Minister for the Environment John Gormley has announced the establishment of a taskforce to advise on the future of Dublin Bay with a mandate that includes "removing" Dublin Port and seeking "sustainable redevelopment" of its 650-acre land area.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 30 May 2008
Hedgerow row
THE National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is investigating the spraying of hedgerows in Meath to determine if wildlife legislation could have been breached, the Dept of the Environment has confirmed.
The Wildlife legislation governs the cutting of hedges and clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season which runs from Ist March to 31st August.
Environment Minister, John Gormley, has sent a circular to all local authorities in the country following complaints about the Meath spraying incident to remind them about the legislation.
A spokesman for the Dept of the Environment yesterday (Tuesday) said the minister would not make any decision about whether a prosecution was appropriate until the NPWS reported back on its findings.
One local resident, Jim Byrne, Athboy Road, said that he and neighbours were very annoyed about the spraying operation when they noticed that hedges appeared to be wilting. Mr Byrne also observed five small dead birds in the area of his house alone. He said that it was not normal for this to occur and it was his understanding that the locality was a Special Conservation Area (SAC).
The funding for spraying to eliminate the ragworth hazard on grass verges all around the country was made available by the National Roads Authority (NRA).
Meath County Council director of services, Eugene Cummins, said yesterday (Tuesday) that, from initial surveys, it seemed that reports of the damage caused by the spraying in the county had been "grossly exaggerated". The area impacted upon was very small, said Mr Cummins.
A Sunday newspaper had referred to 400kms of hedgerow being sprayed with herbicide by a contractor employed by Meath County Council. Mr Cummins clarified this, saying that the entire national road network in Meath was 200kms. This was equivalent to 400kms of verges. However, it was not correct to equate the length of hedgerows in the county with the total of the verges.
Mr Cummins added that, in 2007, the council had been "inundated" with phone calls from the general public demanding what the local authority was doing about ragwort on the roadsides. A weed which is hazardous to humans but particularly to animals, ragwort had steadily made inroads in Meath and the spraying operation, in conjunction with the NRA, had been initiated to combat this hazard. The NRA also prepared guidelines control of weeds.
As far as Meath County Council was concerned, said Mr Cummins, it had followed the guidelines. "Notwithstanding that, it seems that, in some areas, there was some overspraying which would have affected the leafy parts of some plants," said the council director of services.
National conservation body, An Taisce, expressed alarm at the operation. A spokeswoman, Anja Murray, said that the spraying had happened at a time when songbirds were busily feeding nests full of hatchlings. Ms Murray said their food supply depended on plants. The danger to "bubblebees, butterflies, hedgerows, indeed the whole hedgerow ecosystem" was source of grave concern to An Taisce. She was also worried about possible long-term impact on aquatic life such as frogs and fish.
The circular sent to all the local authorities on behalf of Mr Gormley directed their attention to the requirements of Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, as amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000, in relation to the cutting of hedges and the clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season from Ist March to 31 st. August.
The National Biodiversity Plan, adopted by Government in 2002, recognises that hedgerows provide important habitats for a variety of species and states "for the future, the overall goal should be to have no net loss of the hedgerow resource".
The minister's circular urges councils to convey the message to people in the organisations who have any involvement in organising or managing operations involving roadside trimming, hedge-cutting or other operations that might require the clearance of vegetation. The circular also refers to the role of contractors.
Infringements by local authorities would be viewed particularly seriously, said the circular, and wildlife staff of the Dept had been asked to pay special attention to this. Notices are being placed in national newspapers setting out the substance of the law regarding hedge-cutting.
The minister referred to the local authorities' role in "guardianship of hedgerows". He said he was pleased to note evidence of an improvement in compliance by local authorities and he welcomed the leadership that had been shown by a number of them in this regard.
Meath Green party vice-1 chairman, Fergal O'Byrne, outlined his concerns about the use of herbicide. He said that many studies had shown that the use of herbicides had negative affects on hedgerows, impacting on leaves, flowers, green berries and mature berries. He urged Meath County Council to include a full environmental risk assessment and impact analysis into any contact agreement with any subcontractors prior to works commencing.
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
The Wildlife legislation governs the cutting of hedges and clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season which runs from Ist March to 31st August.
Environment Minister, John Gormley, has sent a circular to all local authorities in the country following complaints about the Meath spraying incident to remind them about the legislation.
A spokesman for the Dept of the Environment yesterday (Tuesday) said the minister would not make any decision about whether a prosecution was appropriate until the NPWS reported back on its findings.
One local resident, Jim Byrne, Athboy Road, said that he and neighbours were very annoyed about the spraying operation when they noticed that hedges appeared to be wilting. Mr Byrne also observed five small dead birds in the area of his house alone. He said that it was not normal for this to occur and it was his understanding that the locality was a Special Conservation Area (SAC).
The funding for spraying to eliminate the ragworth hazard on grass verges all around the country was made available by the National Roads Authority (NRA).
Meath County Council director of services, Eugene Cummins, said yesterday (Tuesday) that, from initial surveys, it seemed that reports of the damage caused by the spraying in the county had been "grossly exaggerated". The area impacted upon was very small, said Mr Cummins.
A Sunday newspaper had referred to 400kms of hedgerow being sprayed with herbicide by a contractor employed by Meath County Council. Mr Cummins clarified this, saying that the entire national road network in Meath was 200kms. This was equivalent to 400kms of verges. However, it was not correct to equate the length of hedgerows in the county with the total of the verges.
Mr Cummins added that, in 2007, the council had been "inundated" with phone calls from the general public demanding what the local authority was doing about ragwort on the roadsides. A weed which is hazardous to humans but particularly to animals, ragwort had steadily made inroads in Meath and the spraying operation, in conjunction with the NRA, had been initiated to combat this hazard. The NRA also prepared guidelines control of weeds.
As far as Meath County Council was concerned, said Mr Cummins, it had followed the guidelines. "Notwithstanding that, it seems that, in some areas, there was some overspraying which would have affected the leafy parts of some plants," said the council director of services.
National conservation body, An Taisce, expressed alarm at the operation. A spokeswoman, Anja Murray, said that the spraying had happened at a time when songbirds were busily feeding nests full of hatchlings. Ms Murray said their food supply depended on plants. The danger to "bubblebees, butterflies, hedgerows, indeed the whole hedgerow ecosystem" was source of grave concern to An Taisce. She was also worried about possible long-term impact on aquatic life such as frogs and fish.
The circular sent to all the local authorities on behalf of Mr Gormley directed their attention to the requirements of Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, as amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000, in relation to the cutting of hedges and the clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season from Ist March to 31 st. August.
The National Biodiversity Plan, adopted by Government in 2002, recognises that hedgerows provide important habitats for a variety of species and states "for the future, the overall goal should be to have no net loss of the hedgerow resource".
The minister's circular urges councils to convey the message to people in the organisations who have any involvement in organising or managing operations involving roadside trimming, hedge-cutting or other operations that might require the clearance of vegetation. The circular also refers to the role of contractors.
Infringements by local authorities would be viewed particularly seriously, said the circular, and wildlife staff of the Dept had been asked to pay special attention to this. Notices are being placed in national newspapers setting out the substance of the law regarding hedge-cutting.
The minister referred to the local authorities' role in "guardianship of hedgerows". He said he was pleased to note evidence of an improvement in compliance by local authorities and he welcomed the leadership that had been shown by a number of them in this regard.
Meath Green party vice-1 chairman, Fergal O'Byrne, outlined his concerns about the use of herbicide. He said that many studies had shown that the use of herbicides had negative affects on hedgerows, impacting on leaves, flowers, green berries and mature berries. He urged Meath County Council to include a full environmental risk assessment and impact analysis into any contact agreement with any subcontractors prior to works commencing.
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
Stradbally campaign pays off as mast is turned down
"WITH a bit of luck they won't come back," was Una Lalor's wish when she spoke about the decision of An Bord Pleanála (ABP) to refuse planning permission to Eircom to erect a 25m mast at their exchange at The Mill, Chapel Lane in Stradbally.
The decision has been welcomed in Stradbally.
Local people met on Monday evening to discuss the decision and were guarded in their welcome.
Secretary of the Mast Appeal Group Dominic Hartnett, while glowing in his praise for the support from the people of the town in rejecting the mast, urged caution, telling people Eircom still had an opportunity to go to the courts in an attempt to challenge the decision made last week by An Bord Pleanála.
He said it had cost the community approximately 5,000 to lodge their objections to the mast which he said would have been located just five-meters from a residential area.
He said funding to support their campaign had come from the Stradbally Tidy Town's Group, the Stradbally Electric Picnic Committee and the Stradbally Community Development Association.
Mr Hartnett said the local campaign had attracted over 310 objections from all areas of the town.
The campaign's slogan was ‘Spot the Difference.' Mr Hartnett said the reason that was used was in 1998 Laois County Council had refused a planning application to Eircom which was similar to the recent one it had granted planning permission for.
"Our committee had developed our campaign around the poster showing the mast in 1998 and in 2007 and asked both Laois Co Council and An Bord Pleanála to ‘Spot the Difference'.
"We went back to the old records and showed that both Laois County Council and An Board Pleanála had refused the siting of a mast in the town, and now the new application wanted to move the mast closer into the town and beside a new local social housing scheme that was developed by Laois Co Council."
Seamus Lalor said he was delighted with the outcome and delighted so much support was shown to the campaign by people of the town.
Gerry Kelly said: "I'd like to thank ABP for having a bit of sense to put this down. The committee worked very hard on this for over five months."
Mr Hartnett described the funding spent on the community's "as a complete waste of money" and said it could and should have been used in developing the community.
"The spending of much needed community funding as a result of the planning department in the county granting permission, the same department who had refused the siting of a mast in the town in 1998 will now be looked at, and we will hope that the county manager will give us the same time and a meeting as he gave to the applicant when they first came looking for permission."
In assessing the approach taken by the community in their appeal Mr Hartnett said: "We didn't go out shouting and roaring. We kept focused on the issue and worked within the planning appeal guidelines set out. It was a totally focused campaign that paid off."
Joe Barrett
Laois Nationalist
www.buckplanning.ie
The decision has been welcomed in Stradbally.
Local people met on Monday evening to discuss the decision and were guarded in their welcome.
Secretary of the Mast Appeal Group Dominic Hartnett, while glowing in his praise for the support from the people of the town in rejecting the mast, urged caution, telling people Eircom still had an opportunity to go to the courts in an attempt to challenge the decision made last week by An Bord Pleanála.
He said it had cost the community approximately 5,000 to lodge their objections to the mast which he said would have been located just five-meters from a residential area.
He said funding to support their campaign had come from the Stradbally Tidy Town's Group, the Stradbally Electric Picnic Committee and the Stradbally Community Development Association.
Mr Hartnett said the local campaign had attracted over 310 objections from all areas of the town.
The campaign's slogan was ‘Spot the Difference.' Mr Hartnett said the reason that was used was in 1998 Laois County Council had refused a planning application to Eircom which was similar to the recent one it had granted planning permission for.
"Our committee had developed our campaign around the poster showing the mast in 1998 and in 2007 and asked both Laois Co Council and An Bord Pleanála to ‘Spot the Difference'.
"We went back to the old records and showed that both Laois County Council and An Board Pleanála had refused the siting of a mast in the town, and now the new application wanted to move the mast closer into the town and beside a new local social housing scheme that was developed by Laois Co Council."
Seamus Lalor said he was delighted with the outcome and delighted so much support was shown to the campaign by people of the town.
Gerry Kelly said: "I'd like to thank ABP for having a bit of sense to put this down. The committee worked very hard on this for over five months."
Mr Hartnett described the funding spent on the community's "as a complete waste of money" and said it could and should have been used in developing the community.
"The spending of much needed community funding as a result of the planning department in the county granting permission, the same department who had refused the siting of a mast in the town in 1998 will now be looked at, and we will hope that the county manager will give us the same time and a meeting as he gave to the applicant when they first came looking for permission."
In assessing the approach taken by the community in their appeal Mr Hartnett said: "We didn't go out shouting and roaring. We kept focused on the issue and worked within the planning appeal guidelines set out. It was a totally focused campaign that paid off."
Joe Barrett
Laois Nationalist
www.buckplanning.ie
Environment Minister a 'nosey parker'
LABOUR councillor Johnny Mee referred to the Minister of the Environment, John Gormley TD, as a 'nosey parker' for his interference with the Castlebar Town Development Plan. Cllr Mee said that the councillors on the ground knew what was best for the town and he said he never knew a Minister who was as interfering in local affairs and referred to him as a 'nosey parker' and a 'busy-body'.
Mayo News
www.buckplanning.ie
Mayo News
www.buckplanning.ie
Council: No holiday homes on golf courses
A MOVE to allow some cash-strapped Kerry golf clubs to build holiday homes on courses has been stymied by the local authority.
The county has more 20 golf courses, some of them rated among the best in the world, but some of the lesser -known clubs are scrambling to survive.
A fall-off in American golfing tourists and an unfavourable exchange rate for the dollar against the euro have landed some clubs in the rough this season.
With a downward trend in tourism and green fee revenue dropping, holiday homes are seen as a money making ace for clubs - whether sold or rented.
Fianna Fáil councillor Anne McEllistrim suggested to Kerry Co Council management that "favourable consideration" be given to clubs seeking planning permission to build holiday homes that would help them get out of the red.
However, other councillors and senior planning engineer Tom Sheehy believed clubs were out of bounds when the issue arose during a debate on a new Kerry County Development Plan.
Mr Sheehy said that if a golf club was allowed to build holiday homes and later went out of business, the council could be obliged to take over developments where there were two or more houses.
Viability of golf clubs should not be a reason for allowing holiday homes, he said. "If a club is unviable, even 10 holiday homes won't make it viable," Mr Sheehy said. "If that's the situation, a club will go under, with or without holiday homes."
Cllr Robert Beasley (SF) said golf had peaked a long time ago and holiday homes would not make courses viable. The huge growth in golf courses and the numbers of people playing golfing, in the 1980s and 1990s, has peaked, he said.
"There's now a surplus of golf facilities in some areas of the southwest, as clubs compete for members and green fee business. Many people who in former times might have taken up golf are now opting for other leisure pursuits, such as swimming, health centres, walking and cycling, " Cllr Beasley said.
Meanwhile, a nine-hole golf course at Tralee Racecourse closed recently.
At the same time, the promoters of a multi-million euro golf course at Inch, in the Dingle Peninsula, are still seeking the go-ahead from Environment Minister John Gormley.
An Bord Pleanála approved the project in 1997, but it has since been held up due to conservation and environmental issues and needs ministerial approval as it is a proposed Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Golf course designer Dr Arthur Spring, who has drawn up plans for Inch, claimed a well planned golf course development would only enhance the Inch sand dunes and beach area.
Inch, he said, had lost out in tourism but he believed a course would be viable and would attract upwards of 20,000 golfers to the area each year.
Donal Hickey
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
The county has more 20 golf courses, some of them rated among the best in the world, but some of the lesser -known clubs are scrambling to survive.
A fall-off in American golfing tourists and an unfavourable exchange rate for the dollar against the euro have landed some clubs in the rough this season.
With a downward trend in tourism and green fee revenue dropping, holiday homes are seen as a money making ace for clubs - whether sold or rented.
Fianna Fáil councillor Anne McEllistrim suggested to Kerry Co Council management that "favourable consideration" be given to clubs seeking planning permission to build holiday homes that would help them get out of the red.
However, other councillors and senior planning engineer Tom Sheehy believed clubs were out of bounds when the issue arose during a debate on a new Kerry County Development Plan.
Mr Sheehy said that if a golf club was allowed to build holiday homes and later went out of business, the council could be obliged to take over developments where there were two or more houses.
Viability of golf clubs should not be a reason for allowing holiday homes, he said. "If a club is unviable, even 10 holiday homes won't make it viable," Mr Sheehy said. "If that's the situation, a club will go under, with or without holiday homes."
Cllr Robert Beasley (SF) said golf had peaked a long time ago and holiday homes would not make courses viable. The huge growth in golf courses and the numbers of people playing golfing, in the 1980s and 1990s, has peaked, he said.
"There's now a surplus of golf facilities in some areas of the southwest, as clubs compete for members and green fee business. Many people who in former times might have taken up golf are now opting for other leisure pursuits, such as swimming, health centres, walking and cycling, " Cllr Beasley said.
Meanwhile, a nine-hole golf course at Tralee Racecourse closed recently.
At the same time, the promoters of a multi-million euro golf course at Inch, in the Dingle Peninsula, are still seeking the go-ahead from Environment Minister John Gormley.
An Bord Pleanála approved the project in 1997, but it has since been held up due to conservation and environmental issues and needs ministerial approval as it is a proposed Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Golf course designer Dr Arthur Spring, who has drawn up plans for Inch, claimed a well planned golf course development would only enhance the Inch sand dunes and beach area.
Inch, he said, had lost out in tourism but he believed a course would be viable and would attract upwards of 20,000 golfers to the area each year.
Donal Hickey
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Sligo by-pass route selection: 'residents were treated disgracefully'
The Mayor of Sligo, Clr. Jonathan McGoldrick, has claimed that residents have been ‘treated disgracefully' in the process to select a route for the controversial western by-pass.The Mayor, who lives in an area close to the preferred route, told Monday's meeting of Sligo Borough Council that there was widespread anger in the area over the fact that a route which had been rejected by the County Council some years ago was now back on the agenda.
Recalling that a unanimous decision had been taken by Sligo County Council to reject the proposal some years ago, Clr. Arthur Gibbons said it was a scandalous waste of money to come back with a similar proposal at this stage.
‘White elephant'
The project was a ‘white elephant' which would destroy established residential areas if it was allowed to go ahead.
Clr. Rosaleen O'Grady said that although the Borough Council wouldn't have a vote on the route, it was only right that they should lend their support to local residents.
Projects of this kind should be brought forward in partnership but this hadn't happened on this occasion as there had been very little public consultation.
Noting that over 600 submissions had been lodged against the plan, Clr. Veronica Cawley said that was an indication of the huge volume of opposition to the route.
Clr. Declan Bree said that the issue was very much the business of the Borough Council as the vast majority of people who would be affected by the project lived within the borough.
Consultation
The preferred route was totally unacceptable and he was confident that it would be rejected out of hand by the County Council.
Welcoming the fact that there would be further public consultation on the western by-pass, Clr. Chris MacManus said he hoped the County Manager would adopt a similar attitude towards the eastern bridge and would afford more consultation to the residents of Doorly Park, Martin Savage Terrace and the East Ward generally.
Clr. Jimmy McGarry recalled that the route had been withdrawn from the Development Plan following a County Council vote in 2003 and he couldn't understand how it was back on the agenda at this stage.
He said he had been a member of a delegation which met the National Roads Authority in the recent past and it had been made absolutely clear by the NRA that the western by-pass would not be considered for at least another twenty years. Why then were the officials trying to ‘push through' a route in the development plan at this stage, he asked.
Mayor, Clr. McGoldrick, who lives in the area which will be most affected by the preferred route, declared that residents had been treated in a ‘disgraceful manner' on the issue.
Referring to an earlier decision by the County Council to delete the route from the Development Plan, the Mayor said there didn't seem to be much point in elected members taking a democratic decision if the officials would seek to overturn that decision at a later date.
The planning authorities are proposing a variation of the Sligo and Environs Development Plan to protect a corridor for the western by-pass in order to ensure that no short term planning and development decisions will hinder or restrict its implementation in subsequent development period.
The County Manager has recommended that the present proposal to vary the Development Plan not be proceeded with, pending further public consultation.
Sligo Champion
www.buckplanning.ie
Recalling that a unanimous decision had been taken by Sligo County Council to reject the proposal some years ago, Clr. Arthur Gibbons said it was a scandalous waste of money to come back with a similar proposal at this stage.
‘White elephant'
The project was a ‘white elephant' which would destroy established residential areas if it was allowed to go ahead.
Clr. Rosaleen O'Grady said that although the Borough Council wouldn't have a vote on the route, it was only right that they should lend their support to local residents.
Projects of this kind should be brought forward in partnership but this hadn't happened on this occasion as there had been very little public consultation.
Noting that over 600 submissions had been lodged against the plan, Clr. Veronica Cawley said that was an indication of the huge volume of opposition to the route.
Clr. Declan Bree said that the issue was very much the business of the Borough Council as the vast majority of people who would be affected by the project lived within the borough.
Consultation
The preferred route was totally unacceptable and he was confident that it would be rejected out of hand by the County Council.
Welcoming the fact that there would be further public consultation on the western by-pass, Clr. Chris MacManus said he hoped the County Manager would adopt a similar attitude towards the eastern bridge and would afford more consultation to the residents of Doorly Park, Martin Savage Terrace and the East Ward generally.
Clr. Jimmy McGarry recalled that the route had been withdrawn from the Development Plan following a County Council vote in 2003 and he couldn't understand how it was back on the agenda at this stage.
He said he had been a member of a delegation which met the National Roads Authority in the recent past and it had been made absolutely clear by the NRA that the western by-pass would not be considered for at least another twenty years. Why then were the officials trying to ‘push through' a route in the development plan at this stage, he asked.
Mayor, Clr. McGoldrick, who lives in the area which will be most affected by the preferred route, declared that residents had been treated in a ‘disgraceful manner' on the issue.
