council for delay
Developers of the forthcoming Florentine Centre have insisted that a much-awaited start to the project now lies in the hands of Bray Town Council, who have yet to finalise handing over their portion of the property. While reports suggest that delays have been resolved following the approval last Friday of a compulsory purchase order, construction will not begin until the deal,
Developers of the forthcoming Florentine Centre have insisted that a much-awaited start to the project now lies in the hands of Bray Town Council, who have yet to finalise handing over their portion of the property.
While reports suggest that delays have been resolved following the approval last Friday of a compulsory purchase order, construction will not begin until the deal, the last piece of the puzzle, is complete.
We are ready to go,' claimed Hazel Jones of Ballymore.
Ms. Jones remarked that she was surprised by a resolution at Bray Town Council last week to cease negotiations with developers if work did not begin by the end of April. Bray is now in control of things, not Ballymore,' she said.
The approval from An Bord Pleanála was met last week with tentative enthusiasm from most quarters, with Ballymore stating for the second time in the space of a year that work is expected to begin within weeks.
Parking campaigner Shane Rowan opposes the move. I think that it will do the town more damage than good,' he remarked, referring to the anticipation of disruption for up to two years.
We are finally about to see development commence,' said optimistic Jason Cooke of Bray and District Chamber, adding that there was relief across the business community in Bray that this part of the process was complete.
Cllr. Bríd Collins, Cathaoirleach of Bray Town Council welcomed the news. Ballymore can't delay any further,' she said. There is no reason for further delays now that permission for the CPO has been granted.'
Developers said that detailed designs are finalised and the build phase is out to tender, with the selection of a contractor imminent'.
The Florentine is expected to take just over 18 months to complete and as well as retail space will include 84 homes, a creche, community facility and 549 parking spaces.
Agreements have been signed with three international multiple tenants.
Detailed designs are finalised and the build phase is out to tender and the selection of a contractor is imminent.
'We have always paid tribute to the patience of the business community in Bray who recognised that the planning process had to be completed,' said a spokesman for Bray and District Chamber. Today, we believe that patience has been justified, and we - like everyone in Bray - look forward to the speedy development of the Florentine Centre on this site.'
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
Developers of the forthcoming Florentine Centre have insisted that a much-awaited start to the project now lies in the hands of Bray Town Council, who have yet to finalise handing over their portion of the property.
While reports suggest that delays have been resolved following the approval last Friday of a compulsory purchase order, construction will not begin until the deal, the last piece of the puzzle, is complete.
We are ready to go,' claimed Hazel Jones of Ballymore.
Ms. Jones remarked that she was surprised by a resolution at Bray Town Council last week to cease negotiations with developers if work did not begin by the end of April. Bray is now in control of things, not Ballymore,' she said.
The approval from An Bord Pleanála was met last week with tentative enthusiasm from most quarters, with Ballymore stating for the second time in the space of a year that work is expected to begin within weeks.
Parking campaigner Shane Rowan opposes the move. I think that it will do the town more damage than good,' he remarked, referring to the anticipation of disruption for up to two years.
We are finally about to see development commence,' said optimistic Jason Cooke of Bray and District Chamber, adding that there was relief across the business community in Bray that this part of the process was complete.
Cllr. Bríd Collins, Cathaoirleach of Bray Town Council welcomed the news. Ballymore can't delay any further,' she said. There is no reason for further delays now that permission for the CPO has been granted.'
Developers said that detailed designs are finalised and the build phase is out to tender, with the selection of a contractor imminent'.
The Florentine is expected to take just over 18 months to complete and as well as retail space will include 84 homes, a creche, community facility and 549 parking spaces.
Agreements have been signed with three international multiple tenants.
Detailed designs are finalised and the build phase is out to tender and the selection of a contractor is imminent.
'We have always paid tribute to the patience of the business community in Bray who recognised that the planning process had to be completed,' said a spokesman for Bray and District Chamber. Today, we believe that patience has been justified, and we - like everyone in Bray - look forward to the speedy development of the Florentine Centre on this site.'
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 21 March 2008
Developers to restore habitat after clearance
PROPERTY developers who own riverside lands in Dundalk, where the habitat of kingfisher birds and other wildlife was completely destroyed by a contractor clearing the site, have pledged to restore the habitat as much as possible.
“We made a mistake and are here to fix it. We are as much to blame as everybody else,” said Kieran Slevin of IBEX Construction at the site on the Ramparts Road in Dundalk yesterday.
IBEX Construction Ltd. was granted permission to build 117 apartments in three blocks on the 1.9 acre site. Contractors, hired to clear the site, flattened and laid bare the mature habitat.
However, none of the 52 planning conditions have been breached and the failure of the local development plan to include any reference to protecting wildlife habitats meant such a condition could not have been made.
The destruction of the mature habitat was spotted by local Green town councillor Mark Deary who contacted the developers. They immediately agreed to rectify the damage.
Mr Deary said the development, “meant this [type of event] was an accident waiting to happen”.
The local development plan is now under review and Mr Deary said the new one will have to contain “an explicit policy to protect wildlife corridors in the town and will have to name the Ramparts, Blackwater and Castletown rivers”.
The site has about 120 metres of frontage over the Ramparts River onto the road and was previously a thriving natural habitat for wildlife including the kingfishers, lark, and grey wagtail.
The branches of some of the trees, including willow and horse chestnut had created shade over the river, making it ideal for the birds.
“Ireland is a stronghold for kingfishers but they are hard to protect and this habitat supported them and other species,” said local conservationist, Breffni Martin.
Chairman of the local branch of Birdwatch Ireland Mr Martin believes kingfishers previously bred in the habitat in 2003.
This week Mr Martin and Mr Deary met with the developers, their architects and a landscaping expert at the site. Speaking afterwards, the developers said they regretted what happened and would do all they could to restore it.
They hope to “re-wild” the site and are also considering the possibility of a miniature woodland with a riverside habitat.
Dundalk town council said it “is aware of concerns regarding impacts from the site clearance works carried out”.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
“We made a mistake and are here to fix it. We are as much to blame as everybody else,” said Kieran Slevin of IBEX Construction at the site on the Ramparts Road in Dundalk yesterday.
IBEX Construction Ltd. was granted permission to build 117 apartments in three blocks on the 1.9 acre site. Contractors, hired to clear the site, flattened and laid bare the mature habitat.
However, none of the 52 planning conditions have been breached and the failure of the local development plan to include any reference to protecting wildlife habitats meant such a condition could not have been made.
The destruction of the mature habitat was spotted by local Green town councillor Mark Deary who contacted the developers. They immediately agreed to rectify the damage.
Mr Deary said the development, “meant this [type of event] was an accident waiting to happen”.
The local development plan is now under review and Mr Deary said the new one will have to contain “an explicit policy to protect wildlife corridors in the town and will have to name the Ramparts, Blackwater and Castletown rivers”.
The site has about 120 metres of frontage over the Ramparts River onto the road and was previously a thriving natural habitat for wildlife including the kingfishers, lark, and grey wagtail.
The branches of some of the trees, including willow and horse chestnut had created shade over the river, making it ideal for the birds.
“Ireland is a stronghold for kingfishers but they are hard to protect and this habitat supported them and other species,” said local conservationist, Breffni Martin.
Chairman of the local branch of Birdwatch Ireland Mr Martin believes kingfishers previously bred in the habitat in 2003.
This week Mr Martin and Mr Deary met with the developers, their architects and a landscaping expert at the site. Speaking afterwards, the developers said they regretted what happened and would do all they could to restore it.
They hope to “re-wild” the site and are also considering the possibility of a miniature woodland with a riverside habitat.
Dundalk town council said it “is aware of concerns regarding impacts from the site clearance works carried out”.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Residents upset as M50 works eat into green space
A GROUP of residents in Sandyford, Co Dublin, have expressed dismay at the transformation of a green recreational area in their estate into a compound for M50 topsoil.
Concerned residents in Sandyford's Moreen and Blackthorn estates say that a large temporary fence is being erected in the green recreation area used by the 300 houses in the estate.
Up to this point the green area had a cycle track, daffodils and trees and had been well-maintained by a local residents' group and the owners of the land, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, said Joanna Tonge, from a local residents' group.
The move also came as a surprise to local councillors Lettie McCarthy (Labour) and Tom Joyce (FG), especially since plans had been lodged by Landmark Developments to build a community centre on the site.
"It's fair to say it was poorly handled by all concerned," said Ms McCarthy. "The first I heard was when I got calls from residents and that is not how it should be done."
"There's a real problem with the manner in which it was done and local representatives weren't told about it," said Mr Joyce.
After calls to the council and developers, the residents' group discovered that the land was allocated for the M50 works and was identified in part of an environmental impact statement which was approved by An Bord Pleanála after public consultation in 2005.
Residents and local councillors say they were not aware of the plans. The company contracted by the National Roads Authority, M50 Concession Ltd, has since apologised to the residents for "the oversight in not providing them with the information".
The council said in a statement: "We cannot object to the NRA's use of the site but what the council can and will do is to insist that the area is safe and secure and does not create a nuisance."
The works are set to continue until at least September 2009 and possibly 2010.
"An apology is easy," says Ms Tonge, who remains concerned about the impact of the works, their proximity to the estate and the disruption from hundreds of daily loads of topsoil. The problem of a lack of recreation space remains in an area which has few facilities, she says.
However, the disruption for residents may not end in 2010 as the green area is also part of future plans for the proposed eastern bypass.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Concerned residents in Sandyford's Moreen and Blackthorn estates say that a large temporary fence is being erected in the green recreation area used by the 300 houses in the estate.
Up to this point the green area had a cycle track, daffodils and trees and had been well-maintained by a local residents' group and the owners of the land, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, said Joanna Tonge, from a local residents' group.
The move also came as a surprise to local councillors Lettie McCarthy (Labour) and Tom Joyce (FG), especially since plans had been lodged by Landmark Developments to build a community centre on the site.
"It's fair to say it was poorly handled by all concerned," said Ms McCarthy. "The first I heard was when I got calls from residents and that is not how it should be done."
"There's a real problem with the manner in which it was done and local representatives weren't told about it," said Mr Joyce.
After calls to the council and developers, the residents' group discovered that the land was allocated for the M50 works and was identified in part of an environmental impact statement which was approved by An Bord Pleanála after public consultation in 2005.
Residents and local councillors say they were not aware of the plans. The company contracted by the National Roads Authority, M50 Concession Ltd, has since apologised to the residents for "the oversight in not providing them with the information".
The council said in a statement: "We cannot object to the NRA's use of the site but what the council can and will do is to insist that the area is safe and secure and does not create a nuisance."
The works are set to continue until at least September 2009 and possibly 2010.
"An apology is easy," says Ms Tonge, who remains concerned about the impact of the works, their proximity to the estate and the disruption from hundreds of daily loads of topsoil. The problem of a lack of recreation space remains in an area which has few facilities, she says.
However, the disruption for residents may not end in 2010 as the green area is also part of future plans for the proposed eastern bypass.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Apartments boost planning applications
The number of residential planning permissions granted in the last three months of 2007 rose by 9 per cent to 17,733 compared with the same period the previous year, according to data released today by the Central Statistics Office.
However, only 54 per cent were for new properties. The remainder were for extensions and other new constructions.
Within that total was planning for 4,598 apartments, a rise of 44 per cent on the total number of apartment planning permissions secured over the same period last year.
The remaining permissions, 13,135 were for houses, which showed only a marginal increase compared to the October to December period in 2006.
Almost a quarter of all planning permissions were for one-off houses.
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
However, only 54 per cent were for new properties. The remainder were for extensions and other new constructions.
Within that total was planning for 4,598 apartments, a rise of 44 per cent on the total number of apartment planning permissions secured over the same period last year.
The remaining permissions, 13,135 were for houses, which showed only a marginal increase compared to the October to December period in 2006.
Almost a quarter of all planning permissions were for one-off houses.
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
745 houses for Battle of the Boyne site appealed
A PROPOSED housing estate in Drogheda, Co Meath will have a "drastic impact" on key historic sites, including a crossing point on the River Boyne used by William of Orange during the Battle of the Boyne.
Plans to build 745 houses on 27 hectares on the southern shore of the battlefield site at Oldbridge have been sharply criticised by residents who say that the site includes the point of the final fording of the River Boyne and the spot where King William of Orange crossed the Boyne in 1690 with 3,500 mounted troops.
The decision by Meath County Council to grant permission to developers Niall Mellon and Pat O'Reilly last July was criticised at the time by Northern Ireland Assembly member Billy Armstrong. "There is much talk these days of a shared future, but the Battle of the Boyne is part of a shared past," he said at the time.
The grant of planning permission is now under appeal to An Bord Pleanála by the Highlands Residents' Association. "This was the last crossing of the Boyne and was the pivotal turning point of the battle. From here the mounted troops charged the Jacobite forces who retreated to the close-by Hill of Donore," says Peter Ryan, secretary of the association.
The density of the proposed scheme has also been criticised by the association. Located 3kms from the town centre with limited public transport, such a large housing estate is "totally unjustified", according to the association.
Other issues raised include the impact of traffic on the adjacent Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage site, the protected willow woodland islands in the River Boyne and other - but as yet unexamined - archeological sites. The application is due to be decided next month.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Plans to build 745 houses on 27 hectares on the southern shore of the battlefield site at Oldbridge have been sharply criticised by residents who say that the site includes the point of the final fording of the River Boyne and the spot where King William of Orange crossed the Boyne in 1690 with 3,500 mounted troops.
The decision by Meath County Council to grant permission to developers Niall Mellon and Pat O'Reilly last July was criticised at the time by Northern Ireland Assembly member Billy Armstrong. "There is much talk these days of a shared future, but the Battle of the Boyne is part of a shared past," he said at the time.
The grant of planning permission is now under appeal to An Bord Pleanála by the Highlands Residents' Association. "This was the last crossing of the Boyne and was the pivotal turning point of the battle. From here the mounted troops charged the Jacobite forces who retreated to the close-by Hill of Donore," says Peter Ryan, secretary of the association.
The density of the proposed scheme has also been criticised by the association. Located 3kms from the town centre with limited public transport, such a large housing estate is "totally unjustified", according to the association.
Other issues raised include the impact of traffic on the adjacent Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage site, the protected willow woodland islands in the River Boyne and other - but as yet unexamined - archeological sites. The application is due to be decided next month.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council says yes to spa plan for Clontarf Baths
A €10 million plan to turn Clontarf Baths into a luxury day spa and swimming pool has been approved by Dublin City Council.
Former Olympic swimmer Stephen Cullen has secured permission to demolish the sheds at the baths and build a luxury day spa with 18 treatment rooms and a 15-metre swimming pool.
The building, by Italian architect Francesco Beia, is designed to give the impression that is is floating on water, says Cullen.
Beia was responsible for the design of the Seafield Golf and Spa Hotel in Gorey, Co Wexford which is also owned by Cullen and his brother David. He was also responsible for the design of the Dolce & Gabbana headquarters in Milan.
The one-storey over basement building will also incorporate a vitality pool with sliding glass doors opening out to the sea, speciality showers, heat treatment rooms, wet relaxation area, gym, yoga area, café and hair salon.
Laid out over 3,400sq m (37,000sq ft) the spa will be run under the OCEO spa brand that the brothers have developed at the Seafield hotel, which opened last year.
Originally built in 1864, the baths closed in the early 1990s and are now derelict. Cullen says he wants to create a "modern version" of the recreation facility.
Cullen purchased the baths in 1997 and has been attempting to develop the site since then. Initially he intended to develop an indoor leisure centre at the baths. This plan, however, was abandoned when Westwood leisure centre, with its 50-metre pool, was built in nearby Fairview.
Subsequent plans to turn the baths into a two-storey restaurant, tea rooms, gourmet food store and exhibition complex were refused by An Bord Pleanála on two occasions.
Given the level of opposition to the scheme, it is likely that the current proposal will be appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Among objectors to the spa were local TDs Seán Haughey and Ivor Callely and environment group Dublin Bay Watch.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Former Olympic swimmer Stephen Cullen has secured permission to demolish the sheds at the baths and build a luxury day spa with 18 treatment rooms and a 15-metre swimming pool.
The building, by Italian architect Francesco Beia, is designed to give the impression that is is floating on water, says Cullen.
Beia was responsible for the design of the Seafield Golf and Spa Hotel in Gorey, Co Wexford which is also owned by Cullen and his brother David. He was also responsible for the design of the Dolce & Gabbana headquarters in Milan.
The one-storey over basement building will also incorporate a vitality pool with sliding glass doors opening out to the sea, speciality showers, heat treatment rooms, wet relaxation area, gym, yoga area, café and hair salon.
Laid out over 3,400sq m (37,000sq ft) the spa will be run under the OCEO spa brand that the brothers have developed at the Seafield hotel, which opened last year.
Originally built in 1864, the baths closed in the early 1990s and are now derelict. Cullen says he wants to create a "modern version" of the recreation facility.
Cullen purchased the baths in 1997 and has been attempting to develop the site since then. Initially he intended to develop an indoor leisure centre at the baths. This plan, however, was abandoned when Westwood leisure centre, with its 50-metre pool, was built in nearby Fairview.
Subsequent plans to turn the baths into a two-storey restaurant, tea rooms, gourmet food store and exhibition complex were refused by An Bord Pleanála on two occasions.
Given the level of opposition to the scheme, it is likely that the current proposal will be appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Among objectors to the spa were local TDs Seán Haughey and Ivor Callely and environment group Dublin Bay Watch.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council rejects second Beacon hospital
PERMISSION FOR a new €160 million women's, children's and maternity hospital in Sandyford, south Dublin, has been refused by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
The local authority rejected the application from the Beacon Medical Group due to a lack of sufficient infrastructure and foul water drainage in the area.
Pauline Cullen, a spokeswoman for the Beacon group, said the consortium was "very disappointed" that the 120-bed maternity hospital has not been approved.
"We were hopeful that all concerns had been addressed and that a positive outcome would be forthcoming," said Ms Cullen. "However, we are committed to working with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to ensure this much-needed facility goes ahead."
The Beacon Group intends to meet council planners to discuss how to make the plan work.
A new site is not being ruled out, although the preferred option is to co-locate the new facility next to the existing Beacon Hospital.
Ms Cullen said: "It doesn't make sense to move the hospital, but if we have to do so, we will. Having said that, it if doesn't go ahead in the intended site, it reduces the possibility of the hospital going ahead at all."
Council planners deemed the design "premature due to existing deficiencies in sewerage facilities to cater for the scale of the proposed development".
Such a development would be premature due to deficiencies in the road network, the planners added, and would require road improvements of adequate capacity.
Last February county manager Owen Keegan said that the local authority would reject planning permission for developments of larger than two houses due to a lack of adequate foul water services in the area.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The local authority rejected the application from the Beacon Medical Group due to a lack of sufficient infrastructure and foul water drainage in the area.
Pauline Cullen, a spokeswoman for the Beacon group, said the consortium was "very disappointed" that the 120-bed maternity hospital has not been approved.
"We were hopeful that all concerns had been addressed and that a positive outcome would be forthcoming," said Ms Cullen. "However, we are committed to working with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to ensure this much-needed facility goes ahead."
The Beacon Group intends to meet council planners to discuss how to make the plan work.
A new site is not being ruled out, although the preferred option is to co-locate the new facility next to the existing Beacon Hospital.
Ms Cullen said: "It doesn't make sense to move the hospital, but if we have to do so, we will. Having said that, it if doesn't go ahead in the intended site, it reduces the possibility of the hospital going ahead at all."
Council planners deemed the design "premature due to existing deficiencies in sewerage facilities to cater for the scale of the proposed development".
Such a development would be premature due to deficiencies in the road network, the planners added, and would require road improvements of adequate capacity.
Last February county manager Owen Keegan said that the local authority would reject planning permission for developments of larger than two houses due to a lack of adequate foul water services in the area.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
An Irishman's Diary
TODAY is World Poetry Day, as designated by Unesco. So it seems as good a time as any to publish this curious document I found recently in a skip. Undated, but yellowing at the edges and clearly quite old, it appears to have originated in the offices of An Bord Pleanála, or possibly that body's predecessor.
Here's what it says:
Inspector's Report re. appeal against proposed erection of dwelling house at Innisfree, Co Sligo.
Planning Authority: Sligo County Council. Applicant: W.B. Yeats. Original decision: Permission granted.
1.0 Site Location: The site, of unspecified acreage, is on a small island in Lough Gill, a short distance south-east of Sligo town. Access is via boat, or by swimming. There are no public footpaths on the island, and no public lighting. However, the area around the lake has been the scene of considerable one-off housing, in some cases constituting ribbon development. The site is located among mature trees, with breaks in foliage affording spectacular views northwards to Ben Bulben.
2.0 Proposed Development: Permission is sought to erect a small, cabin-style dwelling (single occupancy) with adjoining bee-hive, and vegetable garden comprising nine bean rows. Main residence to be constructed of clay and wattles.
3.0 Status of site in development plan: Although the island is zoned for recreational use only, the applicant is exempt from this on the grounds of being a poet. However, the site is also in an area designated "sensitive landscape" and "visually vulnerable".
4.0 Planning Authority's Decision: Permission granted, subject to conditions, of which the following are most relevant:
1. Applicant to use bricks, rather than clay and wattles, which are not approved materials under the Planning Acts. Local stone and/or pebble-dash to be used as cladding.
2. Any member of local authority to be contacted for name of good builder.
3. Bean rows to be fenced off from public access.
4. Appropriate netting to be used in vicinity of bee-hive, with warning signs on approach routes.
5. Applicant to submit proposals re sewage disposal.
6. Applicant to produce evidence that he owns the site, or at least plans to purchase it before commencement of construction.
5.0 Grounds for appeal: The appeal by various third parties centres on the environmental impact of the development, the likelihood of it being the precursor to further one-off housing in the area, the vagueness of the proposed cabin's size and elevation, vagueness regarding the true extent of the bean garden, and finally the application's ambiguity about the number of bees planned.
The last issue is of particular concern for several appellants. One party called into question the wording of the original application, which proposed "a hive for the honey bee". As the appellant put it: "Barring the unlikely event that the applicant keeps a pet bee, he almost certainly envisages having more than one insect in the planned facility. If he is not being upfront on this issue, how can we trust him on bigger questions? When he refers to a single 'hive', for example, is that also poetic licence?"
Other appellants referred to the applicant's stated wish to live "in the bee-loud glade" as further evidence of his long-term plans. Apart from the issue of noise pollution, this suggested that, once established, his honey-making operation would be on a commercial scale. Such plans would also explain his reference to standing "on the roadway, or on the pavements grey", since, as a number of appellants pointed out, the site is currently devoid of infrastructure.
6.0 Observations: A local conservation group expressed concern at the general tenor of the application, viz: "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree/ And a small cabin build there". It is suggested that, notwithstanding his apparent co-operation with the planning process, the applicant intends to commence construction unilaterally and, if necessary, apply for retention afterwards.
7.0 Responses from first party: Responding to the various objections, the applicant spoke cryptically of ambition since his teenage years to live "in imitation of Thoreau on Innisfree" - an ambition that had suddenly returned to him during a bout of homesickness in London. This explained his reference to "pavements". He declined to elaborate on the other issues raised by objectors.
8.0 Assessment: A search of the archives reveals no evidence of a prior planning application on the island, by a Mr Thoreau or anybody else. The applicant's proposal would therefore appear to set a precedent for development in a highly sensitive area. The apparent modesty of his plans must be offset against their wilful vagueness, not just on the question of bees. The inspector also notes the contrast between the applicant's precision vis-à-vis the quantity of bean-rows and his marked silence about their length. After all, nine bean rows strung across the entire island could feed a small village.
The applicant's desire to use clay and wattles in the construction of the main dwelling shows admirable, if exaggerated, sympathy to the west of Ireland setting. However, it also exposes the unrealistic nature of the development, especially combined with his stated ambition "to have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow". Peace is not the only thing that comes dropping in Ireland, as the applicant would soon remember when he moved into his mud hut.
9.0 Recommendation: The decision of the local authority to be overturned and permission refused.
Applicant to be advised that he has been in London too long.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Here's what it says:
Inspector's Report re. appeal against proposed erection of dwelling house at Innisfree, Co Sligo.
Planning Authority: Sligo County Council. Applicant: W.B. Yeats. Original decision: Permission granted.
1.0 Site Location: The site, of unspecified acreage, is on a small island in Lough Gill, a short distance south-east of Sligo town. Access is via boat, or by swimming. There are no public footpaths on the island, and no public lighting. However, the area around the lake has been the scene of considerable one-off housing, in some cases constituting ribbon development. The site is located among mature trees, with breaks in foliage affording spectacular views northwards to Ben Bulben.
2.0 Proposed Development: Permission is sought to erect a small, cabin-style dwelling (single occupancy) with adjoining bee-hive, and vegetable garden comprising nine bean rows. Main residence to be constructed of clay and wattles.
3.0 Status of site in development plan: Although the island is zoned for recreational use only, the applicant is exempt from this on the grounds of being a poet. However, the site is also in an area designated "sensitive landscape" and "visually vulnerable".
4.0 Planning Authority's Decision: Permission granted, subject to conditions, of which the following are most relevant:
1. Applicant to use bricks, rather than clay and wattles, which are not approved materials under the Planning Acts. Local stone and/or pebble-dash to be used as cladding.
2. Any member of local authority to be contacted for name of good builder.
3. Bean rows to be fenced off from public access.
4. Appropriate netting to be used in vicinity of bee-hive, with warning signs on approach routes.
5. Applicant to submit proposals re sewage disposal.
6. Applicant to produce evidence that he owns the site, or at least plans to purchase it before commencement of construction.
5.0 Grounds for appeal: The appeal by various third parties centres on the environmental impact of the development, the likelihood of it being the precursor to further one-off housing in the area, the vagueness of the proposed cabin's size and elevation, vagueness regarding the true extent of the bean garden, and finally the application's ambiguity about the number of bees planned.
The last issue is of particular concern for several appellants. One party called into question the wording of the original application, which proposed "a hive for the honey bee". As the appellant put it: "Barring the unlikely event that the applicant keeps a pet bee, he almost certainly envisages having more than one insect in the planned facility. If he is not being upfront on this issue, how can we trust him on bigger questions? When he refers to a single 'hive', for example, is that also poetic licence?"
Other appellants referred to the applicant's stated wish to live "in the bee-loud glade" as further evidence of his long-term plans. Apart from the issue of noise pollution, this suggested that, once established, his honey-making operation would be on a commercial scale. Such plans would also explain his reference to standing "on the roadway, or on the pavements grey", since, as a number of appellants pointed out, the site is currently devoid of infrastructure.
6.0 Observations: A local conservation group expressed concern at the general tenor of the application, viz: "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree/ And a small cabin build there". It is suggested that, notwithstanding his apparent co-operation with the planning process, the applicant intends to commence construction unilaterally and, if necessary, apply for retention afterwards.
7.0 Responses from first party: Responding to the various objections, the applicant spoke cryptically of ambition since his teenage years to live "in imitation of Thoreau on Innisfree" - an ambition that had suddenly returned to him during a bout of homesickness in London. This explained his reference to "pavements". He declined to elaborate on the other issues raised by objectors.
8.0 Assessment: A search of the archives reveals no evidence of a prior planning application on the island, by a Mr Thoreau or anybody else. The applicant's proposal would therefore appear to set a precedent for development in a highly sensitive area. The apparent modesty of his plans must be offset against their wilful vagueness, not just on the question of bees. The inspector also notes the contrast between the applicant's precision vis-à-vis the quantity of bean-rows and his marked silence about their length. After all, nine bean rows strung across the entire island could feed a small village.
The applicant's desire to use clay and wattles in the construction of the main dwelling shows admirable, if exaggerated, sympathy to the west of Ireland setting. However, it also exposes the unrealistic nature of the development, especially combined with his stated ambition "to have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow". Peace is not the only thing that comes dropping in Ireland, as the applicant would soon remember when he moved into his mud hut.
9.0 Recommendation: The decision of the local authority to be overturned and permission refused.
Applicant to be advised that he has been in London too long.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
10-point plan:what was agreed
According to the NRA, it agreed the following with protester Lisa Feeney last Saturday.
• Crib walling to be constructed using preserved timber.
• Works to be supervised by an archaeologist and engineer.
• Landscaping: all exposed areas on Esker to be planted with semi-mature trees.
• Crib wall to be planted with semi-mature vegetation.
• Road alignment to be gauged to move as far south as possible.
• Spoil heap south east of Rath Lugh to be removed or planted with suitable vegetation.
• No additional lands to be purchased in the vicinity of Rath Lugh for road construction.
• A reduction in land available to contractor by up to 7m and a further reduction subject to realignment review.
• Low-noise surfacing to be used between Roestown and Ardsallagh (Skryne-Tara Valley).
• No work to take place on a marked-out space between Baronstown side of the site and Lismullin until April 17th.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
• Crib walling to be constructed using preserved timber.
• Works to be supervised by an archaeologist and engineer.
• Landscaping: all exposed areas on Esker to be planted with semi-mature trees.
• Crib wall to be planted with semi-mature vegetation.
• Road alignment to be gauged to move as far south as possible.
• Spoil heap south east of Rath Lugh to be removed or planted with suitable vegetation.
• No additional lands to be purchased in the vicinity of Rath Lugh for road construction.
• A reduction in land available to contractor by up to 7m and a further reduction subject to realignment review.
• Low-noise surfacing to be used between Roestown and Ardsallagh (Skryne-Tara Valley).
• No work to take place on a marked-out space between Baronstown side of the site and Lismullin until April 17th.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
NRA restarts work claiming M3 protesters broke truce
THE NATIONAL Roads Authority (NRA) has withdrawn its commitment to refrain from work on the M3 near Rath Lugh in Co Meath, after what it said was continual "violent protests", and damage to fencing and equipment.
Instead the NRA yesterday instructed contractor Eurolink to bring forward work on a "box cut" - an outline for a future road - within the construction zone at Rath Lugh.
The authority said the outline would demonstrate that the M3 would not encroach on the national monument or the protection zone around it.
Protesters reacted with dismay at the move, saying they had been trying to stop work on the Rath Lugh "esker" - a glacial ridge - since last September, on the grounds that it is an integral part of the 2,000-year-old fort.
Gardaí moved on to the site yesterday to allow workers to build a two-metre tall spiked steel fence to separate the construction site from a protest encampment.
At the same time, gardaí searched tents in the protest encampment.
By early afternoon excavators and trucks had removed the portion of the hillside that had stood in the motorway's path. The esker was the last obstacle in the path of the motorway through the Gabhra Valley, which runs close to the Hill of Tara.
Three protesters were arrested at the site yesterday, said Insp Pat Gannon from Navan Garda station. He said gardaí had searched the protesters' tents to look for weapons. None were found.
In a separate move yesterday, Minister for the Environment John Gormley visited the national monument and inspected maps and plans for the new road before declaring himself satisfied that the NRA proposals, if implemented as proposed, would result in the protection of the monument.
A spokesman for the NRA acknowledged that it had made a commitment on Saturday last to protester Lisa Feeney to have a one-month moratorium on construction work near Rath Lugh in order to persuade Ms Feeney to leave the tunnel she had occupied for more than 60 hours.
However, the authority said it understood that in return the protesters would not interfere with a "haulage road" and fence being constructed to allow the contractor to move plant and equipment past Rath Lugh.
The NRA said matters worsened last Tuesday when the contractor "sought to erect fencing on the project boundary line, which is outside the area covered by the national monument preservation order.
"In addition the contractor sought to commence the construction of the haul road that had been clarified with the tunnel protester on Saturday evening. In both areas violent protests ensued and the contractor ceased work due to safety concerns for his operatives and the protesters".
The NRA also said contractor's equipment had been daubed with excrement and urine, something which was later confirmed by the Garda press office, which added that such daubing had been going on for the last week.
However, Ms Feeney said yesterday she had no knowledge of violent demonstrations and said her fellow protesters were engaged in a peaceful protest. She said she had heard nothing about vehicles being interfered with in any way.
Ms Feeney also maintained that the creation of a fence was never agreed with the NRA. The only contact protesters had with the fence that she had been aware of was in relation to people crawling under it, she said.
Ms Feeney said she could not see why the NRA had reneged on its commitment to a moratorium on construction work "as I have kept my side of the bargain, I came out of the tunnel".
Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin of the Save Tara Campaign also said she have not heard anything about such incidents, adding that she sincerely hoped they had not happened.
Paddy O'Kearney, a spokesman for the Rath Lugh Direct Action group, said it was very upset that its efforts had failed.
"There isn't anything we can do," he said, gesturing towards dozens of gardaí lining the newly-built fence.
Of the claims that protesters threw excrement, or damaged construction fencing, he said: "It's absolutely not true".
A few protesters tried to run on to the construction site yesterday afternoon but were held back by workers and gardaí.
Others stood in a circle as a robed "druid" conducted a memorial service for the esker.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Instead the NRA yesterday instructed contractor Eurolink to bring forward work on a "box cut" - an outline for a future road - within the construction zone at Rath Lugh.
The authority said the outline would demonstrate that the M3 would not encroach on the national monument or the protection zone around it.
Protesters reacted with dismay at the move, saying they had been trying to stop work on the Rath Lugh "esker" - a glacial ridge - since last September, on the grounds that it is an integral part of the 2,000-year-old fort.
Gardaí moved on to the site yesterday to allow workers to build a two-metre tall spiked steel fence to separate the construction site from a protest encampment.
At the same time, gardaí searched tents in the protest encampment.
By early afternoon excavators and trucks had removed the portion of the hillside that had stood in the motorway's path. The esker was the last obstacle in the path of the motorway through the Gabhra Valley, which runs close to the Hill of Tara.
Three protesters were arrested at the site yesterday, said Insp Pat Gannon from Navan Garda station. He said gardaí had searched the protesters' tents to look for weapons. None were found.
In a separate move yesterday, Minister for the Environment John Gormley visited the national monument and inspected maps and plans for the new road before declaring himself satisfied that the NRA proposals, if implemented as proposed, would result in the protection of the monument.
A spokesman for the NRA acknowledged that it had made a commitment on Saturday last to protester Lisa Feeney to have a one-month moratorium on construction work near Rath Lugh in order to persuade Ms Feeney to leave the tunnel she had occupied for more than 60 hours.
However, the authority said it understood that in return the protesters would not interfere with a "haulage road" and fence being constructed to allow the contractor to move plant and equipment past Rath Lugh.
The NRA said matters worsened last Tuesday when the contractor "sought to erect fencing on the project boundary line, which is outside the area covered by the national monument preservation order.
"In addition the contractor sought to commence the construction of the haul road that had been clarified with the tunnel protester on Saturday evening. In both areas violent protests ensued and the contractor ceased work due to safety concerns for his operatives and the protesters".
The NRA also said contractor's equipment had been daubed with excrement and urine, something which was later confirmed by the Garda press office, which added that such daubing had been going on for the last week.
However, Ms Feeney said yesterday she had no knowledge of violent demonstrations and said her fellow protesters were engaged in a peaceful protest. She said she had heard nothing about vehicles being interfered with in any way.
Ms Feeney also maintained that the creation of a fence was never agreed with the NRA. The only contact protesters had with the fence that she had been aware of was in relation to people crawling under it, she said.
Ms Feeney said she could not see why the NRA had reneged on its commitment to a moratorium on construction work "as I have kept my side of the bargain, I came out of the tunnel".
Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin of the Save Tara Campaign also said she have not heard anything about such incidents, adding that she sincerely hoped they had not happened.
Paddy O'Kearney, a spokesman for the Rath Lugh Direct Action group, said it was very upset that its efforts had failed.
"There isn't anything we can do," he said, gesturing towards dozens of gardaí lining the newly-built fence.
Of the claims that protesters threw excrement, or damaged construction fencing, he said: "It's absolutely not true".
A few protesters tried to run on to the construction site yesterday afternoon but were held back by workers and gardaí.
Others stood in a circle as a robed "druid" conducted a memorial service for the esker.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Minister urges Dublin to adopt Paris system of bike rental
The Irish Times has reported that the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan TD, has urged Dublin City Council to adopt the Parisian model for its city bicycle rental scheme.
The city council has signed a deal with outdoor advertising company JC Decaux for 450 bicycles in exchange for allowing the company street advertising space estimated to be worth in the region of €1 million annually.
JC Decaux already runs the Paris Velib scheme as well as several other bicycle rental schemes in Europe - but there are differences in how each system operates.
After a presentation at Paris Town Hall, Minister Ryan said he would like to see Dublin introduce the Paris scheme. "The best working example is Paris. People think they'll all be stolen, but when you can show such a good working system, I am hopeful. The scale of this is so good - 20,000 bicycles - you need that scale."
The scheme would work best if the mayor of Dublin had real power, like the mayors of Paris, London and New York, Mr Ryan told The Irish Times. The number of one-way streets in the Irish capital were also a deterrent to cyclists, he said.
At the Velib station outside the Paris Town Hall, Matthieu Fierling, the deputy head of the project, told the Minister how the city installed 750 wholly automatic bicycle stations last summer, currently has 1,200 across the city - with a goal of 1,451 by this summer.
On average, 80,000 bicycle trips are made in Paris every day, with up to 120,000 on peak days.
By next summer, the city will have 20,600 bicycles in service.
If cyclists were encouraged, Minister Ryan said, cities like Paris and Dublin "will reach a tipping point, where the bicycles start to dominate the streets instead of the cars". Like Paris, he noted, Dublin was a flat city where the average journey was less than two miles. "In the city, for any journey under four kilometres, the bicycle always wins and it's the only form of transport that is door-to-door."
Because the average bicycle journey in Paris lasts 22 minutes, the designers of Velib made the first half-hour of bicycle rental free, to encourage people to return bicycles quickly, for maximum turnover. There is a €150 deposit to discourage theft - a day pass can be bought for €1, a week pass for €5 or an annual pass for €29.
"In Paris, the three deterrents were fears about theft, maintenance and parking" - Mr Fierling said. Velib bikes come with their own lock and basket. They are maintained by the contractor and there is a station where they can be returned every 300m. By this summer, Paris will have invested a total of €90 millioin in the Velib system and the street hoardings which finance it.
The city has also built 400km of bicycle lanes - many of which are shared by buses. Mayor Bertrand Delanoë made Velib self-financing by linking the contract for maintaining and renting the bicycles to a monopoly on 1,600 city-owned advertising hoardings.
Nearly 5 per cent of Dublin journeys are by bicycle, Mr Ryan noted - "Once you get 7, 8 or 9 per cent, there's no reason you can't go to 20 per cent."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The city council has signed a deal with outdoor advertising company JC Decaux for 450 bicycles in exchange for allowing the company street advertising space estimated to be worth in the region of €1 million annually.
JC Decaux already runs the Paris Velib scheme as well as several other bicycle rental schemes in Europe - but there are differences in how each system operates.
After a presentation at Paris Town Hall, Minister Ryan said he would like to see Dublin introduce the Paris scheme. "The best working example is Paris. People think they'll all be stolen, but when you can show such a good working system, I am hopeful. The scale of this is so good - 20,000 bicycles - you need that scale."
The scheme would work best if the mayor of Dublin had real power, like the mayors of Paris, London and New York, Mr Ryan told The Irish Times. The number of one-way streets in the Irish capital were also a deterrent to cyclists, he said.
At the Velib station outside the Paris Town Hall, Matthieu Fierling, the deputy head of the project, told the Minister how the city installed 750 wholly automatic bicycle stations last summer, currently has 1,200 across the city - with a goal of 1,451 by this summer.
On average, 80,000 bicycle trips are made in Paris every day, with up to 120,000 on peak days.
By next summer, the city will have 20,600 bicycles in service.
If cyclists were encouraged, Minister Ryan said, cities like Paris and Dublin "will reach a tipping point, where the bicycles start to dominate the streets instead of the cars". Like Paris, he noted, Dublin was a flat city where the average journey was less than two miles. "In the city, for any journey under four kilometres, the bicycle always wins and it's the only form of transport that is door-to-door."
Because the average bicycle journey in Paris lasts 22 minutes, the designers of Velib made the first half-hour of bicycle rental free, to encourage people to return bicycles quickly, for maximum turnover. There is a €150 deposit to discourage theft - a day pass can be bought for €1, a week pass for €5 or an annual pass for €29.
"In Paris, the three deterrents were fears about theft, maintenance and parking" - Mr Fierling said. Velib bikes come with their own lock and basket. They are maintained by the contractor and there is a station where they can be returned every 300m. By this summer, Paris will have invested a total of €90 millioin in the Velib system and the street hoardings which finance it.
The city has also built 400km of bicycle lanes - many of which are shared by buses. Mayor Bertrand Delanoë made Velib self-financing by linking the contract for maintaining and renting the bicycles to a monopoly on 1,600 city-owned advertising hoardings.
Nearly 5 per cent of Dublin journeys are by bicycle, Mr Ryan noted - "Once you get 7, 8 or 9 per cent, there's no reason you can't go to 20 per cent."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 17 March 2008
Judge criticises wind farm project
A DEVELOPMENT society in Derrybrien, Co Galway, scene of a massive bogslide in 2003, has won its High Court challenge to the manner in which Galway County Council extended planning permissions for the erection of a wind farm on a mountain in the area.
In a judgment strongly critical of the council's "plethora of mistakes" in handling the planning issues, Mr Justice Declan Budd found the council breached the planning acts and applied the wrong criteria when assessing applications by Gort Windfarms Ltd (GWL) for extensions of the duration of planning permissions.
Consequently, it had acted outside its powers in granting the extensions.
He said the council had failed to apply the crucial test - whether the development had not been completed within the terms of existing permissions due to circumstances - the bogslide of October 28th, 2003 - outside the control of GWL.
GWL had failed to provide the necessary information on this issue to the council and, had it done so, the council's decision was likely to have been very different, he said. This was because there was "a substantial body of evidence" which "overwhelmingly suggested" that the peat slip and bog slide was caused by the actions and omissions of GWL, its servants or agents for whom it was responsible under the planning code, he said.
There was a strong consensus in expert reports that the operations of GWL disrupted the stability of the blanket bog on the top and side of Mount Cashlaundrumlahan in the Slieve Aughty mountains near Derrybrien, he noted.
The reports also found GWL had ignored the "eminently foreseeable" risk of destabilisation and bog slide and ensuing delay in completing the wind farm development. Galway County Council had acted on the wrong criteria and irrationally in extending the permissions for the development, he ruled.
A "plethora of mistakes" seemed to have occurred "to the point of embarrassment" in this case, including there being no managerial decisions as required by statute and no record of relevant entries in the planning register.
He added that it was "hard to credit" claims by GWL that it could not have anticipated the 2003 bogslide. This claim was contrary to a consensus in expert reports about effects of the deposit of 400 tonnes of material excavated from the wind turbines "on jelly-like blanket bog".
The leaving of material on unstable blanket bog was a "recipe for disaster" as it was a trigger for a bog flow down the mountain, through the fields and into rivers, with ensuing environmental damage.
One "could only wonder" why appropriate technical expertise was not obtained at an earlier stage by the developer and obvious safety measures and proper construction methods instituted.
The judge was giving his reserved judgment on proceedings brought last July by Derrybrien Development Society challenging the manner in which planning extensions were granted by the council in March 2005 relating to two wind farms of 23 wind turbines being developed by GWL.
The construction of the wind farm is complete and the judge yesterday adjourned the making of final orders in the case until next month, to allow the sides to consider his findings.
If he overturns the permissions, or makes declarations in accordance with his findings that the extensions of the permissions were not in accordance with the terms of the planning acts, retention permission may have to be sought.
Mary Carolan
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In a judgment strongly critical of the council's "plethora of mistakes" in handling the planning issues, Mr Justice Declan Budd found the council breached the planning acts and applied the wrong criteria when assessing applications by Gort Windfarms Ltd (GWL) for extensions of the duration of planning permissions.
Consequently, it had acted outside its powers in granting the extensions.
He said the council had failed to apply the crucial test - whether the development had not been completed within the terms of existing permissions due to circumstances - the bogslide of October 28th, 2003 - outside the control of GWL.
GWL had failed to provide the necessary information on this issue to the council and, had it done so, the council's decision was likely to have been very different, he said. This was because there was "a substantial body of evidence" which "overwhelmingly suggested" that the peat slip and bog slide was caused by the actions and omissions of GWL, its servants or agents for whom it was responsible under the planning code, he said.
There was a strong consensus in expert reports that the operations of GWL disrupted the stability of the blanket bog on the top and side of Mount Cashlaundrumlahan in the Slieve Aughty mountains near Derrybrien, he noted.
The reports also found GWL had ignored the "eminently foreseeable" risk of destabilisation and bog slide and ensuing delay in completing the wind farm development. Galway County Council had acted on the wrong criteria and irrationally in extending the permissions for the development, he ruled.
A "plethora of mistakes" seemed to have occurred "to the point of embarrassment" in this case, including there being no managerial decisions as required by statute and no record of relevant entries in the planning register.
He added that it was "hard to credit" claims by GWL that it could not have anticipated the 2003 bogslide. This claim was contrary to a consensus in expert reports about effects of the deposit of 400 tonnes of material excavated from the wind turbines "on jelly-like blanket bog".
The leaving of material on unstable blanket bog was a "recipe for disaster" as it was a trigger for a bog flow down the mountain, through the fields and into rivers, with ensuing environmental damage.
One "could only wonder" why appropriate technical expertise was not obtained at an earlier stage by the developer and obvious safety measures and proper construction methods instituted.
The judge was giving his reserved judgment on proceedings brought last July by Derrybrien Development Society challenging the manner in which planning extensions were granted by the council in March 2005 relating to two wind farms of 23 wind turbines being developed by GWL.
The construction of the wind farm is complete and the judge yesterday adjourned the making of final orders in the case until next month, to allow the sides to consider his findings.
If he overturns the permissions, or makes declarations in accordance with his findings that the extensions of the permissions were not in accordance with the terms of the planning acts, retention permission may have to be sought.
Mary Carolan
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Controversial quarry told to quit by Meath council
The council issued an enforcement notice on Thursday telling Kilsaran Quarries to cease all quarry related operations including blasting, digging and excavation. We are delighted that Meath County Council has finally seen fit to take action,' said residents' spokesman Jon Pierson. Our lives have been made a misery, our homes shake from the blasting. There are up to 600 trucks a day travelling to and from the quarries and the noise from the stone crushing is horrendous,' he added.
The previous Monday, March 3rd, six Bellewstown families took an action against the quarries in the High Court.
In court they claimed both the Kilsaran and Keegan quarries in Bellewstown are unauthorised, under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
The High Court has given the quarries until March 25th to produce answering affidavits. We expect to be back in court on April 7th to get a hearing date, the resident's spokesman explained.
Local councillor Eoin Holmes is ‘thrilled' at the council's move. ‘I know they did not take this action lightly. None of us are against quarrying but we cannot have quarries riding roughshod over planning regulations and communities,' he said.
While the council has issued notice telling Kilsaran to quit all operations, this does not mean that quarrying has ceased in Bellewstown. The company has 21 days to respond to the council's notice.
A council spokesman would not give the grounds for issuing the cessation notice.
However, the spokesman did say that the council will reserve its position on further action until it has had an opportunity to consider any submissions from the quarry.
A spokeswoman for Kilsaran Quarries declined to comment on the issue when contacted by the Drogheda Independent.
Drogheda Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The previous Monday, March 3rd, six Bellewstown families took an action against the quarries in the High Court.
In court they claimed both the Kilsaran and Keegan quarries in Bellewstown are unauthorised, under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
The High Court has given the quarries until March 25th to produce answering affidavits. We expect to be back in court on April 7th to get a hearing date, the resident's spokesman explained.
Local councillor Eoin Holmes is ‘thrilled' at the council's move. ‘I know they did not take this action lightly. None of us are against quarrying but we cannot have quarries riding roughshod over planning regulations and communities,' he said.
While the council has issued notice telling Kilsaran to quit all operations, this does not mean that quarrying has ceased in Bellewstown. The company has 21 days to respond to the council's notice.
A council spokesman would not give the grounds for issuing the cessation notice.
However, the spokesman did say that the council will reserve its position on further action until it has had an opportunity to consider any submissions from the quarry.
A spokeswoman for Kilsaran Quarries declined to comment on the issue when contacted by the Drogheda Independent.
Drogheda Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Fears growing that Sligo Racecourse will be rezoned
THERE are now growing concerns that the green area at the racecourse in Cleveragh will be rezoned and sold off.
People First, a community organisation, has expressed growing fears this week that a decision to rezone the land could be made shortly.
Liz Foley, secretary of the organisation said: "There is now growing concern that senior council officials may recommend that much of the Racecourse lands be rezoned for development and sold off. Such a decision would be unacceptable."
A public meeting is being held this week to highlight their ongoing campaign to ensure that this land is retained as a green area for recreation.
The public meeting will be held in the MCR Community Centre, Mail Coach Road, this Thursday evening, March 13 ,at 8.30pm.
Jennie Conlon, of People First will chair the meeting which will be addressed by the Deputy Mayor of Sligo, Cllr Declan Bree, and by local historian Fiona Gallagher.
Ms Foley said: "Thursday's public meeting is one in a series of such events which we are organising to raise public consciousness about the importance of the racecourse lands."
At a previous meeting, Independent councillor Declan Bree said that he firmly believed that the county manager would bring forward proposals recommending that the area be rezoned and sold.
He added that councillors were not informed of these negotiations or what plans the county manager had for the racecourse.
He said that four years ago, when the Sligo city and Environs Development Plan was being considered for adoption, the county manager and his officials recommended that councillors re-zone the lands at the Racecourse for housing. However, this was rejected by councillors and zoned Public Open Space/Green Links.
He said the land should be leased for sport and recreational purposes if Sligo Racecourse Company decided to move. Although councillors voted against the proposals last time, Cllr Bree said the people of Sligo still needed to be vigilant.
Sligo Weekender
www.buckplanning.ie
People First, a community organisation, has expressed growing fears this week that a decision to rezone the land could be made shortly.
Liz Foley, secretary of the organisation said: "There is now growing concern that senior council officials may recommend that much of the Racecourse lands be rezoned for development and sold off. Such a decision would be unacceptable."
A public meeting is being held this week to highlight their ongoing campaign to ensure that this land is retained as a green area for recreation.
The public meeting will be held in the MCR Community Centre, Mail Coach Road, this Thursday evening, March 13 ,at 8.30pm.
Jennie Conlon, of People First will chair the meeting which will be addressed by the Deputy Mayor of Sligo, Cllr Declan Bree, and by local historian Fiona Gallagher.
Ms Foley said: "Thursday's public meeting is one in a series of such events which we are organising to raise public consciousness about the importance of the racecourse lands."
At a previous meeting, Independent councillor Declan Bree said that he firmly believed that the county manager would bring forward proposals recommending that the area be rezoned and sold.
He added that councillors were not informed of these negotiations or what plans the county manager had for the racecourse.
He said that four years ago, when the Sligo city and Environs Development Plan was being considered for adoption, the county manager and his officials recommended that councillors re-zone the lands at the Racecourse for housing. However, this was rejected by councillors and zoned Public Open Space/Green Links.
He said the land should be leased for sport and recreational purposes if Sligo Racecourse Company decided to move. Although councillors voted against the proposals last time, Cllr Bree said the people of Sligo still needed to be vigilant.
Sligo Weekender
www.buckplanning.ie
Mayo rural housing plan 'won't fail Gormley test'
MAYO councillors are confident that their bid to overhaul planning rules in rural Mayo will stand up to scrutiny from the Minister for the Environment.
The draft county development plan, which recently went on public display, is the subject of a number of submissions, including one from Minister John Gormley.
The Department of the Environment confirmed to the Western People that the minister has written to Mayo County Council about the draft which proposes to relax the rules for one-off rural housing. It's under-stood that concerns have been raised about the loosening of rural planning controls.
In the face of this possible challenge, councillors say they have been motivated by the need to revitalise rural Mayo, and not by any desire to rezone land for the benefit of individual owners or developers.
The Mayo campaign could spark a national debate on the issue of one-off housing.
Councillor Al McDonnell, who spearheaded the drafting of the plan on behalf of his Fianna Fáil counterparts, said he was keen to avoid "any war of words" with the minister, but was determined that party members would not be pressurised into ditching their proposals.
Describing the fact that the minister had made a submission as "pre-dictable", Cllr McDonnell added: "This draft plan is as open to challenge as any other. We have taken every precaution not to break any regulations. We promised the people we represent that we would do something to halt the decline of rural Mayo, and stem the anti-rural element in the planning system, and that is what we are aiming to do.
He added that while he believed it was too early to speculate about what the Minister expects from the plan, councillors would "treat all submissions, from all quarters, equally, and give them due consideration".
Meanwhile the Fine Gael Whip Cllr Paddy McGuin-ness said he would welcome the opening of a national debate on rural planning.
"What we are trying to do in the plan is by-and-large untested and unprecedented," the Castlebar-based councillor admitted. "But, what has already been tested has clearly not worked for rural Mayo, or for Mayo in general. Our proposals are underpinned by the principles of proper and sustainable development. Road safety and water protection are sacrosanct."
Referring to the current restriction on one-off housing to those with a proven ‘local need', Cllr McGuiness said: "Our plan no longer asks people where they come from or what the colour of their skin is."
The FG Whip expressed the view that there was a lot of "green-type thinking" in the proposals.
"The minister should be pleased with our land use and conservation proposals, as well as the plans for park-and-ride facilities, and access to uplands for walking tourism."
The closing date for submissions on the draft plan was Monday, March 3. It's not unusual to receive a departmental submission at this stage. A spokesperson for Mayo County Council said no details of any ministerial comment would be made public until the County Manager prepared a report which will go back before members for consideration.
Fiona McGarry
Western People
www.buckplanning.ie
The draft county development plan, which recently went on public display, is the subject of a number of submissions, including one from Minister John Gormley.
The Department of the Environment confirmed to the Western People that the minister has written to Mayo County Council about the draft which proposes to relax the rules for one-off rural housing. It's under-stood that concerns have been raised about the loosening of rural planning controls.
In the face of this possible challenge, councillors say they have been motivated by the need to revitalise rural Mayo, and not by any desire to rezone land for the benefit of individual owners or developers.
The Mayo campaign could spark a national debate on the issue of one-off housing.
Councillor Al McDonnell, who spearheaded the drafting of the plan on behalf of his Fianna Fáil counterparts, said he was keen to avoid "any war of words" with the minister, but was determined that party members would not be pressurised into ditching their proposals.
Describing the fact that the minister had made a submission as "pre-dictable", Cllr McDonnell added: "This draft plan is as open to challenge as any other. We have taken every precaution not to break any regulations. We promised the people we represent that we would do something to halt the decline of rural Mayo, and stem the anti-rural element in the planning system, and that is what we are aiming to do.
He added that while he believed it was too early to speculate about what the Minister expects from the plan, councillors would "treat all submissions, from all quarters, equally, and give them due consideration".
Meanwhile the Fine Gael Whip Cllr Paddy McGuin-ness said he would welcome the opening of a national debate on rural planning.
"What we are trying to do in the plan is by-and-large untested and unprecedented," the Castlebar-based councillor admitted. "But, what has already been tested has clearly not worked for rural Mayo, or for Mayo in general. Our proposals are underpinned by the principles of proper and sustainable development. Road safety and water protection are sacrosanct."
Referring to the current restriction on one-off housing to those with a proven ‘local need', Cllr McGuiness said: "Our plan no longer asks people where they come from or what the colour of their skin is."
The FG Whip expressed the view that there was a lot of "green-type thinking" in the proposals.
"The minister should be pleased with our land use and conservation proposals, as well as the plans for park-and-ride facilities, and access to uplands for walking tourism."
The closing date for submissions on the draft plan was Monday, March 3. It's not unusual to receive a departmental submission at this stage. A spokesperson for Mayo County Council said no details of any ministerial comment would be made public until the County Manager prepared a report which will go back before members for consideration.
Fiona McGarry
Western People
www.buckplanning.ie
Serial objectors are keeping Bagenalstown in the Stone Age says Kiely
Building development in Bagenalstown is so strangled by serial objectors' that the town should be gated off to the outside world.That was the rather outrageous suggestion made by Cllr. Paddy Kiely at the last meeting of the Local Representatives.
Building development in Bagenalstown is so strangled by serial objectors' that the town should be gated off to the outside world.
That was the rather outrageous suggestion made by Cllr. Paddy Kiely at the last meeting of the Local Representatives.
Let's just put up gates at the entrances to the town so that we can all sleep here,' he said. This is just a dormer town.'
In the week when an Bord Planéala finally made a decision on whether to allow supermarket giants Lidl set up in Bagenalstown, Cllr. Kiely hit out against what the lack of new businesses coming to Bagenalsown.
Comparing his town to Tullow, the Cllr. said that Tullow was light years' ahead of Bagenalstown, which was stuck in the Stone Age because of serial objectors.'
Is it who you are in Bagenalstown that matters?' he asked. Certain people can build what they like. Others put in for planning permission, and lo and behold, others object. Tullow don't have a watchdog breathing over them.' He continued that new businesses won't move into the town because of those who object to planning permission.
Cllr. Liam O'Brien said that he was wary of Cllr. Kiely using the meeting as a forum for talking up Tullow and talking down Bagenalstown.'
This, Cllr. Kiely hotly refuted by saying, I never ran down Bagenalstown. Local people talk about what Tullow has, they make the comparison.'
He said that Bagenalstown has no hotels or no new shops because serial objectors have a strangle-hold on the town.'
Cllr. Margaret Cushen referred to An Bord Planéala by saying that it's an independent body which makes up its own mind about whether planning is suitable for a town or not.
Cllr. Kiely replied to this by stating that Cllr. Cushen is a member of Bagenalstown Improvement Group and that she defended planning objectors on her soapbox.' He referred to the members of Bagenalstown Improvement Group as well- heeled people living in their ivory towers.
Carlow People
www.buckplanning.ie
Building development in Bagenalstown is so strangled by serial objectors' that the town should be gated off to the outside world.
That was the rather outrageous suggestion made by Cllr. Paddy Kiely at the last meeting of the Local Representatives.
Let's just put up gates at the entrances to the town so that we can all sleep here,' he said. This is just a dormer town.'
In the week when an Bord Planéala finally made a decision on whether to allow supermarket giants Lidl set up in Bagenalstown, Cllr. Kiely hit out against what the lack of new businesses coming to Bagenalsown.
Comparing his town to Tullow, the Cllr. said that Tullow was light years' ahead of Bagenalstown, which was stuck in the Stone Age because of serial objectors.'
Is it who you are in Bagenalstown that matters?' he asked. Certain people can build what they like. Others put in for planning permission, and lo and behold, others object. Tullow don't have a watchdog breathing over them.' He continued that new businesses won't move into the town because of those who object to planning permission.
Cllr. Liam O'Brien said that he was wary of Cllr. Kiely using the meeting as a forum for talking up Tullow and talking down Bagenalstown.'
This, Cllr. Kiely hotly refuted by saying, I never ran down Bagenalstown. Local people talk about what Tullow has, they make the comparison.'
He said that Bagenalstown has no hotels or no new shops because serial objectors have a strangle-hold on the town.'
Cllr. Margaret Cushen referred to An Bord Planéala by saying that it's an independent body which makes up its own mind about whether planning is suitable for a town or not.
Cllr. Kiely replied to this by stating that Cllr. Cushen is a member of Bagenalstown Improvement Group and that she defended planning objectors on her soapbox.' He referred to the members of Bagenalstown Improvement Group as well- heeled people living in their ivory towers.
Carlow People
www.buckplanning.ie
Delay expected on Roadstone decison
A planning application submitted by Roadstone which proposes to extend their local operation is expected to be sent back by Wicklow County Council seeking further information for a second time.
This follows concerns from local residents in the Arklow Rock area about the Roadstone plan to extend the existing quarry by 26.6 hectares and an overall future area of 83.3 hectares.
The application decision has already been deferred once to allow the council to seek further details but what has come back is unsatisfactory according to a local councillor.
I am disappointed with the reply from Roadstone. The answers are short. I ask that the planners are told that members are not happy with the response. I have nothing against Roadstone but I don't want to see the wildlife and birds obliterated. I think that Roadstone should co-operate and if they work within certain parameters we can all live in harmony', said Cllr. Bill O'Connell at the recent Area meeting of Wicklow County Council.
The decision is due to be released on March 26.
Wicklow People
www.buckplanning.ie
This follows concerns from local residents in the Arklow Rock area about the Roadstone plan to extend the existing quarry by 26.6 hectares and an overall future area of 83.3 hectares.
The application decision has already been deferred once to allow the council to seek further details but what has come back is unsatisfactory according to a local councillor.
I am disappointed with the reply from Roadstone. The answers are short. I ask that the planners are told that members are not happy with the response. I have nothing against Roadstone but I don't want to see the wildlife and birds obliterated. I think that Roadstone should co-operate and if they work within certain parameters we can all live in harmony', said Cllr. Bill O'Connell at the recent Area meeting of Wicklow County Council.
The decision is due to be released on March 26.
Wicklow People
www.buckplanning.ie
Protesters vow to step up M3 campaign after deal struck
PROTESTERS opposed to the M3 Meath motorway route yesterday pledged to escalate their campaign.
Campaigners protecting the Rath Lugh national monument at the Tara/Skryne valley said they were prepared to repeat the actions of psychology graduate Lisa Feeney who dug herself into a tunnel for several days.
Ms Feeney finally emerged from the seven-metre shaft late on Saturday night after pleas from her family as well as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
She had "booby trapped" the tunnel to collapse if workers tried to dig her out and she was prepared to stay underground for up to two months.
Her father Jim Feeney met her as she climbed out of the tunnel after 11pm on Saturday amid rounds of applause from fellow campaigners after having spent three days underground.
Protesters say Ms Feeney only agreed to come out of the tunnel after a deal was struck with the National Roads Authority to halt work at the monument for a month.
This will give protesters enough time to progress a legal challenge to the construction works in the courts.
In the meantime though, objectors to the M3 route will be asked to mount protests outside building sites nationwide operated by SIAC, a construction firm involved in the motorway project.
Protestor spokesman Derek Berrill explained: "We've only started. The tunnel is a minor thing as far as we're concerned.
"If people are willing to be in solidarity [with us], it's up to them to protest outside sites next week,"
Mr Berrill said protesters were "absolutely willing" to repeat Ms Feeney's actions if necessary.
Campaigners are officially expected to call for the building site protests on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Ms Feeney was said to be in good spirits yesterday while recovering from her time spent in the tunnel.
She visited two Garda stations after leaving the protesters' site over the weekend, where campaigners say documents were left with gardaí relating to her agreement with the NRA concerning the building stoppage.
It could not be clarified last night exactly what role gardaí had played in reaching the agreement.
Last week, a High Court bid to halt work on the M3 Dublin to Navan motorway failed.
The court application for an injunction to stop the work claimed a national monument on the site was in danger of being damaged because of the building work.
The NRA denied the claim and said any delay in the project would cost the taxpayer €330,000 per week.
The NRA did not return calls yesterday.
Local delight as fight against housing plan pays off
A PLANNING application for about 100 houses in Killorglin, Co Kerry, has been refused by An Bord Pleanála. Local residents have successfully appealed against a decision of Kerry County Council last June, to grant planning to Glenloc Consulting Ltd for the development.
The proposal was to build 97 houses and apartments, with a creche, on a 4.7 hectare site about a half-kilometre from Killorglin, off the Iveragh Road.
Reasons for the refusal include the creation of traffic problems close to two bends and that the development would be in breach of the local area plan for Killorglin.
Senior planning inspector Ruairi Somers said the development would give rise to a "serious traffic hazard" especially in the absence of a footpath in the area.
Meanwhile, as controversy about planning for one-off houses in Kerry continues, a top planning officer said people were being refused permission for three reasons mainly.
They included effluent treatment, traffic safety and how a house could be integrated into the landscape, according to the county council's director of planning services Michael McMahon.
However, he said all three areas could be dealt with during a pre-planning consultation service made available by the council.
Mr McMahon said many people were either not availing of the service, or ignoring its recommendations.
"While following recommendations is no guarantee of getting planning, people who engage in consultation and follow the recommendations are more likely to get permission," he said.
Mr McMahon said people were spending a lot of money on applications that were turned down because they did not engage in consultations. He pointed out Kerry was the only county where on-site consultations were being offered to the sons and daughters of landowners looking to build on family land.
Councillors in Kerry claim planners' interpretation of laws and guidelines is too restrictive and making it virtually impossible for young couples to get planning in the countryside.
But planning officials said more than 80% of applications in Kerry were granted - roughly in line with the national trend.
The Kerry branch of the Irish Rural Dwellers' Association, however, said the policy now was to try to locate as many people as possible in estates in towns around the county.