Referring to an earlier decision by the County Council to delete the route from the Development Plan, the Mayor said there didn't seem to be much point in elected members taking a democratic decision if the officials would seek to overturn that decision at a later date.
The planning authorities are proposing a variation of the Sligo and Environs Development Plan to protect a corridor for the western by-pass in order to ensure that no short term planning and development decisions will hinder or restrict its implementation in subsequent development period.
The County Manager has recommended that the present proposal to vary the Development Plan not be proceeded with, pending further public consultation.
Sligo Champion
www.buckplanning.ie
Harbour to include 200-berth marina
LATEST proposals for a bigger harbour in Valentia, Co Kerry, include a 200-berth marina, it has emerged.
At an estimated development cost of €5 million, the harbour would require a floating pontoon protection wall.
Earlier this week, Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue along with Kerry county manager Tom Curran met two ministers to discuss funding for the Valentia pier and harbour.
Government funding of €2m had already been approved but a case is being made for the floating pontoon which has the backing of local groups, including the RNLI which has a lifeboat based in Valentia.
Mr O'Donoghue described the meeting with Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Eamon Ó Cúiv and Minister of State for Fishing and Forestry Tony Killeen as positive.
"Both ministers are now fully aware of the vital importance of this proposed development for Valentia and south Kerry," Mr O'Donoghue said.
The pier is used daily by a ferry operating between Valentia and Renard.
It is reckoned a pontoon wall would give a four-fold increase in harbour capacity.
Mr O'Donoghue said, as well as providing facilities for the lifeboat to be moored closer inshore, the larger harbour would also have better facilities to develop fishing in the area.
He also said a marina development would be a boost for the harbour.
"This [marina] would provide many high quality jobs into the future related to the marine industry and the servicing of boats and leisure crafts," he said.
In recent years, marinas have been provided in other parts of Kerry including Fenit, Dingle and Caherciveen.
Donal Hickey
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
At an estimated development cost of €5 million, the harbour would require a floating pontoon protection wall.
Earlier this week, Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue along with Kerry county manager Tom Curran met two ministers to discuss funding for the Valentia pier and harbour.
Government funding of €2m had already been approved but a case is being made for the floating pontoon which has the backing of local groups, including the RNLI which has a lifeboat based in Valentia.
Mr O'Donoghue described the meeting with Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Eamon Ó Cúiv and Minister of State for Fishing and Forestry Tony Killeen as positive.
"Both ministers are now fully aware of the vital importance of this proposed development for Valentia and south Kerry," Mr O'Donoghue said.
The pier is used daily by a ferry operating between Valentia and Renard.
It is reckoned a pontoon wall would give a four-fold increase in harbour capacity.
Mr O'Donoghue said, as well as providing facilities for the lifeboat to be moored closer inshore, the larger harbour would also have better facilities to develop fishing in the area.
He also said a marina development would be a boost for the harbour.
"This [marina] would provide many high quality jobs into the future related to the marine industry and the servicing of boats and leisure crafts," he said.
In recent years, marinas have been provided in other parts of Kerry including Fenit, Dingle and Caherciveen.
Donal Hickey
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
East Coast Recycling gets warning to cut down dust
East Coast Recycling have been warned to clean up their act after a complaint was made over the amount of dust emanating from their Murrough site. Following a complaint from a member of the public to the environmental section of Wicklow County Council, a warden from the Waste Management Section visited the site on Thursday.
As a result of the visit East Coast Recycling have been instructed to cease shredding the timber which was the main source of the dust and to also dampen down the site. The situation will be monitored over the next few days by the Council to ensure their instructions are being followed.
Nicholas Corcoran is based out by the Murrough and made the complaint to the council after noting the amount of dust originating from East Coast Recycling was causing him to feel nauseous.
I ended up with watery eyes that were very painful, pains in my head and kept feeling nauseous. I never had any problems with my health before this. I never really noticed the dust before but the winds changed direction recently to a north/easterly direction and keep blowing the dust in my direction.'
He rang up the council as soon as he noted the affect the dust was having on his health, after it is pushed back into the atmosphere when waste for recycling is placed into crushers used on the site.
While he is pleased the council have acted on his complaint, but is far from happy that the incident occurred at all.
It' an absolute disgrace that we have this. It's an environmental hazard. You could see tiny bits of timber, little speckles, gathering on cars and other objects when the dust blew over.'
Wicklow People
www.buckplanning.ie
As a result of the visit East Coast Recycling have been instructed to cease shredding the timber which was the main source of the dust and to also dampen down the site. The situation will be monitored over the next few days by the Council to ensure their instructions are being followed.
Nicholas Corcoran is based out by the Murrough and made the complaint to the council after noting the amount of dust originating from East Coast Recycling was causing him to feel nauseous.
I ended up with watery eyes that were very painful, pains in my head and kept feeling nauseous. I never had any problems with my health before this. I never really noticed the dust before but the winds changed direction recently to a north/easterly direction and keep blowing the dust in my direction.'
He rang up the council as soon as he noted the affect the dust was having on his health, after it is pushed back into the atmosphere when waste for recycling is placed into crushers used on the site.
While he is pleased the council have acted on his complaint, but is far from happy that the incident occurred at all.
It' an absolute disgrace that we have this. It's an environmental hazard. You could see tiny bits of timber, little speckles, gathering on cars and other objects when the dust blew over.'
Wicklow People
www.buckplanning.ie
Decision on bioenergy waste plant delayed
PROMOTERS of a bio-energy plant which would be located close to champion trainer Aidan O’Brien’s south Tipperary base will have to wait until late July for a planning decision.
An Bord Pleanála was due to make a ruling this month on the application by Green Organics Energy for the €100 million plant, which would take a large portion of Irish meat factories’ slaughterhouse waste, on a site near Rosegreen, between Clonmel and Cashel.
However, the volume of evidence and documents generated by a two-week oral hearing earlier in the year, as well as up to 800 submissions, has lengthened the time involved in making a decision.
A spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála said yesterday that it will now be the end of July at the earliest before a judgement can be made on the application.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in the case so it has been put back,” he said.
There has already been speculation that the process could stretch into the autumn.
South Tipperary County Council has already rejected the application for the animal by-products bio-energy plant and the oral hearing conducted by Derek Daly was called after appeals to the board.
Among hundreds of objectors are Aidan O’Brien and his wife Anne-Marie O’Brien, Coolmore Stud, South Tipperary for Clean Industry, some local politicians, a local school and residents’ groups.
The objectors say the plant would generate too much traffic, lead to odours as was the case when an animal waste rendering operation was carried out previously on the site and threaten local water sources.
Aidan O’Brien also told the hearing that it would be “the end of Ballydoyle” as a thoroughbred training establishment if the site, two miles from his base, was used for such a facility.
However, Green Organics Energy — a consortium made up of site-owners Avglade, waste experts Bioverda Ltd and Dawn Meats — say that such a plant is necessary if Ireland is to deal with waste from slaughterhouses into the future, rather than exporting it.
The facility would use the processing of the waste to generate bioenergy, which would feed into the national grid, and biodiesel, with 80% of the raw materials coming from the country’s meat industry.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
An Bord Pleanála was due to make a ruling this month on the application by Green Organics Energy for the €100 million plant, which would take a large portion of Irish meat factories’ slaughterhouse waste, on a site near Rosegreen, between Clonmel and Cashel.
However, the volume of evidence and documents generated by a two-week oral hearing earlier in the year, as well as up to 800 submissions, has lengthened the time involved in making a decision.
A spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála said yesterday that it will now be the end of July at the earliest before a judgement can be made on the application.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in the case so it has been put back,” he said.
There has already been speculation that the process could stretch into the autumn.
South Tipperary County Council has already rejected the application for the animal by-products bio-energy plant and the oral hearing conducted by Derek Daly was called after appeals to the board.
Among hundreds of objectors are Aidan O’Brien and his wife Anne-Marie O’Brien, Coolmore Stud, South Tipperary for Clean Industry, some local politicians, a local school and residents’ groups.
The objectors say the plant would generate too much traffic, lead to odours as was the case when an animal waste rendering operation was carried out previously on the site and threaten local water sources.
Aidan O’Brien also told the hearing that it would be “the end of Ballydoyle” as a thoroughbred training establishment if the site, two miles from his base, was used for such a facility.
However, Green Organics Energy — a consortium made up of site-owners Avglade, waste experts Bioverda Ltd and Dawn Meats — say that such a plant is necessary if Ireland is to deal with waste from slaughterhouses into the future, rather than exporting it.
The facility would use the processing of the waste to generate bioenergy, which would feed into the national grid, and biodiesel, with 80% of the raw materials coming from the country’s meat industry.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Bord rejects Bayside plan
PLANS FOR the redevelopment of Bayside Shopping Centre in Sutton, north Dublin, have been refused by An Bord Pleanála.
Bayside Centre Management Ltd was seeking to demolish the existing shopping centre to make way for a mixed-use scheme of 99 apartments and 15 shops.
Going against the advice of its own inspector, the board refused permission stating that the scheme would be "excessive in relation to its location".
Reasons given by the board for a previous refusal in 2005 have not been addressed, the board added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Bayside Centre Management Ltd was seeking to demolish the existing shopping centre to make way for a mixed-use scheme of 99 apartments and 15 shops.
Going against the advice of its own inspector, the board refused permission stating that the scheme would be "excessive in relation to its location".
Reasons given by the board for a previous refusal in 2005 have not been addressed, the board added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
398 homes for Arklow site with no town sewerage plant in place
GANNON HOMES is about to apply for planning permission to Arklow Town Council for a new neighbourhood at Tinahask, in Upper Wicklow bounded by the Dublin-Wexford railway line and Arklow Golf Club.
The site is part of a 98-acre master plan, comprising 398 dwellings, in a mix of three and four-bed houses, duplexes and triplexes in 11 blocks ranging form three to five storeys.
The plan also includes 40 shop units, a supermarket, off-licence, 24 office suites and a financial service unit, seven medical suites, two pubs, a café, restaurants with hot food take-away, two betting offices, two crechès, two playgrounds and a park.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The site is part of a 98-acre master plan, comprising 398 dwellings, in a mix of three and four-bed houses, duplexes and triplexes in 11 blocks ranging form three to five storeys.
The plan also includes 40 shop units, a supermarket, off-licence, 24 office suites and a financial service unit, seven medical suites, two pubs, a café, restaurants with hot food take-away, two betting offices, two crechès, two playgrounds and a park.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Bord says yes to Sean Mulryan's plans for 440 homes in Baldoyle
SEAN MULRYAN’S Helsingor has got planning permission for 440 homes as part of the fourth phase of a residential development on former racecourse lands at Baldoyle, Co Dublin.
In granting planning permission, An Bord Pleanála overruled its own inspector’s recommendation to refuse planning permission and disagreed with the inspector’s appraisal that there was a disproportionate split between the number of houses and apartments which would have a negative impact on achieving the overall objections of the Area Action Plan.
As well as over 440 units – made up of apartments, duplexes and houses in seven blocks, and a small number of semi-detached and detached houses – Mulryan got planning permission for a civic park and a crèche.
In March he got approval from An Bord Pleanála for a development of around 400 new homes, as the third phase of the development.
On that occasion the development Mulryan proposed was sizably reduced following discussions with Fingal County Council and planning conditions imposed by An Bord Pleanála.
Elements of the scheme that have been rejected in phase three include 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) of offices, a leisure centre and department store while the number of apartments was reduced from 482.
The development will include a medical centre, supermarket, shops, restaurants and a pub.
Around 4,000 homes are planned for the former Baldoyle racecourse and an adjoining 100-acre site in Portmarnock.
Mulryan sold a 50 per cent stake in the Baldoyle and Portmarnock lands to Séamus Ross of Menolly Homes for € 95 million in 2004.
Mulryan, whose main development company is Ballymore Properties, acquired the racecourse in 1999 for about £30 million from developer John Byrne.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In granting planning permission, An Bord Pleanála overruled its own inspector’s recommendation to refuse planning permission and disagreed with the inspector’s appraisal that there was a disproportionate split between the number of houses and apartments which would have a negative impact on achieving the overall objections of the Area Action Plan.
As well as over 440 units – made up of apartments, duplexes and houses in seven blocks, and a small number of semi-detached and detached houses – Mulryan got planning permission for a civic park and a crèche.
In March he got approval from An Bord Pleanála for a development of around 400 new homes, as the third phase of the development.
On that occasion the development Mulryan proposed was sizably reduced following discussions with Fingal County Council and planning conditions imposed by An Bord Pleanála.
Elements of the scheme that have been rejected in phase three include 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) of offices, a leisure centre and department store while the number of apartments was reduced from 482.
The development will include a medical centre, supermarket, shops, restaurants and a pub.
Around 4,000 homes are planned for the former Baldoyle racecourse and an adjoining 100-acre site in Portmarnock.
Mulryan sold a 50 per cent stake in the Baldoyle and Portmarnock lands to Séamus Ross of Menolly Homes for € 95 million in 2004.
Mulryan, whose main development company is Ballymore Properties, acquired the racecourse in 1999 for about £30 million from developer John Byrne.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Ormond Quay pontoon appealed
A DUBLIN architect is one of three parties to appeal planning permission for a floating pontoon at Lower Ormond Quay to An Bord Pleanála because of the impact it would have on the view of the Ha’penny Bridge from the River Liffey “one of the most iconic in Dublin”.
Patrick Shaffrey of Shaffrey Architects says this view of the bridge is “one of the essential Dublin images transmitted all over the world”.
In April, Dublin City Council granted Irish Ship and Barge Fabrication Co Ltd planning permission for the venture. The pontoon, a 120-metre “floating street”, would be cobbled and positioned off the Liffey Boardwalk. The proposal is that visitors will be able to sit at tables on the pontoon, and order coffee from two former Guinness barges refurbished as a café and restaurant. The pontoon will be part of a €9 million plan to rescue and restore four 80ft former Guinness barges from the sea off the coast of Northern Ireland. Some of the barges will operate cruises on the Liffey, while a separate fleet of ferries will collect and drop off passengers at 12 points on the river.
An Taisce has also appealed the proposal saying that, while the initiative to revive the former Guinness barges is welcome and would increase activity on the river, it is premature pending the “City Quays Framework Plan”.
It says over the past number of years there has been “a non-stop onslaught of controversial proposals or plans for the Liffey”, including the Suas cable car, a giant steel sculpture in the river beside the Seán O’Casey Bridge and the “flying saucer” proposed for over the Clarence Hotel.
“The proposed development would be contrary to Dublin City Council’s policies for a new development in conservation areas and would adversely impact on the setting of the protected structure, the Ha’penny Bridge,” says the appeal.
TASCQ (Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter Limited) say this part of the river regularly has low levels of water and the logical place to put the pontoon is below Butt Bridge where “the water is deep and the river adequately wide”. It says the narrowest point of the Liffey, down-river of O’Donovan Rossa Bridge, is at the bend in the river where the pontoon is proposed.
“The concentrated bulk of the pontoon and the moored boats, intruding 20 metres in the river, will cause obstruction and congestion for other river users.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Patrick Shaffrey of Shaffrey Architects says this view of the bridge is “one of the essential Dublin images transmitted all over the world”.
In April, Dublin City Council granted Irish Ship and Barge Fabrication Co Ltd planning permission for the venture. The pontoon, a 120-metre “floating street”, would be cobbled and positioned off the Liffey Boardwalk. The proposal is that visitors will be able to sit at tables on the pontoon, and order coffee from two former Guinness barges refurbished as a café and restaurant. The pontoon will be part of a €9 million plan to rescue and restore four 80ft former Guinness barges from the sea off the coast of Northern Ireland. Some of the barges will operate cruises on the Liffey, while a separate fleet of ferries will collect and drop off passengers at 12 points on the river.
An Taisce has also appealed the proposal saying that, while the initiative to revive the former Guinness barges is welcome and would increase activity on the river, it is premature pending the “City Quays Framework Plan”.
It says over the past number of years there has been “a non-stop onslaught of controversial proposals or plans for the Liffey”, including the Suas cable car, a giant steel sculpture in the river beside the Seán O’Casey Bridge and the “flying saucer” proposed for over the Clarence Hotel.
“The proposed development would be contrary to Dublin City Council’s policies for a new development in conservation areas and would adversely impact on the setting of the protected structure, the Ha’penny Bridge,” says the appeal.
TASCQ (Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter Limited) say this part of the river regularly has low levels of water and the logical place to put the pontoon is below Butt Bridge where “the water is deep and the river adequately wide”. It says the narrowest point of the Liffey, down-river of O’Donovan Rossa Bridge, is at the bend in the river where the pontoon is proposed.
“The concentrated bulk of the pontoon and the moored boats, intruding 20 metres in the river, will cause obstruction and congestion for other river users.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Judging architecture
Emma Cullinan was one of the judges at this year's RIAI awards. She gives an insight into how the winning schemes were chosen.
THERE WERE 217 entries to the RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) awards this year - the highest ever - and it is breathtaking to see presentations of these projects laid out on tables across two rooms in the RIAI offices. All that hard work - all that hope.
You could not judge architecture alone, it is a somewhat subjective pursuit, although time enough in the profession brings objectivity too. Here there was a lovely mix of assessors offering various tastes and insights.
In some cases it's easy to pick award winners - good architecture just is - and the whole jury immediately concurs.
There are clear losers too. How can an architectural-award jury give prizes to pseudo-Tudor or Mock Georgian housing schemes? They may be much loved among their target audience but they are not clever and cutting-edge. They enter the contest all the same.
Beyond the obvious choices it gets fuzzy: where one jury member likes a style and the others aren't so sure, or where a scheme has good aspects but they don't quite add up to a delightful whole. Or where there's a divine plan and devilish massing.
Chair Joan O'Connor displayed her project-management talents in ushering us through the process at a cracking pace. The awards are in categories and all six judges (including Rob Docter, Greg Tisdall, Paul Keogh and Nicki Matthews) looked at everything in each class before coming together to discuss.
While Joan would give her view first she was quite happy to be challenged and everything being advocated by anybody was left on the table, ready for someone to fight its corner. Gradually the schemes were whittled to around seven projects: one winning the award, two highly commended, two commended and then two or more exhibitions.
So if you felt passionate enough about a building you needed to champion it - sometimes alone; thinking, 'if only the architect could see me now'.
Sometimes you would hear another judge defending a project in terms you agreed with and would join with them. In one rare case the judges were split over the award in one category - lining up, three against three. Both contenders were buildings of beauty but different in style.
At times like this you realise how the same word means different things to different architectural assessors: some using "austere" to praise a building's wonderful sense of restraint while others employ the word to criticise a structure's severity.
As with semantics, so with style. When is a pitched-roof, white walled house a clever, contemporary twist on Irish vernacular and when is it a lazy, quick-draw, cheap-build house type? Not always clear if the photography is excellent. The entries were anonymous - although many were known to, and had been seen by, us judges - so you could not necessarily rely on knowledge of an architect's reputation for design and detailing in all cases.
The quality was mainly clear, though, in the massing, composition, detailing (a clever twist on tradition that says something new or bog standard?) and quota of plastic wrecking the elevations. You don't, after all, see white polymer piping running down the front of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water or swan neck guttering clutching the roof of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth glass house. Good architecture sees it through from foundation to gutter (although that might involve a battle with the client).
Similarly, while the submissions could be, and were often, pleasingly straightforward and basic, clarity of presentation was appreciated; if the submission comprised creased, murky colour photocopies on standard photocopying paper all bundled into one envelope together you did wonder as to the quality of detailing in the buildings.
Gradually criteria and buzzwords emerged to help in the selection and to keep up the momentum. "Derivative" derogatively referred to buildings that had been designed by casting around current world trends and sticking a selection of these together in a less than harmonious composition. Or it meant that a building was concentrating on one particular style: I was fond of a brick housing scheme but it was dismissed as being too Dutch school (which caused the Dutch assessor, Rob Docter, to raise his eyebrows quizzically), another building was "too Libeskind". That said, rather those buildings that have a go at something new than those which go for the lowest common denominator.
Judging these awards gives a snapshot of what is happening countrywide and the view is good. Many designers are striving for a new design language for Ireland. Some of it may not be world-class architecture but it is better than so much that has gone before.
Conversely there is still much inhumane corporate architecture. Big "luxurious" schemes that have had plenty of publicity just couldn't impress the design judges: injecting a building with bling doesn't necessarily make it sing.
Another phrase used against office design was "four-pipe fan coil air con": if an office was designed in such a way - for instance with a deep plan - that it looked as if it might require air conditioning then that counted against it. Hospital projects that showed swish photos of communal areas and none of the actual wards got short shrift as did schemes that had won an award for an earlier phase.
Buildings photographed and drawn on their own, without showing how they fit into the surrounding area, made the judges wary.
One judge pointed out that golf backwards is "flog" and such schemes had that notion suspiciously hanging over them.
Some projects were moved into new categories, especially one that was in a category all of its own. You can be clever in awards by choosing classes that have few entrants. Mixed-used schemes were in the happy position of being able to enter a variety of categories. Sometimes that could hinder - the good ones can't be given awards in all of the categories thus sweeping the board - and at other times it helped. The unskilful apartment design could be ignored while another aspect of the scheme could take a bow.
Also, architects could win in one category for one building and get nothing in another category for a different project.
The winning designs tended to have gone beyond the brief. The client comments were telling. An animal shelter group said: "Our architects spent so much effort in putting together an aesthetic and contemporary feel to the exterior but to us, who spend eight and 10 hours a day using it, the outside is actually immaterial." Luckily the architects went well beyond that requirement and nabbed a design award in the process. We found it both strange and delightful to be celebrating a dog's home. Similarly a hair salon in Cork. The retail category was fairly depressing. This is the face of architecture that most people see and yet - hey ho - the usual plain white walls and stark lighting. Yet an architect had taken the salon brief and created a double-height space along with small rooms that had views through to other parts of the building, helped by jauntily placed mirrors and glass.
Similarly, many architects deserve bravery awards. Design is taking a little pause - as is the property market - as architects have to work out where to go next and competent designers who explore new styles are heroic.
You be the judge: vote for your favourite from the shortlist on www. riai.ie from June 4th
The awards will be presented at CHQ in Dublin's Docklands, on June 23rd, hosted by Ryan Tubridy.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
THERE WERE 217 entries to the RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) awards this year - the highest ever - and it is breathtaking to see presentations of these projects laid out on tables across two rooms in the RIAI offices. All that hard work - all that hope.
You could not judge architecture alone, it is a somewhat subjective pursuit, although time enough in the profession brings objectivity too. Here there was a lovely mix of assessors offering various tastes and insights.
In some cases it's easy to pick award winners - good architecture just is - and the whole jury immediately concurs.
There are clear losers too. How can an architectural-award jury give prizes to pseudo-Tudor or Mock Georgian housing schemes? They may be much loved among their target audience but they are not clever and cutting-edge. They enter the contest all the same.
Beyond the obvious choices it gets fuzzy: where one jury member likes a style and the others aren't so sure, or where a scheme has good aspects but they don't quite add up to a delightful whole. Or where there's a divine plan and devilish massing.
Chair Joan O'Connor displayed her project-management talents in ushering us through the process at a cracking pace. The awards are in categories and all six judges (including Rob Docter, Greg Tisdall, Paul Keogh and Nicki Matthews) looked at everything in each class before coming together to discuss.
While Joan would give her view first she was quite happy to be challenged and everything being advocated by anybody was left on the table, ready for someone to fight its corner. Gradually the schemes were whittled to around seven projects: one winning the award, two highly commended, two commended and then two or more exhibitions.
So if you felt passionate enough about a building you needed to champion it - sometimes alone; thinking, 'if only the architect could see me now'.
Sometimes you would hear another judge defending a project in terms you agreed with and would join with them. In one rare case the judges were split over the award in one category - lining up, three against three. Both contenders were buildings of beauty but different in style.
At times like this you realise how the same word means different things to different architectural assessors: some using "austere" to praise a building's wonderful sense of restraint while others employ the word to criticise a structure's severity.
As with semantics, so with style. When is a pitched-roof, white walled house a clever, contemporary twist on Irish vernacular and when is it a lazy, quick-draw, cheap-build house type? Not always clear if the photography is excellent. The entries were anonymous - although many were known to, and had been seen by, us judges - so you could not necessarily rely on knowledge of an architect's reputation for design and detailing in all cases.
The quality was mainly clear, though, in the massing, composition, detailing (a clever twist on tradition that says something new or bog standard?) and quota of plastic wrecking the elevations. You don't, after all, see white polymer piping running down the front of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water or swan neck guttering clutching the roof of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth glass house. Good architecture sees it through from foundation to gutter (although that might involve a battle with the client).
Similarly, while the submissions could be, and were often, pleasingly straightforward and basic, clarity of presentation was appreciated; if the submission comprised creased, murky colour photocopies on standard photocopying paper all bundled into one envelope together you did wonder as to the quality of detailing in the buildings.
Gradually criteria and buzzwords emerged to help in the selection and to keep up the momentum. "Derivative" derogatively referred to buildings that had been designed by casting around current world trends and sticking a selection of these together in a less than harmonious composition. Or it meant that a building was concentrating on one particular style: I was fond of a brick housing scheme but it was dismissed as being too Dutch school (which caused the Dutch assessor, Rob Docter, to raise his eyebrows quizzically), another building was "too Libeskind". That said, rather those buildings that have a go at something new than those which go for the lowest common denominator.
Judging these awards gives a snapshot of what is happening countrywide and the view is good. Many designers are striving for a new design language for Ireland. Some of it may not be world-class architecture but it is better than so much that has gone before.
Conversely there is still much inhumane corporate architecture. Big "luxurious" schemes that have had plenty of publicity just couldn't impress the design judges: injecting a building with bling doesn't necessarily make it sing.
Another phrase used against office design was "four-pipe fan coil air con": if an office was designed in such a way - for instance with a deep plan - that it looked as if it might require air conditioning then that counted against it. Hospital projects that showed swish photos of communal areas and none of the actual wards got short shrift as did schemes that had won an award for an earlier phase.
Buildings photographed and drawn on their own, without showing how they fit into the surrounding area, made the judges wary.
One judge pointed out that golf backwards is "flog" and such schemes had that notion suspiciously hanging over them.
Some projects were moved into new categories, especially one that was in a category all of its own. You can be clever in awards by choosing classes that have few entrants. Mixed-used schemes were in the happy position of being able to enter a variety of categories. Sometimes that could hinder - the good ones can't be given awards in all of the categories thus sweeping the board - and at other times it helped. The unskilful apartment design could be ignored while another aspect of the scheme could take a bow.
Also, architects could win in one category for one building and get nothing in another category for a different project.
The winning designs tended to have gone beyond the brief. The client comments were telling. An animal shelter group said: "Our architects spent so much effort in putting together an aesthetic and contemporary feel to the exterior but to us, who spend eight and 10 hours a day using it, the outside is actually immaterial." Luckily the architects went well beyond that requirement and nabbed a design award in the process. We found it both strange and delightful to be celebrating a dog's home. Similarly a hair salon in Cork. The retail category was fairly depressing. This is the face of architecture that most people see and yet - hey ho - the usual plain white walls and stark lighting. Yet an architect had taken the salon brief and created a double-height space along with small rooms that had views through to other parts of the building, helped by jauntily placed mirrors and glass.
Similarly, many architects deserve bravery awards. Design is taking a little pause - as is the property market - as architects have to work out where to go next and competent designers who explore new styles are heroic.
You be the judge: vote for your favourite from the shortlist on www. riai.ie from June 4th
The awards will be presented at CHQ in Dublin's Docklands, on June 23rd, hosted by Ryan Tubridy.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Home Truths
House sizes for the super-rich are out of proportion, says Edel Morgan .
I'VE NOTICED that Ireland's wealthy need more space than ever to rattle around in.
There was a time when 465sq m (5,000sq ft) was considered ample room but now a good 1,022sq m (11,000sq ft) is required and a room for every eventuality before a house is deemed habitable - for a few years anyway until the walls start closing in and the realisation dawns that there's simply nowhere to put the Roman-style indoor pool with marble columns.
Homes of 743-1,022sq m (8,000-11,000sq ft) are no longer a rarity in this country. It's almost as if some kind of one upmanship has been going on among Ireland's rich who've been busy over the past number of years demolishing cramped quarters of 279-743sq m (3,000-8,000sq ft) and replacing them with something more proportionate to their bank balances (unless An Bord Pleanála says otherwise of course).
Others have been busy excavating and extending in every direction, or moving somewhere bigger (although fewer are taking this option in the current market).
The more money, the more the possibilities and many seem intent on exploiting them to the full. Why just have a home when you can have a mini-hotel?
The latest must-have is a home spa with a massive bath, sauna and steam room - an essential for spa parties.
Then there's the cinema, gym, swimming pool, games room, home bar, catering kitchen with 10 ovens and a range, formal reception rooms, family rooms, suites for each of the children, as well as a formal kitchen with Aga that turns into a ballroom at the touch of a button (only a slight exaggeration).
Then there's the staff quarters for the nanny, the au pair and live-in housekeeper.
A house of 1,022sq m (11,000sq ft) - at more than nine times the size of my house - is great for playing hide and seek but I can't help wondering if one could actually lose small children in a house that size and whether you'd need a loudspeaker to get the attention of family members or staff?
Telecoms magnate Denis O'Brien was looking to knock Belmont, his bijoux 743sq m (8,000sq ft) house on Shrewsbury Road and build a 2,044sq m (22,000sq ft) house with an indoor swimming pool, spa, staff quarters and six reception rooms.
An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission but, if history had been different, would he have had to issue guests with a map and compass upon arrival? If not, would he have allowed them to go to the powder room unaccompanied, or risk them never finding their way back?
Of course the bigger the house, the more the layers of complication.
For upkeep there's the team of tradesmen, cleaners, a supervisor to oversee the cleaners, groundsmen, security staff, a caretaker, and an interior designer on call.
Decor-wise, the attention to detail tends to be staggering with bespoke and antique furniture all the way - a three-seater from Ikea could be tantamount to social death.
A sweeping central staircase is a prerequisite for the big entrance and multiple chandeliers are obligatory.
It helps to get one up on your peers by being the first to have something like a height adjustable basement swimming pool or a diamond encrusted door knob - all the rage in London apparently at a cost of €25,000 per knob, or the less expensive Swarovski crystals version for around €322 per knob.
Am I jealous? Absolutely. The nearest I'm going to get to acquiring a sprawling hacienda the way things stand is if I move to Cavan.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
I'VE NOTICED that Ireland's wealthy need more space than ever to rattle around in.
There was a time when 465sq m (5,000sq ft) was considered ample room but now a good 1,022sq m (11,000sq ft) is required and a room for every eventuality before a house is deemed habitable - for a few years anyway until the walls start closing in and the realisation dawns that there's simply nowhere to put the Roman-style indoor pool with marble columns.
Homes of 743-1,022sq m (8,000-11,000sq ft) are no longer a rarity in this country. It's almost as if some kind of one upmanship has been going on among Ireland's rich who've been busy over the past number of years demolishing cramped quarters of 279-743sq m (3,000-8,000sq ft) and replacing them with something more proportionate to their bank balances (unless An Bord Pleanála says otherwise of course).
Others have been busy excavating and extending in every direction, or moving somewhere bigger (although fewer are taking this option in the current market).
The more money, the more the possibilities and many seem intent on exploiting them to the full. Why just have a home when you can have a mini-hotel?
The latest must-have is a home spa with a massive bath, sauna and steam room - an essential for spa parties.
Then there's the cinema, gym, swimming pool, games room, home bar, catering kitchen with 10 ovens and a range, formal reception rooms, family rooms, suites for each of the children, as well as a formal kitchen with Aga that turns into a ballroom at the touch of a button (only a slight exaggeration).
Then there's the staff quarters for the nanny, the au pair and live-in housekeeper.
A house of 1,022sq m (11,000sq ft) - at more than nine times the size of my house - is great for playing hide and seek but I can't help wondering if one could actually lose small children in a house that size and whether you'd need a loudspeaker to get the attention of family members or staff?
Telecoms magnate Denis O'Brien was looking to knock Belmont, his bijoux 743sq m (8,000sq ft) house on Shrewsbury Road and build a 2,044sq m (22,000sq ft) house with an indoor swimming pool, spa, staff quarters and six reception rooms.
An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission but, if history had been different, would he have had to issue guests with a map and compass upon arrival? If not, would he have allowed them to go to the powder room unaccompanied, or risk them never finding their way back?
Of course the bigger the house, the more the layers of complication.
For upkeep there's the team of tradesmen, cleaners, a supervisor to oversee the cleaners, groundsmen, security staff, a caretaker, and an interior designer on call.
Decor-wise, the attention to detail tends to be staggering with bespoke and antique furniture all the way - a three-seater from Ikea could be tantamount to social death.
A sweeping central staircase is a prerequisite for the big entrance and multiple chandeliers are obligatory.
It helps to get one up on your peers by being the first to have something like a height adjustable basement swimming pool or a diamond encrusted door knob - all the rage in London apparently at a cost of €25,000 per knob, or the less expensive Swarovski crystals version for around €322 per knob.
Am I jealous? Absolutely. The nearest I'm going to get to acquiring a sprawling hacienda the way things stand is if I move to Cavan.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Carlton site redevelopment
Madam, - The Moore Street Traders Committee represents all the street's market traders and is elected annually.
We were disappointed to read Matt Doyle of the National Graves Association (May 27th) suggesting that the proposed Carlton site redevelopment would spell the end of one of Dublin's most famous streets.
We have been working closely with the people behind the Carlton project for the past 18 months because our future and the market's future depends on this development going ahead. The current Moore Street is dilapidated and unattractive and, contrary to what Mr Doyle thinks, ordinary Dubliners and tourists are getting fewer and fewer.
We treasure our national monument but we also welcome development. We have seen the plans for the development and the monument has pride of place in a newly rejuvenated Moore Street market. This is good for the city. - Yours, etc,
MARGARET HANWAY, ERNIE BEGGS, TOM HOLBROOK, MARY LEECH, Moore Street Traders, Moore Street, Dublin 1 .
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
We were disappointed to read Matt Doyle of the National Graves Association (May 27th) suggesting that the proposed Carlton site redevelopment would spell the end of one of Dublin's most famous streets.
We have been working closely with the people behind the Carlton project for the past 18 months because our future and the market's future depends on this development going ahead. The current Moore Street is dilapidated and unattractive and, contrary to what Mr Doyle thinks, ordinary Dubliners and tourists are getting fewer and fewer.
We treasure our national monument but we also welcome development. We have seen the plans for the development and the monument has pride of place in a newly rejuvenated Moore Street market. This is good for the city. - Yours, etc,
MARGARET HANWAY, ERNIE BEGGS, TOM HOLBROOK, MARY LEECH, Moore Street Traders, Moore Street, Dublin 1 .
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Bogged down by bureaucracy
Repeated reviews and constant consultations have halted progress and stifled innovation in our transport network, writes Tim O'Brien
ON MONDAY May 12th, the Department of Transport announced the end of public consultation on its sustainable Travel and Transport Action Plan. On Monday May 19th, the Minister, Noel Dempsey, announced the start of a period of public consultation on the Future of Transport in Dublin.
In the week between, the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) called for the public to engage in consultation on its new Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area (Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow) for the period up to 2030.
The new DTO strategy will replace the DTO Platform for Change 2000-2016. The Platform for Change is similar, but not the same, as the Dublin elements in yet another policy document: Transport 21.
Confused? Well you ought to be. The State's policy in relation to air and sea ports, road and rail plans, even road safety strategies and the encompassing legislative framework is, and has been for a decade, beset by review and counter review.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) is proceeding with the 1999 plan to link Dublin to regional cities and the Border by motorways or high quality dual carriageways, having reviewed the 1998 Roads Needs Study. It subsequently reviewed both the cost and timescale of the plan.
A controversy over the maximum height of lorries on Irish roads led to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern announcing in 2006 that the maximum height of lorries using the Dublin Port Tunnel would be 4.65 metres and any lorries higher than that should be "turned back" in the port. This is currently under review by the North South body InterTrade Ireland, which recently recommended a standard maximum height North and South of 4.95 metres.
The NRA also reviewed the use of 2+1 lane roads and decided they should be replaced by 2+2 roads. It also reviewed the dropping of plans for the Eastern Bypass which it says should again be Government policy.
Dublin Port itself was subject of a review by the Progressive Democrats, whose former leader and tánaiste Michael McDowell called for the Government to relocate the port to north County Dublin and build "Manhattan" in the docklands. Plans to relocate the port or reclaim additional land in Dublin Bay are currently under review by Government, although both are said to be progressing.
Séamus Brennan's 2003 plan to set up Cork and Shannon airports as independent entities free from debt was reviewed by the Government and the plan is now that they should be partially free from debt.
The Strategic Rail Review was published by Brennan in 2003 and this found against the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor and the Dublin to Navan line. This was reviewed by the Government in 2005 and both schemes are now policy. Mary O'Rourke "reviewed" the plan to have a Luas link in Dublin City Centre, and this review was subsequently reviewed. We now know that there will be a link but we don't know exactly when.
The plan to ban private cars from Dublin City Centre in 2010, in time for the construction of Metro, was "reviewed" by the Oireachtas Committee on Transport. Committee chairman Frank Fahy proposed in a draft report that this be brought forward to 2009. But, following prompting from his committee members and the City Business Association, this plan is under review.
In road safety terms, a plan to roll out speed cameras across the State was first mooted in 1987, by Dempsey and Bertie Ahern. It was never actually reviewed, but it has not happened either. Nor has the plan to reduce the acceptable level of alcohol in drivers' blood.
In legislative terms we have had the 2007 Roads Act, the 2008 Dublin Transport Authority Bill, and the soon-to-be launched review of the 1932 Transport Act.
And we haven't even started on the M50!
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
ON MONDAY May 12th, the Department of Transport announced the end of public consultation on its sustainable Travel and Transport Action Plan. On Monday May 19th, the Minister, Noel Dempsey, announced the start of a period of public consultation on the Future of Transport in Dublin.
In the week between, the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) called for the public to engage in consultation on its new Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area (Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow) for the period up to 2030.
The new DTO strategy will replace the DTO Platform for Change 2000-2016. The Platform for Change is similar, but not the same, as the Dublin elements in yet another policy document: Transport 21.
Confused? Well you ought to be. The State's policy in relation to air and sea ports, road and rail plans, even road safety strategies and the encompassing legislative framework is, and has been for a decade, beset by review and counter review.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) is proceeding with the 1999 plan to link Dublin to regional cities and the Border by motorways or high quality dual carriageways, having reviewed the 1998 Roads Needs Study. It subsequently reviewed both the cost and timescale of the plan.
A controversy over the maximum height of lorries on Irish roads led to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern announcing in 2006 that the maximum height of lorries using the Dublin Port Tunnel would be 4.65 metres and any lorries higher than that should be "turned back" in the port. This is currently under review by the North South body InterTrade Ireland, which recently recommended a standard maximum height North and South of 4.95 metres.
The NRA also reviewed the use of 2+1 lane roads and decided they should be replaced by 2+2 roads. It also reviewed the dropping of plans for the Eastern Bypass which it says should again be Government policy.
Dublin Port itself was subject of a review by the Progressive Democrats, whose former leader and tánaiste Michael McDowell called for the Government to relocate the port to north County Dublin and build "Manhattan" in the docklands. Plans to relocate the port or reclaim additional land in Dublin Bay are currently under review by Government, although both are said to be progressing.
Séamus Brennan's 2003 plan to set up Cork and Shannon airports as independent entities free from debt was reviewed by the Government and the plan is now that they should be partially free from debt.
The Strategic Rail Review was published by Brennan in 2003 and this found against the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor and the Dublin to Navan line. This was reviewed by the Government in 2005 and both schemes are now policy. Mary O'Rourke "reviewed" the plan to have a Luas link in Dublin City Centre, and this review was subsequently reviewed. We now know that there will be a link but we don't know exactly when.
The plan to ban private cars from Dublin City Centre in 2010, in time for the construction of Metro, was "reviewed" by the Oireachtas Committee on Transport. Committee chairman Frank Fahy proposed in a draft report that this be brought forward to 2009. But, following prompting from his committee members and the City Business Association, this plan is under review.
In road safety terms, a plan to roll out speed cameras across the State was first mooted in 1987, by Dempsey and Bertie Ahern. It was never actually reviewed, but it has not happened either. Nor has the plan to reduce the acceptable level of alcohol in drivers' blood.
In legislative terms we have had the 2007 Roads Act, the 2008 Dublin Transport Authority Bill, and the soon-to-be launched review of the 1932 Transport Act.
And we haven't even started on the M50!
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council says yes to Hume Street Hospital plan
DUBLIN CITY Council has given the green light for the redevelopment of the former Hume Street Hospital, which was purchased by businessman Michael Kelly for €30 million in 2006.
The prestigious building off St Stephen's Green will be transformed into a serviced office centre while a restaurant and wellness centre will be installed in the basement.
There will also be a public museum in an extension at the rear of the former hospital.
However, the council has imposed 17 separate conditions on the development, many of which relate to the site's architectural and archaeological conservation.
Kelly's serviced office company, Glandore House, submitted a similar planning application last year but the local authority rejected it on the grounds that it breached the city's development plan for the area and failed to comply with the property's Z8 zoning requirements.
The proposal was judged to be an over development because of its "excessive scale, bulk, massing and site coverage" and it was regarded as "a serious intrusion on the character and setting of the protected structure".
Glandore House, which runs two business centres in Dublin and a third in Belfast, was also criticised for allocating too much of the property to office use, contravening the Z8 zoning. But in its refusal, the council stated it might have relaxed these restrictions had the proposal delivered a "clear conservation gain".
In this second application Glandore House has committed itself to extensive conservation repair work on the protected structures of 3-8 Hume street and 16 Ely Place.
The company has permission to demolish a number of buildings at the rear of the five interconnecting Georgian houses that front onto Hume Street and intends to replace them with a four-storey atrium and a six-storey business centre with 16 car-parking spaces in the basement.
However, the council's numerous conditions mean Mr Kelly's plans for a restaurant and wellness centre in the basement of the Georgian properties could be in jeopardy if a significant archaeological discovery is made there. If that happens, the local authority has stipulated that any remains must be preserved in situ.
In addition to the various conservation requirements, the council has also imposed noise restrictions on the demolition and construction phases of the scheme and requested that Glandore House pay €108,799.80 towards the construction of the Metro in accordance with Section 49 of the Development Act 2000-2006.