The association is to stage a protest outside a Kerry County Council meeting on April 21 next.
Juno McEnroe
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Campaigners protecting the Rath Lugh national monument at the Tara/Skryne valley said they were prepared to repeat the actions of psychology graduate Lisa Feeney who dug herself into a tunnel for several days.
Ms Feeney finally emerged from the seven-metre shaft late on Saturday night after pleas from her family as well as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
She had "booby trapped" the tunnel to collapse if workers tried to dig her out and she was prepared to stay underground for up to two months.
Her father Jim Feeney met her as she climbed out of the tunnel after 11pm on Saturday amid rounds of applause from fellow campaigners after having spent three days underground.
Protesters say Ms Feeney only agreed to come out of the tunnel after a deal was struck with the National Roads Authority to halt work at the monument for a month.
This will give protesters enough time to progress a legal challenge to the construction works in the courts.
In the meantime though, objectors to the M3 route will be asked to mount protests outside building sites nationwide operated by SIAC, a construction firm involved in the motorway project.
Protestor spokesman Derek Berrill explained: "We've only started. The tunnel is a minor thing as far as we're concerned.
"If people are willing to be in solidarity [with us], it's up to them to protest outside sites next week,"
Mr Berrill said protesters were "absolutely willing" to repeat Ms Feeney's actions if necessary.
Campaigners are officially expected to call for the building site protests on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Ms Feeney was said to be in good spirits yesterday while recovering from her time spent in the tunnel.
She visited two Garda stations after leaving the protesters' site over the weekend, where campaigners say documents were left with gardaí relating to her agreement with the NRA concerning the building stoppage.
It could not be clarified last night exactly what role gardaí had played in reaching the agreement.
Last week, a High Court bid to halt work on the M3 Dublin to Navan motorway failed.
The court application for an injunction to stop the work claimed a national monument on the site was in danger of being damaged because of the building work.
The NRA denied the claim and said any delay in the project would cost the taxpayer €330,000 per week.
The NRA did not return calls yesterday.
Local delight as fight against housing plan pays off
A PLANNING application for about 100 houses in Killorglin, Co Kerry, has been refused by An Bord Pleanála. Local residents have successfully appealed against a decision of Kerry County Council last June, to grant planning to Glenloc Consulting Ltd for the development.
The proposal was to build 97 houses and apartments, with a creche, on a 4.7 hectare site about a half-kilometre from Killorglin, off the Iveragh Road.
Reasons for the refusal include the creation of traffic problems close to two bends and that the development would be in breach of the local area plan for Killorglin.
Senior planning inspector Ruairi Somers said the development would give rise to a "serious traffic hazard" especially in the absence of a footpath in the area.
Meanwhile, as controversy about planning for one-off houses in Kerry continues, a top planning officer said people were being refused permission for three reasons mainly.
They included effluent treatment, traffic safety and how a house could be integrated into the landscape, according to the county council's director of planning services Michael McMahon.
However, he said all three areas could be dealt with during a pre-planning consultation service made available by the council.
Mr McMahon said many people were either not availing of the service, or ignoring its recommendations.
"While following recommendations is no guarantee of getting planning, people who engage in consultation and follow the recommendations are more likely to get permission," he said.
Mr McMahon said people were spending a lot of money on applications that were turned down because they did not engage in consultations. He pointed out Kerry was the only county where on-site consultations were being offered to the sons and daughters of landowners looking to build on family land.
Councillors in Kerry claim planners' interpretation of laws and guidelines is too restrictive and making it virtually impossible for young couples to get planning in the countryside.
But planning officials said more than 80% of applications in Kerry were granted - roughly in line with the national trend.
The Kerry branch of the Irish Rural Dwellers' Association, however, said the policy now was to try to locate as many people as possible in estates in towns around the county.
The association is to stage a protest outside a Kerry County Council meeting on April 21 next.
Juno McEnroe
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
LNG concerns not relevant
The HSA are advising An Bord Pleanála - who are charged with deciding on the planning process in relation to the terminal - on health and safety issues surrounding the plans; chiefly how the storage of millions of gallons of liquid natural gas could might pose a threat to locals and how much of a threat it would constitute.
However, the HSA ran into some controversy in January - prior to the oral hearing held by An Bord Pleanála into the matter in Tralee - when they made their positive advice to the board before their deadline for submissions from members of the public had actually expired.
They had stated in a letter to the board: (T)he authority DOES NOT ADVISE AGAINST (sic) the granting of planning permission in the context of Major Accident Hazards.
With the Kilcolgan Residents Association - comprising scores of people from the landbank opposed to the current plans - on the point of submitting their health and safety concerns to the HSA, the apparent decision by the authority came as a major shock.
They objected to the curtailed deadline and the HSA quickly recanted, saying they would alter their decision should the KRA have pointed up anything they might have overlooked in their survey of the health and safety issues surrounding the proposal.
But in a letter to An Bord Pleanála this week, the HSA said they found no evidence to change their advice based on the comprehensive health and safety submission put forward by the KRA.
Signed by Senior HSA Inspector, Patrick Conneely, the HSA letter states: The Authority has now had the opportunity to examine, in detail, the documents submitted to it by Kilcolgan Residents Association on January 10, 2008, in relation to the proposed LNG facility at Kilcolgan Lower, Co Kerry.These have been reviewed in conjunction with both the oral and written evidence given to An Bord Pleanála during the health and safety module of the Oral Hearing on the Shannon LNG project.After careful consideration of all of the relevant material, the Authority finds no basis to alter the advice given to An Bord Pleanála as contained in the letter dated January 9, 2008.
At the time of print The Kerryman was unable to make contact with the chief spokesperson for the Kilcolgan group for comment.
The Kerryman
www.buckplanning.ie
However, the HSA ran into some controversy in January - prior to the oral hearing held by An Bord Pleanála into the matter in Tralee - when they made their positive advice to the board before their deadline for submissions from members of the public had actually expired.
They had stated in a letter to the board: (T)he authority DOES NOT ADVISE AGAINST (sic) the granting of planning permission in the context of Major Accident Hazards.
With the Kilcolgan Residents Association - comprising scores of people from the landbank opposed to the current plans - on the point of submitting their health and safety concerns to the HSA, the apparent decision by the authority came as a major shock.
They objected to the curtailed deadline and the HSA quickly recanted, saying they would alter their decision should the KRA have pointed up anything they might have overlooked in their survey of the health and safety issues surrounding the proposal.
But in a letter to An Bord Pleanála this week, the HSA said they found no evidence to change their advice based on the comprehensive health and safety submission put forward by the KRA.
Signed by Senior HSA Inspector, Patrick Conneely, the HSA letter states: The Authority has now had the opportunity to examine, in detail, the documents submitted to it by Kilcolgan Residents Association on January 10, 2008, in relation to the proposed LNG facility at Kilcolgan Lower, Co Kerry.These have been reviewed in conjunction with both the oral and written evidence given to An Bord Pleanála during the health and safety module of the Oral Hearing on the Shannon LNG project.After careful consideration of all of the relevant material, the Authority finds no basis to alter the advice given to An Bord Pleanála as contained in the letter dated January 9, 2008.
At the time of print The Kerryman was unable to make contact with the chief spokesperson for the Kilcolgan group for comment.
The Kerryman
www.buckplanning.ie
Residents oppose plans for revamp of traditional Galway city area
RESIDENTS OF Galway city's "West" neighbourhood where writer Walter Macken was born have expressed opposition to "environmental improvements" proposed by Galway City Council.
The Small Crane and Henry Street "enhancement" scheme aims to "improve the quality of the public realm" with "landscaping, paving, public lighting", according to the council.
It also aims to "rationalise and co-ordinate" parking and traffic, and "promote an inclusive and accessible environment" in line with commitments to the Barcelona declaration on accessibility.
However, long-time "West" resident and arts administrator Paraic Breathnach says the plan is "no more than gentrification to facilitate a proposed hotel development nearby and to increase property values and rates". The plan "poses a serious threat to the fabric of a close-knit community", he says.
"This bourgeoisification is being introduced without adequate consultation, because the local authority is embarrassed about its industrial past," Mr Breathnach told The Irish Times.
As a century-old locality within walking distance of Galway city centre, the "West" was home to employees of mills, factories and workers on the Eglinton Canal. Its community atmosphere was captured by photographer Jane Talbot in an exhibition entitled Knock, Knock which was so successful that it was exhibited twice at Galway Arts Centre in 2006.
Ms Talbot has maintained gardens at Walter Macken's birthplace and other parts of the neighbourhood. She said that while she favoured proposals by the local authority to plant trees, she felt the whole scheme was "too much too soon" in an area ignored for years. "This a real, live residential area, not a shopping precinct," she said.
Sally O'Shaughnessy (77), who was born in her home in the "West", said that when the local authority owned the terraces it was "pure hell" to get repairs done. "Now, all of a sudden, you want to change everything in our area that we love so much," she has said in a submission to the local authority.
The West Residents Association has already filed objections to a plan to construct a multistorey hotel with conference, leisure and restaurant facilities on the site of the old Connaught Laundry in St Helen's Street.
The council denies the "enhancement scheme" is linked to any developer-led plans in the vicinity.
A council spokeswoman said that the model for the plan is available on its website, and it is hoped to submit the plan for approval of councillors within the next two months.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Small Crane and Henry Street "enhancement" scheme aims to "improve the quality of the public realm" with "landscaping, paving, public lighting", according to the council.
It also aims to "rationalise and co-ordinate" parking and traffic, and "promote an inclusive and accessible environment" in line with commitments to the Barcelona declaration on accessibility.
However, long-time "West" resident and arts administrator Paraic Breathnach says the plan is "no more than gentrification to facilitate a proposed hotel development nearby and to increase property values and rates". The plan "poses a serious threat to the fabric of a close-knit community", he says.
"This bourgeoisification is being introduced without adequate consultation, because the local authority is embarrassed about its industrial past," Mr Breathnach told The Irish Times.
As a century-old locality within walking distance of Galway city centre, the "West" was home to employees of mills, factories and workers on the Eglinton Canal. Its community atmosphere was captured by photographer Jane Talbot in an exhibition entitled Knock, Knock which was so successful that it was exhibited twice at Galway Arts Centre in 2006.
Ms Talbot has maintained gardens at Walter Macken's birthplace and other parts of the neighbourhood. She said that while she favoured proposals by the local authority to plant trees, she felt the whole scheme was "too much too soon" in an area ignored for years. "This a real, live residential area, not a shopping precinct," she said.
Sally O'Shaughnessy (77), who was born in her home in the "West", said that when the local authority owned the terraces it was "pure hell" to get repairs done. "Now, all of a sudden, you want to change everything in our area that we love so much," she has said in a submission to the local authority.
The West Residents Association has already filed objections to a plan to construct a multistorey hotel with conference, leisure and restaurant facilities on the site of the old Connaught Laundry in St Helen's Street.
The council denies the "enhancement scheme" is linked to any developer-led plans in the vicinity.
A council spokeswoman said that the model for the plan is available on its website, and it is hoped to submit the plan for approval of councillors within the next two months.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
An Taisce opposes Sandyford hospital
AN TAISCE is opposing the construction of a new €160 million women's, children's and maternity hospital in Sandyford.
The objection from the environmental awareness body casts further doubt on a planning application lodged with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council by the Beacon Medical Group.
Prompted by a lack of adequate sewerage services in the area, county manager Owen Keegan last month announced the local authority will reject planning permission for developments of larger than two houses.
An Taisce wrote to planners in the council stating that the proposal is "premature" and that permission should not be granted "until a revised Urban Framework Plan for the Sandyford area is completed, establishing guidelines for building heights, and measures are adopted to improve the capacity of the existing road and transport infrastructure".
If the planners agree, it could result in the Beacon Medical Group having to relocate the 120-bed hospital.
However, the healthcare consortium remains hopeful of proceeding with its preferred option of building the facility next to the existing Beacon Hospital.
"We would be extremely disappointed if a sewerage problem leads to the desperately needed hospital not going ahead," said Pauline Cullen, a spokeswoman for the Beacon Group.
"We have had numerous meetings with council management regarding our planning application and believe we have addressed and overcome the specific concerns with infrastructure in Sandyford."
Ms Cullen added that amid reports of women giving birth on trolleys in some hospitals, there is a "dire need" for the facility which could cater for 3,000 births per year.
The hospital would take just over two years to build. The council is expected to announce its decision next week.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The objection from the environmental awareness body casts further doubt on a planning application lodged with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council by the Beacon Medical Group.
Prompted by a lack of adequate sewerage services in the area, county manager Owen Keegan last month announced the local authority will reject planning permission for developments of larger than two houses.
An Taisce wrote to planners in the council stating that the proposal is "premature" and that permission should not be granted "until a revised Urban Framework Plan for the Sandyford area is completed, establishing guidelines for building heights, and measures are adopted to improve the capacity of the existing road and transport infrastructure".
If the planners agree, it could result in the Beacon Medical Group having to relocate the 120-bed hospital.
However, the healthcare consortium remains hopeful of proceeding with its preferred option of building the facility next to the existing Beacon Hospital.
"We would be extremely disappointed if a sewerage problem leads to the desperately needed hospital not going ahead," said Pauline Cullen, a spokeswoman for the Beacon Group.
"We have had numerous meetings with council management regarding our planning application and believe we have addressed and overcome the specific concerns with infrastructure in Sandyford."
Ms Cullen added that amid reports of women giving birth on trolleys in some hospitals, there is a "dire need" for the facility which could cater for 3,000 births per year.
The hospital would take just over two years to build. The council is expected to announce its decision next week.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dunne puts rejected tower on display ahead of An Bord Pleanála appeal
DEVELOPER SEÁN Dunne's plans for the the Jurys and Berkeley Court sites in Ballsbridge have been put on public display in the former Berkeley Court Hotel in advance of his appeal to An Bord Pleanála in relation to the development.
Dublin City Council this week granted permission for six of the proposed eight blocks in the residential and commercial development, including an 18-storey apartment building on Shelbourne Road, but refused permission for a 37-storey tower.
While the plans were previously on display during the application process to the city council, this is the first time a scaled model of the controversial tower has been available for public scrutiny.
The omission of the tower results in a loss of 182 apartments. In addition to the removal of blocks from the scheme, three apartment blocks have been trimmed in height from 11 to nine storeys. Planners have approved 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, a shopping centre, an embassy building, cultural centre and a creche. Mr Dunne, however has decided to appeal the full original scheme to An Bord Pleanála. "We are convinced that our planning application is consistent with that vision for Dublin. Our initial analysis of the report encourages us in our decision to appeal to An Bord Pleanála which is not as constrained in adjudicating on the planning application."
It would be premature to say whether or not the development would go ahead if An Bord Pleanála did not grant the full application, Mr Dunne said.
"There is an economic equation to every development. We could get a result from An Bord Pleanála that would mean it didn't make any sense economically to develop, and in that case it would be unlikely to proceed in any form."
A purely residential complex might be the most financially viable option, Mr Dunne said, but it was "not in anyone's interest".
A small number of people went to see the plans yesterday. One local resident, Finbarr McGrath said he liked the scheme.
"The media coverage of this has been somewhat misleading as it largely ignores the fact that there's a big retail element. At the moment in Ballsbridge there's around 10 pubs, three restaurants and one shop."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin City Council this week granted permission for six of the proposed eight blocks in the residential and commercial development, including an 18-storey apartment building on Shelbourne Road, but refused permission for a 37-storey tower.
While the plans were previously on display during the application process to the city council, this is the first time a scaled model of the controversial tower has been available for public scrutiny.
The omission of the tower results in a loss of 182 apartments. In addition to the removal of blocks from the scheme, three apartment blocks have been trimmed in height from 11 to nine storeys. Planners have approved 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, a shopping centre, an embassy building, cultural centre and a creche. Mr Dunne, however has decided to appeal the full original scheme to An Bord Pleanála. "We are convinced that our planning application is consistent with that vision for Dublin. Our initial analysis of the report encourages us in our decision to appeal to An Bord Pleanála which is not as constrained in adjudicating on the planning application."
It would be premature to say whether or not the development would go ahead if An Bord Pleanála did not grant the full application, Mr Dunne said.
"There is an economic equation to every development. We could get a result from An Bord Pleanála that would mean it didn't make any sense economically to develop, and in that case it would be unlikely to proceed in any form."
A purely residential complex might be the most financially viable option, Mr Dunne said, but it was "not in anyone's interest".
A small number of people went to see the plans yesterday. One local resident, Finbarr McGrath said he liked the scheme.
"The media coverage of this has been somewhat misleading as it largely ignores the fact that there's a big retail element. At the moment in Ballsbridge there's around 10 pubs, three restaurants and one shop."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The art of re-imagining a city for the future
IMAGINE THE sort of questions that might be asked of a mayor if his first priority on taking office was to cover some of the city's oldest, most stately and serious civic buildings with copious quantities of paint. Not just conventional shades of cream and grey, but bright, brilliant buckets of red, yellow and blue. Edi Rama, first citizen of the Albanian capital, Tirana, and former artist, did just that with several hundred buildings, using them as fresh canvas for a "riot" of primary colours, writes Lorna Siggins
Billed as urban restoration, the project's main aim was to change the psychology of Tirana's citizens. The main challenge, Rama found, was to "persuade people that change is possible". As he observed: "Being the mayor of Tirana is the highest form of conceptual art. It's art in a pure state."
The story is one of many told by British planning consultant Charles Landry, who flew into Galway last week to offer his view of the Connacht capital, much troubled as it is by the competing demands of property developers, planners and those citizens, including participants in a new artists' grouping, who care passionately about its environment.
Landry, founder of the European cultural planning consultancy, Comedia, is regarded as an international authority on creativity and the future of cities, and has worked on several hundred projects for local and national authorities. Last year he was appointed "thinker in residence" in the Australian city of Perth, having held a similar title in Adelaide.
The trilingual Landry studied in Britain, Germany and Italy and lives in Gloucestershire, England. He professes to having "no other hobbies", has given advice to the World Bank, among other international institutions, and recent major projects have included formulating a vision for Dubai and rethinking London's Oxford, Regent and Bond streets.
He "inspires, facilitates and stimulates so cities can transform for the better", Galway City Development Board explained on its invitation to an event at the 400-seater Town Hall Theatre, "restricted to approximately 200 key influencers and decision-makers". If some of those present hoped Landry might slate Galway City Council for its controversial landscaping of Eyre Square (currently running at around €11 million), its record on planning and its current involvement with CIÉ on controversial €1 billion high-rise proposals for the city centre's Ceannt Station, they were to be disappointed.
Landry is a "critical friend", who prefers to engage with politicians, planners, developers to "inspire, facilitate and stimulate" ideas which might transform cities from car- and crime-congested ghettos into living spaces for cohesive communities.
In his view, articulated in his latest book, The Art of City-Making, there is no simple 10-point plan for this. His central tenet is that the skills required to "re-enchant" extend beyond architecture, engineering and land-use planning. As he explained in Galway, our definitions of "city-making" can, and have, changed radically in recent years. Some 15 years ago, 80 per cent of working city-dwellers chose the company and job first, whereas now some 64 per cent place far more emphasis on location. The old paradigm of a city - "hardware", "engineering" and what he calls "silo-thinking" - has been replaced by a new paradigm which combines "hardware and software-thinking" to nurture "imaginative places of solidarity" where relations between the individual, the group, outsiders and the planet are "in better alignment".
Cities which have succeeded, in his view, are not necessarily the aesthetically pleasing ones such as Paris and London, which may still have deep-rooted issues in relation to social environments. He cites Brazil's Curitiba, Spain's Barcelona and Denmark's Copenhagen as positive examples.
Curitiba has tripled size over the last three decades and has a population of 1.7 million. Landry identifies its public transport system and use of parks as "creative ways of turning weaknesses into strengths". An engagement between city officials and a group of activist architecture and design students in the 1960s influenced its transformation.
Jaime Lerner, one of those students, was obviously sufficiently charged with a belief in the political process to become the city's mayor on three occasions between 1971 and 1992. "Urban acupuncture" is how Lerner described his approach in a subsequent book - as in spotting "pinpointed interventions" which can be accomplished quickly, releasing energy and creating ripple effects.
In 1992, the last year of Lerner's mayoral office, Curitiba set up an "open university" of the environment in a reclaimed quarry. It carries out projects relating to ecosystem conservation and environmental education which have an influence on the city's growth.
Danish architect Jan Gehl, who designed the Canadian town of Seaton with an infrastructure based on sustainable principles, was another Lerner in his own home capital. His influence on city officials was such that not only did they introduce the free bike- borrowing scheme but gradually reduced the size of central car-parks. Yes, bikes did disappear initially, but the losses through theft or otherwise fell every year.
Language can be a medium for moving away from "engineering solutions" and making space for the natural environment, for children and for people from different backgrounds, according to Landry. His emphasis is on "interculturalism" rather than "multiculturalism". "Urban knitting" can be achieved by simple gestures, such as changing signage. He showed several examples, such as urging "more ball games" in a city park. A garage owner who had obviously given up on stern warnings to keep the doors clear and free of soccer balls created his own statement: "This goal is in constant use."
Landry has been in Ireland several times, has lectured in Dublin and Cork, and makes some interesting observations on Temple Bar in his most recent book: a positive initiative to guarantee affordable, long-term security for creative organisations came under threat from "over-popularity and consequent growth in tourist-fodder restaurants and meat-market pubs to deal with stag and hen night parties".
The same could be said for Galway, where many artists have been driven out of the city centre by unaffordable rents, and where said artists are now urging the local authority to commission a plan for cultural infrastructure in advance of any approval of the CIÉ's multi-storey property development venture at Ceannt bus and train station.
Sadly, the developers angling for a part of the action in the prime central site overlooking Eyre Square were not present for Landry's presentation. Questioned about the high-rise proposals, Landry said that he was not against skyscrapers, but the question was one of location. In Barcelona, a horizontal emphasis had ensured that 90 per cent of its streetscape was no more than six storeys high.
Galway is "just large enough to be taken seriously, but small enough not to pose a threat", he said. Its "niche" could be the arts, or it could be the fact that its university has a human rights centre. Unaware of the Galway Races, and their reputation as a magnet for developers, Landry suggested that there could be advantages in making a clear division, in calendar terms, between the annual international arts festival and the different type of energy generated out at Ballybrit.
One doesn't have to look further than a city library in terms of inventing new forms, he said, showing an image of the "possibility rooms" which a library in Singapore has provided for. As for "who leads", it could be an "inspirational mayor or a local authority as a whole". His own preference was for a combination of both, which should be "more like a jazz-jam session than a symphony orchestra".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Billed as urban restoration, the project's main aim was to change the psychology of Tirana's citizens. The main challenge, Rama found, was to "persuade people that change is possible". As he observed: "Being the mayor of Tirana is the highest form of conceptual art. It's art in a pure state."
The story is one of many told by British planning consultant Charles Landry, who flew into Galway last week to offer his view of the Connacht capital, much troubled as it is by the competing demands of property developers, planners and those citizens, including participants in a new artists' grouping, who care passionately about its environment.
Landry, founder of the European cultural planning consultancy, Comedia, is regarded as an international authority on creativity and the future of cities, and has worked on several hundred projects for local and national authorities. Last year he was appointed "thinker in residence" in the Australian city of Perth, having held a similar title in Adelaide.
The trilingual Landry studied in Britain, Germany and Italy and lives in Gloucestershire, England. He professes to having "no other hobbies", has given advice to the World Bank, among other international institutions, and recent major projects have included formulating a vision for Dubai and rethinking London's Oxford, Regent and Bond streets.
He "inspires, facilitates and stimulates so cities can transform for the better", Galway City Development Board explained on its invitation to an event at the 400-seater Town Hall Theatre, "restricted to approximately 200 key influencers and decision-makers". If some of those present hoped Landry might slate Galway City Council for its controversial landscaping of Eyre Square (currently running at around €11 million), its record on planning and its current involvement with CIÉ on controversial €1 billion high-rise proposals for the city centre's Ceannt Station, they were to be disappointed.
Landry is a "critical friend", who prefers to engage with politicians, planners, developers to "inspire, facilitate and stimulate" ideas which might transform cities from car- and crime-congested ghettos into living spaces for cohesive communities.
In his view, articulated in his latest book, The Art of City-Making, there is no simple 10-point plan for this. His central tenet is that the skills required to "re-enchant" extend beyond architecture, engineering and land-use planning. As he explained in Galway, our definitions of "city-making" can, and have, changed radically in recent years. Some 15 years ago, 80 per cent of working city-dwellers chose the company and job first, whereas now some 64 per cent place far more emphasis on location. The old paradigm of a city - "hardware", "engineering" and what he calls "silo-thinking" - has been replaced by a new paradigm which combines "hardware and software-thinking" to nurture "imaginative places of solidarity" where relations between the individual, the group, outsiders and the planet are "in better alignment".
Cities which have succeeded, in his view, are not necessarily the aesthetically pleasing ones such as Paris and London, which may still have deep-rooted issues in relation to social environments. He cites Brazil's Curitiba, Spain's Barcelona and Denmark's Copenhagen as positive examples.
Curitiba has tripled size over the last three decades and has a population of 1.7 million. Landry identifies its public transport system and use of parks as "creative ways of turning weaknesses into strengths". An engagement between city officials and a group of activist architecture and design students in the 1960s influenced its transformation.
Jaime Lerner, one of those students, was obviously sufficiently charged with a belief in the political process to become the city's mayor on three occasions between 1971 and 1992. "Urban acupuncture" is how Lerner described his approach in a subsequent book - as in spotting "pinpointed interventions" which can be accomplished quickly, releasing energy and creating ripple effects.
In 1992, the last year of Lerner's mayoral office, Curitiba set up an "open university" of the environment in a reclaimed quarry. It carries out projects relating to ecosystem conservation and environmental education which have an influence on the city's growth.
Danish architect Jan Gehl, who designed the Canadian town of Seaton with an infrastructure based on sustainable principles, was another Lerner in his own home capital. His influence on city officials was such that not only did they introduce the free bike- borrowing scheme but gradually reduced the size of central car-parks. Yes, bikes did disappear initially, but the losses through theft or otherwise fell every year.
Language can be a medium for moving away from "engineering solutions" and making space for the natural environment, for children and for people from different backgrounds, according to Landry. His emphasis is on "interculturalism" rather than "multiculturalism". "Urban knitting" can be achieved by simple gestures, such as changing signage. He showed several examples, such as urging "more ball games" in a city park. A garage owner who had obviously given up on stern warnings to keep the doors clear and free of soccer balls created his own statement: "This goal is in constant use."
Landry has been in Ireland several times, has lectured in Dublin and Cork, and makes some interesting observations on Temple Bar in his most recent book: a positive initiative to guarantee affordable, long-term security for creative organisations came under threat from "over-popularity and consequent growth in tourist-fodder restaurants and meat-market pubs to deal with stag and hen night parties".
The same could be said for Galway, where many artists have been driven out of the city centre by unaffordable rents, and where said artists are now urging the local authority to commission a plan for cultural infrastructure in advance of any approval of the CIÉ's multi-storey property development venture at Ceannt bus and train station.
Sadly, the developers angling for a part of the action in the prime central site overlooking Eyre Square were not present for Landry's presentation. Questioned about the high-rise proposals, Landry said that he was not against skyscrapers, but the question was one of location. In Barcelona, a horizontal emphasis had ensured that 90 per cent of its streetscape was no more than six storeys high.
Galway is "just large enough to be taken seriously, but small enough not to pose a threat", he said. Its "niche" could be the arts, or it could be the fact that its university has a human rights centre. Unaware of the Galway Races, and their reputation as a magnet for developers, Landry suggested that there could be advantages in making a clear division, in calendar terms, between the annual international arts festival and the different type of energy generated out at Ballybrit.
One doesn't have to look further than a city library in terms of inventing new forms, he said, showing an image of the "possibility rooms" which a library in Singapore has provided for. As for "who leads", it could be an "inspirational mayor or a local authority as a whole". His own preference was for a combination of both, which should be "more like a jazz-jam session than a symphony orchestra".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Regional cities must focus on unique assets, report says
CITIES SUCH as Cork, Limerick and Galway should focus on their distinctiveness and not on attracting people as a counter to the burgeoning east coast, according to a research paper commissioned by the Urban Forum.
However, the paper's findings have already been challenged by the Irish Planning Institute.
These so-called "gateway" cities should try to complement the eastern corridor rather than concentrate solely on population growth as outlined in the National Spatial Strategy (NSS), the report urged.
Urban Forum chairman Henk van der Kamp said the report, Twice the Size? Imagining the Future of Irish Gateways, was aimed at stimulating debate on planning for an island with population projections of eight million people in 25 years' time and 12 million by 2058.
"The population growth in the gateways between 2002 and 2006 has been rather modest compared to the State's average. Only two gateways, Galway and Letterkenny, which are not in Dublin's sphere of influence, achieved a growth rate higher than the State's average.
"It is unlikely that the gateways outside Dublin's sphere of influence will achieve high rates of population growth in the future, as projected in the NSS, without robust implementation of specific growth policies," said Mr van der Kamp.
The research paper, prepared by the Futures Academy of the Dublin Institute of Technology, emphasises the economic case for concentrating population growth in the eastern corridor, stretching from Waterford city through Dublin up to Belfast.
Mr van der Kamp instanced the report's recommendations regarding Cork capitalising on its distinctiveness as "a city of water" and exploiting the amenities and resources of the River Lee, Cork harbour and its docklands.
The Urban Forum consists of Engineers Ireland, the Irish Landscape Institute, the Irish Planning Institute (IPI), the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and the Society of Chartered Surveyors.
However, IPI president Andrew Hind took issue with the report, saying that while the IPI acknowledged its purpose was to stimulate debate on national planning issues, it did not support its recommendations.
"We also support . . . efforts . . . to secure the growth of a second major conurbation of international significance centred on Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford," said Mr Hind.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
However, the paper's findings have already been challenged by the Irish Planning Institute.
These so-called "gateway" cities should try to complement the eastern corridor rather than concentrate solely on population growth as outlined in the National Spatial Strategy (NSS), the report urged.
Urban Forum chairman Henk van der Kamp said the report, Twice the Size? Imagining the Future of Irish Gateways, was aimed at stimulating debate on planning for an island with population projections of eight million people in 25 years' time and 12 million by 2058.
"The population growth in the gateways between 2002 and 2006 has been rather modest compared to the State's average. Only two gateways, Galway and Letterkenny, which are not in Dublin's sphere of influence, achieved a growth rate higher than the State's average.
"It is unlikely that the gateways outside Dublin's sphere of influence will achieve high rates of population growth in the future, as projected in the NSS, without robust implementation of specific growth policies," said Mr van der Kamp.
The research paper, prepared by the Futures Academy of the Dublin Institute of Technology, emphasises the economic case for concentrating population growth in the eastern corridor, stretching from Waterford city through Dublin up to Belfast.
Mr van der Kamp instanced the report's recommendations regarding Cork capitalising on its distinctiveness as "a city of water" and exploiting the amenities and resources of the River Lee, Cork harbour and its docklands.
The Urban Forum consists of Engineers Ireland, the Irish Landscape Institute, the Irish Planning Institute (IPI), the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and the Society of Chartered Surveyors.
However, IPI president Andrew Hind took issue with the report, saying that while the IPI acknowledged its purpose was to stimulate debate on national planning issues, it did not support its recommendations.
"We also support . . . efforts . . . to secure the growth of a second major conurbation of international significance centred on Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford," said Mr Hind.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
How to make cities work
WITH 60 per cent of the world's population predicted to live in cities by 2030, the OpenCities project aims to encourage cities to be safe, multicultural and well laid out, in the mould of Vancouver, Vienna, Bilbao - and Belfast, writes Angela Long .
Ireland doesn't have good cities. An opinion, perhaps. Cities are the way of the future and must get better. That is a fact. And another fact, demonstrated by history, is that cities which are open to foreign populations thrive, both economically and culturally.
Last month, at an international meeting in Madrid, the OpenCities project was launched with the aim of getting European cities working on making themselves attractive, accessible and successful in the 21st century. Key to this is accepting and integrating newcomers, because diversity works. Dublin and Belfast were both well represented at OpenCities - and their delegations faced the uncomfortable fact that, whenever league tables are compiled and list cities that "succeed" in being good places to live, the Irish capitals are languishing below 40 other names, topped inevitably by Vancouver and Melbourne. These indices take into account accessibility, personal safety, climate, culture, transport and income levels.