Architects, P&A Lavin Associates, has drafted the new design for the former Hume Street Hospital, which was originally known as the Dublin City Skin & Cancer Hospital. Founded in 1911 by Andrew Charles FRCSI, the Hume Street houses, including the portico entrance, were built by the surgeon and property developer Gustavas Hume in the latter part of the 18th century.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The prestigious building off St Stephen's Green will be transformed into a serviced office centre while a restaurant and wellness centre will be installed in the basement.
There will also be a public museum in an extension at the rear of the former hospital.
However, the council has imposed 17 separate conditions on the development, many of which relate to the site's architectural and archaeological conservation.
Kelly's serviced office company, Glandore House, submitted a similar planning application last year but the local authority rejected it on the grounds that it breached the city's development plan for the area and failed to comply with the property's Z8 zoning requirements.
The proposal was judged to be an over development because of its "excessive scale, bulk, massing and site coverage" and it was regarded as "a serious intrusion on the character and setting of the protected structure".
Glandore House, which runs two business centres in Dublin and a third in Belfast, was also criticised for allocating too much of the property to office use, contravening the Z8 zoning. But in its refusal, the council stated it might have relaxed these restrictions had the proposal delivered a "clear conservation gain".
In this second application Glandore House has committed itself to extensive conservation repair work on the protected structures of 3-8 Hume street and 16 Ely Place.
The company has permission to demolish a number of buildings at the rear of the five interconnecting Georgian houses that front onto Hume Street and intends to replace them with a four-storey atrium and a six-storey business centre with 16 car-parking spaces in the basement.
However, the council's numerous conditions mean Mr Kelly's plans for a restaurant and wellness centre in the basement of the Georgian properties could be in jeopardy if a significant archaeological discovery is made there. If that happens, the local authority has stipulated that any remains must be preserved in situ.
In addition to the various conservation requirements, the council has also imposed noise restrictions on the demolition and construction phases of the scheme and requested that Glandore House pay €108,799.80 towards the construction of the Metro in accordance with Section 49 of the Development Act 2000-2006.
Architects, P&A Lavin Associates, has drafted the new design for the former Hume Street Hospital, which was originally known as the Dublin City Skin & Cancer Hospital. Founded in 1911 by Andrew Charles FRCSI, the Hume Street houses, including the portico entrance, were built by the surgeon and property developer Gustavas Hume in the latter part of the 18th century.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Work starts on 63-metre tower beside the Dart in south docklands
DEVELOPMENT WORK has just begun on a 15-storey office tower next to Grand Canal Dock Dart station on Barrow Street in Dublin 4.
The landmark Montevetro block is being developed by Treasury Holdings on a half-acre sidings site originally used by CIÉ to refuel trains. Treasury has taken a 999-year lease on the property and entered a rent-sharing agreement with the State company.
The building will stand 63 metres above the dock and will have a floor area of over 18,580sq m (200,000sq ft).
Mark Pollard, Treasury's director of development, says the fully flexible floor plates will average 1,579sq m (17,000sq ft) while three penthouse floors will each have 650sq m (7,000sq ft). One of the features is to be a huge south-facing terrace extending to one-fifth of an acre on the 11th floor - about 50 metres above ground level.
The block, which will be ready for fit-out early in 2010, is expected to be of interest to Google if it proceeds with plans to greatly expand its operation in Dublin.
Google is based on the opposite side of Barrow Street, a street that is due to be substantially upgraded by developers in the area.
The letting agents for Montevetro are HT Meagher O'Reilly and Jones Lang LaSalle.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The landmark Montevetro block is being developed by Treasury Holdings on a half-acre sidings site originally used by CIÉ to refuel trains. Treasury has taken a 999-year lease on the property and entered a rent-sharing agreement with the State company.
The building will stand 63 metres above the dock and will have a floor area of over 18,580sq m (200,000sq ft).
Mark Pollard, Treasury's director of development, says the fully flexible floor plates will average 1,579sq m (17,000sq ft) while three penthouse floors will each have 650sq m (7,000sq ft). One of the features is to be a huge south-facing terrace extending to one-fifth of an acre on the 11th floor - about 50 metres above ground level.
The block, which will be ready for fit-out early in 2010, is expected to be of interest to Google if it proceeds with plans to greatly expand its operation in Dublin.
Google is based on the opposite side of Barrow Street, a street that is due to be substantially upgraded by developers in the area.
The letting agents for Montevetro are HT Meagher O'Reilly and Jones Lang LaSalle.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dáil group told planning system unjust for those in rural Ireland
AN ALLEGATION that there was "neither fairness, equality, justice, democracy or accountability" in the planning system in Ireland for rural society was made at an Oireachtas committee yesterday.
Chairman of the Irish Rural Dwellers' Association (IRDA), James Doyle, made the charges to the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
He told the committee that a policy of urbanisation was being forced on rural culture , with scant respect for historical settlement patterns, stretching back thousands of years.
Jim Connolly, acting secretary of the association, said his organisation's major complaint was the lack of genuine rural representation on An Bord Pleanála, and the legality of its decisions because of that.
"One of Ireland's most important industries, farming, is represented on the board since 2002 by two professional career planners who were employed by the board as senior planning inspectors at the time of their nomination by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu)," he said.
"Both of these were reappointed for a further five years by the then minister Dick Roche in 2007. They can be reappointed in 2012 for a final five-year term under the Planning Act - a potential of 15 years," he said.
Despite repeated questions to Minister for the Environment John Gormley, John O Connor, chairman of An Bord Pleanála and David Begg, chief executive of Ictu, no proper answers in relation to the nominations and appointments had been forthcoming.
He said one panel in 2001 was made up of Ictu, IFA, the ICMSA, the ICA and Muintir na Tíre and the legislation stated that only one member would be selected from this panel.
"Nonetheless, in 2002, two senior planning inspectors were appointed to the board through being nominated by the Ictu at the same time," he said.
"Given there is widespread unease regarding the total lack of rural representation on the board as well as the fact that the original appointments for five years have been extended to 10 years, the IRDA contend that nothing short of an inquiry in depth, under oath will reveal the full details surrounding the appointments," said Mr Connolly.
TDs and senators expressed support for the association's view, some claiming that rural people were being denied permission to build homes because of urban attitudes to rural areas.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Chairman of the Irish Rural Dwellers' Association (IRDA), James Doyle, made the charges to the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
He told the committee that a policy of urbanisation was being forced on rural culture , with scant respect for historical settlement patterns, stretching back thousands of years.
Jim Connolly, acting secretary of the association, said his organisation's major complaint was the lack of genuine rural representation on An Bord Pleanála, and the legality of its decisions because of that.
"One of Ireland's most important industries, farming, is represented on the board since 2002 by two professional career planners who were employed by the board as senior planning inspectors at the time of their nomination by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu)," he said.
"Both of these were reappointed for a further five years by the then minister Dick Roche in 2007. They can be reappointed in 2012 for a final five-year term under the Planning Act - a potential of 15 years," he said.
Despite repeated questions to Minister for the Environment John Gormley, John O Connor, chairman of An Bord Pleanála and David Begg, chief executive of Ictu, no proper answers in relation to the nominations and appointments had been forthcoming.
He said one panel in 2001 was made up of Ictu, IFA, the ICMSA, the ICA and Muintir na Tíre and the legislation stated that only one member would be selected from this panel.
"Nonetheless, in 2002, two senior planning inspectors were appointed to the board through being nominated by the Ictu at the same time," he said.
"Given there is widespread unease regarding the total lack of rural representation on the board as well as the fact that the original appointments for five years have been extended to 10 years, the IRDA contend that nothing short of an inquiry in depth, under oath will reveal the full details surrounding the appointments," said Mr Connolly.
TDs and senators expressed support for the association's view, some claiming that rural people were being denied permission to build homes because of urban attitudes to rural areas.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Residents promise to fight thermal waste treatment plant plans
LOCAL residents in the Dublin suburb of Rathcoole have vowed to oppose plans by a US waste management company to build a waste treatment plant close to the main N7 route.
A spokesperson for the Rathcoole Community Council said last night that it has serious concerns about the threat that the proposed plant at Behan’s Quarry posed to people living in the area.
It follows formal notification issued yesterday by US firm, Energy Answers International, that it will lodge an application for planning permission for the €200 million facility with An Bord Pleanála.
The company was able to bypass seeking planning permission from South Dublin County Council after An Bord Pleanála ruled last December that the project could avail of a fast-track procedure which allows strategic infrastructural developments to avoid requiring planning permission from a local authority.
Energy Answers claims its plant, which it describes as “a resource recovery project”, is the first of its kind in Ireland. It will incorporate both mechanical and thermal treatment facilities.
It objects to the term ‘incinerator’ used by opponents of the plant, including the Rathcoole Community Council.
It plans to thermally treat 356,000 tons of non-hazardous municipal solid waste each year. The company claims the process will also allow for 10% of the treated waste to be recoverable and recyclable, which can provide electricity for 43,000 homes.
Energy Answers also claims the entire project will be privately financed without the need to seek guarantees of income from local authorities.
However, a spokesperson for Rathcoole Community Council said it was concerned about the company’s track record in operating a similar plant in the US.
She also claimed local residents were worried about that prevailing south-west winds would carry any emissions from the plant in the direction of large populations in nearby Rathcoole and Tallaght.
The Rathcoole Community Council has also questioned the need for the facility on the basis that the four Dublin local authorities are supporting a similar controversial project on the Poolbeg peninsula in Ringsend.
The spokesperson said locals were suspicious that the Rathcoole plant could give the Government an excuse not to proceed with the proposed incinerator in Poolbeg.
“It would suit [Minister for the Environment] John Gormley because of the opposition he is facing in his own constituency,” she remarked.
It is expected that An Bord Pleanála will hold a public hearing into the matter before making its decision.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
A spokesperson for the Rathcoole Community Council said last night that it has serious concerns about the threat that the proposed plant at Behan’s Quarry posed to people living in the area.
It follows formal notification issued yesterday by US firm, Energy Answers International, that it will lodge an application for planning permission for the €200 million facility with An Bord Pleanála.
The company was able to bypass seeking planning permission from South Dublin County Council after An Bord Pleanála ruled last December that the project could avail of a fast-track procedure which allows strategic infrastructural developments to avoid requiring planning permission from a local authority.
Energy Answers claims its plant, which it describes as “a resource recovery project”, is the first of its kind in Ireland. It will incorporate both mechanical and thermal treatment facilities.
It objects to the term ‘incinerator’ used by opponents of the plant, including the Rathcoole Community Council.
It plans to thermally treat 356,000 tons of non-hazardous municipal solid waste each year. The company claims the process will also allow for 10% of the treated waste to be recoverable and recyclable, which can provide electricity for 43,000 homes.
Energy Answers also claims the entire project will be privately financed without the need to seek guarantees of income from local authorities.
However, a spokesperson for Rathcoole Community Council said it was concerned about the company’s track record in operating a similar plant in the US.
She also claimed local residents were worried about that prevailing south-west winds would carry any emissions from the plant in the direction of large populations in nearby Rathcoole and Tallaght.
The Rathcoole Community Council has also questioned the need for the facility on the basis that the four Dublin local authorities are supporting a similar controversial project on the Poolbeg peninsula in Ringsend.
The spokesperson said locals were suspicious that the Rathcoole plant could give the Government an excuse not to proceed with the proposed incinerator in Poolbeg.
“It would suit [Minister for the Environment] John Gormley because of the opposition he is facing in his own constituency,” she remarked.
It is expected that An Bord Pleanála will hold a public hearing into the matter before making its decision.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Planning refusal sours land swap deal for developer
THE RISK taken by developers in acquiring sites from the State in return for providing affordable homes has been underlined by a Bord Pleanála decision to refuse permission for a major scheme in Harcourt Terrace in Dublin.
The proposed development by the Durkan Group would have replaced Harcourt Terrace Garda station and the old Film Censor's office with two apartment buildings and two office blocks, ranging in height from four to nine storeys.
In return for acquiring development rights, Durkan agreed to provide 408 affordable homes at six locations in west Dublin - a deal hailed as showing the potential for such land swaps by Des Geraghty, chairman of the Affordable Homes Partnership.
These deals are quite different to the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements made by Dublin City Council with developer Bernard McNamara that collapsed last week.
John O'Connor, chief executive of the Affordable Homes Partnership, confirmed yesterday that the deal involving the Harcourt Terrace site was not subject to planning permission. "It was Durkans' risk, so it's unfortunate from their point of view."
He said all 408 affordable homes built by the group had been handed over and occupied. "I'm sure they will lodge a revised application for the site and that they'll get permission for some level of development - maybe not what they wanted."
An Bord Pleanála upheld appeals by local residents and An Taisce, saying the scheme "would fail to respect its context" and would "adversely impact on the setting" of a unique Regency terrace on the opposite side of Harcourt Terrace.
It also said the proposed development "would not be of the standard required to justify the removal of the existing Garda station" - an unlisted two-storey building that the board's planning inspector, Jane Dennehy, said was worthy of retention.
"I consider the two buildings, which date from the 1940s, to be fully viable and structurally sound. The Garda station is of special value and . . . the interior relatively unaltered, with terrazzo flooring, joinery and fittings fully intact and in good condition."
The Department of the Environment, in its observations on the appeal, also suggested that any future proposals for developing the 0.87-acre site should take account of the need for recognition of the "architectural significance" of the Garda station.
An Bord Pleanála noted that the site lies within a designated residential conservation area in the current Dublin city development plan, saying any scheme would require "a very high quality of design in context with its architectural surroundings".
The proposed nine-storey office block on the Grand Canal frontage of the site would "seriously injure the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity".
Even though the city council's planners - in their decision last August to approve the Durkan scheme - had reduced the block by two storeys, the board's inspector said this would "not overcome the inappropriateness of the proposed development".
The council received more than 20 objections, including one from An Taisce, which said the scheme would need to be revised to take account of "the unique and sensitive environment of Harcourt Terrace and the scale and pattern of development on the Grand Canal".
Durkan had maintained that its "high-quality scheme" would address the shortfall of accommodation, both residential and offices, in the Dublin area by developing an "under-utilised brownfield site . . . in accordance with proper planning and sustainable development".
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The proposed development by the Durkan Group would have replaced Harcourt Terrace Garda station and the old Film Censor's office with two apartment buildings and two office blocks, ranging in height from four to nine storeys.
In return for acquiring development rights, Durkan agreed to provide 408 affordable homes at six locations in west Dublin - a deal hailed as showing the potential for such land swaps by Des Geraghty, chairman of the Affordable Homes Partnership.
These deals are quite different to the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements made by Dublin City Council with developer Bernard McNamara that collapsed last week.
John O'Connor, chief executive of the Affordable Homes Partnership, confirmed yesterday that the deal involving the Harcourt Terrace site was not subject to planning permission. "It was Durkans' risk, so it's unfortunate from their point of view."
He said all 408 affordable homes built by the group had been handed over and occupied. "I'm sure they will lodge a revised application for the site and that they'll get permission for some level of development - maybe not what they wanted."
An Bord Pleanála upheld appeals by local residents and An Taisce, saying the scheme "would fail to respect its context" and would "adversely impact on the setting" of a unique Regency terrace on the opposite side of Harcourt Terrace.
It also said the proposed development "would not be of the standard required to justify the removal of the existing Garda station" - an unlisted two-storey building that the board's planning inspector, Jane Dennehy, said was worthy of retention.
"I consider the two buildings, which date from the 1940s, to be fully viable and structurally sound. The Garda station is of special value and . . . the interior relatively unaltered, with terrazzo flooring, joinery and fittings fully intact and in good condition."
The Department of the Environment, in its observations on the appeal, also suggested that any future proposals for developing the 0.87-acre site should take account of the need for recognition of the "architectural significance" of the Garda station.
An Bord Pleanála noted that the site lies within a designated residential conservation area in the current Dublin city development plan, saying any scheme would require "a very high quality of design in context with its architectural surroundings".
The proposed nine-storey office block on the Grand Canal frontage of the site would "seriously injure the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity".
Even though the city council's planners - in their decision last August to approve the Durkan scheme - had reduced the block by two storeys, the board's inspector said this would "not overcome the inappropriateness of the proposed development".
The council received more than 20 objections, including one from An Taisce, which said the scheme would need to be revised to take account of "the unique and sensitive environment of Harcourt Terrace and the scale and pattern of development on the Grand Canal".
Durkan had maintained that its "high-quality scheme" would address the shortfall of accommodation, both residential and offices, in the Dublin area by developing an "under-utilised brownfield site . . . in accordance with proper planning and sustainable development".
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Longer trams to carry 2,000 extra people per hour
THE first of the Government's Transport 21 projects was completed yesterday when new, longer trams for the Luas red line service were unveiled.
The 40-metre trams will allow 2,000 extra passengers an hour to be carried between Connolly Station and Tallaght, and the trams can be extended even further to cope with additional demand.
Chief executive of the Railway Procurement Agency, Frank Allen, said the agency expected to apply for a railway order seeking permission to build Metro North within the next month.
He said it wanted to ensure it got value for money on the project -- reported to cost between €3bn and €4.5bn -- adding it was the "biggest infrastructure project" ever undertaken in the State.
"The timing of Metro North depends on the planning process and we would hope by this time next year we'll have a railway order," he said. The 2013 deadline for completion was "likely" to be met, assuming there were delays, but it was "essential we get value for money".
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said the longer trams were "good news" for commuters as capacity would be raised by 40pc.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The 40-metre trams will allow 2,000 extra passengers an hour to be carried between Connolly Station and Tallaght, and the trams can be extended even further to cope with additional demand.
Chief executive of the Railway Procurement Agency, Frank Allen, said the agency expected to apply for a railway order seeking permission to build Metro North within the next month.
He said it wanted to ensure it got value for money on the project -- reported to cost between €3bn and €4.5bn -- adding it was the "biggest infrastructure project" ever undertaken in the State.
"The timing of Metro North depends on the planning process and we would hope by this time next year we'll have a railway order," he said. The 2013 deadline for completion was "likely" to be met, assuming there were delays, but it was "essential we get value for money".
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said the longer trams were "good news" for commuters as capacity would be raised by 40pc.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Court challenge to €500m gas facility
A €500 MILLION liquified natural gas facility, which was the first project to be "fast tracked" under the 2006 Strategic Infrastructure Act, may now be held up by legal actions that have been filed in the High Court.
The Kilcolgan Residents' Association and the Friends of the Irish Environment have each lodged proceedings against the decision by An Bórd Pleanála to grant planning permission to Shannon LNG to build a terminal near Tarbert, Co Kerry, in the Shannon Estuary.
Permission was granted in April after an application was lodged directly in September 2007 to An Bord Pleanála, rather than to the local planning authority, as would normally be the case.
A spokesman for Shannon LNG had no comment to make when contacted yesterday. The company is a subsidiary of the Hess LNG group in the US.
The residents' association said it was seeking a judicial review on safety, environmental and procedural grounds. No emergency plan exists for the proposed development and no marine risk assessment has been completed, it said. It also said that, during an oral hearing on the planning application held in Tralee in January, it was revealed that Kerry County Council had refused to undertake a strategic environmental assessment before rezoning the site industrial. It said this was contrary to Irish and European law.
The respondents in the case are An Bord Pleanála and the Health and Safety Authority.
Friends of the Irish Environment said it was seeking a judicial review and that the decision by An Bord Pleanála infringed "at least" five EU directives.
The plan for the terminal was first announced in May 2006. It is envisaged by Shannon LNG that construction of the facility will take three years from when construction work begins.
The terminal is to be constructed on 281 acres of 600 acres of Shannon Development owned land between Tarbert and Ballylongford, Co Kerry.
The site, which has been designated by Shannon Development for deep-water projects, is about 25 km from the national gas pipeline grid.
The terminal will provide about 50 long-term jobs and 350 jobs on average over the life of the construction programme, according to Shannon LNG.
At the time permission was granted for the development, Shannon LNG said it was conscious that the proposed development would be one of the largest construction projects to take place in the north Kerry region.
"We will progress the development in ongoing consultation with the local community in order to minimise inconvenience and disturbance. Once operational, the terminal will be a very quiet and clean facility," it said.
About 60 per cent of Ireland's electricity is generated using natural gas. The proposed terminal will allow Ireland to access multiple sources of gas from around the world, delivering greater security and diversity of energy supply, according to Shannon LNG.
Liquified natural gas is gas converted to liquid by reducing it to below minus 160 degrees. This reduces the volume of the gas and makes it suitable for transportation by sea.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Kilcolgan Residents' Association and the Friends of the Irish Environment have each lodged proceedings against the decision by An Bórd Pleanála to grant planning permission to Shannon LNG to build a terminal near Tarbert, Co Kerry, in the Shannon Estuary.
Permission was granted in April after an application was lodged directly in September 2007 to An Bord Pleanála, rather than to the local planning authority, as would normally be the case.
A spokesman for Shannon LNG had no comment to make when contacted yesterday. The company is a subsidiary of the Hess LNG group in the US.
The residents' association said it was seeking a judicial review on safety, environmental and procedural grounds. No emergency plan exists for the proposed development and no marine risk assessment has been completed, it said. It also said that, during an oral hearing on the planning application held in Tralee in January, it was revealed that Kerry County Council had refused to undertake a strategic environmental assessment before rezoning the site industrial. It said this was contrary to Irish and European law.