"Cities should be learning from each other. Belfast and Dublin are very important [ as models] for cities in central and eastern Europe, who have been losing population in recent years. The Irish cities show that the trend can be reversed, and very positively," said Greg Clark, a consultant and chief adviser to the OpenCities project.
More than half of the world's population live in cities. In 20 years, the figure will be over 60 per cent, according to the United Nations, and some studies estimate it will rapidly increase, up to three-quarters of the global population. And after that? A city is defined as an urban settlement with more than 250,000 people. Cities are the only show in town, so to speak. And the best will do well, economically and culturally, while the others turn into agglomerations of shanty towns and a gated, privileged community living a fearful separate life.
"This issue is in the vanguard, from sub-Saharan Africa to Latin America to Europe," says Mark Kleinman, a professor in the London School of Economics (LSE) and the UK's chief social researcher for communities and local government. "The language of immigration is not enough to help us manage a complex situation." The future of cities, and the need to integrate, or whatever label is put on a harmonious combination of nationalities, has to be "taken out of politics", he says.
OpenCities was launched officially in the booming Spanish capital with a gathering of sociologists, town planners, local government officers, non-governmental organisation representatives and politicians. Peter Hall, long-time professor of planning at the LSE, and Prof Saskia Sassen, author, sociologist and member of the Columbia University Committee on Global Thought, and the person who coined the word "global city", were among an exhilarating array of keynote speakers. From each of them, the message was the same: a multi-cultured city is, with proper handling, a recipe for success.
PETER FINNEGAN, of Dublin City Council's new international outreach unit, made much of the buzz of his city and the great attraction of its people. He did also acknowledge, at questions, that transport remained an area which needed work, and that infrastructural development had lagged behind the Celtic Tiger growth - old news to us, but instructive to the representatives of the other Open Cities, Bilbao, Dusseldorf, Gdansk, Sofia and Vienna, Belfast and Madrid.
Dublin faces a list of challenges, including the thorny one of urban transport, and how to combine the essential new inhabitants in a harmonious and productive whole.
Belfast has similar concerns. But with its tortured recent history, there is an also a determination to use that pain to a positive end, and avoid mistakes that other cities have made in becoming multicultural.
The OpenCities project is the brainchild of the British Council, Britain's cultural organisation, with EU support. It is partly Britain's response to data showing that "Old Europe" is losing to the US in the race for the future. Another plank of the British Council's strategy, a Transatlantic Network of young leaders, will be launched later this year.
"OpenCities represents a new way of working for the British Council in Ireland and in Europe more generally," says Tony Reilly, the council's representative in Dublin. "It is bringing Belfast and Dublin city councils together to look at how cities respond to both the opportunities and challenges of more diverse communities." Intercultural dialogue is "where it's at", he says, and this is at the heart of a new mission for the British Council. "We have moved away from a more traditional cultural institute approach to our work."
The Spanish are also very interested. "We want Madrid to be, undisputed, the third city of Europe, after London and Paris," says Ignacio Nino, chief executive of Madrid's Bureau of International Strategy and Action. The Spanish capital has seen phenomenal growth through migration in the past decade. In 1996, the population featured 58,000 migrants. Today, that figure has swelled to 548,000 - around 17 per cent of the total population of 3.2 million in the city proper, and getting close to one in five Madrilenos. Many of the new arrivals are from South American countries, such as Mexico and Cuba. The common language is an asset, but as Gabriel Castrillo, a scientific researcher, told the launch conference, that does not mean moving to Madrid is easy. Validation of professional and academic qualifications from other jurisdictions is one oft-mentioned hurdle. Castrillo said it took two years for his Cuban degrees to make their way through the densely bureaucratic Spanish verification system.
Yet the official line is that the Spanish integration, labelled "cohabitation", has been a great success. "We have no problems, no tensions," declared Nino and others, somewhat incredibly, given that audience members at open sessions spoke of their dismay on getting on the Metro or a bus and seeing no other Spanish passengers. The official claim is based on the lack of major disturbances or riots. But, especially after the Madrid train bombings of 2004, there has been a level of unease about foreigners, local people said.
NEARLY ALL THE population growth in Europe is now due to immigration, Clark notes. Many cities, and countries, have negative or negligible increases in natural growth, births over deaths. 'The most diverse cities attract the most growth," Clark says. 'In international flows of people that we are now seeing, immigration leads to globalisation which leads to urbanisation. London and New York were the most successful cities of the 20th century," he says. 'What can we learn from them for the 21st?"
The data in his chunky report, published at the conference, is from a number of surveys done by the EU, the OECD, the Economist Intelligence Unit and other solid sources. They build up a picture of what is needed for long-term urban prosperity, in terms of jobs and comfort for the citizens.
The OECD found that three million long-term migrants enter its member countries every year, and the big majority are in 11 of the most industrialised countries. Francesca Froy of that organisation told the Madrid gathering of the "clear mismatch" between many countries' immigration and integration policies.
From a self-interest point of view - and one NGO at the conference wondered if there was not more than a dash of a "massive marketing exercise" - what does this all mean for Dublin? Ireland is now fourth in the table of European countries with large foreign-born populations. (Switzerland is first, with nearly 23 per cent from abroad, and has largely had a positive integration experience due to a strong economy.) Can we meet the challenge of turning our cities into great, busy, happy places where accents mingle, but are understood?
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Ireland doesn't have good cities. An opinion, perhaps. Cities are the way of the future and must get better. That is a fact. And another fact, demonstrated by history, is that cities which are open to foreign populations thrive, both economically and culturally.
Last month, at an international meeting in Madrid, the OpenCities project was launched with the aim of getting European cities working on making themselves attractive, accessible and successful in the 21st century. Key to this is accepting and integrating newcomers, because diversity works. Dublin and Belfast were both well represented at OpenCities - and their delegations faced the uncomfortable fact that, whenever league tables are compiled and list cities that "succeed" in being good places to live, the Irish capitals are languishing below 40 other names, topped inevitably by Vancouver and Melbourne. These indices take into account accessibility, personal safety, climate, culture, transport and income levels.
"Cities should be learning from each other. Belfast and Dublin are very important [ as models] for cities in central and eastern Europe, who have been losing population in recent years. The Irish cities show that the trend can be reversed, and very positively," said Greg Clark, a consultant and chief adviser to the OpenCities project.
More than half of the world's population live in cities. In 20 years, the figure will be over 60 per cent, according to the United Nations, and some studies estimate it will rapidly increase, up to three-quarters of the global population. And after that? A city is defined as an urban settlement with more than 250,000 people. Cities are the only show in town, so to speak. And the best will do well, economically and culturally, while the others turn into agglomerations of shanty towns and a gated, privileged community living a fearful separate life.
"This issue is in the vanguard, from sub-Saharan Africa to Latin America to Europe," says Mark Kleinman, a professor in the London School of Economics (LSE) and the UK's chief social researcher for communities and local government. "The language of immigration is not enough to help us manage a complex situation." The future of cities, and the need to integrate, or whatever label is put on a harmonious combination of nationalities, has to be "taken out of politics", he says.
OpenCities was launched officially in the booming Spanish capital with a gathering of sociologists, town planners, local government officers, non-governmental organisation representatives and politicians. Peter Hall, long-time professor of planning at the LSE, and Prof Saskia Sassen, author, sociologist and member of the Columbia University Committee on Global Thought, and the person who coined the word "global city", were among an exhilarating array of keynote speakers. From each of them, the message was the same: a multi-cultured city is, with proper handling, a recipe for success.
PETER FINNEGAN, of Dublin City Council's new international outreach unit, made much of the buzz of his city and the great attraction of its people. He did also acknowledge, at questions, that transport remained an area which needed work, and that infrastructural development had lagged behind the Celtic Tiger growth - old news to us, but instructive to the representatives of the other Open Cities, Bilbao, Dusseldorf, Gdansk, Sofia and Vienna, Belfast and Madrid.
Dublin faces a list of challenges, including the thorny one of urban transport, and how to combine the essential new inhabitants in a harmonious and productive whole.
Belfast has similar concerns. But with its tortured recent history, there is an also a determination to use that pain to a positive end, and avoid mistakes that other cities have made in becoming multicultural.
The OpenCities project is the brainchild of the British Council, Britain's cultural organisation, with EU support. It is partly Britain's response to data showing that "Old Europe" is losing to the US in the race for the future. Another plank of the British Council's strategy, a Transatlantic Network of young leaders, will be launched later this year.
"OpenCities represents a new way of working for the British Council in Ireland and in Europe more generally," says Tony Reilly, the council's representative in Dublin. "It is bringing Belfast and Dublin city councils together to look at how cities respond to both the opportunities and challenges of more diverse communities." Intercultural dialogue is "where it's at", he says, and this is at the heart of a new mission for the British Council. "We have moved away from a more traditional cultural institute approach to our work."
The Spanish are also very interested. "We want Madrid to be, undisputed, the third city of Europe, after London and Paris," says Ignacio Nino, chief executive of Madrid's Bureau of International Strategy and Action. The Spanish capital has seen phenomenal growth through migration in the past decade. In 1996, the population featured 58,000 migrants. Today, that figure has swelled to 548,000 - around 17 per cent of the total population of 3.2 million in the city proper, and getting close to one in five Madrilenos. Many of the new arrivals are from South American countries, such as Mexico and Cuba. The common language is an asset, but as Gabriel Castrillo, a scientific researcher, told the launch conference, that does not mean moving to Madrid is easy. Validation of professional and academic qualifications from other jurisdictions is one oft-mentioned hurdle. Castrillo said it took two years for his Cuban degrees to make their way through the densely bureaucratic Spanish verification system.
Yet the official line is that the Spanish integration, labelled "cohabitation", has been a great success. "We have no problems, no tensions," declared Nino and others, somewhat incredibly, given that audience members at open sessions spoke of their dismay on getting on the Metro or a bus and seeing no other Spanish passengers. The official claim is based on the lack of major disturbances or riots. But, especially after the Madrid train bombings of 2004, there has been a level of unease about foreigners, local people said.
NEARLY ALL THE population growth in Europe is now due to immigration, Clark notes. Many cities, and countries, have negative or negligible increases in natural growth, births over deaths. 'The most diverse cities attract the most growth," Clark says. 'In international flows of people that we are now seeing, immigration leads to globalisation which leads to urbanisation. London and New York were the most successful cities of the 20th century," he says. 'What can we learn from them for the 21st?"
The data in his chunky report, published at the conference, is from a number of surveys done by the EU, the OECD, the Economist Intelligence Unit and other solid sources. They build up a picture of what is needed for long-term urban prosperity, in terms of jobs and comfort for the citizens.
The OECD found that three million long-term migrants enter its member countries every year, and the big majority are in 11 of the most industrialised countries. Francesca Froy of that organisation told the Madrid gathering of the "clear mismatch" between many countries' immigration and integration policies.
From a self-interest point of view - and one NGO at the conference wondered if there was not more than a dash of a "massive marketing exercise" - what does this all mean for Dublin? Ireland is now fourth in the table of European countries with large foreign-born populations. (Switzerland is first, with nearly 23 per cent from abroad, and has largely had a positive integration experience due to a strong economy.) Can we meet the challenge of turning our cities into great, busy, happy places where accents mingle, but are understood?
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
'Lots of options' available for Ballsbridge site if plan rejected
PROPERTY developer Seán Dunne says he has a "very conservative" debt-to-equity ratio and has "lots of options" available if his plans for his site in Ballsbridge, Dublin, are not approved.
Mr Dunne said at the weekend that he had had a meeting recently with his bankers who had remarked that it was "good to be dealing with a superprime asset. I consider it to be a superprime asset."
Mr Dunne paid €379 million for the Jurys and Berkeley Court hotels in 2005 and plans to replace the hotels with a substantial mixed use development.
Last week Dublin City Council's planners granted permission for much of the plan but turned down permission for a 37-storey residential tower and an office block.
The decision is being appealed to An Bord Pleanála and Mr Dunne said he expected a decision by the end of this year.
On the Marion Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Dunne said his purchase of the site was not a gamble. "Ballsbridge probably has the dearest . . . property in Ireland, probably in Europe. You can buy property cheaper in Paris than in Ballsbridge."
He did not think that this was "nuts".
Mr Dunne said it was "illogical" for the current zoning to allow residential, hotel, embassy and cultural development on the site, but not office development. Given the zoning that currently existed, he had known the planners had to refuse the office element of his submission.
"We don't need office permission to make this stand up," he said. "We can put apartments where those offices are."
On the issue of the tower, he noted that the planners had only said it was "leaning towards excessive".
He said that apartments produced a better yield in Ballsbridge than offices. Offices would yield about €1,400 a sq ft whereas he planned to get €1,500 a sq ft for his apartments.
He said a mix of apartments and offices would be the best for the site.
Mr Dunne also said the hotels operating on the site were not covering the interest bills on his bank loans. However, he had "an income stream from many properties. I would think the gearing of our company is on the very conservative side." He had a large equity stake of his own in the project, he said.
"We have large borrowings but we have large assets. We have 20 acres of land in the centre of Dublin."
The world had changed dramatically since he had bought the site but "the banks in Ireland are on a very solid footing. They are in the market still to lend money to property, to viable projects."
He had lots of options for the site, he said, including leaving the hotels open, closing the hotels, leaving the site vacant or "turning it into a parking lot". He could hold on to the site, which would increase in value.
He said he could "go with the zoning" and put up the apartments, leave the gates and railing around the site "and leave it so only the people living there can ever walk across the site again. That is probably the most economical proposal we can do."
However, he had a vision for what was a long-term project. If the plan was turned down, "then we'll go back to base and we'll start all over again". He believed his plan would be approved.
Asked if he had sympathy for nearby residents who were facing years of construction work on the site, he said that he did, but that one way or the other the site would be developed.
Mr Dunne said he believed the residential market would not pick up again until the end of next year.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Dunne said at the weekend that he had had a meeting recently with his bankers who had remarked that it was "good to be dealing with a superprime asset. I consider it to be a superprime asset."
Mr Dunne paid €379 million for the Jurys and Berkeley Court hotels in 2005 and plans to replace the hotels with a substantial mixed use development.
Last week Dublin City Council's planners granted permission for much of the plan but turned down permission for a 37-storey residential tower and an office block.
The decision is being appealed to An Bord Pleanála and Mr Dunne said he expected a decision by the end of this year.
On the Marion Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Dunne said his purchase of the site was not a gamble. "Ballsbridge probably has the dearest . . . property in Ireland, probably in Europe. You can buy property cheaper in Paris than in Ballsbridge."
He did not think that this was "nuts".
Mr Dunne said it was "illogical" for the current zoning to allow residential, hotel, embassy and cultural development on the site, but not office development. Given the zoning that currently existed, he had known the planners had to refuse the office element of his submission.
"We don't need office permission to make this stand up," he said. "We can put apartments where those offices are."
On the issue of the tower, he noted that the planners had only said it was "leaning towards excessive".
He said that apartments produced a better yield in Ballsbridge than offices. Offices would yield about €1,400 a sq ft whereas he planned to get €1,500 a sq ft for his apartments.
He said a mix of apartments and offices would be the best for the site.
Mr Dunne also said the hotels operating on the site were not covering the interest bills on his bank loans. However, he had "an income stream from many properties. I would think the gearing of our company is on the very conservative side." He had a large equity stake of his own in the project, he said.
"We have large borrowings but we have large assets. We have 20 acres of land in the centre of Dublin."
The world had changed dramatically since he had bought the site but "the banks in Ireland are on a very solid footing. They are in the market still to lend money to property, to viable projects."
He had lots of options for the site, he said, including leaving the hotels open, closing the hotels, leaving the site vacant or "turning it into a parking lot". He could hold on to the site, which would increase in value.
He said he could "go with the zoning" and put up the apartments, leave the gates and railing around the site "and leave it so only the people living there can ever walk across the site again. That is probably the most economical proposal we can do."
However, he had a vision for what was a long-term project. If the plan was turned down, "then we'll go back to base and we'll start all over again". He believed his plan would be approved.
Asked if he had sympathy for nearby residents who were facing years of construction work on the site, he said that he did, but that one way or the other the site would be developed.
Mr Dunne said he believed the residential market would not pick up again until the end of next year.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Proposal to preserve Pigeon House chimneys rejected
PLANNERS IN Dublin City Council have rejected a proposal to preserve the Pigeon House chimneys at Poolbeg by adding them to the Record of Protected Structures (RPS), on the basis that they are not of sufficient architectural, social or historical value.
The 207m (680ft) candy-striped twin chimney stacks at the ESB's Poolbeg generating station have been one of the city's most recognisable landmarks for more than 30 years, but have never had protection from demolition.
Last July Labour councillor Dermot Lacey proposed that the chimneys be added to the RPS on the grounds that they are an essential part of the city's industrial heritage. Mr Lacey's proposal was approved by his fellow councillors, and went forward for assessment to the council's conservation offices.
The move to preserve the chimneys followed last year's decision by the ESB to close the Poolbeg power station by 2010. The ESB said no decision had been made on the future of the stacks and it was unlikely that any decision would be taken until the plant closed.
The company has also yet to decide whether it will sell the 90-acre site on which the stacks stand. The site is likely to become prime development land in the coming years with plans to move much of Dublin port's activities outside the city and proposals to turn the Poolbeg area into a high-density urban quarter.
However, if the chimneys were added to the RPS, any development would have to incorporate the two giant stacks, which, while considered a vital piece of Dublin's heritage by the councillors, could be seen as an eyesore by developers and homebuyers.
The planners said the stacks were currently of architectural interest due to their height, but their present prominence "will be diminished by upcoming developments in the docklands area". They were of a "certain level of architectural, social and historical significance" but not to a sufficient level to satisfy the criteria under the planning acts for entry to the RPS.
Mr Lacey said yesterday that councillors were now examining all measures possible to protect the chimneys. Local Fianna Fáil TD Chris Andrews is also seeking protection for the chimneys and has called for an interim preservation order to be applied to ensure they are not disturbed without the council's sanction.
"The council must ensure that they are not caught on the hop. A preservation order should be fast tracked ensuring that these important structures are protected and I intend to raise this matter in the Dáil."
The chimneys were an important part of Dublin's social history, he said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The 207m (680ft) candy-striped twin chimney stacks at the ESB's Poolbeg generating station have been one of the city's most recognisable landmarks for more than 30 years, but have never had protection from demolition.
Last July Labour councillor Dermot Lacey proposed that the chimneys be added to the RPS on the grounds that they are an essential part of the city's industrial heritage. Mr Lacey's proposal was approved by his fellow councillors, and went forward for assessment to the council's conservation offices.
The move to preserve the chimneys followed last year's decision by the ESB to close the Poolbeg power station by 2010. The ESB said no decision had been made on the future of the stacks and it was unlikely that any decision would be taken until the plant closed.
The company has also yet to decide whether it will sell the 90-acre site on which the stacks stand. The site is likely to become prime development land in the coming years with plans to move much of Dublin port's activities outside the city and proposals to turn the Poolbeg area into a high-density urban quarter.
However, if the chimneys were added to the RPS, any development would have to incorporate the two giant stacks, which, while considered a vital piece of Dublin's heritage by the councillors, could be seen as an eyesore by developers and homebuyers.
The planners said the stacks were currently of architectural interest due to their height, but their present prominence "will be diminished by upcoming developments in the docklands area". They were of a "certain level of architectural, social and historical significance" but not to a sufficient level to satisfy the criteria under the planning acts for entry to the RPS.
Mr Lacey said yesterday that councillors were now examining all measures possible to protect the chimneys. Local Fianna Fáil TD Chris Andrews is also seeking protection for the chimneys and has called for an interim preservation order to be applied to ensure they are not disturbed without the council's sanction.
"The council must ensure that they are not caught on the hop. A preservation order should be fast tracked ensuring that these important structures are protected and I intend to raise this matter in the Dáil."
The chimneys were an important part of Dublin's social history, he said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Renewal of inner city areas left high and dry
Dublin City Council's decision to grant permission for a high-rise cluster in Ballsbridge has no real basis in planning policy, writes Frank McDonald .
SECURING DUBLIN'S position as a "dynamic, mixed use, visually attractive, world-class city" was the driving force behind the decision to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the Jurys-Berkeley Court hotel sites in Ballsbridge, according to the planning report.
The report, compiled by senior planner Kieran Rose, is full of American references, including a comparison between the proposed scheme and the Rockefeller Centre in New York, "with its integrated composition of towers, a pedestrian mall, plaza and ice-skating rink".
Although the planners omitted its centrepiece, a 37-storey tower on the axis of Pembroke Road, because its height "tends towards the excessive", it is clear that they were enthralled by the high-rise vision put forward by Danish architects Henning Larsen.
The planners saw it as "a radical affirmation for Ballsbridge" and accepted the architects' argument that creating a high-rise cluster in this area "will have a significant, positive and defining influence in identifying a 'sense of place' for Ballsbridge".
Mr Rose cites another American source for the public debate on New York's early skyscrapers, with some seeing them as symbols of "unbridled materialism", while for others they were symbols of "a young and assertive nation with its best years still ahead".
His report asserts that Ballsbridge has "a national function", as exemplified by the Lansdowne Road rugby grounds, the RDS, the AIB headquarters and the US and other embassies. "Even the postal code [ Dublin 4] has a place in the national consciousness".
Referring to the average floor area of 140 sq metres for the proposed 532 apartments, he writes: "This is a quantum leap in spaciousness. In a sense, these apartment homes can be seen as the 21st-century equivalent to the large Victorian houses in Ballsbridge".
He also suggests the "cultural resistance" to apartment living in Ireland can be overcome in much the same way as it was in New York in the late 19th century when well-to-do families chose apartments for their "luxury and comfort".
Certainly, none but the wealthy would be able to afford any of the apartments envisaged for the two hotel sites in Ballsbridge. All of the "social and affordable" housing is to be provided by developer Seán Dunne on other sites in the Dublin South East area.
But the key issue in planning terms is whether there is any basis at all for approving high-rise clusters in Ballsbridge, including Mr Dunne's scheme or the development of up to 15 storeys recently approved by council planners for the adjoining Veterinary College site.
The truth is that there isn't. Just six weeks ago, the council published a policy document, Maximising the City's Potential: A Strategy for Intensification and Height, identifying suitable locations in the city for high-rise buildings - and Ballsbridge was not among them.
There is no reference to this in Mr Rose's report. All it could cite was an earlier (1999) study by urban designers DEGW suggesting Beggar's Bush as a potential location, with Mr Dunne's planning consultants RPS contending that his Ballsbridge site would be "superior".
The indulgence being shown by the planners towards high-rise schemes for the area also runs counter to 20 years of planning policy designed to take the heat off Ballsbridge and encourage developers to build in the inner city and other areas needing renewal.
Mr Rose was senior planner for the south inner city, where the fruits of his sterling work can be seen today in places like Cork Street and Dolphin's Barn. Michael Stubbs, assistant city manager in charge of planning, was another key figure in that area's rejuvenation.
It beggars belief that - along with chief planning officer Dick Gleeson and city manager John Tierney - they are now prepared to roll out a red carpet for high-rise buildings in Ballsbridge, while denying this has anything to do with the extravagant prices paid for sites.
In the changed economic circumstances we are facing, particularly in the property sector, the consequences of such a "policy" are clear: developers will gravitate towards high-value areas like Ballsbridge, leaving parts of Dublin that really need renewal high and dry.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
SECURING DUBLIN'S position as a "dynamic, mixed use, visually attractive, world-class city" was the driving force behind the decision to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the Jurys-Berkeley Court hotel sites in Ballsbridge, according to the planning report.
The report, compiled by senior planner Kieran Rose, is full of American references, including a comparison between the proposed scheme and the Rockefeller Centre in New York, "with its integrated composition of towers, a pedestrian mall, plaza and ice-skating rink".
Although the planners omitted its centrepiece, a 37-storey tower on the axis of Pembroke Road, because its height "tends towards the excessive", it is clear that they were enthralled by the high-rise vision put forward by Danish architects Henning Larsen.
The planners saw it as "a radical affirmation for Ballsbridge" and accepted the architects' argument that creating a high-rise cluster in this area "will have a significant, positive and defining influence in identifying a 'sense of place' for Ballsbridge".
Mr Rose cites another American source for the public debate on New York's early skyscrapers, with some seeing them as symbols of "unbridled materialism", while for others they were symbols of "a young and assertive nation with its best years still ahead".
His report asserts that Ballsbridge has "a national function", as exemplified by the Lansdowne Road rugby grounds, the RDS, the AIB headquarters and the US and other embassies. "Even the postal code [ Dublin 4] has a place in the national consciousness".
Referring to the average floor area of 140 sq metres for the proposed 532 apartments, he writes: "This is a quantum leap in spaciousness. In a sense, these apartment homes can be seen as the 21st-century equivalent to the large Victorian houses in Ballsbridge".
He also suggests the "cultural resistance" to apartment living in Ireland can be overcome in much the same way as it was in New York in the late 19th century when well-to-do families chose apartments for their "luxury and comfort".
Certainly, none but the wealthy would be able to afford any of the apartments envisaged for the two hotel sites in Ballsbridge. All of the "social and affordable" housing is to be provided by developer Seán Dunne on other sites in the Dublin South East area.
But the key issue in planning terms is whether there is any basis at all for approving high-rise clusters in Ballsbridge, including Mr Dunne's scheme or the development of up to 15 storeys recently approved by council planners for the adjoining Veterinary College site.
The truth is that there isn't. Just six weeks ago, the council published a policy document, Maximising the City's Potential: A Strategy for Intensification and Height, identifying suitable locations in the city for high-rise buildings - and Ballsbridge was not among them.
There is no reference to this in Mr Rose's report. All it could cite was an earlier (1999) study by urban designers DEGW suggesting Beggar's Bush as a potential location, with Mr Dunne's planning consultants RPS contending that his Ballsbridge site would be "superior".
The indulgence being shown by the planners towards high-rise schemes for the area also runs counter to 20 years of planning policy designed to take the heat off Ballsbridge and encourage developers to build in the inner city and other areas needing renewal.
Mr Rose was senior planner for the south inner city, where the fruits of his sterling work can be seen today in places like Cork Street and Dolphin's Barn. Michael Stubbs, assistant city manager in charge of planning, was another key figure in that area's rejuvenation.
It beggars belief that - along with chief planning officer Dick Gleeson and city manager John Tierney - they are now prepared to roll out a red carpet for high-rise buildings in Ballsbridge, while denying this has anything to do with the extravagant prices paid for sites.
In the changed economic circumstances we are facing, particularly in the property sector, the consequences of such a "policy" are clear: developers will gravitate towards high-value areas like Ballsbridge, leaving parts of Dublin that really need renewal high and dry.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin planners prepared to allow high-rise building in Ballsbridge
DUBLIN CITY Council's planners have made it clear to developer Sean Dunne that they are prepared to grant permission for a high-rise "landmark building" on the Jurys site in Ballsbridge in place of the 37-storey tower omitted from the current scheme.
"It is the strong view of the planning authority that a landmark building of architectural excellence is required at this location, and equally that the building be of sufficient scale to act as a landmark," according to a report by senior planner Kieran Rose.
Referring to the junction of Pembroke Road and Lansdowne Road, where the 37-storey tower had been proposed, he says the planners "would consider by way of a new planning application a building that meets these criteria on this part of the site".
However, Mr Rose's report makes it clear that it was not open to the planners to permit the proposed tower "despite the many positive aspects of the taller building, and having regard to the lack of sufficient policy support for a building of 37 storeys".
In its decision to grant planning permission for the proposed development, the council also omitted a 10-storey office block on the basis that it was "neither permissible nor open for consideration" under the existing Z1 residential zoning.
However, it approved six other buildings in the scheme by Danish architects Henning Larsen, including four blocks containing a total of 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, an embassy building, cultural centre, crèche and district shopping centre.
The proposed cultural centre, on which Gate Theatre director Michael Colgan is the adviser, would include an art gallery, an "eclectic" cinema, a photographic gallery, a performance space, rehearsal and artists studios and a "centre for European culture".
The embassy block would provide 13,250 sq m of office space for embassies.
Billionaire financier Dermot Desmond - who was one of some 150 objectors - has warned that such a building would be "a sitting duck for a potential terrorist attack".
The tallest building approved for the Jurys-Berkeley Court hotel sites, which Mr Dunne agreed to purchase in 2005 for €379 million, would rise to 18 storeys on the Shelbourne Road frontage, while the lowest would be nine storeys.
The decision, which was subject to 27 conditions, specified that the three apartment blocks on the Lansdowne Road frontage be reduced in height from 11 to nine storeys to provide "a more harmonious relationship" with Victorian houses opposite.
Omitting the proposed 37-storey tower, which would have contained 182 apartments, and lowering the height of the Lansdowne Road blocks have resulted in cutting the number of apartments in the scheme from 536 to 294, a reduction of over 45 per cent.
Given that Mr Dunne has said his company, Mountbrook, intended to submit a revised application for the landmark tower - unless it gets approval for it from Bord Pleanála on appeal - it would be possible to recoup a large proportion of the omitted apartments.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
"It is the strong view of the planning authority that a landmark building of architectural excellence is required at this location, and equally that the building be of sufficient scale to act as a landmark," according to a report by senior planner Kieran Rose.
Referring to the junction of Pembroke Road and Lansdowne Road, where the 37-storey tower had been proposed, he says the planners "would consider by way of a new planning application a building that meets these criteria on this part of the site".
However, Mr Rose's report makes it clear that it was not open to the planners to permit the proposed tower "despite the many positive aspects of the taller building, and having regard to the lack of sufficient policy support for a building of 37 storeys".
In its decision to grant planning permission for the proposed development, the council also omitted a 10-storey office block on the basis that it was "neither permissible nor open for consideration" under the existing Z1 residential zoning.
However, it approved six other buildings in the scheme by Danish architects Henning Larsen, including four blocks containing a total of 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, an embassy building, cultural centre, crèche and district shopping centre.
The proposed cultural centre, on which Gate Theatre director Michael Colgan is the adviser, would include an art gallery, an "eclectic" cinema, a photographic gallery, a performance space, rehearsal and artists studios and a "centre for European culture".
The embassy block would provide 13,250 sq m of office space for embassies.
Billionaire financier Dermot Desmond - who was one of some 150 objectors - has warned that such a building would be "a sitting duck for a potential terrorist attack".
The tallest building approved for the Jurys-Berkeley Court hotel sites, which Mr Dunne agreed to purchase in 2005 for €379 million, would rise to 18 storeys on the Shelbourne Road frontage, while the lowest would be nine storeys.
The decision, which was subject to 27 conditions, specified that the three apartment blocks on the Lansdowne Road frontage be reduced in height from 11 to nine storeys to provide "a more harmonious relationship" with Victorian houses opposite.
Omitting the proposed 37-storey tower, which would have contained 182 apartments, and lowering the height of the Lansdowne Road blocks have resulted in cutting the number of apartments in the scheme from 536 to 294, a reduction of over 45 per cent.
Given that Mr Dunne has said his company, Mountbrook, intended to submit a revised application for the landmark tower - unless it gets approval for it from Bord Pleanála on appeal - it would be possible to recoup a large proportion of the omitted apartments.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dunne tower had 'positive aspects'
DUBLIN City Council planners could not grant developer Sean Dunne permission for his 37-storey landmark tower at Ballsbridge because of a lack of policy governing high-rise buildings.
Internal documents also show that the city's planners considered the scheme "high quality, carefully considered, innovative and creative".
While the office tower "could be said to be desirable", it was "not permissible" under the site's zoning. A "lack of sufficient policy support", meanwhile, had ruled out the 132-metre tower in Dublin 4, "despite many positive aspects".
Mr Dunne and local residents are expected to appeal the decision, which saw planning permission granted for most of the site. Mr Dunne wants An Bord Pleanala to rule that the 37-storey tower should be allowed, while residents want the whole scheme refused.
Local TD Lucinda Creighton (FG) said the development "completely ignored" the high-rise strategy for Dublin, and added that she would be mounting an appeal.
Paul Melia
Internal documents also show that the city's planners considered the scheme "high quality, carefully considered, innovative and creative".
While the office tower "could be said to be desirable", it was "not permissible" under the site's zoning. A "lack of sufficient policy support", meanwhile, had ruled out the 132-metre tower in Dublin 4, "despite many positive aspects".
Mr Dunne and local residents are expected to appeal the decision, which saw planning permission granted for most of the site. Mr Dunne wants An Bord Pleanala to rule that the 37-storey tower should be allowed, while residents want the whole scheme refused.