The respondents in the case are An Bord Pleanála and the Health and Safety Authority.
Friends of the Irish Environment said it was seeking a judicial review and that the decision by An Bord Pleanála infringed "at least" five EU directives.
The plan for the terminal was first announced in May 2006. It is envisaged by Shannon LNG that construction of the facility will take three years from when construction work begins.
The terminal is to be constructed on 281 acres of 600 acres of Shannon Development owned land between Tarbert and Ballylongford, Co Kerry.
The site, which has been designated by Shannon Development for deep-water projects, is about 25 km from the national gas pipeline grid.
The terminal will provide about 50 long-term jobs and 350 jobs on average over the life of the construction programme, according to Shannon LNG.
At the time permission was granted for the development, Shannon LNG said it was conscious that the proposed development would be one of the largest construction projects to take place in the north Kerry region.
"We will progress the development in ongoing consultation with the local community in order to minimise inconvenience and disturbance. Once operational, the terminal will be a very quiet and clean facility," it said.
About 60 per cent of Ireland's electricity is generated using natural gas. The proposed terminal will allow Ireland to access multiple sources of gas from around the world, delivering greater security and diversity of energy supply, according to Shannon LNG.
Liquified natural gas is gas converted to liquid by reducing it to below minus 160 degrees. This reduces the volume of the gas and makes it suitable for transportation by sea.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Top builder may be sued over house plan collapse
LAWYERS for Dublin city council are to consider taking legal action against developer Bernard McNamara after he pulled out of five major public private partnership projects.
At a special discussion on the controversial developments in the centre of the capital last night, the local authority said some €6m had already been spent on the projects -- less than the €27m stated by Mr McNamara.
Last week the developer said he planned to withdraw from the deals worth €900m because of changes to the property market, new rules on the size of apartments and planning delays.
Assistant city manager Ciaran McNamara said last night that the legal team for the council "has been instructed to examine the possible legal remedies" on the five projects.
The sites in which the developer was supposed to be involved were St Michael's estate in Inchicore, O'Devaney Gardens off the North Circular Road (NCR), Convent Lands on Sean McDermott Street, Infirmary Road and Dominick Street.
In cases where an agreement had not been signed, such as St Michael's estate and Dominick Street, there was no legal obligation upon the developer, said a report to the council.
However, where a contract had been signed, there were a set of "remedies" available.
Some 200 protesters turned up outside city hall last night to object to the collapse of the agreement between Mr McNamara and Dublin city council.
Disappointed
Residents of the St Michael's estate in Inchicore said they had been disappointed for the third time after being promised regeneration in the area.
Mr McNamara, from the council, said he had met with the developer yesterday to discuss the issue and that proposals for the future of the projects had been discussed.
The plans from the building group are now to be put in writing and sent to the council, the meeting heard. In turn, the council would reply promptly to the suggestions.
The assistant city manager said he had met with Mr McNamara a number of times over the last few months.
Shane Hickey
ww.buckplanning.ie
At a special discussion on the controversial developments in the centre of the capital last night, the local authority said some €6m had already been spent on the projects -- less than the €27m stated by Mr McNamara.
Last week the developer said he planned to withdraw from the deals worth €900m because of changes to the property market, new rules on the size of apartments and planning delays.
Assistant city manager Ciaran McNamara said last night that the legal team for the council "has been instructed to examine the possible legal remedies" on the five projects.
The sites in which the developer was supposed to be involved were St Michael's estate in Inchicore, O'Devaney Gardens off the North Circular Road (NCR), Convent Lands on Sean McDermott Street, Infirmary Road and Dominick Street.
In cases where an agreement had not been signed, such as St Michael's estate and Dominick Street, there was no legal obligation upon the developer, said a report to the council.
However, where a contract had been signed, there were a set of "remedies" available.
Some 200 protesters turned up outside city hall last night to object to the collapse of the agreement between Mr McNamara and Dublin city council.
Disappointed
Residents of the St Michael's estate in Inchicore said they had been disappointed for the third time after being promised regeneration in the area.
Mr McNamara, from the council, said he had met with the developer yesterday to discuss the issue and that proposals for the future of the projects had been discussed.
The plans from the building group are now to be put in writing and sent to the council, the meeting heard. In turn, the council would reply promptly to the suggestions.
The assistant city manager said he had met with Mr McNamara a number of times over the last few months.
Shane Hickey
ww.buckplanning.ie
Council officials back retention of site with no planning permit
OFFICIALS of Wicklow County Council are to propose a material contravention of the county development plan to accommodate a development which has no planning permission and whose owner is about to face committal proceedings.
On June 9th next councillors are due to consider granting permission for the retention of buildings belonging to Abwood Homes, on the western side of the N11 outside Newtownmountkennedy.
Last year the council won a case in the High Court against Forest Fencing Ltd, trading as Abwood Homes, and its owner, George Smullen, following which Mr Smullen was ordered to clear the site by April this year.
As the site has not been cleared, as directed, the council's solicitors have been asked to prepare attachment and committal proceedings. The council is currently awaiting a court date, according to senior executive officer Sheila O'Leary.
However, on April 18th, in a public notice, the council advised that it would consider granting an application for the retention of two of the three buildings on the site, which was the subject of a High Court ruling.
The retention application, from Mr Smullen, would materially contravene the county development plan, as the location is not zoned for industrial use. The final decision rests with the councillors.
Financial controller for Abwood Breda Hamilton said she was "amazed" when told of the intention to initiate proceedings. "We discussed retention with the council on a reduced scale . . . and at the same time they want to knock it down before they grant retention."
In his judgment last year Mr Justice Peter Charleton described the existing Abwood buildings as a major development for which there was no planning permission. "It is in material contravention of the Co Wicklow Development Plan. It is built entirely to suit the developer and with almost no reference to legal constraint."
Mr Justice Charleton noted that the county development plan aimed to protect green belt areas between expanding towns and to encourage industrial development within towns and villages.
While the Abwood development could possibly be in conformity with the county plan if it had been sited in a heavily-wooded area, it seemed to him, the judge said, that it could not be acceptable in the current site. "It has, as a matter of fact, turned the green belt corridor area between towns into a stretch of industrial and commercial usage."
However, the council's planning department has decided that the development, as now proposed, does not "unduly impact" on the area.
"Having examined the submitted documentation and the site, it was considered that the development, as proposed, did not unduly impact on the amenities of the rural area and adjoining residential amenities," Ms O'Leary said.
"Regard was had to the scale and design of the proposed structures and to the proposed use. Regard was also had to the employment-generating nature of the development and its accessibility to the national road network.
"In the light of previous planning history it is the council's opinion that there are planning grounds to proceed further with this application."
The council said that the planning authority had initiated enforcement proceedings against the Abwood operation as no permission had been granted for it.
"However, in assessing the current application, the previous enforcement proceedings and existence of unauthorised development would not have been a material consideration in assessing the planning application. This planning application had to be assessed on its own merits in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area."
The latest filed accounts for Forest Fencing show that it made a pre-tax profit of €930,662 in 2006, a significant jump on the €222,987 it made in the previous year.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
On June 9th next councillors are due to consider granting permission for the retention of buildings belonging to Abwood Homes, on the western side of the N11 outside Newtownmountkennedy.
Last year the council won a case in the High Court against Forest Fencing Ltd, trading as Abwood Homes, and its owner, George Smullen, following which Mr Smullen was ordered to clear the site by April this year.
As the site has not been cleared, as directed, the council's solicitors have been asked to prepare attachment and committal proceedings. The council is currently awaiting a court date, according to senior executive officer Sheila O'Leary.
However, on April 18th, in a public notice, the council advised that it would consider granting an application for the retention of two of the three buildings on the site, which was the subject of a High Court ruling.
The retention application, from Mr Smullen, would materially contravene the county development plan, as the location is not zoned for industrial use. The final decision rests with the councillors.
Financial controller for Abwood Breda Hamilton said she was "amazed" when told of the intention to initiate proceedings. "We discussed retention with the council on a reduced scale . . . and at the same time they want to knock it down before they grant retention."
In his judgment last year Mr Justice Peter Charleton described the existing Abwood buildings as a major development for which there was no planning permission. "It is in material contravention of the Co Wicklow Development Plan. It is built entirely to suit the developer and with almost no reference to legal constraint."
Mr Justice Charleton noted that the county development plan aimed to protect green belt areas between expanding towns and to encourage industrial development within towns and villages.
While the Abwood development could possibly be in conformity with the county plan if it had been sited in a heavily-wooded area, it seemed to him, the judge said, that it could not be acceptable in the current site. "It has, as a matter of fact, turned the green belt corridor area between towns into a stretch of industrial and commercial usage."
However, the council's planning department has decided that the development, as now proposed, does not "unduly impact" on the area.
"Having examined the submitted documentation and the site, it was considered that the development, as proposed, did not unduly impact on the amenities of the rural area and adjoining residential amenities," Ms O'Leary said.
"Regard was had to the scale and design of the proposed structures and to the proposed use. Regard was also had to the employment-generating nature of the development and its accessibility to the national road network.
"In the light of previous planning history it is the council's opinion that there are planning grounds to proceed further with this application."
The council said that the planning authority had initiated enforcement proceedings against the Abwood operation as no permission had been granted for it.
"However, in assessing the current application, the previous enforcement proceedings and existence of unauthorised development would not have been a material consideration in assessing the planning application. This planning application had to be assessed on its own merits in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area."
The latest filed accounts for Forest Fencing show that it made a pre-tax profit of €930,662 in 2006, a significant jump on the €222,987 it made in the previous year.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
McNamara to give Dublin City Council social housing proposals
DUBLIN CITY Council is to consider proposals from developer Bernard McNamara on how to proceed with plans for five public-private housing regeneration projects, which collapsed last week.
The proposals will be given to the city council in writing by next Thursday and the council will respond to these proposals by Friday week, assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara told a meeting of Dublin City Council last night.
Mr McNamara met developer Bernard McNamara yesterday and said any proposals will have to be within the terms of public private partnership (PPP).
The projects at Infirmary Road, St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, Dominick Street, Seán McDermott Street and O'Devaney Gardens, all in Dublin were to build about 1,800 new homes between them with a total value of some €900 million.
Under the proposals, the developers were to retain about 800 units and sell them, while the remainder would be used by Dublin City Council for social and affordable housing, replacing some old flat complexes.
Mr McNamara said at the weekend he had not "pulled out" of the projects but that the council had informed him it wanted to take "a different route".
However, last night the assistant city manager said he had met Mr McNamara last Thursday week and both sides agreed that the project was going nowhere and that they would end the process
Dublin City Council yesterday denied it "moved the goalposts" in relation to the scheme.
On RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ciarán McNamara said: "The goalposts didn't change. Remember, with public-private partnerships you are talking about the private sector taking on an element of risk."
Dublin City Council is considering legal remedies over the collapse of plans for the five projects, Ciarán McNamara told the council last night.
But on sites in which contracts have been signed, O'Devaney Gardens, Seán McDermott Street and Infirmary Road, there are legal remedies available which are being examined, the assistant city manager said.
However, where no project agreement has been signed (St Michael's estate and Dominick Street) there is no obligation on the developer to proceed, Ciarán McNamara said.
The assistant city manager also clarified that € 6 million has been spent by the council on the five regeneration projects so far.
While a commencement notice for Infirmary Road to begin was issued by the developer last Friday, the developer is in breach of the project agreement because €13 million due to the city council has not been paid, the assistant city manager said.
The developer also issued a commencement notice for St Michael's Estate, but the assistant city manager said the developer is not in a position to begin work as no project agreement has been signed.
Before the meeting over 200 angry residents of the affected areas protested outside city hall.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The proposals will be given to the city council in writing by next Thursday and the council will respond to these proposals by Friday week, assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara told a meeting of Dublin City Council last night.
Mr McNamara met developer Bernard McNamara yesterday and said any proposals will have to be within the terms of public private partnership (PPP).
The projects at Infirmary Road, St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, Dominick Street, Seán McDermott Street and O'Devaney Gardens, all in Dublin were to build about 1,800 new homes between them with a total value of some €900 million.
Under the proposals, the developers were to retain about 800 units and sell them, while the remainder would be used by Dublin City Council for social and affordable housing, replacing some old flat complexes.
Mr McNamara said at the weekend he had not "pulled out" of the projects but that the council had informed him it wanted to take "a different route".
However, last night the assistant city manager said he had met Mr McNamara last Thursday week and both sides agreed that the project was going nowhere and that they would end the process
Dublin City Council yesterday denied it "moved the goalposts" in relation to the scheme.
On RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ciarán McNamara said: "The goalposts didn't change. Remember, with public-private partnerships you are talking about the private sector taking on an element of risk."
Dublin City Council is considering legal remedies over the collapse of plans for the five projects, Ciarán McNamara told the council last night.
But on sites in which contracts have been signed, O'Devaney Gardens, Seán McDermott Street and Infirmary Road, there are legal remedies available which are being examined, the assistant city manager said.
However, where no project agreement has been signed (St Michael's estate and Dominick Street) there is no obligation on the developer to proceed, Ciarán McNamara said.
The assistant city manager also clarified that € 6 million has been spent by the council on the five regeneration projects so far.
While a commencement notice for Infirmary Road to begin was issued by the developer last Friday, the developer is in breach of the project agreement because €13 million due to the city council has not been paid, the assistant city manager said.
The developer also issued a commencement notice for St Michael's Estate, but the assistant city manager said the developer is not in a position to begin work as no project agreement has been signed.
Before the meeting over 200 angry residents of the affected areas protested outside city hall.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Metro could boost jobs, study claims
THE DEVELOPMENT of a "Metro North Economic Corridor", which could create an additional 37,000 jobs over 20 years and fund half the construction and land acquisition costs of the proposed metro in north Co Dublin, was launched by Fingal County Council yesterday.
The study, commissioned from Indecon Economic Consultants, recommended intensive development along the "metro corridor" from Santry to Swords including the proposed "airport city" region.
The move would facilitate an increase in the number of jobs in the "corridor" to 66,700, and an increase in the population to 128,000 people.
The economic corridor strategy also plays a key role in a proposed new town plan for Swords and the "branding" of the corridor as an international business location, based on high technology manufacturing and service employment.
The envisaged employers include corporate head offices, information technology entities, financial and business services, science and technology projects and environmental products and services.
Additional strengths in the Fingal administrative area identified by the strategy are a new port at Balbriggan, new and upgraded road and rail funded under Transport 21, new industrial parks around the airport and a young, highly educated workforce. The plan notes the average age in Fingal is 32.2 years, and some 16 per cent of its population is under nine years of age.
While the costs of the metro have been criticised, Fingal county manager David O'Connor said the special development charges, currently being levied within one kilometre either side of the proposed line, had the potential to fund up to 50 per cent of the cost of buying land and building the metro itself.
A spokeswoman later explained that the levies would cover design, acquisition of property, diversion of utilities, provision of stops, car parks and other ancillary development. This does not include the 35-year operational and maintenance elements of the proposed PPP contract.
The actual amount of money the levies equate to is difficult to estimate. The Fingal special development levies are €319,725 per hectare for residential, €727,650 per hectare for commercial and €992,250 per hectare for retail development. The potential income from these is dependent on the intensity of the developments on site, notably their height.
Sources yesterday indicated that too many variables were involved to give a definite price, but many suggested Fingal County Council could be hoping to raise as much as €1 billion from its special development levy. The council did not reveal its own estimate.
Commenting on the strategy yesterday, Mr O'Connor said Metro North was the key to the sustainable continued expansion and economic growth of the "airport city" region and to Dublin as a whole.
Report: key recommendations
Fingal County Council should strongly support proposals for a university campus in the economic corridor.
Measures to facilitate the establishment of a hospital within the corridor should be pursued as a priority.
The Swords-Lissenhall, Dublin Airport Eastlands and Metropark sites should each be targeted for future development.
As well as allowing for residential development, potential non-residential uses for the Swords-Lissenhall site should include third-level education, healthcare, high-tech sectors and services.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The study, commissioned from Indecon Economic Consultants, recommended intensive development along the "metro corridor" from Santry to Swords including the proposed "airport city" region.
The move would facilitate an increase in the number of jobs in the "corridor" to 66,700, and an increase in the population to 128,000 people.
The economic corridor strategy also plays a key role in a proposed new town plan for Swords and the "branding" of the corridor as an international business location, based on high technology manufacturing and service employment.
The envisaged employers include corporate head offices, information technology entities, financial and business services, science and technology projects and environmental products and services.
Additional strengths in the Fingal administrative area identified by the strategy are a new port at Balbriggan, new and upgraded road and rail funded under Transport 21, new industrial parks around the airport and a young, highly educated workforce. The plan notes the average age in Fingal is 32.2 years, and some 16 per cent of its population is under nine years of age.
While the costs of the metro have been criticised, Fingal county manager David O'Connor said the special development charges, currently being levied within one kilometre either side of the proposed line, had the potential to fund up to 50 per cent of the cost of buying land and building the metro itself.
A spokeswoman later explained that the levies would cover design, acquisition of property, diversion of utilities, provision of stops, car parks and other ancillary development. This does not include the 35-year operational and maintenance elements of the proposed PPP contract.
The actual amount of money the levies equate to is difficult to estimate. The Fingal special development levies are €319,725 per hectare for residential, €727,650 per hectare for commercial and €992,250 per hectare for retail development. The potential income from these is dependent on the intensity of the developments on site, notably their height.
Sources yesterday indicated that too many variables were involved to give a definite price, but many suggested Fingal County Council could be hoping to raise as much as €1 billion from its special development levy. The council did not reveal its own estimate.
Commenting on the strategy yesterday, Mr O'Connor said Metro North was the key to the sustainable continued expansion and economic growth of the "airport city" region and to Dublin as a whole.
Report: key recommendations
Fingal County Council should strongly support proposals for a university campus in the economic corridor.
Measures to facilitate the establishment of a hospital within the corridor should be pursued as a priority.
The Swords-Lissenhall, Dublin Airport Eastlands and Metropark sites should each be targeted for future development.
As well as allowing for residential development, potential non-residential uses for the Swords-Lissenhall site should include third-level education, healthcare, high-tech sectors and services.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Opera Centre's opening night snag
PROPOSALS to expand Limerick city's planned 350m Opera Centre shopping complex are likely to cause controversy because the revised project would involve the demolition of Georgian houses earlier earmarked for restoration by An Bord Pleanala. Regeneration Development's revised blueprint proposes the demolition of all of one side of Ellen Street including three houses which the planning board ruled should be conserved and repaired when it sanctioned the original planning application.
The project involves the restoration of the birthplace of internationally-famous singing star Catherine Hayes who was born at 4 Patrick Street in 1818. The building will be converted into a museum celebrating the life of the diva and will be administered by the Limerick Civic Trust.
The new proposals also involve the demolition of the Lucky Lamp public house, a cut stone building originally intended for retention.
The scale of the project will now be dramatically extended from 28,000sq m to 38,000sq m by including the Granary Building on Michael Street and the Old Town Hall on Rutland Street, both listed buildings, in the revised plans. The new application also proposes doubling the number of car park spaces originally planned to 1,000. Brown Thomas and Marks and Spencer have both been mentioned as possible tenants for the two anchor stores which will now have a combined floor area of 16,000sq m.
"It's important to stress the positive nature of this development, " says Robert Bloomer of agent Savills HOK. "It's exactly what Limerick needs. The retailers we're talking to can't wait to get into decent space in the shopping centre."
"Sorting out the proposed demolition issue will certainly be a bone of contention, " says local councillor, Kathleen Leddin. "People are anxious that the centre gets permission, but at the same time there will be concern at the prospect of losing those buildings. It's a development that Limerick needs so a balance will have to be sought."
"I'm perplexed at the decision of the developers to ignore the previous decision of An Bord Pleanala in regard to the destruction of important heritage houses on Ellen Street, especially when there would appear to be absolutely no necessity for this, " says Liam Irwin, president of the Thomond Historical Society.
"This is an area of architectural conservation not a green field site and needs to be treated in a sensitive and enlightened manner. The former scheme as approved was a reasonable compromise between heritage concerns and the need for economic regeneration of the area and it is regrettable that an attempt is now being made to destroy this consensus."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The project involves the restoration of the birthplace of internationally-famous singing star Catherine Hayes who was born at 4 Patrick Street in 1818. The building will be converted into a museum celebrating the life of the diva and will be administered by the Limerick Civic Trust.
The new proposals also involve the demolition of the Lucky Lamp public house, a cut stone building originally intended for retention.
The scale of the project will now be dramatically extended from 28,000sq m to 38,000sq m by including the Granary Building on Michael Street and the Old Town Hall on Rutland Street, both listed buildings, in the revised plans. The new application also proposes doubling the number of car park spaces originally planned to 1,000. Brown Thomas and Marks and Spencer have both been mentioned as possible tenants for the two anchor stores which will now have a combined floor area of 16,000sq m.
"It's important to stress the positive nature of this development, " says Robert Bloomer of agent Savills HOK. "It's exactly what Limerick needs. The retailers we're talking to can't wait to get into decent space in the shopping centre."
"Sorting out the proposed demolition issue will certainly be a bone of contention, " says local councillor, Kathleen Leddin. "People are anxious that the centre gets permission, but at the same time there will be concern at the prospect of losing those buildings. It's a development that Limerick needs so a balance will have to be sought."
"I'm perplexed at the decision of the developers to ignore the previous decision of An Bord Pleanala in regard to the destruction of important heritage houses on Ellen Street, especially when there would appear to be absolutely no necessity for this, " says Liam Irwin, president of the Thomond Historical Society.
"This is an area of architectural conservation not a green field site and needs to be treated in a sensitive and enlightened manner. The former scheme as approved was a reasonable compromise between heritage concerns and the need for economic regeneration of the area and it is regrettable that an attempt is now being made to destroy this consensus."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
'Bernard McNamara turned his back on us. It's up to the government now'
YOU might think there is no sound as forlorn as a night wind banging the front door of a deserted house, but there is. It is the political breast-beating that has been slapping the balconies of O'Devaney Gardens all week. Laments that "we sold these people false hope" and "we've failed them" swirl as uselessly as litter around the 50-year-old blocks of flats named in memory of a long-dead bishop.
Were it to be described in an auctioneer's brochure a year ago, when development land this near the Spire was making ?20m an acre, hyperbole would have been unnecessary for 14 acres beside the Phoenix Park and Heuston railway station and Collins Barracks museum and Smithfield and the Four Courts, the centre of the capital city touchable from the red Luas line.
Today the iron railings the builders erected to section off the first phase of construction give the whole place an appearance of dashed dreams, like Miss Havisham in her yellowed wedding dress.
Dishevelled men clutching bottles of spirits come from outside the estate at all hours to shelter in the lee of the four blocks that are boarded up like famine ship trunks and waiting to be demolished in the summer. The 64 tenants moved out temporarily more than three years ago. How time flies in a place where everything else stands still.
"We've the biggest back garden in the world, " Nadine Murphy boasts with a nod towards the Phoenix Park and a rueful smile. Next week, she and her fellow residents will be writing to two of that garden's denizens, the president and the Taoiseach, asking for support in their quest for a decent place to live.
"If they use public transport, they'll pass O'Devaney Gardens on the No 10, " Murphy offers helpfully. "Brian Cowen is going to be moving into a lovely new house in the park. He should look after his neighbours because we'll look after him." On the wall behind her head in the regeneration board's office on the ground floor of the farmost block, an A4 sheet of paper concludes: "People passed over for profit." Some men come and go outside in the hallway, piling machine-cut planks of cheap wood on the floor. "For the banners, " explains the young mother. "We're not going to give up the fight.
We're not bricks and mortar. We have hearts and our hearts have been broken."
It was all supposed to be so different. The band played, the flags and the marquee fluttered and the children got their faces painted on 12 February last year when Bertie Ahern and Bernard McNamara came to celebrate the signing of the regeneration project, eight years after the tenants first saw architects' drawings. The Taoiseach had dropped by in December 2005 to share the wonderful news with his Dublin Central constituents that a developer had been chosen. The McNamara/Castlethorn partnership won for their design and schedule submissions, though their projected gross revenues were less than the secondplaced bidder, Pierce Construction and the Boston-based Corcoran Jennison. The job was to have been finished by the end of next year.
"I met Bernard McNamara the day the agreement was signed, " Nadine recalls. "When I walked back home to my flat I really believed he had the community interest at heart because he said, 'Whatever I can do for the community I will do, ' and the only thing he's done is turn his back on us. It's up to the government now to get this built." The tenants, she says, are seeking meetings with the ministers for finance, the environment and housing.
Poignantly, the only guarantee they have secured from Dublin City Council is that the ?20,000 it provides for the annual Regeneration Festival in August is still available.
"We're running out of time, " says Antoinette Mullen, giving a guided tour of the three-bedroom flat she shares with her husband and their two teenage daughters. There is no space for a kitchen or dining table which means they eat all their meals from plates balanced on their laps. "We wanted to get a mortgage for the affordable housing and we've been holding off, " she explains, "but we're both 35 and we'll soon be at the age that we won't qualify for a mortgage." (Contrary to popular perception, everyone in O'Devaney Gardens who was interviewed for this article is employed and pays tax. ) Biting off more than he can chew Sympathy for Bernard McNamara, the multimillionaire former Fianna Fail county councillor from Lisdoonvarna, is as scarce in O'Devaney Gardens as optimism. Flimsy information about his Ailesbury Road mansion, with its swimming pool and ballroom, and his possession of a helicopter and the Shelbourne Hotel, give an edge to the flat-dwellers' feelings of dejection. They are in no mood to commiserate with the businessman for his troubles. "He's walking away from ?900m worth of work on five projects.
Wouldn't you wonder if he's bitten off more than he can chew? , " says Antoinette Mullen. "I don't think the government should ask him to build the new prison if he's going to leave us in the lurch."
(McNamara's company is building the new prison complex at Thornton Hall in north Dublin. ) Asked if the speculation that he is in financial trouble is true, in light of his withdrawal from the five Private-Public Partnership (PPP) schemes for Dublin City Council, Bernard McNamara's spokesman replied: "The decision in relation to these PPPs was taken because of a combination of two things - the downturn in the marketplace and fundamental changes to the schemes that would have required a new planning application." The spokesman confirmed that the developer "believes the PPPs are too complicated."
Bernard McNamara, who inherited his father's building company, Michael McNamara & Company, is the Greta Garbo of Irish property developers, despite his ubiquity on the Irish landscape.
He owns the Radisson in Galway, the Shelbourne and the Parknasilla Great Southern in Kerry. He sold his 14.5% share of the Superquinn chain last summer but retains his ownership of the Champion Sports retail chain. He is offloading the Ormond Hotel on the Dublin quays and the Grafton Street buildings which house the Richard Alan and Zerep shops, reputedly in order to assemble a portfolio of development properties at the back of the Westbury Hotel, as part of a consortium. He is developing the massive Glass Bottle site in Ringsend and is, according to his spokesman, on schedule and on budget with both this and his ?lm Park development, comprising 400 homes, 28,000sq m of offices, a 169-bed, four-star hotel, a leisure centre, creche and a private hospital. His name may be ubiquitous on the country's building sites, but his face is seldom seen and he does not do media interviews.
When he spoke to Dr Ivor Kenny for the 2001 book Leaders: Conversations with Irish Chief Executives McNamara concluded with this prescient observation: "The social requirements in many areas are changing dramatically because of our changed demographics. It is an interesting time to be involved. Hopefully we can make a contribution."
He spoke about an American company he has partnered in projects, extolling their formula of mixed-income schemes. "These developments are rented to one-third full-market-rent tenants;
one-third social-welfare tenants; and one-third assisted-income tenants. The management is supplemented by a significant social worker back-up and strong tenant involvement. This results in developments which have social housing integrated right through the scheme, but are also sought after by full-market-rent tenants because of their high quality and management. It is a surprise to most people when they learn that Eastern Health Board rent subsidies in Dublin are over IR£80m per annum and that much of it is in poor quality accommodation. There is a sizeable business opportunity here as well as an important social requirement."
The company he was alluding to is Corcoran Jennison, founded by an Irish immigrant from Roscommon, which has two Irish subsidiaries. The company partnered Pierce Construction in bidding for the five PPP schemes in Dublin that ground to a stop last week and came out second in the tender process behind Castlethorn/McNamara in four of them. In the fifth, the O'Devaney Gardens regeneration, it made the top monetary bid but lost out on design and schedule.
Asked if his company would be prepared now to finish the O'Devaney Gardens project if invited by Dublin City Council, Miles Byrne, director of development for Corcoran Jennison in Ireland, said:
"We haven't heard from them but, yes, absolutely, we can do it. We're so sad for the families in O'Devaney Gardens. I toured there on numerous occasions and met hundreds of residents. I had a sense they really had a group you could work with and create a new community. I was walking those hallways at 11 o'clock at night and people were welcoming me into their homes. There are so many people who live in those urine-stained and graffitied apartments and yet they keep those apartments so well."
'Where's plan B?'
In the office of the regeneration board, a small wooden model of the planned development sits on the table, amid leaflets demanding: "O'Devaney Gardens want a future. Where's plan B?" There was going to be a football pitch on the roof of one apartment block and various green oases on the ground. Less well-known is that two creches were planned; one for the private tenants and the other for the social-welfare tenants. The children, who seem to be in the majority among the residents, had been brought in for the consultation about the design of the community centre. The school of thought that private buyers would be deterred by the idea of living in close proximity with public housing residents is matched by the suspicion that rental investors and absent landlords would cause a rapid deterioration in quality.
"Mr McNamara has left us high and dry, " believes Ruth Murphy, a lone mother of four young children.
"The council has told us it can't sue for breach of contract because it would end up stalled in the courts for years and nothing would be happening here in the meantime. There's already an awful lot of money spent on consultations, going out to tender, legal work, architects. The council made sure that we as tenants had independent legal advice the whole way along. I think a quarter of a million euro was spent on Portakabins alone and there's temporary accommodation in three different sites for the people who've moved out."
But, as the rebuilding of O'Devaney Gardens turns into a standoff between the council and the developers, the decline that set in over a decade ago goes on inexorably. In July, the four earmarked blocks will be demolished. Buried among that rubble will be the dust of the community's playschool.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Were it to be described in an auctioneer's brochure a year ago, when development land this near the Spire was making ?20m an acre, hyperbole would have been unnecessary for 14 acres beside the Phoenix Park and Heuston railway station and Collins Barracks museum and Smithfield and the Four Courts, the centre of the capital city touchable from the red Luas line.
Today the iron railings the builders erected to section off the first phase of construction give the whole place an appearance of dashed dreams, like Miss Havisham in her yellowed wedding dress.
Dishevelled men clutching bottles of spirits come from outside the estate at all hours to shelter in the lee of the four blocks that are boarded up like famine ship trunks and waiting to be demolished in the summer. The 64 tenants moved out temporarily more than three years ago. How time flies in a place where everything else stands still.
"We've the biggest back garden in the world, " Nadine Murphy boasts with a nod towards the Phoenix Park and a rueful smile. Next week, she and her fellow residents will be writing to two of that garden's denizens, the president and the Taoiseach, asking for support in their quest for a decent place to live.
"If they use public transport, they'll pass O'Devaney Gardens on the No 10, " Murphy offers helpfully. "Brian Cowen is going to be moving into a lovely new house in the park. He should look after his neighbours because we'll look after him." On the wall behind her head in the regeneration board's office on the ground floor of the farmost block, an A4 sheet of paper concludes: "People passed over for profit." Some men come and go outside in the hallway, piling machine-cut planks of cheap wood on the floor. "For the banners, " explains the young mother. "We're not going to give up the fight.
We're not bricks and mortar. We have hearts and our hearts have been broken."
It was all supposed to be so different. The band played, the flags and the marquee fluttered and the children got their faces painted on 12 February last year when Bertie Ahern and Bernard McNamara came to celebrate the signing of the regeneration project, eight years after the tenants first saw architects' drawings. The Taoiseach had dropped by in December 2005 to share the wonderful news with his Dublin Central constituents that a developer had been chosen. The McNamara/Castlethorn partnership won for their design and schedule submissions, though their projected gross revenues were less than the secondplaced bidder, Pierce Construction and the Boston-based Corcoran Jennison. The job was to have been finished by the end of next year.
"I met Bernard McNamara the day the agreement was signed, " Nadine recalls. "When I walked back home to my flat I really believed he had the community interest at heart because he said, 'Whatever I can do for the community I will do, ' and the only thing he's done is turn his back on us. It's up to the government now to get this built." The tenants, she says, are seeking meetings with the ministers for finance, the environment and housing.
Poignantly, the only guarantee they have secured from Dublin City Council is that the ?20,000 it provides for the annual Regeneration Festival in August is still available.
"We're running out of time, " says Antoinette Mullen, giving a guided tour of the three-bedroom flat she shares with her husband and their two teenage daughters. There is no space for a kitchen or dining table which means they eat all their meals from plates balanced on their laps. "We wanted to get a mortgage for the affordable housing and we've been holding off, " she explains, "but we're both 35 and we'll soon be at the age that we won't qualify for a mortgage." (Contrary to popular perception, everyone in O'Devaney Gardens who was interviewed for this article is employed and pays tax. ) Biting off more than he can chew Sympathy for Bernard McNamara, the multimillionaire former Fianna Fail county councillor from Lisdoonvarna, is as scarce in O'Devaney Gardens as optimism. Flimsy information about his Ailesbury Road mansion, with its swimming pool and ballroom, and his possession of a helicopter and the Shelbourne Hotel, give an edge to the flat-dwellers' feelings of dejection. They are in no mood to commiserate with the businessman for his troubles. "He's walking away from ?900m worth of work on five projects.
Wouldn't you wonder if he's bitten off more than he can chew? , " says Antoinette Mullen. "I don't think the government should ask him to build the new prison if he's going to leave us in the lurch."
(McNamara's company is building the new prison complex at Thornton Hall in north Dublin. ) Asked if the speculation that he is in financial trouble is true, in light of his withdrawal from the five Private-Public Partnership (PPP) schemes for Dublin City Council, Bernard McNamara's spokesman replied: "The decision in relation to these PPPs was taken because of a combination of two things - the downturn in the marketplace and fundamental changes to the schemes that would have required a new planning application." The spokesman confirmed that the developer "believes the PPPs are too complicated."
Bernard McNamara, who inherited his father's building company, Michael McNamara & Company, is the Greta Garbo of Irish property developers, despite his ubiquity on the Irish landscape.
He owns the Radisson in Galway, the Shelbourne and the Parknasilla Great Southern in Kerry. He sold his 14.5% share of the Superquinn chain last summer but retains his ownership of the Champion Sports retail chain. He is offloading the Ormond Hotel on the Dublin quays and the Grafton Street buildings which house the Richard Alan and Zerep shops, reputedly in order to assemble a portfolio of development properties at the back of the Westbury Hotel, as part of a consortium. He is developing the massive Glass Bottle site in Ringsend and is, according to his spokesman, on schedule and on budget with both this and his ?lm Park development, comprising 400 homes, 28,000sq m of offices, a 169-bed, four-star hotel, a leisure centre, creche and a private hospital. His name may be ubiquitous on the country's building sites, but his face is seldom seen and he does not do media interviews.
When he spoke to Dr Ivor Kenny for the 2001 book Leaders: Conversations with Irish Chief Executives McNamara concluded with this prescient observation: "The social requirements in many areas are changing dramatically because of our changed demographics. It is an interesting time to be involved. Hopefully we can make a contribution."
He spoke about an American company he has partnered in projects, extolling their formula of mixed-income schemes. "These developments are rented to one-third full-market-rent tenants;
one-third social-welfare tenants; and one-third assisted-income tenants. The management is supplemented by a significant social worker back-up and strong tenant involvement. This results in developments which have social housing integrated right through the scheme, but are also sought after by full-market-rent tenants because of their high quality and management. It is a surprise to most people when they learn that Eastern Health Board rent subsidies in Dublin are over IR£80m per annum and that much of it is in poor quality accommodation. There is a sizeable business opportunity here as well as an important social requirement."
The company he was alluding to is Corcoran Jennison, founded by an Irish immigrant from Roscommon, which has two Irish subsidiaries. The company partnered Pierce Construction in bidding for the five PPP schemes in Dublin that ground to a stop last week and came out second in the tender process behind Castlethorn/McNamara in four of them. In the fifth, the O'Devaney Gardens regeneration, it made the top monetary bid but lost out on design and schedule.
Asked if his company would be prepared now to finish the O'Devaney Gardens project if invited by Dublin City Council, Miles Byrne, director of development for Corcoran Jennison in Ireland, said:
"We haven't heard from them but, yes, absolutely, we can do it. We're so sad for the families in O'Devaney Gardens. I toured there on numerous occasions and met hundreds of residents. I had a sense they really had a group you could work with and create a new community. I was walking those hallways at 11 o'clock at night and people were welcoming me into their homes. There are so many people who live in those urine-stained and graffitied apartments and yet they keep those apartments so well."
'Where's plan B?'
In the office of the regeneration board, a small wooden model of the planned development sits on the table, amid leaflets demanding: "O'Devaney Gardens want a future. Where's plan B?" There was going to be a football pitch on the roof of one apartment block and various green oases on the ground. Less well-known is that two creches were planned; one for the private tenants and the other for the social-welfare tenants. The children, who seem to be in the majority among the residents, had been brought in for the consultation about the design of the community centre. The school of thought that private buyers would be deterred by the idea of living in close proximity with public housing residents is matched by the suspicion that rental investors and absent landlords would cause a rapid deterioration in quality.
"Mr McNamara has left us high and dry, " believes Ruth Murphy, a lone mother of four young children.
"The council has told us it can't sue for breach of contract because it would end up stalled in the courts for years and nothing would be happening here in the meantime. There's already an awful lot of money spent on consultations, going out to tender, legal work, architects. The council made sure that we as tenants had independent legal advice the whole way along. I think a quarter of a million euro was spent on Portakabins alone and there's temporary accommodation in three different sites for the people who've moved out."
But, as the rebuilding of O'Devaney Gardens turns into a standoff between the council and the developers, the decline that set in over a decade ago goes on inexorably. In July, the four earmarked blocks will be demolished. Buried among that rubble will be the dust of the community's playschool.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Urban dreams are turned to rubble
This week, developer Bernard McNamara decided to walk away from five public-private housing projects in Dublin. Why was the city council unable to prevent a disaster for inner-city Dublin?
THIS HAS BEEN the week when the slump in the construction industry was thrown into the sharpest relief yet. As the State's biggest builder walked away from €1 billion worth of business, even the most optimistic talker-uppers in the industry were forced into silence.
It might have been just coincidence that Fianna Fáil decided at the same time to fold its tent at the Galway Races, but the demise of its traditional thank-you bash for loyal and supportive developers was yet another sign that the game was up in the property sector.
Economic fortunes rise and fall, but, when the history books are eventually written, the question that will preoccupy academics is likely to be how we managed to squander so many of the fruits of the longest boom in the State's history.
We know already about the ailing health service and our bulging classrooms. To the list, we must now add the failure of the Celtic Tiger to improve housing conditions for our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Almost 20 years of prosperity and we are still left with crumbling flat complexes and their accompanying social problems in many parts of Dublin.
The withdrawal of developer Bernard McNamara from five public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the capital is a disaster for inner-city Dublin, and not just for the estates that were to be regenerated. The rebuilding of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, for example, involved not only the provision of private and public housing, but also a library, a civic centre, a health clinic and a shopping centre.
"It wasn't just about rebuilding a few flats, it was about social regeneration," says Peter Ward, chairman of the O'Devaney Gardens Regeneration Board. Because the surrounding communities were so closely involved in drawing up the plans, and both private and public housing was envisaged, the regeneration schemes held out the promise of an end to social segregation and the sink estates that had grown up over time in the city's social black spots.
The writing has been on the wall for the schemes since last year, when McNamara first started dragging his heels.
"We all knew from last summer that he was starting to get cold feet," says Ward.
Yet Dublin City Council seemed to be the last to know. Almost a fortnight ago, when The Irish Times, having heard rumours about the projects' demise, first contacted the council's press office, the reply was that it was "business as usual" between the council and the developer. Even as all involved in the projects insisted they were doomed, the council and McNamara continued to claim for five days that they were still in negotiations. The plug was finally pulled this week.
If the council was using this time to come up with a plan B, its existence wasn't evident when the axe fell. The council could sue the developer, as contracts were signed for at least two of the schemes, but sources say it has no stomach to start such a fight. Litigation could block development on the sites for years and, it is thought, the council's decision to set increased minimum sizes for apartments, agreed after the PPPs were signed, could give McNamara wriggle room in the courts.
Going to the underbidders is another option, but not one that inspires much hope. Developers everywhere are strapped for cash, and the cost of borrowing has rocketed. Few will take on these projects without being allowed to build significantly more private housing, which would be resisted by local interests.
As Ward points out, the communities involved have already made significant compromises in agreeing to the PPP route. In O'Devaney Gardens, for example, this involved accepting an eight-storey block of private apartments beside the social housing.
Perhaps the Government can be persuaded to cough up more capital funding for social housing, but this isn't a solution either. At St Michael's, for example, there is already planning permission to build social housing for the existing residents on four of the 14 acres. But such a plan threatens to repeat the mistakes of the past by creating ghettoes bereft of social supports and unintegrated with the local community.
THE COLLAPSE OF the schemes highlights the continuing failure of the Government to tackle the housing crisis. There are currently 44,000 households on housing waiting lists, and some have been there for up to a decade. The old, discredited model of segregated social housing has not been replaced by a working alternative.
Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 was supposed to improve matters by requiring developers to provide 20 per cent social and affordable housing as part of their schemes. However, this stipulation was stiffly resisted by developers, the Act was watered down, and for years the scheme has failed to provide social housing to any meaningful extent.
Only in the past year has Part V begun to provide the promised housing units, which, ironically, are now coming on stream in a glut, according to David Burke of Focus Ireland. He says the money available for social housing is being diverted to pay for Part V housing provided by developers, partly because local authorities are afraid of being sued if they don't pay up promptly. Yet the housing provided under Part V is more likely to be affordable units, which enjoy greater public acceptance, than it is to be social housing.
"Social housing has not been able to perform in the housing market of the Celtic Tiger," he says. "It simply can't compete with the likes of Bernard McNamara, Sean Dunne, etc."