Local TD Lucinda Creighton (FG) said the development "completely ignored" the high-rise strategy for Dublin, and added that she would be mounting an appeal.
Paul Melia
No more hurdles for JP as mansion plans get go-ahead
EVEN before the roar went up for the first race, Cheltenham festival week got off to a flyer for racing enthusiast, JP McManus, who received the news that he can begin putting the finishing touches to his €100m mansion.
Mr McManus and his wife, Noreen, plan to build a grand entrance to his exclusive home at Martinstown, Co Limerick.
And yesterday the plan was given the green light by An Bord Pleanala following a series of delays.
Previous decisions on the planning permission were held up following an objection by a neighbouring landowner.
Mrs McManus lodged plans with Limerick County Council for eyecatching entrance gates complete with a natural stone archway. There will be adjoining pillars, with twin intricate turrets overlooking the entry point, and a specially constructed security building.
Ms McManus also applied to the local authority for plans to construct new gates and a sweeping access road to the main dwelling; relocation of entrance and access to the existing farm; a waste water treatment system and ancillary site works.
Conditional planning was granted by Limerick County Council last July.
However, an appeal against the local authority's decision was subsequently lodged to An Bord Pleanala last August by Barry Almer from Ballingarry, Co Limerick, and the decision has only now been made in favour of Mrs McManus.
Mr and Mrs McManus have splashed out over €100m on building the luxurious 40,000 square foot home in Martinstown.
Mrs McManus also lodged ambitious plans for a 31,000 square metre lake in the shape of county Limerick on the grounds of the estate, but Limerick County Council have expressed their reservations.
Mr McManus is be in Prestbury Park today for the racing extravaganza which begins at 2pm, where he will be keeping a close eye on his two runners, Captain Cee Bee and Binocular in the opening race.
Barry Duggan
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr McManus and his wife, Noreen, plan to build a grand entrance to his exclusive home at Martinstown, Co Limerick.
And yesterday the plan was given the green light by An Bord Pleanala following a series of delays.
Previous decisions on the planning permission were held up following an objection by a neighbouring landowner.
Mrs McManus lodged plans with Limerick County Council for eyecatching entrance gates complete with a natural stone archway. There will be adjoining pillars, with twin intricate turrets overlooking the entry point, and a specially constructed security building.
Ms McManus also applied to the local authority for plans to construct new gates and a sweeping access road to the main dwelling; relocation of entrance and access to the existing farm; a waste water treatment system and ancillary site works.
Conditional planning was granted by Limerick County Council last July.
However, an appeal against the local authority's decision was subsequently lodged to An Bord Pleanala last August by Barry Almer from Ballingarry, Co Limerick, and the decision has only now been made in favour of Mrs McManus.
Mr and Mrs McManus have splashed out over €100m on building the luxurious 40,000 square foot home in Martinstown.
Mrs McManus also lodged ambitious plans for a 31,000 square metre lake in the shape of county Limerick on the grounds of the estate, but Limerick County Council have expressed their reservations.
Mr McManus is be in Prestbury Park today for the racing extravaganza which begins at 2pm, where he will be keeping a close eye on his two runners, Captain Cee Bee and Binocular in the opening race.
Barry Duggan
www.buckplanning.ie
€30m bill for Tara digs as M3 battle heats up
Almost €30m has been spent so far on archaeology for the controversial M3 motorway near Tara where protesters have tunnelled in to hold up work.
This is one-tenth of the entire €300m earmarked for archaeology costs on the entire national motorway programme, the Irish Independent has learned.
The war of words continued yesterday between protesters, who have occupied tunnels they secretly made beside the Rath Lugh protected monument, and the National Roads Authority.
The Save Tara campaign group said yesterday that a young woman has vowed to seal herself into one of the tunnels to protect the hill, which is studded with ancient earthworks.
The hill is sitting on top of an esker, a collection of soil, sand and gravel. The group opposed to the motorway running near the Hill of Tara claimed that because of the fragile nature of the soil in Rath Lugh, any movement of heavy machinery in the vicinity of the Rath would collapse the tunnel, "with possible fatal consequences".
"Any eviction attempt . . is likely to end in failure, with possible catastrophic consequences.
"There are specialist tunnel rescue crews that need to be consulted before any attempt is made to end this protest," said the group.
The NRA says the new road, now costing more than €1bn, will be further away than the totally gridlocked old road and insisted it would not damage the Rath Lugh monument.
The authority has said the new motorway will be far safer than the existing road, which is 50pc more dangerous on average that other main roads.
An NRA statement yesterday said there was a preservation order on the monument at Rath Lugh and "at no point are we encroaching on the monument".
It said the contractor was putting in place a crib wall within the footprint of his work area to guarantee there will be no encroachment.
The NRA claimed that protesters were taking apart protective fencing and were digging on the site itself "causing impact on the area".
The authority said the motorway would be further away from the Hill of Tara than the existing N3 road.
The M3 motorway via Meath and Cavan has been delayed for years.
A spokesman for Environment Minister John Gormley said that an independent engineering report he commissioned after concerns were raised about possible damage to Rath Lugh had recommended a series of extra measures to protect the area.
These recommendations had been passed on to the NRA, said the spokesman for Mr Gormley.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
This is one-tenth of the entire €300m earmarked for archaeology costs on the entire national motorway programme, the Irish Independent has learned.
The war of words continued yesterday between protesters, who have occupied tunnels they secretly made beside the Rath Lugh protected monument, and the National Roads Authority.
The Save Tara campaign group said yesterday that a young woman has vowed to seal herself into one of the tunnels to protect the hill, which is studded with ancient earthworks.
The hill is sitting on top of an esker, a collection of soil, sand and gravel. The group opposed to the motorway running near the Hill of Tara claimed that because of the fragile nature of the soil in Rath Lugh, any movement of heavy machinery in the vicinity of the Rath would collapse the tunnel, "with possible fatal consequences".
"Any eviction attempt . . is likely to end in failure, with possible catastrophic consequences.
"There are specialist tunnel rescue crews that need to be consulted before any attempt is made to end this protest," said the group.
The NRA says the new road, now costing more than €1bn, will be further away than the totally gridlocked old road and insisted it would not damage the Rath Lugh monument.
The authority has said the new motorway will be far safer than the existing road, which is 50pc more dangerous on average that other main roads.
An NRA statement yesterday said there was a preservation order on the monument at Rath Lugh and "at no point are we encroaching on the monument".
It said the contractor was putting in place a crib wall within the footprint of his work area to guarantee there will be no encroachment.
The NRA claimed that protesters were taking apart protective fencing and were digging on the site itself "causing impact on the area".
The authority said the motorway would be further away from the Hill of Tara than the existing N3 road.
The M3 motorway via Meath and Cavan has been delayed for years.
A spokesman for Environment Minister John Gormley said that an independent engineering report he commissioned after concerns were raised about possible damage to Rath Lugh had recommended a series of extra measures to protect the area.
These recommendations had been passed on to the NRA, said the spokesman for Mr Gormley.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Planners dash O'Brien's hopes for dream mansion
BUSINESSMAN Denis O'Brien is going to have to make do with his €35m Dublin 4 mansion for the foreseeable future.
Plans to demolish the home he bought two years ago and replace it with a 22,000 sq ft eco-friendly mansion have been shot down by An Bord Pleanala.
The telecoms billionaire, who bought Belmont, on Shrewsbury Road, in 2006 for a reported €35m, wanted to bulldoze the 100-year-old property -- designed by architect Stanislaus Orpen, a brother of artist Sir William Orpen -- and replace it with a home three times its size.
At the time, Belmont was the second most expensive residential sale in Dublin. The most expensive home in the capital, Walford, was sold for €58m and is across the road.
The 8,000 sq ft property, which sits on one-third of an acre on the country's most expensive residential street, has seven bedrooms, a swimming pool complex and putting green -- but is deemed to be "substandard" by the businessman.
He sought permission through an Isle of Man company, Grapedown Ltd, to build a detached 22,033 sq ft two-storey over-basement house, to include an indoor swimming pool, spa, staff quarters and six reception rooms.
The new house would be of a "high quality of architectural design and materials,and provide superior environmental standards", and its size reflected "changing requirements for contemporary living".
The house had been "significantly altered", had no historic or cultural value and did not make a positive contribution to the character of the streetscape, he claimed. He told An Bord Pleanala it was "sub-standard" in terms of layout, building regulations and building energy ratings, adding it didn't meet "the lifestyle and living standard requirements of persons likely to seek residence in this area".
But the board was having none of it. In its decision yesterday, it found that Belmont was a dwelling of "significant architectural, historical, cultural and social value", located on a road of "unique character" within Dublin City.
Allowing the proposal to go ahead would set an "undesireable precedent" for similar type developments in the area, which could alter the character of the area.
Mr O'Brien could not be reached for comment about the decision yesterday.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Plans to demolish the home he bought two years ago and replace it with a 22,000 sq ft eco-friendly mansion have been shot down by An Bord Pleanala.
The telecoms billionaire, who bought Belmont, on Shrewsbury Road, in 2006 for a reported €35m, wanted to bulldoze the 100-year-old property -- designed by architect Stanislaus Orpen, a brother of artist Sir William Orpen -- and replace it with a home three times its size.
At the time, Belmont was the second most expensive residential sale in Dublin. The most expensive home in the capital, Walford, was sold for €58m and is across the road.
The 8,000 sq ft property, which sits on one-third of an acre on the country's most expensive residential street, has seven bedrooms, a swimming pool complex and putting green -- but is deemed to be "substandard" by the businessman.
He sought permission through an Isle of Man company, Grapedown Ltd, to build a detached 22,033 sq ft two-storey over-basement house, to include an indoor swimming pool, spa, staff quarters and six reception rooms.
The new house would be of a "high quality of architectural design and materials,and provide superior environmental standards", and its size reflected "changing requirements for contemporary living".
The house had been "significantly altered", had no historic or cultural value and did not make a positive contribution to the character of the streetscape, he claimed. He told An Bord Pleanala it was "sub-standard" in terms of layout, building regulations and building energy ratings, adding it didn't meet "the lifestyle and living standard requirements of persons likely to seek residence in this area".
But the board was having none of it. In its decision yesterday, it found that Belmont was a dwelling of "significant architectural, historical, cultural and social value", located on a road of "unique character" within Dublin City.
Allowing the proposal to go ahead would set an "undesireable precedent" for similar type developments in the area, which could alter the character of the area.
Mr O'Brien could not be reached for comment about the decision yesterday.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Decision to preserve school land as playing fields overturned
A HIGH Court judge has overturned as unlawful a local authority decision aimed at preserving 4.5 acres of walled lands adjoining the Presentation Brothers' former secondary school at Glasthule, Co Dublin, for use as playing fields.
The brothers had been treated in a "high-handed and extremely shabby" manner, Mr Justice Peter Kelly also said.
The judge noted Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council had conceded its decision on the lands was unlawful and had not disputed that the brothers had not been told of the proposal in advance and only learned of it by chance from a leaflet distributed by a local councillor.
He made an order quashing the council decision and also awarded costs to the brothers, adding that he would have awarded costs at the highest level but could not do so.
In their proceedings, the brothers said the council had stated Glasthule was deficient in open spaces but claimed no evidence was adduced by the council in that regard. The council's action had effectively sterilised the lands, it was claimed.
Given their ownership of the lands in question and their 150 years' service to the people of Glasthule, the brothers had been treated with "extremely bad manners" by the county manager, the judge said.
The judge was dealing with proceedings in which the Presentation Brothers sought to challenge the decision of the council's elected members of October 8th, 2007, to approve a variation in its development plan providing for the preservation of the lands at Hudson Road, Glasthule, as a playing field.
There is no public access to the lands and they have not been used as playing fields for some time, the court heard.
Yesterday, Donal O'Donnell SC, for the brothers, said the council had informed his side it was not opposing the application.
Ruling on the matter, the judge said the brothers had operated a highly successful school in Glasthule for many years until they decided, due to declining numbers, to close it.
While they had received offers from developers for the school building, zoned as residential amenity, they wished it to retain an educational purpose and sold it for a lower price to the Department of Education.
Some 4.5 acres of lands ancillary to the school, which had not been used as playing fields for some time since the school had closed, were not included in that sale.
The Presentation Brothers had since decided to sell these lands to fund their mission, to provide for the upkeep of their remaining schools here and in Africa, and for the care of elderly members of the order.
The lands were zoned for open space and recreational amenity purposes, which could incorporate commercial recreational development.
The brothers could have sought to have them zoned residential amenity thus increasing their value, but had not made an issue of that, the judge said.
He said it appeared a well-known property developer met the county manager on June 11th, 2007, to discuss a possible development of the lands.
Within hours of that meeting, the manager began a process to vary the county development plan to ensure the continued use of the lands as playing fields and circulated a report that same day to councillors. The council had voted for that proposal on October 8th, 2007.
The judge said the brothers were not informed of the proposal prior to its circulation to councillors and were kept in ignorance until, by chance, they saw a flyer welcoming the proposal.
The brothers then sought a meeting with the county manager but they were refused.
The council now conceded this treatment of the brothers was unlawful and the council decision could not stand, the judge said.
Mr Justice Kelly also noted that the development objective of preserving the lands for playing fields was negative in character as the lands were not used for playing fields now and could only be used for that purpose if the brothers, as owners of the lands, agreed.
MARY CAROLAN
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The brothers had been treated in a "high-handed and extremely shabby" manner, Mr Justice Peter Kelly also said.
The judge noted Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council had conceded its decision on the lands was unlawful and had not disputed that the brothers had not been told of the proposal in advance and only learned of it by chance from a leaflet distributed by a local councillor.
He made an order quashing the council decision and also awarded costs to the brothers, adding that he would have awarded costs at the highest level but could not do so.
In their proceedings, the brothers said the council had stated Glasthule was deficient in open spaces but claimed no evidence was adduced by the council in that regard. The council's action had effectively sterilised the lands, it was claimed.
Given their ownership of the lands in question and their 150 years' service to the people of Glasthule, the brothers had been treated with "extremely bad manners" by the county manager, the judge said.
The judge was dealing with proceedings in which the Presentation Brothers sought to challenge the decision of the council's elected members of October 8th, 2007, to approve a variation in its development plan providing for the preservation of the lands at Hudson Road, Glasthule, as a playing field.
There is no public access to the lands and they have not been used as playing fields for some time, the court heard.
Yesterday, Donal O'Donnell SC, for the brothers, said the council had informed his side it was not opposing the application.
Ruling on the matter, the judge said the brothers had operated a highly successful school in Glasthule for many years until they decided, due to declining numbers, to close it.
While they had received offers from developers for the school building, zoned as residential amenity, they wished it to retain an educational purpose and sold it for a lower price to the Department of Education.
Some 4.5 acres of lands ancillary to the school, which had not been used as playing fields for some time since the school had closed, were not included in that sale.
The Presentation Brothers had since decided to sell these lands to fund their mission, to provide for the upkeep of their remaining schools here and in Africa, and for the care of elderly members of the order.
The lands were zoned for open space and recreational amenity purposes, which could incorporate commercial recreational development.
The brothers could have sought to have them zoned residential amenity thus increasing their value, but had not made an issue of that, the judge said.
He said it appeared a well-known property developer met the county manager on June 11th, 2007, to discuss a possible development of the lands.
Within hours of that meeting, the manager began a process to vary the county development plan to ensure the continued use of the lands as playing fields and circulated a report that same day to councillors. The council had voted for that proposal on October 8th, 2007.
The judge said the brothers were not informed of the proposal prior to its circulation to councillors and were kept in ignorance until, by chance, they saw a flyer welcoming the proposal.
The brothers then sought a meeting with the county manager but they were refused.
The council now conceded this treatment of the brothers was unlawful and the council decision could not stand, the judge said.
Mr Justice Kelly also noted that the development objective of preserving the lands for playing fields was negative in character as the lands were not used for playing fields now and could only be used for that purpose if the brothers, as owners of the lands, agreed.
MARY CAROLAN
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
M3 motorway protesters claim to have entered tunnel under road
CAMPAIGNERS AGAINST the M3 motorway claim they have stepped up their campaign by occupying a tunnel they say they have secretly dug under the proposed route that passes through the Tara Valley in Co Meath.
A group calling itself the Rath Lugh Direct Action Camp last night said protesters are already occupying the tunnel and were capable of sealing themselves in. They said that construction traffic passing over the tunnel would leave it vulnerable to collapse.
Derek Berrill, a spokesman for the group which is affiliated to the Save Tara campaign, said the passageway was located in front of the Rath Luth promontory fort in the Gabhra Valley.
"It has been occupied since March 6th. We have moved in because we are never too sure when they plan the next move against us," said Mr Berrill.
He said that work had commenced on the tunnel in secret in August 2007. He would not specify its exact size. "I can say the tunnel is big, although I am not in a position to give the diameter," said Mr Berrill.
"It goes directly down and then goes halfway under the route itself, crossing about halfway across [the width of the proposed] motorway."
The protesters say they intend to occupy the tunnel indefinitely to prevent construction traffic from passing overhead.
They say they also want to draw attention to what they say is continued erosion of the landscape from construction traffic.
Mr Berrill said they were "absolutely certain" that the tunnel itself would not cause damage.
Michael Egan of the National Roads Authority said there was no independent verification as yet that any tunnel had been built.
Entering a caveat that protesters have claimed actions in the past that did not materialise, Mr Egan said that if a tunnel had been dug then the contractor, and if necessary the Garda Síochána, would have to deal with the situation.
"They have no right to be on that property. They are trespassing above and below the ground," he said.
The Department of Environment said it had no reason to believe that any activity close to Rath Lugh was endangering or damaging the monument.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley's spokesman said that issues surrounding the construction of the road were matters for the Department of Transport and the authority.
The spokesman said that Mr Gormley yesterday signed a permanent protection order for the Rath Lugh promontory fort - until now it has been protected by a temporary order. This order, he said, was a coincidence unrelated to yesterday's development.
He added that the department was unaware as to the existence of a tunnel.
HARRY McGee
Irish Times
A group calling itself the Rath Lugh Direct Action Camp last night said protesters are already occupying the tunnel and were capable of sealing themselves in. They said that construction traffic passing over the tunnel would leave it vulnerable to collapse.
Derek Berrill, a spokesman for the group which is affiliated to the Save Tara campaign, said the passageway was located in front of the Rath Luth promontory fort in the Gabhra Valley.
"It has been occupied since March 6th. We have moved in because we are never too sure when they plan the next move against us," said Mr Berrill.
He said that work had commenced on the tunnel in secret in August 2007. He would not specify its exact size. "I can say the tunnel is big, although I am not in a position to give the diameter," said Mr Berrill.
"It goes directly down and then goes halfway under the route itself, crossing about halfway across [the width of the proposed] motorway."
The protesters say they intend to occupy the tunnel indefinitely to prevent construction traffic from passing overhead.
They say they also want to draw attention to what they say is continued erosion of the landscape from construction traffic.
Mr Berrill said they were "absolutely certain" that the tunnel itself would not cause damage.
Michael Egan of the National Roads Authority said there was no independent verification as yet that any tunnel had been built.
Entering a caveat that protesters have claimed actions in the past that did not materialise, Mr Egan said that if a tunnel had been dug then the contractor, and if necessary the Garda Síochána, would have to deal with the situation.
"They have no right to be on that property. They are trespassing above and below the ground," he said.
The Department of Environment said it had no reason to believe that any activity close to Rath Lugh was endangering or damaging the monument.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley's spokesman said that issues surrounding the construction of the road were matters for the Department of Transport and the authority.
The spokesman said that Mr Gormley yesterday signed a permanent protection order for the Rath Lugh promontory fort - until now it has been protected by a temporary order. This order, he said, was a coincidence unrelated to yesterday's development.
He added that the department was unaware as to the existence of a tunnel.
HARRY McGee
Irish Times
Clonakilty Tidal Barrage
The work on Clonakilty Tidal Barrage is in the pipelines to begin at the start of May this year. The overall cost of the project is thought to exceed four million euro. The Minister for the Environment, heritage and Local Government has committed to expedite the matter; however no government department has yet given a guarantee of funding.
Planning permission for this project in Clonakilty was given five years ago, and it is due to expire shortly. It is necessary to begin the work before the planning expires, in order to avoid complications down the line.
For this reason, the project will commence without the guarantee of government funding. Although the council cannot commit to the cost of the full project without central funding, they will begin with phase one of the barrage. This initial cost of 830,000 euro is to be met by the town council.
West Cork People
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning permission for this project in Clonakilty was given five years ago, and it is due to expire shortly. It is necessary to begin the work before the planning expires, in order to avoid complications down the line.
For this reason, the project will commence without the guarantee of government funding. Although the council cannot commit to the cost of the full project without central funding, they will begin with phase one of the barrage. This initial cost of 830,000 euro is to be met by the town council.
West Cork People
www.buckplanning.ie
Ballsbridge high-rises may have overreached themselves and the city
ANALYSIS: Dublin City Council's split decision on Seán Dunne's extremely expensive Ballsbridge site has left the developer facing an uncertain future, writes Frank McDonald.
TWO AND a half years ago, when Seán Dunne broke all previous records by paying €53.7 million an acre for the Jurys site in Ballsbridge and then trumped that a few months later by paying €57.5 million an acre for the adjoining Berkeley Court site, there were many who thought it was "mad money".
Within a few months, however, the records he set were broken repeatedly by other developers in what seemed like a frenzy to stake claims on prime property in the heart of Dublin 4. Glenkerrin's Ray Grehan, for example, paid €81 million an acre for the adjoining UCD Veterinary College site.
Mr Dunne made it clear from the outset he would be pursuing plans for a mixed-use development that would include a 32-storey residential tower.
Other developers, including Mr Grehan, were convinced they would get approval for high-rise, high-density schemes to make their money back.
Last August and September, within two weeks of each other, Glenkerrin and Dunne's company, Mountbrook Homes, both lodged their planning applications. By then, Mountbrook's proposed tower had grown to 37 storeys, flanked by seven other buildings ranging in height from 10 to 18 storeys.
By contrast, Glenkerrin's scheme appeared relatively modest, with a 15-storey residential tower - called "No 1 Ballsbridge" - as its centrepiece and three office blocks up to nine storeys high, with cafes, restaurants, boutiques and an arts centre laid out around a square and a new street.
Despite strong objections among the 80 submissions it received, Dublin City Council's planners decided last month to approve the proposed development, with only minor amendments, thereby setting a new benchmark for building heights in Ballsbridge. It is now under appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
When it came to the Jurys/Berkeley Court sites, which are currently zoned residential, the planners exercised a Solomon's judgment of sorts - approving an 18-storey residential block fronting onto Shelbourne Road as well as the proposed hotel, shopping centre, embassy block and cultural centre.
But they refused permission for the 32/37-storey tower as well as a proposed office block, which wouldn't have been permissible under the zoning anyway. The omission of the tower results in a loss of 182 apartments, though Mr Dunne will be seeking permission for a revised scheme to retain as many as possible.
Copies of the planning decision and the planner's report on which it was based will only be available today, so it is impossible at this stage to say why the tower was rejected; presumably, it was on the grounds of excessive height in an area that has not been identified as a suitable location for high-rise buildings.
Its omission undermines the viability of Mountbrook's overall scheme, making it difficult to see how Mr Dunne or his bankers can make their money back. And they can't have much confidence that An Bord Pleanála will agree to reinstate the tower, given the negative stance it has taken on many high-rise schemes.
Neither is there any guarantee that the appeals board will uphold Glenkerrin's proposed development, particularly its 15-storey tower.
The board can only have regard to "proper planning and sustainable development" in making its decisions, and it is unclear how these high-rise schemes fit into that category.
The property market has changed markedly since the height of the boom in late 2005, when huge sums were being paid for sites in Ballsbridge. Schemes that seemed likely to "fly" then may no longer be viable, not just in Ballsbridge but in lower-valued parts of the city that are much more in need of renewal.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
TWO AND a half years ago, when Seán Dunne broke all previous records by paying €53.7 million an acre for the Jurys site in Ballsbridge and then trumped that a few months later by paying €57.5 million an acre for the adjoining Berkeley Court site, there were many who thought it was "mad money".
Within a few months, however, the records he set were broken repeatedly by other developers in what seemed like a frenzy to stake claims on prime property in the heart of Dublin 4. Glenkerrin's Ray Grehan, for example, paid €81 million an acre for the adjoining UCD Veterinary College site.
Mr Dunne made it clear from the outset he would be pursuing plans for a mixed-use development that would include a 32-storey residential tower.
Other developers, including Mr Grehan, were convinced they would get approval for high-rise, high-density schemes to make their money back.
Last August and September, within two weeks of each other, Glenkerrin and Dunne's company, Mountbrook Homes, both lodged their planning applications. By then, Mountbrook's proposed tower had grown to 37 storeys, flanked by seven other buildings ranging in height from 10 to 18 storeys.
By contrast, Glenkerrin's scheme appeared relatively modest, with a 15-storey residential tower - called "No 1 Ballsbridge" - as its centrepiece and three office blocks up to nine storeys high, with cafes, restaurants, boutiques and an arts centre laid out around a square and a new street.
Despite strong objections among the 80 submissions it received, Dublin City Council's planners decided last month to approve the proposed development, with only minor amendments, thereby setting a new benchmark for building heights in Ballsbridge. It is now under appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
When it came to the Jurys/Berkeley Court sites, which are currently zoned residential, the planners exercised a Solomon's judgment of sorts - approving an 18-storey residential block fronting onto Shelbourne Road as well as the proposed hotel, shopping centre, embassy block and cultural centre.
But they refused permission for the 32/37-storey tower as well as a proposed office block, which wouldn't have been permissible under the zoning anyway. The omission of the tower results in a loss of 182 apartments, though Mr Dunne will be seeking permission for a revised scheme to retain as many as possible.
Copies of the planning decision and the planner's report on which it was based will only be available today, so it is impossible at this stage to say why the tower was rejected; presumably, it was on the grounds of excessive height in an area that has not been identified as a suitable location for high-rise buildings.
Its omission undermines the viability of Mountbrook's overall scheme, making it difficult to see how Mr Dunne or his bankers can make their money back. And they can't have much confidence that An Bord Pleanála will agree to reinstate the tower, given the negative stance it has taken on many high-rise schemes.
Neither is there any guarantee that the appeals board will uphold Glenkerrin's proposed development, particularly its 15-storey tower.
The board can only have regard to "proper planning and sustainable development" in making its decisions, and it is unclear how these high-rise schemes fit into that category.
The property market has changed markedly since the height of the boom in late 2005, when huge sums were being paid for sites in Ballsbridge. Schemes that seemed likely to "fly" then may no longer be viable, not just in Ballsbridge but in lower-valued parts of the city that are much more in need of renewal.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Meath incinerator plan sparks local anger over health worries
A CROWD estimated at 400 marched to the entrance of north Meath rendering company College Proteins yesterday in protest at its plans to build an eight-megawatt biomass combined heat-and-power plant at Nobber, Co Meath.
The power would be generated through the incineration and the firm says two megawatts would be used for its own operations and the balance would be exported to the national electricity grid.
There is much local opposition to the incinerator. The campaign group ran adverts on local radio this week calling on people to join in the march.
Local MEP Mairéad McGuinness told the crowd she believed efforts were under way to "reclassify incineration as a form of recycling because energy can be got from it".
She said it was an issue "the Greens were strong on but are weak on now in Government".
Among the protesters was local GP Dr Martin Whyte, who said: "I spend my working days and professional life trying to maintain good health and promoting good health and this would be a retrograde step."
He claims it would result in "toxic emissions including dioxins which are the most toxic chemicals one can breathe. There will also be fine particles emitted. This will particularly affect people with chronic respiratory and cardiovascular problems as well as pregnant women and newborns."
He did not accept that incinerators built to the highest standards would be safe. "All incinerators release emissions and pollute to a level. In Ireland the Health Research Board said five years ago that it did not have the expertise or resources to monitor the health of the population in the vicinity of incinerators. I don't believe that has changed."
An Bord Pleanála has said the project falls under the scope of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act, 2006, which means the firm must apply to it for planning permission.
Chief executive of College Proteins John Gilroy said: "We have engaged a team of expert consultants to prepare the plans for this exciting development. We are committed to a policy of full and open consultation with our neighbours and with the various regulatory agencies and other stakeholders."
He said the power plant would replace fossil fuel-generated electricity with biomass carbon-neutral fuels, and would cut carbon emissions equivalent to taking 20,000 cars off the road.
The reduction in emissions would equate to 1 per cent of the national carbon emissions reduction target as set out in the Kyoto Protocol, for Ireland."
A municipal waste incinerator is also due to be built in Carranstown, south Meath, and Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee who lives in Nobber said: "Meath is in danger of becoming the dumping ground for Dublin's waste and waste from the surrounding counties."
ELAINE KEOGH
The Irish Times
The power would be generated through the incineration and the firm says two megawatts would be used for its own operations and the balance would be exported to the national electricity grid.
There is much local opposition to the incinerator. The campaign group ran adverts on local radio this week calling on people to join in the march.
Local MEP Mairéad McGuinness told the crowd she believed efforts were under way to "reclassify incineration as a form of recycling because energy can be got from it".
She said it was an issue "the Greens were strong on but are weak on now in Government".
Among the protesters was local GP Dr Martin Whyte, who said: "I spend my working days and professional life trying to maintain good health and promoting good health and this would be a retrograde step."
He claims it would result in "toxic emissions including dioxins which are the most toxic chemicals one can breathe. There will also be fine particles emitted. This will particularly affect people with chronic respiratory and cardiovascular problems as well as pregnant women and newborns."
He did not accept that incinerators built to the highest standards would be safe. "All incinerators release emissions and pollute to a level. In Ireland the Health Research Board said five years ago that it did not have the expertise or resources to monitor the health of the population in the vicinity of incinerators. I don't believe that has changed."
An Bord Pleanála has said the project falls under the scope of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act, 2006, which means the firm must apply to it for planning permission.
Chief executive of College Proteins John Gilroy said: "We have engaged a team of expert consultants to prepare the plans for this exciting development. We are committed to a policy of full and open consultation with our neighbours and with the various regulatory agencies and other stakeholders."
He said the power plant would replace fossil fuel-generated electricity with biomass carbon-neutral fuels, and would cut carbon emissions equivalent to taking 20,000 cars off the road.
The reduction in emissions would equate to 1 per cent of the national carbon emissions reduction target as set out in the Kyoto Protocol, for Ireland."
A municipal waste incinerator is also due to be built in Carranstown, south Meath, and Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee who lives in Nobber said: "Meath is in danger of becoming the dumping ground for Dublin's waste and waste from the surrounding counties."
ELAINE KEOGH
The Irish Times
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Superdump outside city may pollute vital source of tap water
TAP WATER could be contaminated by a proposed new superdump, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) public inquiry heard yesterday.
The landfill, spanning some 600 acres, will be sitting on top on the biggest water acquifer in the country which supplies drinking water to thousands of homes, according to the Nevitt/Lusk Action Group.
The group says the presence of a huge underground acquifer has already been confirmed by five hydrogeologists and the project cannot be allowed to go ahead at Tooman/Nevitt, near Lusk, in north county Dublin.
Declan White, group spokesman, said yesterday their concerns related to the possibility of the underground acquifer which supplies tap water being contaminated by an estimated 36,500 tonnes of leachate a year. The water would be used to dilute the leachate, he claimed.
Spanish green MEP David Hammerstein attended the opening day of the EPA licence hearing in Balbriggan at the request of the European Parliament Petitions Committee.
Opponents to the project say a source from the groundwater is used by fruit and vegetable growers in north county Dublin, who grow around 55pc of the country's fresh produce.
They claim the the environmental impact assessment does not properly describe or assess the presence of a major water source under the proposed landfill.
Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle said she was particularly concerned that the Environmental Impact Statement on the project did not mention the presence of a large groundwater supply, despite this information being available.
An Bord Pleanala has postponed taking a planning decision on the dump because of a submission on archaeology issues from the Department of the Environment.
An oral hearing into the landfill near Lusk, which is due to have a capacity of 500,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year, was held in October of last year.
The EPA licence inquiry also heard yesterday from Indaver, the incinerator company, which is planning to construct two major facilities, in Co Meath and Cork.
The company argued that Ireland has excess landfill capacity and there was an urgent need to direct waste further up the waste hierarchy away from landfill, which is at the bottom of the waste hierarchy.
Fingal Co Council, which is behind the landfill, claim the site was chosen using current best international practice for responsible landfill site selection and having regard to the draft EPA manual on the landfill of waste.
The hearing continues.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The landfill, spanning some 600 acres, will be sitting on top on the biggest water acquifer in the country which supplies drinking water to thousands of homes, according to the Nevitt/Lusk Action Group.
The group says the presence of a huge underground acquifer has already been confirmed by five hydrogeologists and the project cannot be allowed to go ahead at Tooman/Nevitt, near Lusk, in north county Dublin.
Declan White, group spokesman, said yesterday their concerns related to the possibility of the underground acquifer which supplies tap water being contaminated by an estimated 36,500 tonnes of leachate a year. The water would be used to dilute the leachate, he claimed.
Spanish green MEP David Hammerstein attended the opening day of the EPA licence hearing in Balbriggan at the request of the European Parliament Petitions Committee.
Opponents to the project say a source from the groundwater is used by fruit and vegetable growers in north county Dublin, who grow around 55pc of the country's fresh produce.
They claim the the environmental impact assessment does not properly describe or assess the presence of a major water source under the proposed landfill.
Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle said she was particularly concerned that the Environmental Impact Statement on the project did not mention the presence of a large groundwater supply, despite this information being available.
An Bord Pleanala has postponed taking a planning decision on the dump because of a submission on archaeology issues from the Department of the Environment.
An oral hearing into the landfill near Lusk, which is due to have a capacity of 500,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year, was held in October of last year.
The EPA licence inquiry also heard yesterday from Indaver, the incinerator company, which is planning to construct two major facilities, in Co Meath and Cork.
The company argued that Ireland has excess landfill capacity and there was an urgent need to direct waste further up the waste hierarchy away from landfill, which is at the bottom of the waste hierarchy.
Fingal Co Council, which is behind the landfill, claim the site was chosen using current best international practice for responsible landfill site selection and having regard to the draft EPA manual on the landfill of waste.
The hearing continues.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Neat rows of homes and one 15-storey eyesore
SHINY buildings on the right, a grim tower block on the left. Ballymun is a place of dramatic contrasts.
It is no longer the glib, graffiti-ridden northside 'hell hole' that became synonymous with drugs and crime in the 1980s.
Neither is it the utopian vision dreamt up by Ballymun Regeneration Ltd with Dublin City Council's blessing.
Modern buildings with walls of sheet glass and polished concrete greet the visitor on the main airport road to the new town of 'Ballyer'.
Rows of neat Scandinavian-style homes house families that had never enjoyed gardens or balconies.
But near them lies a hotchpotch of unfinished business. It is hard to ignore the single tower that remains of the 15-storey blocks that inspired the lyrics of U2's 'Bad'.
The only thing to distinguish the local shopping centre from a windowless warehouse is a large Tesco sign on the side of the building. At an entrance to the gaudy yellow 1970s-style eyesore, a bouncer wrestled with local kids with nothing to do yesterday.
To the passer-by, there is nothing obvious to indicate that the revamp has run far off course, although they might have wondered why the Joseph Plunkett tower still stands.
To residents, the fact that the euro notes spent on the revamp are stacking up as high as the old towers isn't news.
But they are divided in their views on Ballymun Regeneration Ltd. Politics are determined by whether you are 'pro' or 'against' the methods of the merchants of change.
Tiny
Long-term resident Seamus Kelly claimed some families agreed to take tiny homes they were offered because they feared they might not get anything else.
He 'held out' and still lives on the 10th floor of the last 15-storey Joseph Plunkett Tower.
"I'm still waiting for a new home," he said.
Mick Sullivan, who has lived in the area for 22 years, was upbeat about the progress.
"I've very happy," said the dad, who works in the modern Axis community arts centre, opposite the remaining flats.
"I live in a two-bed duplex apartment with my son.
"I used to have a one-bedroom flat.
"You couldn't afford it elsewhere. It might be €500,000 in Foxrock."
Anne-Marie Walsh
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
It is no longer the glib, graffiti-ridden northside 'hell hole' that became synonymous with drugs and crime in the 1980s.
Neither is it the utopian vision dreamt up by Ballymun Regeneration Ltd with Dublin City Council's blessing.
Modern buildings with walls of sheet glass and polished concrete greet the visitor on the main airport road to the new town of 'Ballyer'.
Rows of neat Scandinavian-style homes house families that had never enjoyed gardens or balconies.
But near them lies a hotchpotch of unfinished business. It is hard to ignore the single tower that remains of the 15-storey blocks that inspired the lyrics of U2's 'Bad'.
The only thing to distinguish the local shopping centre from a windowless warehouse is a large Tesco sign on the side of the building. At an entrance to the gaudy yellow 1970s-style eyesore, a bouncer wrestled with local kids with nothing to do yesterday.
To the passer-by, there is nothing obvious to indicate that the revamp has run far off course, although they might have wondered why the Joseph Plunkett tower still stands.
To residents, the fact that the euro notes spent on the revamp are stacking up as high as the old towers isn't news.
But they are divided in their views on Ballymun Regeneration Ltd. Politics are determined by whether you are 'pro' or 'against' the methods of the merchants of change.
Tiny
Long-term resident Seamus Kelly claimed some families agreed to take tiny homes they were offered because they feared they might not get anything else.
He 'held out' and still lives on the 10th floor of the last 15-storey Joseph Plunkett Tower.
"I'm still waiting for a new home," he said.
Mick Sullivan, who has lived in the area for 22 years, was upbeat about the progress.
"I've very happy," said the dad, who works in the modern Axis community arts centre, opposite the remaining flats.
"I live in a two-bed duplex apartment with my son.
"I used to have a one-bedroom flat.
"You couldn't afford it elsewhere. It might be €500,000 in Foxrock."
Anne-Marie Walsh
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Revamp to cost €500m more than was planned
THE top public official who heads up the State's biggest ever regeneration project last night refused to accept responsibility for a massive half-billion euro overspend.
The cost of the project in Ballymun has doubled to €942m and it is now set to be delivered six years late.
But Ciaran Murray, the head of Ballymun Regeneration Limited, said the project had been "very difficult to quantify", while the minister in charge at the time the "masterplan" was approved, Noel Dempsey, also defended the scheme.
The regeneration of Ballymun, the most socially deprived area in Dublin, was supposed to have its demolition and rebuilding work completed in 2006 -- but the new target date is 2012, with less than half of the planned housing delivered.
The report by the State's own spending watchdog found that the regeneration project has had a "somewhat limited" effect on local employment.
And the cost has spiralled way beyond the original €442 estimate, sparking comparisons with other government "white elephant" schemes.
Difficult
But last night, Mr Murray said: "We had to do it with the existing population in situ and it made it very difficult to quantify what was needed. And there's no suggestion that money was wasted."
The original €442m estimate for the project was contained in a "masterplan" which was drawn up in 1999 by ten firms of consultants. But Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell's report found the final cost of the project has now spiralled to €942, due to extra infrastructure costs, construction inflation and a failure to provide for €86m of administrative costs.
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said it was another example of taxpayers being left with the bill for budget over-runs.
But Noel Dempsey, who was Minister for Environment when the "masterplan" was approved, argued that the project should not be measured in financial terms alone.
"I am proud of what this programme has done to help free Ballymun of social stigma and misery. It is important to know the difference between the value and the cost of projects of this nature," he said.
The masterplan said that building new homes for the 16,500 people in Ballymun would be the "relatively easy and predictable part". But the report published yesterday found that just 52pc of the planned public housing and 39pc of private housing had been completed by December 2006.
Other difficulties also emerged due to, what the report described as, a "range of complex and interconnected reasons". No detailed surveys of Ballymun's famous tower blocks were carried out, so builders were unaware that 50pc of them contained asbestos.
Surveys
There were also no detailed surveys of the gas pipes, water pipes, electricity lines and phone lines which lay like a "spider's web" underneath the ground of Ballymun.
The project was also held back by several High Court challenges and by the problem of moving residents from their tower blocks when their new houses were not ready.
Labour TD Roisin Shorthall said the most disappointing aspect of the Ballymun project was the long delay.
"The project should have been completed this year, but it is now projected to take at least another four years. This will be a cause of disappointment for many families who are still waiting for new housing," she said.
The Minister of State for Housing Batt O'Keeffe said lessons learned from the project would be taken on board for the current regeneration of the Moyross and Southill estates in Limerick.
"But I'm pretty confident that when the Public Accounts Committee examine the report on Ballymun, the outcome will not be as negative as some people seem to be suggesting," he said.
A long history of massive budget overspends
PPARS - The payment system - which was originally costed at just €8.8m and was supposed to cater for payroll for all health staff - has now cost almost €190m and is still climbing.
Decentralisation - Four years after it was announced, just one fifth of 10,000 Government staff have actually moved out of Dublin. Cost so far? €186.5m.
E-voting - The Government spent €52m on e-voting machines which were first used for just three constituencies in the general election in 2002 and in the second Nice Treaty. But they are currently being stored in an aircraft hangar in Co Meath while someone decides what to do with them.
Broker - A computer system designed to integrate public services. Estimated cost €14m; actual cost €37m. Costs €15m a year to run.
Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The cost of the project in Ballymun has doubled to €942m and it is now set to be delivered six years late.
But Ciaran Murray, the head of Ballymun Regeneration Limited, said the project had been "very difficult to quantify", while the minister in charge at the time the "masterplan" was approved, Noel Dempsey, also defended the scheme.
The regeneration of Ballymun, the most socially deprived area in Dublin, was supposed to have its demolition and rebuilding work completed in 2006 -- but the new target date is 2012, with less than half of the planned housing delivered.
The report by the State's own spending watchdog found that the regeneration project has had a "somewhat limited" effect on local employment.
And the cost has spiralled way beyond the original €442 estimate, sparking comparisons with other government "white elephant" schemes.
Difficult
But last night, Mr Murray said: "We had to do it with the existing population in situ and it made it very difficult to quantify what was needed. And there's no suggestion that money was wasted."
The original €442m estimate for the project was contained in a "masterplan" which was drawn up in 1999 by ten firms of consultants. But Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell's report found the final cost of the project has now spiralled to €942, due to extra infrastructure costs, construction inflation and a failure to provide for €86m of administrative costs.
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said it was another example of taxpayers being left with the bill for budget over-runs.
But Noel Dempsey, who was Minister for Environment when the "masterplan" was approved, argued that the project should not be measured in financial terms alone.
"I am proud of what this programme has done to help free Ballymun of social stigma and misery. It is important to know the difference between the value and the cost of projects of this nature," he said.
The masterplan said that building new homes for the 16,500 people in Ballymun would be the "relatively easy and predictable part". But the report published yesterday found that just 52pc of the planned public housing and 39pc of private housing had been completed by December 2006.
Other difficulties also emerged due to, what the report described as, a "range of complex and interconnected reasons". No detailed surveys of Ballymun's famous tower blocks were carried out, so builders were unaware that 50pc of them contained asbestos.
Surveys
There were also no detailed surveys of the gas pipes, water pipes, electricity lines and phone lines which lay like a "spider's web" underneath the ground of Ballymun.
The project was also held back by several High Court challenges and by the problem of moving residents from their tower blocks when their new houses were not ready.
Labour TD Roisin Shorthall said the most disappointing aspect of the Ballymun project was the long delay.
"The project should have been completed this year, but it is now projected to take at least another four years. This will be a cause of disappointment for many families who are still waiting for new housing," she said.
The Minister of State for Housing Batt O'Keeffe said lessons learned from the project would be taken on board for the current regeneration of the Moyross and Southill estates in Limerick.
"But I'm pretty confident that when the Public Accounts Committee examine the report on Ballymun, the outcome will not be as negative as some people seem to be suggesting," he said.
A long history of massive budget overspends
PPARS - The payment system - which was originally costed at just €8.8m and was supposed to cater for payroll for all health staff - has now cost almost €190m and is still climbing.
Decentralisation - Four years after it was announced, just one fifth of 10,000 Government staff have actually moved out of Dublin. Cost so far? €186.5m.
E-voting - The Government spent €52m on e-voting machines which were first used for just three constituencies in the general election in 2002 and in the second Nice Treaty. But they are currently being stored in an aircraft hangar in Co Meath while someone decides what to do with them.
Broker - A computer system designed to integrate public services. Estimated cost €14m; actual cost €37m. Costs €15m a year to run.
Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Cost of Ballymun project overruns by €500m
AT NEARLY €1 billion the regeneration of Ballymun is now set to cost taxpayers double the amount originally planned.
A report by the State’s financial watchdog yesterday blamed building delays and inflation for the overspend.
But the Comptroller and Auditor General said better planning could have lessened delays.
John Purcell revealed the overhaul of the north Dublin area is set to cost about €942 million, a substantial jump from the €442m originally set aside.
Moreover, the redevelopment will not be finished until 2012 — six years beyond the original deadline.
A “major setback”, according to Mr Purcell, is the delay in providing a promised shopping centre for Ballymun locals. Plans for a business and technology park are also delayed.
The report said 24 blocks of flats still remain to be demolished. The public housing plan was also only half complete by mid-2007.
Additional costs and delays were blamed on a number of factors including:
* Extended planning.
* Changes in demolition due to asbestos.
* Consultation with tenants and the community.
* Problems in the construction market.
* Health and safety issues.
* Delays moving tenants.
Mr Purcell added: “Better planning and risk management could have mitigated some of the causes of the delays.”
The Government approved Ballymun’s regeneration in 1997 because of high levels of economic and social deprivation in the area.
A review of the project is needed to ensure future regeneration projects do not run over estimated budgets, warned Mr Purcell.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
A report by the State’s financial watchdog yesterday blamed building delays and inflation for the overspend.
But the Comptroller and Auditor General said better planning could have lessened delays.
John Purcell revealed the overhaul of the north Dublin area is set to cost about €942 million, a substantial jump from the €442m originally set aside.
Moreover, the redevelopment will not be finished until 2012 — six years beyond the original deadline.
A “major setback”, according to Mr Purcell, is the delay in providing a promised shopping centre for Ballymun locals. Plans for a business and technology park are also delayed.
The report said 24 blocks of flats still remain to be demolished. The public housing plan was also only half complete by mid-2007.
Additional costs and delays were blamed on a number of factors including:
* Extended planning.
* Changes in demolition due to asbestos.
* Consultation with tenants and the community.
* Problems in the construction market.
* Health and safety issues.
* Delays moving tenants.
Mr Purcell added: “Better planning and risk management could have mitigated some of the causes of the delays.”
The Government approved Ballymun’s regeneration in 1997 because of high levels of economic and social deprivation in the area.
A review of the project is needed to ensure future regeneration projects do not run over estimated budgets, warned Mr Purcell.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning refusal will 'compound waste crisis'
THE country's largest private waste collector has claimed that a decision by Bord Pleanála to turn down its plans for a controversial €20 million superdump will only compound the waste crisis facing the Munster region.
Greenstar had planned to build the superdump at Ballyguyroe, near the village of Kildorrery, in north Cork, which would be capable of handling 140,000 tonnes of waste a year.
The waste was to be imported from all over Munster.
The company had appealed a refusal by Cork County Council on March 26 last. Six months later Bord Pleanála held a three-day oral hearing into the project. Greenstar had already been granted a waste licence for the facility by Environmental Protection Agency.
Greenstar said the landfill had been intended to form a critical part of its integrated waste management infrastructure in the south of the country.
A company spokesman said it wanted to express its "disappointment and surprise" at the board's reason for refusing planning - which was that it is not satisfied there is a need for an additional landfill capacity to serve the Cork region or the counties. At the oral hearing in Mallow, the county council had argued that there was sufficient capacity in Cork and that it was preparing to open its own superdump near the village of Bottlehill - which would adequately handle the amount of waste generated in the county.
Greenstar again claimed yesterday that the Cork region is in the midst of a landfill capacity crisis.
A company spokesman said as a result, waste is being exported long distances for disposal and there have been recent cases of large-scale illegal dumping. "There is a short to medium term need for 200,000 tonnes per annum landfill capacity in the Cork region alone. In addition, and even taking the proposed landfill facility at Bottlehill into account, the Munster region has a need for 300,000 tonnes per annum of landfill capacity," said the Greenstar spokesman.
He reiterated claims that the county council's Bottlehill landfill will only be allowed to accept pre-treated and baled waste, and therefore will not be able to open until a baling facility is developed. He claimed this could take another four to seven years.
Greenstar said the decision only further compounded the landfill capacity crisis in Munster. "The proposed landfill facility at Ballyguyroe is intended to provide a short-term solution to the impending waste crisis in Cork and a secure outlet to meet the long-term residual disposal needs of Munster," the spokesman said.
An Bord Pleanála said it decided to refuse permission because it was not satisfied that Greenstar had demonstrated the need for additional landfill capacity to serve the Cork region or adjoining counties.
The board decided that the need for the landfill had not been adequately demonstrated, and would be contrary to the national waste policy as set out in the directives Changing Our Ways (1998), Waste Management: Taking Stock and Moving Forward (2004) and the National Strategy for Biodegradable Waste (2004).
These directives all seek to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill in accordance with the principles of the EU Landfill Directive, where landfill disposal is the least favoured option.
Cork County Council said it welcomed the decision, which it said upheld the local authority's arguments.
Sean O'Riordan
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Greenstar had planned to build the superdump at Ballyguyroe, near the village of Kildorrery, in north Cork, which would be capable of handling 140,000 tonnes of waste a year.
The waste was to be imported from all over Munster.
The company had appealed a refusal by Cork County Council on March 26 last. Six months later Bord Pleanála held a three-day oral hearing into the project. Greenstar had already been granted a waste licence for the facility by Environmental Protection Agency.
Greenstar said the landfill had been intended to form a critical part of its integrated waste management infrastructure in the south of the country.
A company spokesman said it wanted to express its "disappointment and surprise" at the board's reason for refusing planning - which was that it is not satisfied there is a need for an additional landfill capacity to serve the Cork region or the counties. At the oral hearing in Mallow, the county council had argued that there was sufficient capacity in Cork and that it was preparing to open its own superdump near the village of Bottlehill - which would adequately handle the amount of waste generated in the county.
Greenstar again claimed yesterday that the Cork region is in the midst of a landfill capacity crisis.
A company spokesman said as a result, waste is being exported long distances for disposal and there have been recent cases of large-scale illegal dumping. "There is a short to medium term need for 200,000 tonnes per annum landfill capacity in the Cork region alone. In addition, and even taking the proposed landfill facility at Bottlehill into account, the Munster region has a need for 300,000 tonnes per annum of landfill capacity," said the Greenstar spokesman.
He reiterated claims that the county council's Bottlehill landfill will only be allowed to accept pre-treated and baled waste, and therefore will not be able to open until a baling facility is developed. He claimed this could take another four to seven years.
Greenstar said the decision only further compounded the landfill capacity crisis in Munster. "The proposed landfill facility at Ballyguyroe is intended to provide a short-term solution to the impending waste crisis in Cork and a secure outlet to meet the long-term residual disposal needs of Munster," the spokesman said.
An Bord Pleanála said it decided to refuse permission because it was not satisfied that Greenstar had demonstrated the need for additional landfill capacity to serve the Cork region or adjoining counties.
The board decided that the need for the landfill had not been adequately demonstrated, and would be contrary to the national waste policy as set out in the directives Changing Our Ways (1998), Waste Management: Taking Stock and Moving Forward (2004) and the National Strategy for Biodegradable Waste (2004).
These directives all seek to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill in accordance with the principles of the EU Landfill Directive, where landfill disposal is the least favoured option.
Cork County Council said it welcomed the decision, which it said upheld the local authority's arguments.
Sean O'Riordan
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Green U-turn on social housing law
GREEN leader John Gormley has performed another U-turn on a key party policy.
The Environment Minister's department has insisted a controversial clause in the planning law which the Greens had promised to amend, will remain unchanged.
The clause allows developers buy their way out of obligations to build social and affordable housing.
Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 required developers to ensure 20% of all new estates contained social and affordable housing.
But in 2002, the Government amended the act, allowing developers to give money or land to local authorities in lieu of housing. Developers can also provide houses built elsewhere to meet their obligations.
Critics argue the opt-out clause is damaging on several fronts. One criticism is that it encourages segregation. Another is that in cases where developers provide money or land, local authorities take time to use it, thus delaying the provision of social and affordable housing.
The current Green Party housing policy, updated last December, promises to "amend" Part V by requiring developers to produce an equal quantity of affordable and social housing in "all" residential schemes.
"The Green Party will also tighten the social housing opt-out provisions of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002," the policy states.
"We will place restrictions on the use of land transfer, which delay the delivery of ready-made houses, and place limits on the use of the measures that allow developers to fulfil Part V obligations ‘off-site' and pay cash contributions instead of ready-made units."
But Mr Gormley appears to have decided the changes recommended in his party policy are no longer required.
Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton recently tabled a parliamentary question to Mr Gormley, asking him if he would amend the law.
Mr Gormley left it to his junior minister, Fianna Fáil TD Batt O'Keeffe, to give the formal answer, which made clear the department will not make changes.
"I am satisfied that Part V is operating effectively, evidenced by its increased delivery of both social and affordable housing. Accordingly, I have no plans to amend the legislation," the answer stated.
Meanwhile, Mr Gormley and his fellow Green ministers, Eamon Ryan and Trevor Sargent, will travel abroad to represent Ireland on St Patrick's Day, a party spokesman confirmed yesterday, without revealing their destinations.
When in opposition, the Greens had criticised ministers travelling for St Patrick's Day.
In 2006, for example, Mr Sargent said: "This Dáil should start to recognise that, outside this House, it is completely unacceptable, regardless of the explanations being put out, that some members are going to be on the other side of the world and therefore, we all have to mark time."
Paul O'Brien
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
The Environment Minister's department has insisted a controversial clause in the planning law which the Greens had promised to amend, will remain unchanged.
The clause allows developers buy their way out of obligations to build social and affordable housing.
Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 required developers to ensure 20% of all new estates contained social and affordable housing.
But in 2002, the Government amended the act, allowing developers to give money or land to local authorities in lieu of housing. Developers can also provide houses built elsewhere to meet their obligations.
Critics argue the opt-out clause is damaging on several fronts. One criticism is that it encourages segregation. Another is that in cases where developers provide money or land, local authorities take time to use it, thus delaying the provision of social and affordable housing.
The current Green Party housing policy, updated last December, promises to "amend" Part V by requiring developers to produce an equal quantity of affordable and social housing in "all" residential schemes.
"The Green Party will also tighten the social housing opt-out provisions of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002," the policy states.
"We will place restrictions on the use of land transfer, which delay the delivery of ready-made houses, and place limits on the use of the measures that allow developers to fulfil Part V obligations ‘off-site' and pay cash contributions instead of ready-made units."
But Mr Gormley appears to have decided the changes recommended in his party policy are no longer required.
Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton recently tabled a parliamentary question to Mr Gormley, asking him if he would amend the law.
Mr Gormley left it to his junior minister, Fianna Fáil TD Batt O'Keeffe, to give the formal answer, which made clear the department will not make changes.
"I am satisfied that Part V is operating effectively, evidenced by its increased delivery of both social and affordable housing. Accordingly, I have no plans to amend the legislation," the answer stated.
Meanwhile, Mr Gormley and his fellow Green ministers, Eamon Ryan and Trevor Sargent, will travel abroad to represent Ireland on St Patrick's Day, a party spokesman confirmed yesterday, without revealing their destinations.
When in opposition, the Greens had criticised ministers travelling for St Patrick's Day.
In 2006, for example, Mr Sargent said: "This Dáil should start to recognise that, outside this House, it is completely unacceptable, regardless of the explanations being put out, that some members are going to be on the other side of the world and therefore, we all have to mark time."
Paul O'Brien
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Rock of Cashel houses allowed to remain
A DEVELOPER who built 52 holiday homes close to the Rock of Cashel has been granted "retention planning permission" for 32 of the houses.
South Tipperary County Council has granted the permission despite having previously issued an enforcement order demanding that all of the houses be demolished and the land restored to its condition "prior to the commencement of the development".
The builder, Liam Campion, has now lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála challenging the council's decision to withhold retention permission for the remaining 20 houses.
His Co Laois-based company, Campion Concrete Products Ltd, got planning permission more than two years ago to build a 120-bedroom hotel, an "international trade centre" and 52 holiday cottages on an elevated site at Ballypadeen outside Cashel.
Last May, after all the houses (but not the hotel or trade centre) had been built, planning officials inspected the site and decided that "the works had not been carried out in compliance with planning permission". The county council issued an enforcement order demanding that the company "cease all development at the site" and "remove the 52 houses". The council initiated legal proceedings which are currently adjourned at Tipperary District Court.
Despite ongoing litigation, Mr Campion sought and received planning permission allowing him to retain 32 of the houses and to reduce the size of the proposed hotel from 120 rooms to 78. However, he is "dismayed and incensed" over the council's attempt to force him to demolish the other 20 houses. He has accused planning officials of putting "250 jobs at risk", costing him "millions of euro in tax breaks" and jeopardising the €75 million project.
A decision on his appeal to An Bord Pleanála is expected in June.
Michael Parsons
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
South Tipperary County Council has granted the permission despite having previously issued an enforcement order demanding that all of the houses be demolished and the land restored to its condition "prior to the commencement of the development".
The builder, Liam Campion, has now lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála challenging the council's decision to withhold retention permission for the remaining 20 houses.
His Co Laois-based company, Campion Concrete Products Ltd, got planning permission more than two years ago to build a 120-bedroom hotel, an "international trade centre" and 52 holiday cottages on an elevated site at Ballypadeen outside Cashel.
Last May, after all the houses (but not the hotel or trade centre) had been built, planning officials inspected the site and decided that "the works had not been carried out in compliance with planning permission". The county council issued an enforcement order demanding that the company "cease all development at the site" and "remove the 52 houses". The council initiated legal proceedings which are currently adjourned at Tipperary District Court.
Despite ongoing litigation, Mr Campion sought and received planning permission allowing him to retain 32 of the houses and to reduce the size of the proposed hotel from 120 rooms to 78. However, he is "dismayed and incensed" over the council's attempt to force him to demolish the other 20 houses. He has accused planning officials of putting "250 jobs at risk", costing him "millions of euro in tax breaks" and jeopardising the €75 million project.
A decision on his appeal to An Bord Pleanála is expected in June.
Michael Parsons
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Heaney vents his poetic outrage at sacrilege of Tara
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has joined international experts to vehemently condemn plans by the Irish government to build a motorway through one of Ireland's most historically important areas. In his first broadcast interview on the controversy surrounding the M3 motorway that is already well under construction through the Tara Skreen valley, the Co Londonderry born poet condemned a "ruthless desecration" .
He told a BBC Radio Ulster documentary, Tar on Tara: "I think it literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to de-sacralise and for centuries the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground. "I was just thinking actually the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 summoned people in the name of the dead generations and called the nation, called the people in the name of the dead generations. If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently, it was Tara."
He went on to point out that under British rule in Ireland, Tara, seat of the ancient High Kings of Ireland, and a place of sacred worship in both pagan and Christian times, appeared to have more protection than in today's Irish Republic. "I was reading around recently and I discovered that WB Yeats and George Moore, two writers at the turn of the century and Arthur Griffith, wrote a letter to the Irish Times sometime at the beginning of the last century because a society called the British Israelites had thought that the Ark of the Covenant was buried in Tara, and they had started to dig on Tara Hill. And they wrote this letter and they talked about the desecration of a consecrated landscape. So I thought to myself if a few holes in the ground made by amateur archaeologists was a desecration, what is happening to that whole countryside being ripped up is certainly a much more ruthless piece of work."
And he added that Tara was unique to him as an Irishman: "Tara means something equivalent to me to what Delphi means to the Greeks or maybe Stonehenge to an English person or Nara in Japan, which is one of the most famous sites in the world. It's a word that conjures an aura - it conjures up what they call in Irish dúchas, a sense of belonging."
Ireland's biggest ever road project stretches 61km and is expected to cost around 800m euros. It is aimed at easing congestion north of Dublin where new housing developments have sprung up for the thousands of people working in the city. The government decided a motorway was needed, with a new route away from the existing N3 road, instead bringing it through an area which is described by archaeologists internationally as the most important in Ireland and of world significance.
The European Commission is considering legal action against the Irish government which granted itself the powers in 2004 to destroy features or areas of archaeological importance classified as national monuments if in the national interest. However, any action will not stop the road, well under construction, and expected to be completed within two years.
Belfast Telegraph
www.buckplanning.ie
He told a BBC Radio Ulster documentary, Tar on Tara: "I think it literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to de-sacralise and for centuries the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground. "I was just thinking actually the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 summoned people in the name of the dead generations and called the nation, called the people in the name of the dead generations. If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently, it was Tara."
He went on to point out that under British rule in Ireland, Tara, seat of the ancient High Kings of Ireland, and a place of sacred worship in both pagan and Christian times, appeared to have more protection than in today's Irish Republic. "I was reading around recently and I discovered that WB Yeats and George Moore, two writers at the turn of the century and Arthur Griffith, wrote a letter to the Irish Times sometime at the beginning of the last century because a society called the British Israelites had thought that the Ark of the Covenant was buried in Tara, and they had started to dig on Tara Hill. And they wrote this letter and they talked about the desecration of a consecrated landscape. So I thought to myself if a few holes in the ground made by amateur archaeologists was a desecration, what is happening to that whole countryside being ripped up is certainly a much more ruthless piece of work."
And he added that Tara was unique to him as an Irishman: "Tara means something equivalent to me to what Delphi means to the Greeks or maybe Stonehenge to an English person or Nara in Japan, which is one of the most famous sites in the world. It's a word that conjures an aura - it conjures up what they call in Irish dúchas, a sense of belonging."
Ireland's biggest ever road project stretches 61km and is expected to cost around 800m euros. It is aimed at easing congestion north of Dublin where new housing developments have sprung up for the thousands of people working in the city. The government decided a motorway was needed, with a new route away from the existing N3 road, instead bringing it through an area which is described by archaeologists internationally as the most important in Ireland and of world significance.
The European Commission is considering legal action against the Irish government which granted itself the powers in 2004 to destroy features or areas of archaeological importance classified as national monuments if in the national interest. However, any action will not stop the road, well under construction, and expected to be completed within two years.
Belfast Telegraph
www.buckplanning.ie
EPA criticised on landfill evidence
THE HEAD of the Environmental Protection Agency, Dr Mary Kelly, appeared to be "widely inaccurate and incorrect" in evidence she provided to the European Parliament in relation to plans for a regional landfill in north Co Dublin, it was claimed yesterday.
On the first day of a hearing into the agency's proposed decision to grant a licence for the 9.5 million tonne facility, Michael O'Donnell, for opponents of the project, questioned whether Dr Kelly had played down the importance of a regional aquifer - an underground water source - at the site.
Mr O'Donnell said it appeared there was a letter signed by Dr Kelly in which she told the European Parliament petitions committee that every square metre of the Republic was situated on an aquifer.
The letter from Dr Kelly to Marcin Libicki, of the EU Parliament committee on petitions, was then circulated, and Mr O'Donnell noted Dr Kelly had responded to the committee's concerns about the aquifer to the effect:
"The basic fact of the matter in Ireland is that every square metre of the national territory is underlain by an aquifer as defined in national legislation."
Mr O'Donnell said that his clients - the Nevitt Lusk Action Group - would be greatly disturbed by the director-general of the EPA, the most senior person in the agency, "saying something which would appear to be wildly inaccurate and incorrect".
He also asked that the "documentation that grounds the statement of Dr Kelly be made available to raise at a later stage".
In her letter to the petitions committee Dr Kelly said that the agency had been mindful of the risk to groundwater and had approached the assessment of the landfill proposal "from a precautionary viewpoint".
The proposal had been evaluated against the requirements of four EU directives including those on Landfill; Water Framework; Waste; Environmental Impact Assessment and Groundwater, as well as national technical standards and groundwater protection schemes.
The aquifer - essentially an underground water source - is central to the arguments put forward by the Nevitt Lusk Action Group.
Group spokesman Shay Lunny said that 55 per cent of the State's vegetables came from the area and were nourished and washed in water from the aquifer before being sold in major food chains.
He said Fingal County Council's plans for the 140-acre landfill on a 600-acre site had not adequately considered the presence of the aquifer and there were fears that the landfill would cause pollution to the water source.
He said the aquifer was an extremely valuable resource but had never been adequately examined, while at the same time Dublin local authorities were planning to extract water from the Shannon.
The hearing which is to continue this morning is expected to last between 10 and up to 14 days, and feature submissions from thermal treatment company Indaver, waste collectors Greenstar, as well as a number of politicians including Minister for State with Responsibility for Food and Horticulture Trevor Sergeant.