PPPs were vaunted as the mechanism for delivering the houses and apartments needed. The idea is simple: the council gives the developer a valuable plot of inner-city land, the developer builds an agreed number of social and affordable housing units and community facilities and is then free to develop the rest of the site for private accommodation at a profit.
But here again, as Burke points out, it was an "unequal match" in negotiations between local authority officials, earning €40,000 a year, and the developers with their battalions of advisers. The result, despite years of consultation within communities and a bidding process, was a series of deals that seem to be insufficiently binding.
"It's clear the negotiations dragged on for years. If you don't nail down something comprehensively and you leave negotiations ill-defined, this is the kind of thing that is bound to happen," says Burke.
QUESTIONS HAVE ALSO been asked about how McNamara managed to secure so many contracts, effectively leaving the council with far too many eggs in one basket. The local regeneration boards don't know what's happening because, once McNamara was chosen, they withdrew from the process and left the fine print to the council. Board members haven't even seen the contracts and don't know why the developer has been able to walk away so easily.
Having handed over the construction of new units to the private sector, local authorities are also busily offloading their existing stock. Some 330,000 housing units have been provided by the State since its foundation; of these, two-thirds have been sold off. As many an owner of a bijou two-up-two-down house in Dublin will know, these dwellings were in many cases sold off for a pittance to tenants, who then sold them on at greatly increased prices.
Now, Dublin City Council wants to sell off individual flats in its complexes and, surprise surprise, enterprising tenants are lining up for a bargain. Furious efforts are being made to overcome the quite obvious legal and practical difficulties involved in the part-sale of flat complexes, and up to 16,000 apartments in the city could be sold to their owners within a few years.
But, as Burke explains, this is creating a process known as "residualisation". "The best-quality units will be sold to the best-quality tenants. That leaves the worst accommodation for the most needy people." And all the accompanying social problems too.
Bernard McNamara has pulled out of his deals with the council because Dublin already has thousands of unsold apartments, and prices are plummeting. The credit crunch is hiking up the cost of bank loans, of which he already has plenty.
Much of the building boom from which McNamara and other developers benefited was driven by generous tax breaks from government. In some counties, up to 30 per cent of housing units lie empty. In Dublin, council planners helped to drive the developers' profits up further by raising the roof on the city and permitting the construction of multi-storey blocks.
The result is a glut of housing which isn't needed, isn't occupied and is in the wrong places, and a dearth of housing which is urgently needed and which is suitable for families to live in. In Dublin alone, 2,000 households are trying to come out of homelessness each year, yet places can be found for just 300 of them.
In a state of half-demolition, the five PPP schemes "look like Beirut", in the words of one councillor. Such dereliction is a magnet for anti-social activity - fights in the alleyways, drug-dealing on the stairwells, drinking parties by the braziers.
So what now, now that the kitty is empty and the developers have bolted? For now, no one really knows, but as Peter Ward insists of the regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens: "No matter how it's done, it has to happen."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
THIS HAS BEEN the week when the slump in the construction industry was thrown into the sharpest relief yet. As the State's biggest builder walked away from €1 billion worth of business, even the most optimistic talker-uppers in the industry were forced into silence.
It might have been just coincidence that Fianna Fáil decided at the same time to fold its tent at the Galway Races, but the demise of its traditional thank-you bash for loyal and supportive developers was yet another sign that the game was up in the property sector.
Economic fortunes rise and fall, but, when the history books are eventually written, the question that will preoccupy academics is likely to be how we managed to squander so many of the fruits of the longest boom in the State's history.
We know already about the ailing health service and our bulging classrooms. To the list, we must now add the failure of the Celtic Tiger to improve housing conditions for our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Almost 20 years of prosperity and we are still left with crumbling flat complexes and their accompanying social problems in many parts of Dublin.
The withdrawal of developer Bernard McNamara from five public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the capital is a disaster for inner-city Dublin, and not just for the estates that were to be regenerated. The rebuilding of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, for example, involved not only the provision of private and public housing, but also a library, a civic centre, a health clinic and a shopping centre.
"It wasn't just about rebuilding a few flats, it was about social regeneration," says Peter Ward, chairman of the O'Devaney Gardens Regeneration Board. Because the surrounding communities were so closely involved in drawing up the plans, and both private and public housing was envisaged, the regeneration schemes held out the promise of an end to social segregation and the sink estates that had grown up over time in the city's social black spots.
The writing has been on the wall for the schemes since last year, when McNamara first started dragging his heels.
"We all knew from last summer that he was starting to get cold feet," says Ward.
Yet Dublin City Council seemed to be the last to know. Almost a fortnight ago, when The Irish Times, having heard rumours about the projects' demise, first contacted the council's press office, the reply was that it was "business as usual" between the council and the developer. Even as all involved in the projects insisted they were doomed, the council and McNamara continued to claim for five days that they were still in negotiations. The plug was finally pulled this week.
If the council was using this time to come up with a plan B, its existence wasn't evident when the axe fell. The council could sue the developer, as contracts were signed for at least two of the schemes, but sources say it has no stomach to start such a fight. Litigation could block development on the sites for years and, it is thought, the council's decision to set increased minimum sizes for apartments, agreed after the PPPs were signed, could give McNamara wriggle room in the courts.
Going to the underbidders is another option, but not one that inspires much hope. Developers everywhere are strapped for cash, and the cost of borrowing has rocketed. Few will take on these projects without being allowed to build significantly more private housing, which would be resisted by local interests.
As Ward points out, the communities involved have already made significant compromises in agreeing to the PPP route. In O'Devaney Gardens, for example, this involved accepting an eight-storey block of private apartments beside the social housing.
Perhaps the Government can be persuaded to cough up more capital funding for social housing, but this isn't a solution either. At St Michael's, for example, there is already planning permission to build social housing for the existing residents on four of the 14 acres. But such a plan threatens to repeat the mistakes of the past by creating ghettoes bereft of social supports and unintegrated with the local community.
THE COLLAPSE OF the schemes highlights the continuing failure of the Government to tackle the housing crisis. There are currently 44,000 households on housing waiting lists, and some have been there for up to a decade. The old, discredited model of segregated social housing has not been replaced by a working alternative.
Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 was supposed to improve matters by requiring developers to provide 20 per cent social and affordable housing as part of their schemes. However, this stipulation was stiffly resisted by developers, the Act was watered down, and for years the scheme has failed to provide social housing to any meaningful extent.
Only in the past year has Part V begun to provide the promised housing units, which, ironically, are now coming on stream in a glut, according to David Burke of Focus Ireland. He says the money available for social housing is being diverted to pay for Part V housing provided by developers, partly because local authorities are afraid of being sued if they don't pay up promptly. Yet the housing provided under Part V is more likely to be affordable units, which enjoy greater public acceptance, than it is to be social housing.
"Social housing has not been able to perform in the housing market of the Celtic Tiger," he says. "It simply can't compete with the likes of Bernard McNamara, Sean Dunne, etc."
PPPs were vaunted as the mechanism for delivering the houses and apartments needed. The idea is simple: the council gives the developer a valuable plot of inner-city land, the developer builds an agreed number of social and affordable housing units and community facilities and is then free to develop the rest of the site for private accommodation at a profit.
But here again, as Burke points out, it was an "unequal match" in negotiations between local authority officials, earning €40,000 a year, and the developers with their battalions of advisers. The result, despite years of consultation within communities and a bidding process, was a series of deals that seem to be insufficiently binding.
"It's clear the negotiations dragged on for years. If you don't nail down something comprehensively and you leave negotiations ill-defined, this is the kind of thing that is bound to happen," says Burke.
QUESTIONS HAVE ALSO been asked about how McNamara managed to secure so many contracts, effectively leaving the council with far too many eggs in one basket. The local regeneration boards don't know what's happening because, once McNamara was chosen, they withdrew from the process and left the fine print to the council. Board members haven't even seen the contracts and don't know why the developer has been able to walk away so easily.
Having handed over the construction of new units to the private sector, local authorities are also busily offloading their existing stock. Some 330,000 housing units have been provided by the State since its foundation; of these, two-thirds have been sold off. As many an owner of a bijou two-up-two-down house in Dublin will know, these dwellings were in many cases sold off for a pittance to tenants, who then sold them on at greatly increased prices.
Now, Dublin City Council wants to sell off individual flats in its complexes and, surprise surprise, enterprising tenants are lining up for a bargain. Furious efforts are being made to overcome the quite obvious legal and practical difficulties involved in the part-sale of flat complexes, and up to 16,000 apartments in the city could be sold to their owners within a few years.
But, as Burke explains, this is creating a process known as "residualisation". "The best-quality units will be sold to the best-quality tenants. That leaves the worst accommodation for the most needy people." And all the accompanying social problems too.
Bernard McNamara has pulled out of his deals with the council because Dublin already has thousands of unsold apartments, and prices are plummeting. The credit crunch is hiking up the cost of bank loans, of which he already has plenty.
Much of the building boom from which McNamara and other developers benefited was driven by generous tax breaks from government. In some counties, up to 30 per cent of housing units lie empty. In Dublin, council planners helped to drive the developers' profits up further by raising the roof on the city and permitting the construction of multi-storey blocks.
The result is a glut of housing which isn't needed, isn't occupied and is in the wrong places, and a dearth of housing which is urgently needed and which is suitable for families to live in. In Dublin alone, 2,000 households are trying to come out of homelessness each year, yet places can be found for just 300 of them.
In a state of half-demolition, the five PPP schemes "look like Beirut", in the words of one councillor. Such dereliction is a magnet for anti-social activity - fights in the alleyways, drug-dealing on the stairwells, drinking parties by the braziers.
So what now, now that the kitty is empty and the developers have bolted? For now, no one really knows, but as Peter Ward insists of the regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens: "No matter how it's done, it has to happen."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council to discuss housing schemes with builders
DUBLIN CITY Council is meeting with building companies bidding for public-private housing schemes after the future of five such projects was thrown into doubt this week.
On Monday, the council announced that builders Michael McNamara and Company and Castlethorn would not be going ahead with five proposed schemes as changes in the housing market had made them "unviable".
However, McNamara subsequently told The Irish Times it had not pulled out of the projects. Instead it said it wrote to the council pointing out that changes to building regulations and apartment size requirements threatened the schemes' viability.
Yesterday, the council said it was meeting with all other public-private scheme bidders and has "begun the process of undertaking a risk assessment on each project". The council plans to report to next Monday night's meeting on the talks. There are four such schemes, involving 3,000 homes, currently in various stages of the bidding and planning processes.
The council has received a planning permission application in relation to one, involving 715 houses in Coolock.
Construction firm Rohcon bid for this. A company called ADN Developments submitted the planning application in December, and the council has since told it to provide more information.
It was not possible to establish yesterday whether permission has been sought for another project involving 800 units in Park West and bid for by building companies Durkan and Bennett. A further 1,000 homes are proposed for St Teresa's Gardens and Charlemont Street.
Under the public-private system, building companies bid to provide the council with social and affordable housing, and pay for this by taking a share of the units themselves and selling them on the open market.
However, building industry sources say the new regulations have increased costs and risks while cutting the number of homes that can be built.
They point out that the new rules have come into force since bidding opened for Dublin City's various public-private schemes.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
On Monday, the council announced that builders Michael McNamara and Company and Castlethorn would not be going ahead with five proposed schemes as changes in the housing market had made them "unviable".
However, McNamara subsequently told The Irish Times it had not pulled out of the projects. Instead it said it wrote to the council pointing out that changes to building regulations and apartment size requirements threatened the schemes' viability.
Yesterday, the council said it was meeting with all other public-private scheme bidders and has "begun the process of undertaking a risk assessment on each project". The council plans to report to next Monday night's meeting on the talks. There are four such schemes, involving 3,000 homes, currently in various stages of the bidding and planning processes.
The council has received a planning permission application in relation to one, involving 715 houses in Coolock.
Construction firm Rohcon bid for this. A company called ADN Developments submitted the planning application in December, and the council has since told it to provide more information.
It was not possible to establish yesterday whether permission has been sought for another project involving 800 units in Park West and bid for by building companies Durkan and Bennett. A further 1,000 homes are proposed for St Teresa's Gardens and Charlemont Street.
Under the public-private system, building companies bid to provide the council with social and affordable housing, and pay for this by taking a share of the units themselves and selling them on the open market.
However, building industry sources say the new regulations have increased costs and risks while cutting the number of homes that can be built.
They point out that the new rules have come into force since bidding opened for Dublin City's various public-private schemes.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
McNamara gets permission for €1bn Burlington project
BUILDER BERNARD McNamara is set to begin a €1 billion construction project in central Dublin after getting the green light from the city's local authority yesterday.
Dublin City Council granted his firm, Michael McNamara and Company, planning permission for the redevelopment of the Burlington Hotel site on the city's southside.
The news comes just days after a row between the council and the building company over five public private partnership (PPP) housing projects geared at regenerating a number of inner city areas.
Last year, McNamara applied for planning to build a commercial complex including 33,300sq m of office space, restaurants, shops, apartments and leisure and medical centres. It is designed around 1.2 acres of open space consisting of a plaza and public park. The development would span three blocks. One block, which will front Sussex Road and the Mespil Estate, will be part six and part eight storeys. A second block, fronting Burleigh Court and Mespil Road, will rise to seven storeys. A third office block, which will face Burlington Road, will be eight storeys.
The council yesterday gave the go-ahead for the plan with no material changes. Mr McNamara bought the hotel and some surrounding property in March last year for €288 million. When the development is completed, it will have an estimated value of €1 billion. The company intends beginning work on phase one of the project next spring. This will consist of 30,000sq m of offices on the site of the old Allianz Insurance building, which forms part of the property.
While part of the development is geared towards offices, the restaurants, shopping and leisure elements will cash in on the adjacent high-end residential area.
The council is known to be keen to encourage office development in the city as it helps to underpin and boost income from rates. However, sources said yesterday that the open-air and leisure elements of the proposed complex also helped to win support.
Earlier this week, the council announced that McNamara and another firm, Castlethorn, were ending their involvement with five PPP housing schemes in the city. Mr McNamara told The Irish Times it had not pulled out of the projects, but said the process had not been completed and the council had changed its approach to procuring the schemes. It said it had written to the council pointing out that new regulations governing size and energy efficiency, as well as changes in the market, meant the schemes were not viable.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin City Council granted his firm, Michael McNamara and Company, planning permission for the redevelopment of the Burlington Hotel site on the city's southside.
The news comes just days after a row between the council and the building company over five public private partnership (PPP) housing projects geared at regenerating a number of inner city areas.
Last year, McNamara applied for planning to build a commercial complex including 33,300sq m of office space, restaurants, shops, apartments and leisure and medical centres. It is designed around 1.2 acres of open space consisting of a plaza and public park. The development would span three blocks. One block, which will front Sussex Road and the Mespil Estate, will be part six and part eight storeys. A second block, fronting Burleigh Court and Mespil Road, will rise to seven storeys. A third office block, which will face Burlington Road, will be eight storeys.
The council yesterday gave the go-ahead for the plan with no material changes. Mr McNamara bought the hotel and some surrounding property in March last year for €288 million. When the development is completed, it will have an estimated value of €1 billion. The company intends beginning work on phase one of the project next spring. This will consist of 30,000sq m of offices on the site of the old Allianz Insurance building, which forms part of the property.
While part of the development is geared towards offices, the restaurants, shopping and leisure elements will cash in on the adjacent high-end residential area.
The council is known to be keen to encourage office development in the city as it helps to underpin and boost income from rates. However, sources said yesterday that the open-air and leisure elements of the proposed complex also helped to win support.
Earlier this week, the council announced that McNamara and another firm, Castlethorn, were ending their involvement with five PPP housing schemes in the city. Mr McNamara told The Irish Times it had not pulled out of the projects, but said the process had not been completed and the council had changed its approach to procuring the schemes. It said it had written to the council pointing out that new regulations governing size and energy efficiency, as well as changes in the market, meant the schemes were not viable.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Deal collapse shows faults of PPPs
The collapse of the public private partnership (PPP) between Dublin City Council and developer Bernard McNamara has set alarm bells ringing throughout government departments and local authorities which have significant projects being undertaken by similar partnerships.
The scheme would have built hundreds of units of social and affordable housing in some of the poorest areas of inner-city Dublin. Some flagship projects will now be the subject of close examination in the coming weeks. For a government which has staked its political reputation - and built an electoral strategy - on massive infrastructural investment, it’s a worrying development.
Dublin City Council is understood to be urgently reviewing other PPP projects, and has been in contact with several other developer-consortiums. Some are believed to have responded positively at this stage, but not all.
The council will also examine the possibility of legal action against McNamara. A counter-suit by the builder is also possible.
It’s also a sign that PPPs are not the catch-all solution that many once thought. It’s clear they work very well in some cases in some markets - but not in all cases in all markets.
PPPs are a relatively recent addition to the tools available to government, though the administration of Bertie Ahern enthusiastically adopted them as its public-building programme gathered pace in its second term. There were, according to the Department of Finance, relatively few such projects prior to 2003. Since then, there has been an explosion in their use by government.
The department lists more than 80 projects in its latest PPP update, but many of these include multiple construction projects - one, under the auspices of the Department of Education, includes six new schools.
The rest of the projects vary from roads projects, other educational building works, the National Conference Centre, Concert Hall and new National Theatre, government offices for decentralised departments, the planned Metro, a new Luas line, new prisons, a mass of local authority housing, sewage and drainage schemes and the proposed incinerator for Poolbeg in Dublin.
However, while it may seem that every government building project is now being handed over to the private sector, this isn’t the case.
According to a spokesman for the Department of Finance: ‘‘The vast majority of government capital projects are still funded out of our own resources.”
Of a total spend of €78 billion under the government’s omnibus National Development Plan, PPPs will account for just €13 billion by 2013. The target of €13.35 billion comprises €11 billion for PPPs funded by future ‘‘unitary payments’’ and €2 billion to be paid by user charges, such as road tolls.
So it’s not, as has been advertised in some quarters, the wholesale privatisation of government spending. But it’s not chicken feed either; there’s a lot of business here for developers and other private operators.
According to one source who is well-versed in the area, politicians love PPPs because they keep the cost of the project off their balance sheet - enabling a range of projects to proceed more rapidly than would be the case if each was provided by the public body themselves.
When they work, said the source, they deliver projects more efficiently and speedily than publicly-run projects. So, when they work well, they work well. And when they don’t work well? Then the developer cuts and runs?
In fact, according to two people familiar with the Dublin City Council-McNamara deal, it was not a deal on the classic PPP model. ‘‘It wasn’t really a PPP at all,” said one.
‘‘It was a property deal. And when the property market goes wallop, property deals run into trouble.
‘‘A real PPP involves the private sector doing everything and being remunerated over, say, a 30-year period,” said another source. ‘‘These housing schemes were never PPPs.”
Whether it’s a real PPP or a poor imitation, local authorities like these arrangements because they get new infrastructure, but without large loans. ‘‘It’s risk-free,” said one source last week, adding ruefully. ‘‘Well it’s supposed to be.”
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
The scheme would have built hundreds of units of social and affordable housing in some of the poorest areas of inner-city Dublin. Some flagship projects will now be the subject of close examination in the coming weeks. For a government which has staked its political reputation - and built an electoral strategy - on massive infrastructural investment, it’s a worrying development.
Dublin City Council is understood to be urgently reviewing other PPP projects, and has been in contact with several other developer-consortiums. Some are believed to have responded positively at this stage, but not all.
The council will also examine the possibility of legal action against McNamara. A counter-suit by the builder is also possible.
It’s also a sign that PPPs are not the catch-all solution that many once thought. It’s clear they work very well in some cases in some markets - but not in all cases in all markets.
PPPs are a relatively recent addition to the tools available to government, though the administration of Bertie Ahern enthusiastically adopted them as its public-building programme gathered pace in its second term. There were, according to the Department of Finance, relatively few such projects prior to 2003. Since then, there has been an explosion in their use by government.
The department lists more than 80 projects in its latest PPP update, but many of these include multiple construction projects - one, under the auspices of the Department of Education, includes six new schools.
The rest of the projects vary from roads projects, other educational building works, the National Conference Centre, Concert Hall and new National Theatre, government offices for decentralised departments, the planned Metro, a new Luas line, new prisons, a mass of local authority housing, sewage and drainage schemes and the proposed incinerator for Poolbeg in Dublin.
However, while it may seem that every government building project is now being handed over to the private sector, this isn’t the case.
According to a spokesman for the Department of Finance: ‘‘The vast majority of government capital projects are still funded out of our own resources.”
Of a total spend of €78 billion under the government’s omnibus National Development Plan, PPPs will account for just €13 billion by 2013. The target of €13.35 billion comprises €11 billion for PPPs funded by future ‘‘unitary payments’’ and €2 billion to be paid by user charges, such as road tolls.
So it’s not, as has been advertised in some quarters, the wholesale privatisation of government spending. But it’s not chicken feed either; there’s a lot of business here for developers and other private operators.
According to one source who is well-versed in the area, politicians love PPPs because they keep the cost of the project off their balance sheet - enabling a range of projects to proceed more rapidly than would be the case if each was provided by the public body themselves.
When they work, said the source, they deliver projects more efficiently and speedily than publicly-run projects. So, when they work well, they work well. And when they don’t work well? Then the developer cuts and runs?