Tim O'Brien
Irish Times
On the first day of a hearing into the agency's proposed decision to grant a licence for the 9.5 million tonne facility, Michael O'Donnell, for opponents of the project, questioned whether Dr Kelly had played down the importance of a regional aquifer - an underground water source - at the site.
Mr O'Donnell said it appeared there was a letter signed by Dr Kelly in which she told the European Parliament petitions committee that every square metre of the Republic was situated on an aquifer.
The letter from Dr Kelly to Marcin Libicki, of the EU Parliament committee on petitions, was then circulated, and Mr O'Donnell noted Dr Kelly had responded to the committee's concerns about the aquifer to the effect:
"The basic fact of the matter in Ireland is that every square metre of the national territory is underlain by an aquifer as defined in national legislation."
Mr O'Donnell said that his clients - the Nevitt Lusk Action Group - would be greatly disturbed by the director-general of the EPA, the most senior person in the agency, "saying something which would appear to be wildly inaccurate and incorrect".
He also asked that the "documentation that grounds the statement of Dr Kelly be made available to raise at a later stage".
In her letter to the petitions committee Dr Kelly said that the agency had been mindful of the risk to groundwater and had approached the assessment of the landfill proposal "from a precautionary viewpoint".
The proposal had been evaluated against the requirements of four EU directives including those on Landfill; Water Framework; Waste; Environmental Impact Assessment and Groundwater, as well as national technical standards and groundwater protection schemes.
The aquifer - essentially an underground water source - is central to the arguments put forward by the Nevitt Lusk Action Group.
Group spokesman Shay Lunny said that 55 per cent of the State's vegetables came from the area and were nourished and washed in water from the aquifer before being sold in major food chains.
He said Fingal County Council's plans for the 140-acre landfill on a 600-acre site had not adequately considered the presence of the aquifer and there were fears that the landfill would cause pollution to the water source.
He said the aquifer was an extremely valuable resource but had never been adequately examined, while at the same time Dublin local authorities were planning to extract water from the Shannon.
The hearing which is to continue this morning is expected to last between 10 and up to 14 days, and feature submissions from thermal treatment company Indaver, waste collectors Greenstar, as well as a number of politicians including Minister for State with Responsibility for Food and Horticulture Trevor Sergeant.
Tim O'Brien
Irish Times
Dublin's eastern bypass scheme at a dead end
A PLAN to build Dublin's eastern bypass has effectively been shelved by the Department of Transport.
No funds are available for advanced planning of the EUR1 billion project, which was deemed to be feasible in a recent report presented to the transport minister by the National Roads Authority (NRA). Noel Dempsey, the transport minister, has read the NRA's proposal, but is unlikely to give permission for it to move to the next stage, officials have indicated.
The bypass would involve tunnelling under Sandymount strand and is strongly opposed by the Green party, Fianna Fail's government partners.
"The NRA makes a good case for the road," said a departmental source. "But the money is not there to advance it. If the NRA can find the funds to do so within its budget, fine, but at the moment the priority is to complete the projects outlined in Transport 21 - and the bypass is not in that. There is no commitment for the eastern bypass in the programme for government either."
Although the government did not include the bypass in Transport 21, a EUR34 billion infrastructure plan, it promised to consider it and another project - the outer orbital route connecting the M7 with Drogheda - if they were deemed viable.
The outer orbital route, which runs through Meath, Dempsey's home county, has been approved in principle and is understood to be more of a priority.
Dempsey is also under pressure from his Green party colleagues to spend more on public transport to tackle congestion. John Gormley, the Green party leader, has said the bypass makes "no sense from a financial or policy point of view".
However, the NRA's report outlines how increased traffic levels in the capital will eventually make the road a necessity.
Richard Oakley
Sunday Times
No funds are available for advanced planning of the EUR1 billion project, which was deemed to be feasible in a recent report presented to the transport minister by the National Roads Authority (NRA). Noel Dempsey, the transport minister, has read the NRA's proposal, but is unlikely to give permission for it to move to the next stage, officials have indicated.
The bypass would involve tunnelling under Sandymount strand and is strongly opposed by the Green party, Fianna Fail's government partners.
"The NRA makes a good case for the road," said a departmental source. "But the money is not there to advance it. If the NRA can find the funds to do so within its budget, fine, but at the moment the priority is to complete the projects outlined in Transport 21 - and the bypass is not in that. There is no commitment for the eastern bypass in the programme for government either."
Although the government did not include the bypass in Transport 21, a EUR34 billion infrastructure plan, it promised to consider it and another project - the outer orbital route connecting the M7 with Drogheda - if they were deemed viable.
The outer orbital route, which runs through Meath, Dempsey's home county, has been approved in principle and is understood to be more of a priority.
Dempsey is also under pressure from his Green party colleagues to spend more on public transport to tackle congestion. John Gormley, the Green party leader, has said the bypass makes "no sense from a financial or policy point of view".
However, the NRA's report outlines how increased traffic levels in the capital will eventually make the road a necessity.
Richard Oakley
Sunday Times
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Limerick extension: 7,000 become city dwellers
MORE than 7,000 residents of suburban Limerick will officially become city dwellers today.
A boundary extension order signed yesterday by Environment Minister John Gormley transfers huge areas on the northside of the river Shannon from Co Limerick into the administrative area of Limerick City Council.
At the signing in Moyross, the Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Ger Fahy, said the extension would be a major boost to the economic growth and well-being of the urban area. The extension was recommended by former Dublin City Manager John Fitzgerald in his report to Government on the regeneration of Moyross and Southill.
This recommendation was sanctioned by Mr Gormley and supported by Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council. The extension will increase Limerick city’s area by almost 50%, bringing in all of Moyross, Caherdavin and the rural hinterland of the city’s northside up to the Co Clare border. Limerick city’s urban population will be increased to almost 60,000.
The last boundary change was in 1950 when Limerick’s first cabinet minister Michael Keyes granted the city its only boundary extension in the 20th century.
Mayor Fahy acknowledged the role played by Limerick County Council in this boundary extension.
Mr Gormley said he was very proud to have a hand in making the order.
“I am determined to see through the actions set out in John Fitzgerald’s report and this is another concrete action delivered,” he added.
He said the order will help reinforce the substantial momentum being generated to establish the conditions for a lasting and sustainable improvement in the lives of the people of Moyross, its wider neighbourhood and the city and region as a whole.
He said this is an exciting time for Limerick.
He said: “I particularly welcome the depth of co-operation between Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council on this issue.”
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
A boundary extension order signed yesterday by Environment Minister John Gormley transfers huge areas on the northside of the river Shannon from Co Limerick into the administrative area of Limerick City Council.
At the signing in Moyross, the Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Ger Fahy, said the extension would be a major boost to the economic growth and well-being of the urban area. The extension was recommended by former Dublin City Manager John Fitzgerald in his report to Government on the regeneration of Moyross and Southill.
This recommendation was sanctioned by Mr Gormley and supported by Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council. The extension will increase Limerick city’s area by almost 50%, bringing in all of Moyross, Caherdavin and the rural hinterland of the city’s northside up to the Co Clare border. Limerick city’s urban population will be increased to almost 60,000.
The last boundary change was in 1950 when Limerick’s first cabinet minister Michael Keyes granted the city its only boundary extension in the 20th century.
Mayor Fahy acknowledged the role played by Limerick County Council in this boundary extension.
Mr Gormley said he was very proud to have a hand in making the order.
“I am determined to see through the actions set out in John Fitzgerald’s report and this is another concrete action delivered,” he added.
He said the order will help reinforce the substantial momentum being generated to establish the conditions for a lasting and sustainable improvement in the lives of the people of Moyross, its wider neighbourhood and the city and region as a whole.
He said this is an exciting time for Limerick.
He said: “I particularly welcome the depth of co-operation between Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council on this issue.”
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Cork suburban rail project wins Irish planning award
PLANS to develop a new commuter railway station on Cork’s northside have been approved.
The station, to be built just outside Blackpool, is a key part of the suburban rail network element of the 2001-2020 Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP), which won a national planning award on Thursday.
Cork County Council took the Irish Planning Institute’s (IPI) Planning Achievement Award for its work on developing a suburban rail network around the city as part of CASP.
Work has started on the reopening of the Cork to Midleton rail line — the first new railway line to open in Ireland for more than 100 years.
And within the last few days, city planners have given Iarnród Eireann permission to build another commuter station on the site of the former Kilbarry station off Dublin Hill, on the Dublin-Cork railway line.
The station will include a 100-space park and ride facility and stands for 20 bicycles.
Competition judges said the council’s rail plans — which also includes commuter rail stations at Monard near Blarney and at Glounthane — will result “in the revitalisation of a number of key towns and villages while promoting the move to more sustainable modes of transport”.
CASP coordinator Dan Looney welcomed the award. But while the railway caught the public imagination, he said a lot of other work has taken place.
There has been massive investment in rail infrastructure, such as increased train frequencies on the Cork to Dublin inter-city route and suburban services like Cork to Cobh. There are also plans to build park and ride facilities at Dunkettle and Carrigrohane, he said.
The council’s rail project now goes forward as Ireland’s entry in the European Planning Awards, which will be hosted by the IPI in Dublin Castle in October.
IPI president Andrew Hind said the awards were “a celebration of all that is best in Irish planning”.
The county council also won a conservation award for the Guidance Note for the Appraisal of Historic Gardens, Demesnes, Estates and their Settings.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
The station, to be built just outside Blackpool, is a key part of the suburban rail network element of the 2001-2020 Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP), which won a national planning award on Thursday.
Cork County Council took the Irish Planning Institute’s (IPI) Planning Achievement Award for its work on developing a suburban rail network around the city as part of CASP.
Work has started on the reopening of the Cork to Midleton rail line — the first new railway line to open in Ireland for more than 100 years.
And within the last few days, city planners have given Iarnród Eireann permission to build another commuter station on the site of the former Kilbarry station off Dublin Hill, on the Dublin-Cork railway line.
The station will include a 100-space park and ride facility and stands for 20 bicycles.
Competition judges said the council’s rail plans — which also includes commuter rail stations at Monard near Blarney and at Glounthane — will result “in the revitalisation of a number of key towns and villages while promoting the move to more sustainable modes of transport”.
CASP coordinator Dan Looney welcomed the award. But while the railway caught the public imagination, he said a lot of other work has taken place.
There has been massive investment in rail infrastructure, such as increased train frequencies on the Cork to Dublin inter-city route and suburban services like Cork to Cobh. There are also plans to build park and ride facilities at Dunkettle and Carrigrohane, he said.
The council’s rail project now goes forward as Ireland’s entry in the European Planning Awards, which will be hosted by the IPI in Dublin Castle in October.
IPI president Andrew Hind said the awards were “a celebration of all that is best in Irish planning”.
The county council also won a conservation award for the Guidance Note for the Appraisal of Historic Gardens, Demesnes, Estates and their Settings.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Mayo Power replies to appeals
Mayo Power Ltd, which is planning a controversial mixed fuel combined heat and power plant at the former Asahi site in north Mayo, has responded to four appeals lodged to An Bord Pleanála. In its submission the directors of Mayo Power say one of the aims of the proposal is to utilise largely native and local fuels - notably peat and renewables - to generate electricity in the area.
Claiming the initiative will improve the electricity supply in the area, it says it will also reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels and bring jobs to a region which has suffered from depopulation.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Claiming the initiative will improve the electricity supply in the area, it says it will also reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels and bring jobs to a region which has suffered from depopulation.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Board says yes to Mackey's plan
An Bord Pleanála has ruled in favour of an apartment development at Mackey's Garden Centre and Harry Byrne's and 1 Castle Close on Castlepark Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin. Wesley Curran's Otranto Properties will build 56 apartments in two four-storey buildings and a single storey building with a gym, janitor's office and basement 16-metre swimming pool.
The board ruled that the development would not unduly impact on the character of the surrounding area or adjoining residential amenity and would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The board ruled that the development would not unduly impact on the character of the surrounding area or adjoining residential amenity and would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
'Brian Boru' pub plan rejected as excessive
AN BORD Pleanála has overturned planning permission for the partial demolition of a pub mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses , to make way for a six-storey apartment development because of its "excessive scale and unsympathetic design".
The planning board also said that the proposal by Michael Hedigan, the owner of Hedigans, a 19th century landmark pub on Prospect Road, Glasnevin (also known as the "Brian Boru"), failed to respect the character of the building and would be "a discordant element in the streetscape".
Michael Hedigan was previously granted permission by Dublin City Council to redevelop the pub into 57 apartments in three blocks, the tallest being six storeys. This would have involved demolishing the rear of the pub to make way for a four-storey extension which would incorporate a pub, community room, two apartments and a duplex.
The planning permission was subsequently appealed by Court Management Company which said the development would overshadow and overlook apartments in its complex to the north and impede views of the canal.
Hedigans features in Ulysses as the pub where mourners stop on the way to the cemetery. The pub is reputed to have been built on the site where Brian Boru camped before the Battle of Clontarf.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The planning board also said that the proposal by Michael Hedigan, the owner of Hedigans, a 19th century landmark pub on Prospect Road, Glasnevin (also known as the "Brian Boru"), failed to respect the character of the building and would be "a discordant element in the streetscape".
Michael Hedigan was previously granted permission by Dublin City Council to redevelop the pub into 57 apartments in three blocks, the tallest being six storeys. This would have involved demolishing the rear of the pub to make way for a four-storey extension which would incorporate a pub, community room, two apartments and a duplex.
The planning permission was subsequently appealed by Court Management Company which said the development would overshadow and overlook apartments in its complex to the north and impede views of the canal.
Hedigans features in Ulysses as the pub where mourners stop on the way to the cemetery. The pub is reputed to have been built on the site where Brian Boru camped before the Battle of Clontarf.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Locals appeal €230m Cabinteely plan
PLANNING PERMISSION for a €230 million residential development at Barrington Tower on the Brennanstown Road in Cabinteely, Dublin 18, has been appealed by local residents to An Bord Pleanála.
Estate agent Bill Doyle who bought the 8.6-acre site in 2005 for a then record price of €36 million - €21 million over the guide price - got planning permission from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to build 158 houses and apartments.
The scheme is designed as a mix of 25 detached houses, 12 semi-detached houses, six terraced houses and 109 apartments.
However Cabinteely and District Residents' Association is one of two parties appealing planning permission for the development, saying it would be premature pending the preparation of a local area plan.
The residents' association says the development would have a "detrimental impact" on traffic on Brennanstown Road and would particularly worsen traffic problems in Cabinteely village.
It says that building a large scale development that exits out onto "a poorly constructed road, even after the proposed traffic calming measures" would be dangerous and would impact on the junction between Old Bray Road and Brennanstown Road which, it says, is already "at saturation point".
Paul Fitzpatrick, who lives in a cottage near the site, says the density of the proposed development is excessive when taken in the context of Barrington Tower, an early 19th century folly and protected structure attached to a 1950s mock-Georgian house.
In his appeal letter to the board, he says the modern design of development is "out of keeping with existing buildings on the site and buildings in the surrounding area". Describing the house type proposed to the south-west of his property as "overly complicated with an unnecessary number of materials used", he also objects to the design, scale and height of the interconnected apartment blocks which he says are inappropriate in that location.
Barrington Tower dates from the 1830s and was built as a viewing point from which to enjoy the land. He says the four-to-six-storey apartment building at the eastern and southern ends of the site "divorces the tower from the distant landscape of which there would historically have been views".
A first party appeal was submitted to An Bord Pleanála by Bill Doyle against a number of planning conditions imposed by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Also part of Bill Doyle's proposal for the site are two community rooms within a five-storey building, a crèche.
The site would also have pedestrian access to the new Luas station when the Green Luas line is extended to Cherrywood in 2009.
Barrington Tower takes its name from the Barrington family whose remains are buried in the Quaker graveyard that adjoins the property. The tower still looks out over an almost rural landscape with views of Carrickmines Valley and the Leadmines chimney.
The two-storey house was added in the 1950s by the Maguire family, who owned the Brown Thomas department store.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Estate agent Bill Doyle who bought the 8.6-acre site in 2005 for a then record price of €36 million - €21 million over the guide price - got planning permission from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to build 158 houses and apartments.
The scheme is designed as a mix of 25 detached houses, 12 semi-detached houses, six terraced houses and 109 apartments.
However Cabinteely and District Residents' Association is one of two parties appealing planning permission for the development, saying it would be premature pending the preparation of a local area plan.
The residents' association says the development would have a "detrimental impact" on traffic on Brennanstown Road and would particularly worsen traffic problems in Cabinteely village.
It says that building a large scale development that exits out onto "a poorly constructed road, even after the proposed traffic calming measures" would be dangerous and would impact on the junction between Old Bray Road and Brennanstown Road which, it says, is already "at saturation point".
Paul Fitzpatrick, who lives in a cottage near the site, says the density of the proposed development is excessive when taken in the context of Barrington Tower, an early 19th century folly and protected structure attached to a 1950s mock-Georgian house.
In his appeal letter to the board, he says the modern design of development is "out of keeping with existing buildings on the site and buildings in the surrounding area". Describing the house type proposed to the south-west of his property as "overly complicated with an unnecessary number of materials used", he also objects to the design, scale and height of the interconnected apartment blocks which he says are inappropriate in that location.
Barrington Tower dates from the 1830s and was built as a viewing point from which to enjoy the land. He says the four-to-six-storey apartment building at the eastern and southern ends of the site "divorces the tower from the distant landscape of which there would historically have been views".
A first party appeal was submitted to An Bord Pleanála by Bill Doyle against a number of planning conditions imposed by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Also part of Bill Doyle's proposal for the site are two community rooms within a five-storey building, a crèche.
The site would also have pedestrian access to the new Luas station when the Green Luas line is extended to Cherrywood in 2009.
Barrington Tower takes its name from the Barrington family whose remains are buried in the Quaker graveyard that adjoins the property. The tower still looks out over an almost rural landscape with views of Carrickmines Valley and the Leadmines chimney.
The two-storey house was added in the 1950s by the Maguire family, who owned the Brown Thomas department store.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
History in need of a new home
The National Museum, the National Gallery, the National Library . . . Dublin is filled with museums, yet none records the remarkable history of the city itself, writes Arminta Wallace
You might imagine that Ireland is up to its elbows in museums. And we do have a plethora of highly regarded specialist collections, from the Famine Museum at Strokestown, Co Roscommon, to the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin; from the Irish National Stud and Horse Museum in Kildare to the Ulster Folklore and Transport Museum in Hollywood, Co Down. There are the wonderful Waterford Museum of Treasures and the Museum of Country Life in Co Mayo. But what we don't have - what, in truth, many of us don't even miss - is a museum for the city of Dublin.
Most Dubliners are probably blissfully unaware that the Dublin Civic Museum, which was housed in the former City Assembly House on South William Street, has been closed for about five years now. The museum died a quiet death after a long slide into apathy and neglect; but even in its heyday, it hardly qualified as one of the city's premier attractions.
If Dublin is serious about its aspiration to become one of Europe's top tourist destinations, however, shouldn't we have a museum to tell the history of our capital? Definitely, says Paul Doyle of the Irish Museums Association (IMA) - and not just for the tourists. "We've been pushing for a museum of Dublin for probably seven or eight years at this stage," he says. "We think that, like any capital city, it has stories to tell. Serious cities around the world all have their own museums, and the people of Dublin deserve one as well."
The IMA, which has a seat on Dublin City Council's Strategic Policy Committee on Youth, Art and Sport, is about to deliver to the council yet another submission which will make these and other points in favour of its proposal. "The council invited us to do this, which is a reasonable start," says Doyle. It will, nevertheless, be an uphill climb. Ask the average Dubliner about museums and they'll point to the National Museum, the National Gallery, the National Library, the Hugh Lane, Kilmainham Gaol, the Dublin Jewish Museum - even, perhaps, to the Guinness Hopstore, to Dublinia and to Viking Splash. Fine institutions all, but none of them is doing the job of a city museum, simply because none of them is a city museum.
So what should a city museum be doing? "City museums," says Hugh Maguire of the Heritage Council, "have a particular role to play because cities are always places where people are moving in and moving out - places for discourse and the exchange of ideas. We're inclined to think of that as a modern phenomenon - but down through the centuries, Dublin has been the interface for all that cultural interchange. And there's nowhere where that story is actually presented, either for the people who live here or for the thousands and thousands of newcomers to the city in recent years.
"You only see what you get in Dublin - and there's very little to even tell you what you're seeing. You see Georgian architecture and bits of the river and so on; but there's very little that actually explains it to you. There's no one to interpret the town planning or the growth of the city. There are sporadic exhibitions here and there in the various institutions, but they don't consider the history of the city as a single narrative," says Maguire.
ONE OF THE first questions which would have to be decided is how wide-ranging this narrative should be. Traditionally, Dublin has been regarded as "the city between the canals", but in recent years, it has spread its wings much further, and shows every sign of continuing to do so. There's also the question of how a collection would be arranged - should it start with the oldest signs of settlement and move forwards, or start with the city everyone can recognise and move backwards in time, turning a museum visit into an exercise in celebratory excavation? Should it concentrate on preservation and heritage, or try to document change by targeting the various immigrant cultures whose members are just beginning to make their cultural marks on the city?
Such questions would need to be thoroughly aired and debated if a civic museum were to be truly "civic". But first, as Paul Doyle points out, we need to make a definite commitment to a city museum; there's not much point in people working out, for example, a comprehensive collections policy if the whole project comes to nought once again. How difficult can it be to get such a commitment in place?
Other cities have done it: at one end of the spectrum, Beijing has just spent $150 million (€101 million) on a brand-new, seven-storey keynote building to house its history, with 13 themed exhibitions including a full-sized reconstruction of an old business street. Closer to home, most of the larger European cities have urban museums, including Liverpool, Glasgow and Luxembourg, whose Musee d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, situated in four beautifully restored buildings in the old city, prides itself on its modernist touches and cutting-edge interactive displays.
There are clearly as many blueprints for city museums as there are plans for city transport systems - but the message for anyone setting up a city museum in the 21st century seems to be: do it properly or don't do it at all. "Museums must fulfil a full range of purposes," says Hugh Maguire. "Every museum worth its salt needs vast amounts of storage space, properly climate-controlled rooms, rooms for documentation, rooms for education. Two or three front-of-house rooms just won't solve the problem."
Geraldine Walsh of Dublin Civic Trust points to the private museums in London - including Sir John Soane's mind-boggling life-sized cabinet of curiosities in Holborn, or the Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch, which presents a series of domestic interiors from the Elizabethan era to the present-day - as offering constructive examples of what could be done in Dublin. "When you come out of the Geffrye, everything you see in London is more meaningful to you. The city is a different place," she says. "Children go in and learn about, say, Windsor chairs. They draw them and maybe model them with cardboard and little bits of timber."
This is the kind of "hands-on" approach which, Walsh suggests, helps bring history to life. "What has happened in Dublin is that there's a total deficit between the eye and the place. Wealth has overtaken us over the past 20 years, so that we're in the process of discarding everything." She suggests that current trends in interior design, such as the idea of the "minimalist household", are exacerbating the problem. "Where before, objects were packed away in boxes somewhere, now people are getting rid of almost everything. The mark of a sophisticated society is that the collective memory is recorded in all its facets, from folklore right through to art and music."
SO IF A CITY museum is such a good thing, why haven't we got one in Dublin? Some say it's because we haven't evolved to the stage where we can take a cool, balanced look at our history. Others point to an overall archaeological bias in Irish museums culture. "If it's not dug out of the ground, the system isn't interested," says Hugh Maguire. "We have this problem with arts and crafts in Ireland as well - and in literature. Priority is given to certain areas, and from the 18th century up to now, priority has been given to the antiquarian in Irish studies. Whereas quite commonplace artefacts from earlier periods are seen as rarefied and worthy of scholarly regard, there's an attitude which verges on contempt for the tangible culture of more recent times."
As the Irish Museums Association gears up for its annual conference, which begins in Wexford today, one of its keynote speakers might well agree with those sentiments. The head of English heritage and former director of the British science museum, Neil Cossons, has spent many years trying to persuade the powers that be to save the architecture of the industrial revolution, from maintenance depots through workers' cottages to dark, satanic mills - with mixed results.
One of the points he will be making in his address is that museums have moved "from the twilight to the spotlight". Cossons will examine the tenacity of the whole idea of museums, which, he says, is one of the longest-lasting cultural phenomena in human history. "Part of it has to do with the fact that museums are capable of reflecting back to people something about their own lives. There seems to be a need on the part of communities to have their past about them. It's a very powerful human emotion and we now have the wealth, prosperity and intelligence to be able to do it."
Cossons identifies the desire for city museums as a significant trend in this ongoing boom. Liverpool and Bristol are building new ones, he says, and the Museum of London is undergoing a major expansion and overhaul. The case for a city museum can't, as a glance at Dublin City Council's excellent website will show, but made in isolation. Supporters will have to argue their point against supporters of other initiatives, which range from the biodiversity survey 2008-2012 through fair-trade fortnight to the provision of new football pitches and the ban on heavy good vehicles. Dublin, seen from this wide perspective, is a multi-layered, chaotic, ever-changing slice of life. But then, isn't that exactly why we need a museum of the city?
The Irish Museums Association's annual conference begins today in Wexford and continues until March 2nd. The theme is "New Approaches to the Museum's Engagement with the Local Community". For further information, call 01-6633579 or check out the website at www.irishmuseums.org"You must have your strategic plan, you must have your collections policy, you need your project manager and your exhibitions designer," says Peter Walsh, former curator of the Guinness Museum and a passionate advocate of a museum for Dublin. "But above all, you need to tell the stories of the city. When you work out what your themes are, you know what your stories are going to be - and then you need to find the voices to tell those stories in a meaningful way, thereby giving people back their history."
Walsh is himself a magical storyteller and a repository of myriad fascinating scraps of information about Dublin's past lives. He talks about stone heads carved in the shape of fertility goddess Ceres (many of which have disappeared), a rattle which was thrown at the Duke of Wellington when he arrived at the Theatre Royal in 1821 (now in the National Museum Collins Barracks), the head of Nelson from the Pillar (right), currently in the Gilbert Library on Pearse Street.
Such objects spark vital human connections, recognition of our shared common experience, says Walsh. Then there are the stories which, for all our fluency with narrative, we have never fully told. Walsh recalls a little-known biographical account from 1821. It was written by an old man who, in his youth in the 1770s, had played football in the streets of the Liberties with a black boy.
"The story goes," he says, "that the son of the emperor of Morocco had been kidnapped by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in the Mediterranean. He apparently had a distinguishing birthmark on his behind - so an ad was put in the newspapers looking for this child. Now, a sugar baker in Crane Street bought a black child from a Liverpool slave trader to work in the bakery in Dublin. This little kid was taken in by the family of the man who wrote the story."
In due course, the baker spotted the ad in the newspaper, rushed home and asked the African child to strip and - lo and behold - there was the birthmark.
"We don't know the end of the story," says Walsh, "but there are lots of people living in Dublin now who would be very interested in those kinds of connections. The whole point of having this treasury of stories is to tell them - and to be aware that things are constantly changing. In 50 years' time, what's happening now will be history, and if we don't preserve that history . . . well, thankfully there's great recording now about the Jewish history of Clanbrassil Street and so forth, how all that heritage is being preserved. All these stories are important."
And as Walsh points out, it's not all sweetness and light. There's a story to be told about the Dublin which somewhat callously carried on its business as usual during the Great Famine, while the rest of the country starved. If we're going to tell the story of Dublin we need to tell it warts and all.
"It's a very complex city, as all cities are," he says. "There are a million Dublins carried around in the heads of the people who live here." And if we don't preserve and represent them, they may disappear forever.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
You might imagine that Ireland is up to its elbows in museums. And we do have a plethora of highly regarded specialist collections, from the Famine Museum at Strokestown, Co Roscommon, to the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin; from the Irish National Stud and Horse Museum in Kildare to the Ulster Folklore and Transport Museum in Hollywood, Co Down. There are the wonderful Waterford Museum of Treasures and the Museum of Country Life in Co Mayo. But what we don't have - what, in truth, many of us don't even miss - is a museum for the city of Dublin.
Most Dubliners are probably blissfully unaware that the Dublin Civic Museum, which was housed in the former City Assembly House on South William Street, has been closed for about five years now. The museum died a quiet death after a long slide into apathy and neglect; but even in its heyday, it hardly qualified as one of the city's premier attractions.
If Dublin is serious about its aspiration to become one of Europe's top tourist destinations, however, shouldn't we have a museum to tell the history of our capital? Definitely, says Paul Doyle of the Irish Museums Association (IMA) - and not just for the tourists. "We've been pushing for a museum of Dublin for probably seven or eight years at this stage," he says. "We think that, like any capital city, it has stories to tell. Serious cities around the world all have their own museums, and the people of Dublin deserve one as well."
The IMA, which has a seat on Dublin City Council's Strategic Policy Committee on Youth, Art and Sport, is about to deliver to the council yet another submission which will make these and other points in favour of its proposal. "The council invited us to do this, which is a reasonable start," says Doyle. It will, nevertheless, be an uphill climb. Ask the average Dubliner about museums and they'll point to the National Museum, the National Gallery, the National Library, the Hugh Lane, Kilmainham Gaol, the Dublin Jewish Museum - even, perhaps, to the Guinness Hopstore, to Dublinia and to Viking Splash. Fine institutions all, but none of them is doing the job of a city museum, simply because none of them is a city museum.
So what should a city museum be doing? "City museums," says Hugh Maguire of the Heritage Council, "have a particular role to play because cities are always places where people are moving in and moving out - places for discourse and the exchange of ideas. We're inclined to think of that as a modern phenomenon - but down through the centuries, Dublin has been the interface for all that cultural interchange. And there's nowhere where that story is actually presented, either for the people who live here or for the thousands and thousands of newcomers to the city in recent years.
"You only see what you get in Dublin - and there's very little to even tell you what you're seeing. You see Georgian architecture and bits of the river and so on; but there's very little that actually explains it to you. There's no one to interpret the town planning or the growth of the city. There are sporadic exhibitions here and there in the various institutions, but they don't consider the history of the city as a single narrative," says Maguire.
ONE OF THE first questions which would have to be decided is how wide-ranging this narrative should be. Traditionally, Dublin has been regarded as "the city between the canals", but in recent years, it has spread its wings much further, and shows every sign of continuing to do so. There's also the question of how a collection would be arranged - should it start with the oldest signs of settlement and move forwards, or start with the city everyone can recognise and move backwards in time, turning a museum visit into an exercise in celebratory excavation? Should it concentrate on preservation and heritage, or try to document change by targeting the various immigrant cultures whose members are just beginning to make their cultural marks on the city?
Such questions would need to be thoroughly aired and debated if a civic museum were to be truly "civic". But first, as Paul Doyle points out, we need to make a definite commitment to a city museum; there's not much point in people working out, for example, a comprehensive collections policy if the whole project comes to nought once again. How difficult can it be to get such a commitment in place?
Other cities have done it: at one end of the spectrum, Beijing has just spent $150 million (€101 million) on a brand-new, seven-storey keynote building to house its history, with 13 themed exhibitions including a full-sized reconstruction of an old business street. Closer to home, most of the larger European cities have urban museums, including Liverpool, Glasgow and Luxembourg, whose Musee d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, situated in four beautifully restored buildings in the old city, prides itself on its modernist touches and cutting-edge interactive displays.
There are clearly as many blueprints for city museums as there are plans for city transport systems - but the message for anyone setting up a city museum in the 21st century seems to be: do it properly or don't do it at all. "Museums must fulfil a full range of purposes," says Hugh Maguire. "Every museum worth its salt needs vast amounts of storage space, properly climate-controlled rooms, rooms for documentation, rooms for education. Two or three front-of-house rooms just won't solve the problem."
Geraldine Walsh of Dublin Civic Trust points to the private museums in London - including Sir John Soane's mind-boggling life-sized cabinet of curiosities in Holborn, or the Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch, which presents a series of domestic interiors from the Elizabethan era to the present-day - as offering constructive examples of what could be done in Dublin. "When you come out of the Geffrye, everything you see in London is more meaningful to you. The city is a different place," she says. "Children go in and learn about, say, Windsor chairs. They draw them and maybe model them with cardboard and little bits of timber."
This is the kind of "hands-on" approach which, Walsh suggests, helps bring history to life. "What has happened in Dublin is that there's a total deficit between the eye and the place. Wealth has overtaken us over the past 20 years, so that we're in the process of discarding everything." She suggests that current trends in interior design, such as the idea of the "minimalist household", are exacerbating the problem. "Where before, objects were packed away in boxes somewhere, now people are getting rid of almost everything. The mark of a sophisticated society is that the collective memory is recorded in all its facets, from folklore right through to art and music."
SO IF A CITY museum is such a good thing, why haven't we got one in Dublin? Some say it's because we haven't evolved to the stage where we can take a cool, balanced look at our history. Others point to an overall archaeological bias in Irish museums culture. "If it's not dug out of the ground, the system isn't interested," says Hugh Maguire. "We have this problem with arts and crafts in Ireland as well - and in literature. Priority is given to certain areas, and from the 18th century up to now, priority has been given to the antiquarian in Irish studies. Whereas quite commonplace artefacts from earlier periods are seen as rarefied and worthy of scholarly regard, there's an attitude which verges on contempt for the tangible culture of more recent times."
As the Irish Museums Association gears up for its annual conference, which begins in Wexford today, one of its keynote speakers might well agree with those sentiments. The head of English heritage and former director of the British science museum, Neil Cossons, has spent many years trying to persuade the powers that be to save the architecture of the industrial revolution, from maintenance depots through workers' cottages to dark, satanic mills - with mixed results.
One of the points he will be making in his address is that museums have moved "from the twilight to the spotlight". Cossons will examine the tenacity of the whole idea of museums, which, he says, is one of the longest-lasting cultural phenomena in human history. "Part of it has to do with the fact that museums are capable of reflecting back to people something about their own lives. There seems to be a need on the part of communities to have their past about them. It's a very powerful human emotion and we now have the wealth, prosperity and intelligence to be able to do it."
Cossons identifies the desire for city museums as a significant trend in this ongoing boom. Liverpool and Bristol are building new ones, he says, and the Museum of London is undergoing a major expansion and overhaul. The case for a city museum can't, as a glance at Dublin City Council's excellent website will show, but made in isolation. Supporters will have to argue their point against supporters of other initiatives, which range from the biodiversity survey 2008-2012 through fair-trade fortnight to the provision of new football pitches and the ban on heavy good vehicles. Dublin, seen from this wide perspective, is a multi-layered, chaotic, ever-changing slice of life. But then, isn't that exactly why we need a museum of the city?
The Irish Museums Association's annual conference begins today in Wexford and continues until March 2nd. The theme is "New Approaches to the Museum's Engagement with the Local Community". For further information, call 01-6633579 or check out the website at www.irishmuseums.org"You must have your strategic plan, you must have your collections policy, you need your project manager and your exhibitions designer," says Peter Walsh, former curator of the Guinness Museum and a passionate advocate of a museum for Dublin. "But above all, you need to tell the stories of the city. When you work out what your themes are, you know what your stories are going to be - and then you need to find the voices to tell those stories in a meaningful way, thereby giving people back their history."
Walsh is himself a magical storyteller and a repository of myriad fascinating scraps of information about Dublin's past lives. He talks about stone heads carved in the shape of fertility goddess Ceres (many of which have disappeared), a rattle which was thrown at the Duke of Wellington when he arrived at the Theatre Royal in 1821 (now in the National Museum Collins Barracks), the head of Nelson from the Pillar (right), currently in the Gilbert Library on Pearse Street.
Such objects spark vital human connections, recognition of our shared common experience, says Walsh. Then there are the stories which, for all our fluency with narrative, we have never fully told. Walsh recalls a little-known biographical account from 1821. It was written by an old man who, in his youth in the 1770s, had played football in the streets of the Liberties with a black boy.
"The story goes," he says, "that the son of the emperor of Morocco had been kidnapped by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in the Mediterranean. He apparently had a distinguishing birthmark on his behind - so an ad was put in the newspapers looking for this child. Now, a sugar baker in Crane Street bought a black child from a Liverpool slave trader to work in the bakery in Dublin. This little kid was taken in by the family of the man who wrote the story."
In due course, the baker spotted the ad in the newspaper, rushed home and asked the African child to strip and - lo and behold - there was the birthmark.
"We don't know the end of the story," says Walsh, "but there are lots of people living in Dublin now who would be very interested in those kinds of connections. The whole point of having this treasury of stories is to tell them - and to be aware that things are constantly changing. In 50 years' time, what's happening now will be history, and if we don't preserve that history . . . well, thankfully there's great recording now about the Jewish history of Clanbrassil Street and so forth, how all that heritage is being preserved. All these stories are important."
And as Walsh points out, it's not all sweetness and light. There's a story to be told about the Dublin which somewhat callously carried on its business as usual during the Great Famine, while the rest of the country starved. If we're going to tell the story of Dublin we need to tell it warts and all.
"It's a very complex city, as all cities are," he says. "There are a million Dublins carried around in the heads of the people who live here." And if we don't preserve and represent them, they may disappear forever.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Curragh racecourse redevelopment gets go-ahead from Bord Pleanála
THE €100 million-plus redevelopment of the Curragh racecourse in Co Kildare has finally been approved by An Bord Pleanála more than two years after permission for the development was first sought by the Irish Turf Club.
In what has been described by the Turf Club as the biggest development project in the history of Irish racing, the racecourse will be transformed to accommodate more than 50,000 spectators by 2010 on a 10-hectare site.
The main features of the new development are a five-storey grandstand incorporating a museum, bars, restaurants and tote halls; the redevelopment of the Stand House Hotel; a new parade ring; and a new champagne bar. Work is due to begin at the end of this year's racing season in September and is planned for completion in 2010.
The developments were applied for under two separate applications, one relating to the grandstand and hotel, the other to the parade ring and associated structures. In total, 24 conditions were imposed on the Turf Club by the planning board - however, several overlap and are unlikely to delay development.
The Turf Club sought permission for the redevelopment from Kildare County Council in February 2006. This was granted in October 2006, but was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by local farmer Percy Podger on behalf of Friends of the Curragh Environment.
Mr Podger contended the planning application was fundamentally flawed and the council's decision was made "on foot of an invalid application, and the site notice and newspaper notice were incomplete and consequently invalid". He said the environmental impact statement was inadequate, while car parking was on a national monument site and contravened grazing rights.
Mr Podger has taken legal action against this and other developments related to the racecourse and has made a complaint to the European Commission against the Irish planning authorities, the State, the applicants and the council regarding the breach of European Commission directives.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Podger said he had not yet had an opportunity to read An Bord Pleanála's decision and so was not in a position to comment.
Chief executive of the Turf Club Denis Egan said the club stewards and the Curragh Development Committee were in the process of examining the board's decision but were glad they could finally schedule a works programme for the redevelopment. "We are very eager to get going on this. It is going to be the biggest redevelopment project ever undertaken in the history of Irish racing," he said.
The delays had added considerably to the costs of the project, which had been estimated at €100 million. The full cost of the project would be calculated after the conditions of the planning permission were taken into consideration.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In what has been described by the Turf Club as the biggest development project in the history of Irish racing, the racecourse will be transformed to accommodate more than 50,000 spectators by 2010 on a 10-hectare site.
The main features of the new development are a five-storey grandstand incorporating a museum, bars, restaurants and tote halls; the redevelopment of the Stand House Hotel; a new parade ring; and a new champagne bar. Work is due to begin at the end of this year's racing season in September and is planned for completion in 2010.
The developments were applied for under two separate applications, one relating to the grandstand and hotel, the other to the parade ring and associated structures. In total, 24 conditions were imposed on the Turf Club by the planning board - however, several overlap and are unlikely to delay development.
The Turf Club sought permission for the redevelopment from Kildare County Council in February 2006. This was granted in October 2006, but was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by local farmer Percy Podger on behalf of Friends of the Curragh Environment.
Mr Podger contended the planning application was fundamentally flawed and the council's decision was made "on foot of an invalid application, and the site notice and newspaper notice were incomplete and consequently invalid". He said the environmental impact statement was inadequate, while car parking was on a national monument site and contravened grazing rights.
Mr Podger has taken legal action against this and other developments related to the racecourse and has made a complaint to the European Commission against the Irish planning authorities, the State, the applicants and the council regarding the breach of European Commission directives.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Podger said he had not yet had an opportunity to read An Bord Pleanála's decision and so was not in a position to comment.
Chief executive of the Turf Club Denis Egan said the club stewards and the Curragh Development Committee were in the process of examining the board's decision but were glad they could finally schedule a works programme for the redevelopment. "We are very eager to get going on this. It is going to be the biggest redevelopment project ever undertaken in the history of Irish racing," he said.
The delays had added considerably to the costs of the project, which had been estimated at €100 million. The full cost of the project would be calculated after the conditions of the planning permission were taken into consideration.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Cork commuter rail link winsplanning achievement award
A CORK County Council project to develop the first new railway lines in the State in more than 100 years has taken the top prize in this year's Irish Planning Institute (IPI) National Planning Awards.
The plan to construct a suburban rail network for Cork received the IPI Planning Achievement Award, and was one of four projects recognised by the institute for their contribution to the quality of life in urban and rural areas.
The council's project is the result of 30 years of transport planning in the city and is due to begin running its first trains next year.
The IPI judging team said the new service would result in the "revitalisation of a number of key towns and villages while promoting the move to more sustainable modes of transport".
The Urban Design Award went to Murray O'Laoire Architects for the Athlone Town Centre. The town had fallen into decline and had become isolated over the years, but the new town centre development which encompassed retail, residential and public spaces, had transformed the town with a "new urban quarter of exceptional architectural quality and coherence," the IPI said.
The recently redeveloped Custom House Quay (CHQ)building in Dublin's docklands received the Conservation Award. The protected structure, originally a bonded warehouse built in 1852, was reopened last November by Dublin Docklands Development Authority following a €50 million redevelopment.
The project had saved a building that was close to dereliction and had helped revitalise George's Quay in what was an "outstanding conservation project of national historical and architectural importance", the institute said.
The Participatory Planning Award, which recognises public bodies who involved the public in new developments went to Kinvara Community Council for its Integrated Area Plan. Public participation had been at the "very root" of the project for the redevelopment of the area, the IPI said.
Certificates of merit were presented in each of the categories. Planning Achievement certificates went to O'Mahony Pike for the North Drogheda Environs Masterplan and to South Dublin County Council for the Tallaght Integrated Area Plan 1999-2008.
An Urban Design certificate went to the National Building Agency and Cork City Council for the Special Needs and Social Housing and Artists' Residence and Studio, Shandon, Cork.
A Conservation certificate was awarded to Cork County Council for the Guidance Note for the Appraisal of Historic Gardens, Demesnes, Estates and their Settings. A Participatory Planning certificate was won by South Dublin County Council for the Lucan Village Design Statement.
The Cork rail project will now go forward as Ireland's entry in the European Planning Awards which this year will be hosted by the IPI and take place in Dublin Castle in October.
Speaking at the awards, Minister for the Environment John Gormley said the awards highlighted the high quality that could be achieved in planning.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The plan to construct a suburban rail network for Cork received the IPI Planning Achievement Award, and was one of four projects recognised by the institute for their contribution to the quality of life in urban and rural areas.
The council's project is the result of 30 years of transport planning in the city and is due to begin running its first trains next year.
The IPI judging team said the new service would result in the "revitalisation of a number of key towns and villages while promoting the move to more sustainable modes of transport".
The Urban Design Award went to Murray O'Laoire Architects for the Athlone Town Centre. The town had fallen into decline and had become isolated over the years, but the new town centre development which encompassed retail, residential and public spaces, had transformed the town with a "new urban quarter of exceptional architectural quality and coherence," the IPI said.
The recently redeveloped Custom House Quay (CHQ)building in Dublin's docklands received the Conservation Award. The protected structure, originally a bonded warehouse built in 1852, was reopened last November by Dublin Docklands Development Authority following a €50 million redevelopment.
The project had saved a building that was close to dereliction and had helped revitalise George's Quay in what was an "outstanding conservation project of national historical and architectural importance", the institute said.
The Participatory Planning Award, which recognises public bodies who involved the public in new developments went to Kinvara Community Council for its Integrated Area Plan. Public participation had been at the "very root" of the project for the redevelopment of the area, the IPI said.
Certificates of merit were presented in each of the categories. Planning Achievement certificates went to O'Mahony Pike for the North Drogheda Environs Masterplan and to South Dublin County Council for the Tallaght Integrated Area Plan 1999-2008.
An Urban Design certificate went to the National Building Agency and Cork City Council for the Special Needs and Social Housing and Artists' Residence and Studio, Shandon, Cork.
A Conservation certificate was awarded to Cork County Council for the Guidance Note for the Appraisal of Historic Gardens, Demesnes, Estates and their Settings. A Participatory Planning certificate was won by South Dublin County Council for the Lucan Village Design Statement.
The Cork rail project will now go forward as Ireland's entry in the European Planning Awards which this year will be hosted by the IPI and take place in Dublin Castle in October.
Speaking at the awards, Minister for the Environment John Gormley said the awards highlighted the high quality that could be achieved in planning.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
A city of nightlife and wildlife
We often think that we have to go beyond a city's boundaries to experience the joys of nature. But with almost 50 per cent of Dublin made up of green spaces - 25 per cent in private gardens and 20 per cent in public parks - this is not the case with the capital, writes Sylvia Thompson .
"People take for granted what they can see in their gardens and in the parks of the city, and raising awareness of the biodiversity in the city is something we will be concentrating on over the next five years," says Mairéad Stack, biodiversity officer with Dublin City Council.
The recent publication of the Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan 2008 - 2012 is a marker of the council's commitment to conserving and protecting wildlife in the city.
And a glance at the priority species, habitats and natural heritage in the report is a wake-up call to all urban-dwellers to the natural wonders on their doorsteps.
For instance, bats are a priority species. "Ireland is a refuge for bats and eight of the 10 species in this country can be found in Dublin," explains Stack. Keen to dispel myths about mammal, including that they fly into your hair, she instead reminds us that a bat will eat up to 3,500 midges in one evening.
"It's also important to remember that bats are what's called a 'keystone' species in that when we have bats, we also have the insects and the semi-natural grasslands that support them," says Stack.
THE GRASSLANDS ARE another priority. Found on parts of North Bull Island, they have aesthetic and ecological significance due to the variety of grasses and wildflowers they contain.
North Bull Island and other areas along Dublin Bay are birdwatchers' paradises if you consider the huge numbers of waterbirds that winter there.
In fact, 6,000 wildfowl, 24,000 waders and 6,000 gulls, are among the many waterbirds that spend the winter months along the north Dublin coastline.
Dublin Bay is also visited by up to 12,000 roosting terns from late July to early September. A management plan to protect the wetlands on North Bull Island, and the species it supports, is another key feature of the plan.
Wildlife expert Eanna Ní Lamhna says Dublin has an abundance of wonderful habitats and species that people don't know about.
In her forthcoming book, Wild Dublin (O'Brien Press), she encourages people to take trips by Dart to visit coastline areas, to walk along the canal and river banks and to wander through one of the 120 parks that are inside the M50.
"There are 32 species of mammals in Ireland and you'll find 28 of them in Dublin city," she explains. "For instance, people sometimes talk about seeing a fox walking up Grafton Street in the middle of the night, which is probably one of those living in the provost's garden in Trinity College on his way up to St Stephen's Green."
Foxes are now more common in the city than in the country, with an average density of one fox family group per square kilometre. Some areas have four to five times that density. Fox dens are commonly found in gardens, under sheds and in wrecked cars.
Ní Lamhna also points to other interesting mammals that are perhaps harder to spot as they shy away from humans.
"There are rabbits and hares, stoats and badgers in the city. And those fishing in the morning and evening times will see otters in the Tolka, Dodder and Liffey rivers," she adds.
Moving into the heart of the city, Ní Lamhna suggests Blessington Basin, which is about 10 minutes walk north of O'Connell Street, as a fascinating haven for wildlife.
"It's a wildlife park with a pond in it which is a tributary from the Royal Canal," she explains. "You'll find tufted duck breeding there and if you're really quiet, you might see a hedgehog. And you'll find two-spotted ladybirds there which are city ladybirds and smaller than the seven-spotted ladybirds that you'll find in the countryside."
ANOTHER SURPRISING wildlife hotspot is Gallanstown Basin in Park West business complex. "It holds a pocket of important wildlife and is a great source of entertainment for the office workers," says Stack. "There is a pair of swans who nest there and there is a high density of the glutinous snail, which has been wiped out across Europe. Also, the settling pond is a wonderful wetland, which is home to nesting birds and waterfowl and 40 species of plants and flowers including orchids."
Urban wetlands are also priority habitats in the action plan.
As well as getting out and enjoying nature in the city, Dublin's inhabitants will have many opportunities to get involved in protecting the plants, animals, fish (salmon and trout species feature on the priority species list) and the places they live in over the next five years.
"We still don't know half the species we have and don't have in the city," says Stack. "And we will be conducting surveys to monitor the loss of species. For instance, this year, we will monitor butterfly species and numbers in Dublin. Butterflies are an indicator species for climate change and habitat change, so our survey will show any changes in the distribution across the city and the impacts of climate change and habitat change."
Fourteen of the 32 species of butterflies in Ireland can be found in Dublin. Finally, back to the private gardens, which is where most people enjoy brief moments of watching birds, butterflies and other insects.
If you're keen to encourage more wildlife into your garden, check out how to maintain a wildlife-friendly area on the biodiversity section of the council's website, www.dublincity.ie
WATCHING CITY WILDLIFE
Ladybirds
Most ladybirds have seven spots, but in gardens in Dublin city there is a smaller species which has only two spots. Most people think these ladybirds are baby ladybirds that will grow up to have seven spots but they are, in fact, a different species.
Orchids
These fragile and beautiful flowers can be found in semi-natural grasslands in various parts of Dublin city, including North Bull Island.
Red squirrels
Up to 30 years ago in Dublin, red squirrels were commonplace. Since then, the large grey squirrels have taken over and red squirrels can now only be found in parts of Killiney, Dalkey and in St Anne's Park, Raheny.
Dolphins and seals
Bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises can be seen in the liffey close to Dublin Port. Grey seals are a familiar sight in Dun Laoighre and common seals breed on Bull Island.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
"People take for granted what they can see in their gardens and in the parks of the city, and raising awareness of the biodiversity in the city is something we will be concentrating on over the next five years," says Mairéad Stack, biodiversity officer with Dublin City Council.
The recent publication of the Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan 2008 - 2012 is a marker of the council's commitment to conserving and protecting wildlife in the city.
And a glance at the priority species, habitats and natural heritage in the report is a wake-up call to all urban-dwellers to the natural wonders on their doorsteps.
For instance, bats are a priority species. "Ireland is a refuge for bats and eight of the 10 species in this country can be found in Dublin," explains Stack. Keen to dispel myths about mammal, including that they fly into your hair, she instead reminds us that a bat will eat up to 3,500 midges in one evening.
"It's also important to remember that bats are what's called a 'keystone' species in that when we have bats, we also have the insects and the semi-natural grasslands that support them," says Stack.
THE GRASSLANDS ARE another priority. Found on parts of North Bull Island, they have aesthetic and ecological significance due to the variety of grasses and wildflowers they contain.
North Bull Island and other areas along Dublin Bay are birdwatchers' paradises if you consider the huge numbers of waterbirds that winter there.
In fact, 6,000 wildfowl, 24,000 waders and 6,000 gulls, are among the many waterbirds that spend the winter months along the north Dublin coastline.
Dublin Bay is also visited by up to 12,000 roosting terns from late July to early September. A management plan to protect the wetlands on North Bull Island, and the species it supports, is another key feature of the plan.
Wildlife expert Eanna Ní Lamhna says Dublin has an abundance of wonderful habitats and species that people don't know about.
In her forthcoming book, Wild Dublin (O'Brien Press), she encourages people to take trips by Dart to visit coastline areas, to walk along the canal and river banks and to wander through one of the 120 parks that are inside the M50.
"There are 32 species of mammals in Ireland and you'll find 28 of them in Dublin city," she explains. "For instance, people sometimes talk about seeing a fox walking up Grafton Street in the middle of the night, which is probably one of those living in the provost's garden in Trinity College on his way up to St Stephen's Green."
Foxes are now more common in the city than in the country, with an average density of one fox family group per square kilometre. Some areas have four to five times that density. Fox dens are commonly found in gardens, under sheds and in wrecked cars.
Ní Lamhna also points to other interesting mammals that are perhaps harder to spot as they shy away from humans.
"There are rabbits and hares, stoats and badgers in the city. And those fishing in the morning and evening times will see otters in the Tolka, Dodder and Liffey rivers," she adds.
Moving into the heart of the city, Ní Lamhna suggests Blessington Basin, which is about 10 minutes walk north of O'Connell Street, as a fascinating haven for wildlife.
"It's a wildlife park with a pond in it which is a tributary from the Royal Canal," she explains. "You'll find tufted duck breeding there and if you're really quiet, you might see a hedgehog. And you'll find two-spotted ladybirds there which are city ladybirds and smaller than the seven-spotted ladybirds that you'll find in the countryside."
ANOTHER SURPRISING wildlife hotspot is Gallanstown Basin in Park West business complex. "It holds a pocket of important wildlife and is a great source of entertainment for the office workers," says Stack. "There is a pair of swans who nest there and there is a high density of the glutinous snail, which has been wiped out across Europe. Also, the settling pond is a wonderful wetland, which is home to nesting birds and waterfowl and 40 species of plants and flowers including orchids."
Urban wetlands are also priority habitats in the action plan.
As well as getting out and enjoying nature in the city, Dublin's inhabitants will have many opportunities to get involved in protecting the plants, animals, fish (salmon and trout species feature on the priority species list) and the places they live in over the next five years.
"We still don't know half the species we have and don't have in the city," says Stack. "And we will be conducting surveys to monitor the loss of species. For instance, this year, we will monitor butterfly species and numbers in Dublin. Butterflies are an indicator species for climate change and habitat change, so our survey will show any changes in the distribution across the city and the impacts of climate change and habitat change."
Fourteen of the 32 species of butterflies in Ireland can be found in Dublin. Finally, back to the private gardens, which is where most people enjoy brief moments of watching birds, butterflies and other insects.
If you're keen to encourage more wildlife into your garden, check out how to maintain a wildlife-friendly area on the biodiversity section of the council's website, www.dublincity.ie
WATCHING CITY WILDLIFE
Ladybirds
Most ladybirds have seven spots, but in gardens in Dublin city there is a smaller species which has only two spots. Most people think these ladybirds are baby ladybirds that will grow up to have seven spots but they are, in fact, a different species.
Orchids
These fragile and beautiful flowers can be found in semi-natural grasslands in various parts of Dublin city, including North Bull Island.
Red squirrels
Up to 30 years ago in Dublin, red squirrels were commonplace. Since then, the large grey squirrels have taken over and red squirrels can now only be found in parts of Killiney, Dalkey and in St Anne's Park, Raheny.
Dolphins and seals
Bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises can be seen in the liffey close to Dublin Port. Grey seals are a familiar sight in Dun Laoighre and common seals breed on Bull Island.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Bord Pleanála gives green light to phase one of Dublin to Navan rail line
PHASE ONE of the reopening of the Dublin-Navan rail line has been granted planning permission by An Bord Pleanála, making it the first project approved under the new fast-track planning scheme for major infrastructural projects.
Iarnród Éireann applied for permission to reinstate the Clonsilla-Dunboyne section of the disused line last September. The board signed the railway order yesterday, one of the fastest turnaround times achieved for an infrastructural development in the board's history.
Rail, road, waste-management and energy-related applications have in recent decades taken several years to secure planning permission. However, the Strategic Infrastructure Act, which came into force last January, allows such applications to be handled directly by the board, rather than first having to be dealt with by local authorities.
This change significantly cuts the length of time taken to process applications. The fast-track approach to planning has been criticised for removing the local democracy element from the planning process; however, the board maintains that there is still public involvement, with oral hearings and the requirement of local authorities to submit a report, which includes the views of elected representatives, on any development occurring in their area.
The reopening of the Navan line is part of the Government's Transport 21 programme. The 7.5km stretch from Clonsilla to an interchange with the M3 at Pace near Dunboyne, is due to open in 2010, with stations at Hansfield, Dunboyne and Pace. There will also be a park-and-ride facility at the M3 interchange at Pace, with parking for up to 1,200 vehicles, making it the largest public transport park- and-ride facility in the country.
The journey from Pace to Dublin will be 33 minutes, with trains leaving every 15 minutes at peak times.
The remainder of the line to Navan town, a 21km stretch, is due to open in 2015. However, no planning permission has yet been sought for this stage of the development. The journey time to Dublin from Navan would be about one hour.
The Navan rail line closed in 1963, but trains have not stopped in Dunboyne since 1947. Iarnród Éireann chairman Dr John Lynch said yesterday that he was delighted with the decision.
"Together with the current four-tracking of the Kildare route, the recent start of work on the Cork-Midleton line reopening, the ongoing work on phase one of the Western Rail Corridor plans, not to mention Dart underground, we are on the brink of the most significant expansion of our rail network in 100 years."
An Taisce also welcomed the decision but said it was disappointing that the extension of the line to Navan had been put on the "long finger" and that the M3 motorway would be built ahead of the Navan rail link.
While hundreds of applications have been made by State organisations and private companies seeking to have their projects considered for fast-track planning decisions, just six other projects have been deemed eligible for the process and are awaiting decisions by An Bord Pleanála.
These are a natural gas-fired turbine at Toomes, Co Louth; a liquid natural gas plant in Co Kerry; a container terminal in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork; the west Dublin Luas connection from Belgard to Saggart; electricity lines in Galway, and electricity lines in Co Leitrim.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Iarnród Éireann applied for permission to reinstate the Clonsilla-Dunboyne section of the disused line last September. The board signed the railway order yesterday, one of the fastest turnaround times achieved for an infrastructural development in the board's history.
Rail, road, waste-management and energy-related applications have in recent decades taken several years to secure planning permission. However, the Strategic Infrastructure Act, which came into force last January, allows such applications to be handled directly by the board, rather than first having to be dealt with by local authorities.
This change significantly cuts the length of time taken to process applications. The fast-track approach to planning has been criticised for removing the local democracy element from the planning process; however, the board maintains that there is still public involvement, with oral hearings and the requirement of local authorities to submit a report, which includes the views of elected representatives, on any development occurring in their area.
The reopening of the Navan line is part of the Government's Transport 21 programme. The 7.5km stretch from Clonsilla to an interchange with the M3 at Pace near Dunboyne, is due to open in 2010, with stations at Hansfield, Dunboyne and Pace. There will also be a park-and-ride facility at the M3 interchange at Pace, with parking for up to 1,200 vehicles, making it the largest public transport park- and-ride facility in the country.
The journey from Pace to Dublin will be 33 minutes, with trains leaving every 15 minutes at peak times.
The remainder of the line to Navan town, a 21km stretch, is due to open in 2015. However, no planning permission has yet been sought for this stage of the development. The journey time to Dublin from Navan would be about one hour.
The Navan rail line closed in 1963, but trains have not stopped in Dunboyne since 1947. Iarnród Éireann chairman Dr John Lynch said yesterday that he was delighted with the decision.
"Together with the current four-tracking of the Kildare route, the recent start of work on the Cork-Midleton line reopening, the ongoing work on phase one of the Western Rail Corridor plans, not to mention Dart underground, we are on the brink of the most significant expansion of our rail network in 100 years."
An Taisce also welcomed the decision but said it was disappointing that the extension of the line to Navan had been put on the "long finger" and that the M3 motorway would be built ahead of the Navan rail link.
While hundreds of applications have been made by State organisations and private companies seeking to have their projects considered for fast-track planning decisions, just six other projects have been deemed eligible for the process and are awaiting decisions by An Bord Pleanála.
These are a natural gas-fired turbine at Toomes, Co Louth; a liquid natural gas plant in Co Kerry; a container terminal in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork; the west Dublin Luas connection from Belgard to Saggart; electricity lines in Galway, and electricity lines in Co Leitrim.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Call to halt rezoning in Dún Laoghaire area
SENIOR PLANNERS in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown have urged councillors not to rezone any more land in the county until after 2019, a move likely to be unpopular among developers, landowners and those seeking to buy houses in the area.
However, planners say there is no need for new rezoning and that enough land has already been earmarked for development to cope with the sustainable development of the county and provide sufficient housing for the next decade and beyond. The planners' advice comes four years after former minister for the environment Martin Cullen ordered the council to rezone additional land for housing because it had failed to satisfy the council's own housing strategy and regional planning guidelines.
Councillors are shortly to conduct an interim review of the County Development Plan 2004-2010. In most local authorities, when the development plan is reviewed, councillors seek additional rezoning. However, advising councillors ahead of the review, planners have said that enough land was zoned, not only to meet housing demand for the remainder of the current development plan, but for the next development plan from 2010-2016 and for three years beyond.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the lowest population increase of any county between the census years 2002-2006 with just 2,246 additional people recorded as living in the area. The county also has an ageing population. The council's planners said that Dún Laoghaire's compact size and affluence means it is unlikely to suffer through decline in population in same way as a rural area.
The 2006 census showed population growth was not keeping pace with the construction of housing, which the planners said meant that housing units were constructed and were being left vacant. The regional planning guidelines state Dún Laoghaire should have just fewer than 35,000 new houses by 2016. The planners say that this may not be possible because of the slowdown in the housing market - however, they told councillors there is more than sufficient zoned land to accommodate these numbers.
Until now, the council has used a housing density figure of 49 units per hectare. This is based on average figures of housing per hectare in 2001 and 2002 and underestimates higher-density developments.
Planners state a figure of 79 units per hectare is more realistic. Currently there are about 657 hectares of zoned land in the county - if the new figure is applied, there is the potential for 45,935 units to be accommodated on available land.
A substantial amount of this land is located in Cherrywood and Sandyford. The planners estimate that Cherrywood could accommodate an additional 10,000 units, while an extra 7,000 homes could be built in Sandyford. The planners also said there are large tracts of undeveloped zoned land in Kiltiernan/Glenamuck, Old Conna, Shanganagh and on Dún Laoghaire golf course.
Councillors are likely to be well-disposed to the planners' advice, having resisted large-scale rezoning in 2004. Fianna Fáil councillor Barry Conway said it was vital to be conscious of the dangers of over-development. "The planners' . . . research . . . enables accurate planning decisions to be made by myself and other public representatives."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
However, planners say there is no need for new rezoning and that enough land has already been earmarked for development to cope with the sustainable development of the county and provide sufficient housing for the next decade and beyond. The planners' advice comes four years after former minister for the environment Martin Cullen ordered the council to rezone additional land for housing because it had failed to satisfy the council's own housing strategy and regional planning guidelines.
Councillors are shortly to conduct an interim review of the County Development Plan 2004-2010. In most local authorities, when the development plan is reviewed, councillors seek additional rezoning. However, advising councillors ahead of the review, planners have said that enough land was zoned, not only to meet housing demand for the remainder of the current development plan, but for the next development plan from 2010-2016 and for three years beyond.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the lowest population increase of any county between the census years 2002-2006 with just 2,246 additional people recorded as living in the area. The county also has an ageing population. The council's planners said that Dún Laoghaire's compact size and affluence means it is unlikely to suffer through decline in population in same way as a rural area.
The 2006 census showed population growth was not keeping pace with the construction of housing, which the planners said meant that housing units were constructed and were being left vacant. The regional planning guidelines state Dún Laoghaire should have just fewer than 35,000 new houses by 2016. The planners say that this may not be possible because of the slowdown in the housing market - however, they told councillors there is more than sufficient zoned land to accommodate these numbers.
Until now, the council has used a housing density figure of 49 units per hectare. This is based on average figures of housing per hectare in 2001 and 2002 and underestimates higher-density developments.
Planners state a figure of 79 units per hectare is more realistic. Currently there are about 657 hectares of zoned land in the county - if the new figure is applied, there is the potential for 45,935 units to be accommodated on available land.
A substantial amount of this land is located in Cherrywood and Sandyford. The planners estimate that Cherrywood could accommodate an additional 10,000 units, while an extra 7,000 homes could be built in Sandyford. The planners also said there are large tracts of undeveloped zoned land in Kiltiernan/Glenamuck, Old Conna, Shanganagh and on Dún Laoghaire golf course.
Councillors are likely to be well-disposed to the planners' advice, having resisted large-scale rezoning in 2004. Fianna Fáil councillor Barry Conway said it was vital to be conscious of the dangers of over-development. "The planners' . . . research . . . enables accurate planning decisions to be made by myself and other public representatives."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
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