In fact, according to two people familiar with the Dublin City Council-McNamara deal, it was not a deal on the classic PPP model. ‘‘It wasn’t really a PPP at all,” said one.
‘‘It was a property deal. And when the property market goes wallop, property deals run into trouble.
‘‘A real PPP involves the private sector doing everything and being remunerated over, say, a 30-year period,” said another source. ‘‘These housing schemes were never PPPs.”
Whether it’s a real PPP or a poor imitation, local authorities like these arrangements because they get new infrastructure, but without large loans. ‘‘It’s risk-free,” said one source last week, adding ruefully. ‘‘Well it’s supposed to be.”
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Housing becomes unaffordable
Is Bernard McNamara’s row-back on a social development scheme justified?
The slowdown in the property market hit those on the bottom rung of the social ladder last week, when developer Bernard McNamara announced he would not be going ahead with €900 million worth of social and affordable housing schemes in Dublin city.
In the past, a slowdown in property would not affect social housing projects in places like O’Devaney Gardens or Sean McDermott Street, but because this was a public-private partnership, McNamara was due to recoup some of the cost of building social and affordable housing from selling private houses he would build on these sites.
A fall-off in the price he could expect to achieve for those private units would affect the whole financial basis on which the original deal was struck.
For McNamara, it wasn’t about pulling out. In a letter to Dublin City Council he described it more as a marriage that ‘‘it has not been possible to consummate’’.
Back in 2005 and 2006, McNamara won the tender to build 820 housing units at O’Devaney Gardens off the North Circular Road, 700 units at St Michael’s Estate in Inchicore, 360 units in Dominick Street, and others at Infirmary Road and Sean McDermott Street.
Each deal was different. Broadly speaking, he would get possession of the sites where there are old council houses and flats. He would build these new units and hand over around one third as social housing to Dublin City Council.
He would sell a further one third as affordable homes, which are subsidised and sold more cheaply than those on the open market. The final third he would sell himself and recoup his costs plus a profit.
McNamara has blamed a number of factors for not proceeding. These included changes in the rules governing the minimum size of apartments, under regulations that were introduced after he won the tenders.
He also cited delays in achieving planning permission and the fact that, where he was granted planning, it was either for a reduced number of units or it was appealed to An Bord Pleanála, causing further delay. The other main factor, he said, was the slowdown in the market.
In a letter to Dublin City Council, McNamara summed up his position. ‘‘The adversely changed circumstances of the current private housing market to that of 2005/ 2006, when the bids were submitted, along with the significant additional costs of increased apartment sizes and new energy regulations, have rendered the whole concept of using the sale of private housing units to fund social and affordable housing and community services along with a balancing site purchase figure, unsustainable in the current market, despite the best efforts of everybody involved.”
The reality is somewhat more complex. First, McNamara only signed contracts on two projects. These were the two where planning permission had been granted. It is understood that he would face some penalty clauses for pulling out of those contracts if the council were to show that the terms of the deal remained the same.
Secondly, where planning permission was granted, the new apartment size regulations do not apply. Third, where planning permission was not yet granted, he had not signed a binding contract at all and is free to walk away.
Correspondence between McNamara and Dublin City Council does reflect a genuine sense of frustration on the developer’s part with the complexity and delays in the process.
For example, in a letter dated last September, in relation to St Michael’s Estate, he asks whether, if he does not secure ‘‘acceptable’’ planning permission for Phase 2 of the project by December 2008 (as agreed in his original bid),the council could pay him €32 million. This ‘‘will facilitate Michael McNamara & Co securing construction finance for the completion of Phase 1’’.
‘‘Acceptable’’ planning, in this case, was permission for the same number of units as contained in the original bid.
McNamara can point to the fact that, in the planning process, there was the risk that the number of units would be reduced. In the case of Infirmary Road, the council agreed planning for 200 units but, after a Bord Pleanála appeal, this was reduced to 162.
McNamara can also point to the changes in the minimum size of apartments for the new schemes that would apply to those for which he does not yet have planning permission. This would also reduce his profit margin on the whole venture.
According to Des Geraghty, chairman of the Affordable Housing Partnership, which represents the Department of the Environment in putting these projects together, this setback is more likely to be a delay, rather than the end of these projects.
Joe Costello, Labour Party TD for Dublin Central, also sees this as a big disappointment, but not something that signals the end of these ventures.
It appears as if McNamara has genuine gripes about the changing market, the planning delays and the new regulations on some new units.
However, he is one of the most experienced property developers in the country. It is hard to imagine that, when he won these tenders by submitting far and away the lowest tender price, he didn’t realise the normal planning process would still apply.
Just because Dublin City Council agrees a tender with a developer to provide new units, does not mean that the normal rules of planning, where members of the public can object, are scrapped.
McNamara would have known this. One of the downsides is that the developer carries this risk in public-private partnerships of this kind. Sources say that McNamara would have known that Dublin City Council could not deliver an ‘‘appeal-free’’ process.
‘‘He signed up to this. There have been delays in planning, but the market was so buoyant in 2005 and 2006 that it was a risk worth taking. The potential returns were so massive. Now, they are not,” a source said.
Those involved in the affordable housing projects believe these developments will go ahead, but only following further lengthy delays. ‘‘If Dublin City Council has to put them out to tender again, it is practically back to square one,” one source said.
However, there are signs that McNamara will engage with Dublin City Council to see if a new formula can be found, to make the projects financially viable for the developer. One possibility would be to increase the price at which he can deliver the social and affordable houses.
Another would be for him to build his own private units on the site, with a view to renting them out, rather than selling them. The more compromises that are introduced into the process, the greater the possibility that the council will have to put them out to tender again. ‘‘The reality is that, in this falling market, the price of an affordable house is a lot closer to the full market price,’’ one source said.
McNamara has rightly pointed out that other developers who signed up for projects elsewhere are not progressing either. There are now doubts about the much-publicised Limerick regeneration project.
Whatever outcome is reached between the council and McNamara, could become the template for many of the other social and affordable housing public-private partnerships around the country. In the current economic environment, it is impossible to see the state proceeding alone and building these social housing units. In the end, those waiting for regeneration projects will have to wait.
Family furious about housing delay
Nadine Murphy and her teenage sons, Patrick and Peter, have spent years anticipating a move from their small two-bedroom flat in O’Devaney Gardens, to a new three-bed home, under Dublin City Council’s PPP agreement with builder Bernard McNamara.
However, her hopes for a new future were dashed when plans by the council and McNamara to build thousands of new units in a regeneration of five areas in Dublin city, collapsed.
Murphy’s mother moved into one of the 13 blocks of flats when they first opened in the 1950s and Murphy herself has had a home there for the past 13 years. Her sister, aunt, cousins and other relations also live there.
‘‘This week is the tenth anniversary of the first time a general public meeting was held here for the redevelopment of O’Devaney Gardens, and I am not going to wait another ten years for a new home,” said the Community Technical Aid worker.
‘‘The news that the developer pulled out was really a kick in the teeth. I have a two-bed flat with a tiny kitchenette and bathroom. My family, and all the others here, eat our dinners on our laps on the sofa because there is no dining area. You are almost hitting the wall in the bathroom when you get out of the shower.
‘‘Everyone was so happy here two years ago when we saw the regeneration plan that included apartments, duplexes and a community centre with a rooftop pitch. Now there is such dejection,” she said.
Anti-social behaviour has been increasing in recent weeks. An empty flat – one of 64 that will be demolished in July – was set on fire, along with a motorbike, according to Murphy, who said non-residents were coming into the complex and causing problems.
‘‘There are gangs now congregating here, and none of us know who these young people are,” Murphy said.
There will be an emergency meeting of the area’s regeneration board on Wednesday. Four resident representatives on this board, including Murphy, will demand to know what the council’s ‘Plan B’ is for them. Assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara and political and policing representatives are also board members.
‘‘I do not want to be a senior citizen when I get a new home,” Murphy said. ‘‘The flats may look depressing, but it is the 188 families who make O’Devaney Gardens a community. They have to keep their spirits up now, and fight for a better environment for their kids to grow up in.”
By Nicola Cooke
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
The slowdown in the property market hit those on the bottom rung of the social ladder last week, when developer Bernard McNamara announced he would not be going ahead with €900 million worth of social and affordable housing schemes in Dublin city.
In the past, a slowdown in property would not affect social housing projects in places like O’Devaney Gardens or Sean McDermott Street, but because this was a public-private partnership, McNamara was due to recoup some of the cost of building social and affordable housing from selling private houses he would build on these sites.
A fall-off in the price he could expect to achieve for those private units would affect the whole financial basis on which the original deal was struck.
For McNamara, it wasn’t about pulling out. In a letter to Dublin City Council he described it more as a marriage that ‘‘it has not been possible to consummate’’.
Back in 2005 and 2006, McNamara won the tender to build 820 housing units at O’Devaney Gardens off the North Circular Road, 700 units at St Michael’s Estate in Inchicore, 360 units in Dominick Street, and others at Infirmary Road and Sean McDermott Street.
Each deal was different. Broadly speaking, he would get possession of the sites where there are old council houses and flats. He would build these new units and hand over around one third as social housing to Dublin City Council.
He would sell a further one third as affordable homes, which are subsidised and sold more cheaply than those on the open market. The final third he would sell himself and recoup his costs plus a profit.
McNamara has blamed a number of factors for not proceeding. These included changes in the rules governing the minimum size of apartments, under regulations that were introduced after he won the tenders.
He also cited delays in achieving planning permission and the fact that, where he was granted planning, it was either for a reduced number of units or it was appealed to An Bord Pleanála, causing further delay. The other main factor, he said, was the slowdown in the market.
In a letter to Dublin City Council, McNamara summed up his position. ‘‘The adversely changed circumstances of the current private housing market to that of 2005/ 2006, when the bids were submitted, along with the significant additional costs of increased apartment sizes and new energy regulations, have rendered the whole concept of using the sale of private housing units to fund social and affordable housing and community services along with a balancing site purchase figure, unsustainable in the current market, despite the best efforts of everybody involved.”
The reality is somewhat more complex. First, McNamara only signed contracts on two projects. These were the two where planning permission had been granted. It is understood that he would face some penalty clauses for pulling out of those contracts if the council were to show that the terms of the deal remained the same.
Secondly, where planning permission was granted, the new apartment size regulations do not apply. Third, where planning permission was not yet granted, he had not signed a binding contract at all and is free to walk away.
Correspondence between McNamara and Dublin City Council does reflect a genuine sense of frustration on the developer’s part with the complexity and delays in the process.
For example, in a letter dated last September, in relation to St Michael’s Estate, he asks whether, if he does not secure ‘‘acceptable’’ planning permission for Phase 2 of the project by December 2008 (as agreed in his original bid),the council could pay him €32 million. This ‘‘will facilitate Michael McNamara & Co securing construction finance for the completion of Phase 1’’.
‘‘Acceptable’’ planning, in this case, was permission for the same number of units as contained in the original bid.
McNamara can point to the fact that, in the planning process, there was the risk that the number of units would be reduced. In the case of Infirmary Road, the council agreed planning for 200 units but, after a Bord Pleanála appeal, this was reduced to 162.
McNamara can also point to the changes in the minimum size of apartments for the new schemes that would apply to those for which he does not yet have planning permission. This would also reduce his profit margin on the whole venture.
According to Des Geraghty, chairman of the Affordable Housing Partnership, which represents the Department of the Environment in putting these projects together, this setback is more likely to be a delay, rather than the end of these projects.
Joe Costello, Labour Party TD for Dublin Central, also sees this as a big disappointment, but not something that signals the end of these ventures.
It appears as if McNamara has genuine gripes about the changing market, the planning delays and the new regulations on some new units.
However, he is one of the most experienced property developers in the country. It is hard to imagine that, when he won these tenders by submitting far and away the lowest tender price, he didn’t realise the normal planning process would still apply.
Just because Dublin City Council agrees a tender with a developer to provide new units, does not mean that the normal rules of planning, where members of the public can object, are scrapped.
McNamara would have known this. One of the downsides is that the developer carries this risk in public-private partnerships of this kind. Sources say that McNamara would have known that Dublin City Council could not deliver an ‘‘appeal-free’’ process.
‘‘He signed up to this. There have been delays in planning, but the market was so buoyant in 2005 and 2006 that it was a risk worth taking. The potential returns were so massive. Now, they are not,” a source said.
Those involved in the affordable housing projects believe these developments will go ahead, but only following further lengthy delays. ‘‘If Dublin City Council has to put them out to tender again, it is practically back to square one,” one source said.
However, there are signs that McNamara will engage with Dublin City Council to see if a new formula can be found, to make the projects financially viable for the developer. One possibility would be to increase the price at which he can deliver the social and affordable houses.
Another would be for him to build his own private units on the site, with a view to renting them out, rather than selling them. The more compromises that are introduced into the process, the greater the possibility that the council will have to put them out to tender again. ‘‘The reality is that, in this falling market, the price of an affordable house is a lot closer to the full market price,’’ one source said.
McNamara has rightly pointed out that other developers who signed up for projects elsewhere are not progressing either. There are now doubts about the much-publicised Limerick regeneration project.
Whatever outcome is reached between the council and McNamara, could become the template for many of the other social and affordable housing public-private partnerships around the country. In the current economic environment, it is impossible to see the state proceeding alone and building these social housing units. In the end, those waiting for regeneration projects will have to wait.
Family furious about housing delay
Nadine Murphy and her teenage sons, Patrick and Peter, have spent years anticipating a move from their small two-bedroom flat in O’Devaney Gardens, to a new three-bed home, under Dublin City Council’s PPP agreement with builder Bernard McNamara.
However, her hopes for a new future were dashed when plans by the council and McNamara to build thousands of new units in a regeneration of five areas in Dublin city, collapsed.
Murphy’s mother moved into one of the 13 blocks of flats when they first opened in the 1950s and Murphy herself has had a home there for the past 13 years. Her sister, aunt, cousins and other relations also live there.
‘‘This week is the tenth anniversary of the first time a general public meeting was held here for the redevelopment of O’Devaney Gardens, and I am not going to wait another ten years for a new home,” said the Community Technical Aid worker.
‘‘The news that the developer pulled out was really a kick in the teeth. I have a two-bed flat with a tiny kitchenette and bathroom. My family, and all the others here, eat our dinners on our laps on the sofa because there is no dining area. You are almost hitting the wall in the bathroom when you get out of the shower.
‘‘Everyone was so happy here two years ago when we saw the regeneration plan that included apartments, duplexes and a community centre with a rooftop pitch. Now there is such dejection,” she said.
Anti-social behaviour has been increasing in recent weeks. An empty flat – one of 64 that will be demolished in July – was set on fire, along with a motorbike, according to Murphy, who said non-residents were coming into the complex and causing problems.
‘‘There are gangs now congregating here, and none of us know who these young people are,” Murphy said.
There will be an emergency meeting of the area’s regeneration board on Wednesday. Four resident representatives on this board, including Murphy, will demand to know what the council’s ‘Plan B’ is for them. Assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara and political and policing representatives are also board members.
‘‘I do not want to be a senior citizen when I get a new home,” Murphy said. ‘‘The flats may look depressing, but it is the 188 families who make O’Devaney Gardens a community. They have to keep their spirits up now, and fight for a better environment for their kids to grow up in.”
By Nicola Cooke
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin council considers ban on residential development
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in Dublin is considering banning residential development on almost 3,000 acres of land in the borough.
The council is seeking written submissions on its proposal, to vary the county’s development plan by excluding residential development from 1,203 hectares of land with the zoning ‘objective F’. Land is zoned objective F to preserve open space, but the development of community and recreational facilities, such as sports clubs, is permitted in principle.
Other options open for consideration have included applications for residential developments. If the proposed amendment is approved, the council will no longer accept planning applications for houses and apartments on lands which are zoned objective F.
The proposed change follows a High Court ruling in March, overturning a council decision to preserve 4.5 acres of unused playing fields next to the Presentation Brothers’ former secondary school in Glasthule. The order wanted to sell the lands to pay for the upkeep of its schools in Ireland and Africa, and for the care of retired brothers.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly said the council had treated the brothers in a ‘‘high-handed and extremely shabby’’ fashion.
Within hours of a ‘‘well-known property developer’’ meeting the county manager last June to discuss possible development of the lands, the manager began a process to vary the development plan, to ensure the continued use of the lands as playing fields. The brothers were not informed.
The order claimed the council decision had effectively sterilised the lands, and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council conceded that its decision last October was unlawful.
A development surveyor told The Sunday Business Post that the proposed variation of the development plan was unlikely to affect the value of residential land in the area, but it would remove the ‘‘hope value’’ of land zoned objective F, reducing its value by around 20 per cent.
A spokesman for the council said: ‘‘Residential density is driven by proximity to planned or existing public transport and the government’s own residential guidelines.” He said that councillors had voted in favour of the variation.
Written submissions must be received by the council’s economic development and planning department before June 16.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
The council is seeking written submissions on its proposal, to vary the county’s development plan by excluding residential development from 1,203 hectares of land with the zoning ‘objective F’. Land is zoned objective F to preserve open space, but the development of community and recreational facilities, such as sports clubs, is permitted in principle.
Other options open for consideration have included applications for residential developments. If the proposed amendment is approved, the council will no longer accept planning applications for houses and apartments on lands which are zoned objective F.
The proposed change follows a High Court ruling in March, overturning a council decision to preserve 4.5 acres of unused playing fields next to the Presentation Brothers’ former secondary school in Glasthule. The order wanted to sell the lands to pay for the upkeep of its schools in Ireland and Africa, and for the care of retired brothers.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly said the council had treated the brothers in a ‘‘high-handed and extremely shabby’’ fashion.
Within hours of a ‘‘well-known property developer’’ meeting the county manager last June to discuss possible development of the lands, the manager began a process to vary the development plan, to ensure the continued use of the lands as playing fields. The brothers were not informed.
The order claimed the council decision had effectively sterilised the lands, and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council conceded that its decision last October was unlawful.
A development surveyor told The Sunday Business Post that the proposed variation of the development plan was unlikely to affect the value of residential land in the area, but it would remove the ‘‘hope value’’ of land zoned objective F, reducing its value by around 20 per cent.
A spokesman for the council said: ‘‘Residential density is driven by proximity to planned or existing public transport and the government’s own residential guidelines.” He said that councillors had voted in favour of the variation.
Written submissions must be received by the council’s economic development and planning department before June 16.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
McNamara may discuss compromise housing deal
Property developer Bernard McNamara is expected to start discussions with Dublin City Council on how to salvage at least some of the five social and affordable housing schemes that are in jeopardy in the capital.
McNamara appeared to pull out of the schemes last week, but it is understood he has only signalled his intention to withdraw and has not formally pulled out of the schemes. The developer blamed changes in the property market, new apartment-size rules and planning delays for the decision not to go ahead.
However, sources close to McNamara indicated that he would be open to discussions on proceeding with the projects on revised terms. One possibility would be that he could increase his original tender price for the €900 million schemes, or build housing units with a view to renting them, rather than selling them.
Sources close to the projects indicated that neither side wanted to re-run the tendering process if a compromise could be found, based on a delay to the projects rather than shelving them.
However, it is difficult to change the existing contracts without issuing new tenders. McNamara denies pulling out of the projects, but said he found it impossible to conclude agreements. McNamara’s building firm, Michael McNamara & Co, is one of the biggest construction companies in the state, with about 520 staff.
However, the firm confirmed to The Sunday Business Post that it laid off ten head office staff and 19 site management staff in recent weeks. In a statement, the company said that further redundancies were likely ‘‘at the builders’ holidays, when a few of our projects are finishing’’.
The firm said it had not laid off as many employees as other developers. McNamara has a broad range of interests and last week received planning permission for the €1 billion development of a site that includes the Burlington Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
McNamara appeared to pull out of the schemes last week, but it is understood he has only signalled his intention to withdraw and has not formally pulled out of the schemes. The developer blamed changes in the property market, new apartment-size rules and planning delays for the decision not to go ahead.
However, sources close to McNamara indicated that he would be open to discussions on proceeding with the projects on revised terms. One possibility would be that he could increase his original tender price for the €900 million schemes, or build housing units with a view to renting them, rather than selling them.
Sources close to the projects indicated that neither side wanted to re-run the tendering process if a compromise could be found, based on a delay to the projects rather than shelving them.
However, it is difficult to change the existing contracts without issuing new tenders. McNamara denies pulling out of the projects, but said he found it impossible to conclude agreements. McNamara’s building firm, Michael McNamara & Co, is one of the biggest construction companies in the state, with about 520 staff.
However, the firm confirmed to The Sunday Business Post that it laid off ten head office staff and 19 site management staff in recent weeks. In a statement, the company said that further redundancies were likely ‘‘at the builders’ holidays, when a few of our projects are finishing’’.
The firm said it had not laid off as many employees as other developers. McNamara has a broad range of interests and last week received planning permission for the €1 billion development of a site that includes the Burlington Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
McNamara: 'I don't owe €1.5 billion'
MULTIMILLIONAIRE developer Bernard McNamara has mounted an all-out defence of his property empire over questions about his decision to pull the plug on his joint venture projects with the State in Dublin's inner city.
The Clare-born entrepreneur found himself dragged unwittingly into the spotlight with the announcement that his firm, McNamara & Co, was pulling out of five separate Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects to redevelop local authority estates in Dublin's inner city.
The multimillionaire builder and developer, who has come to symbolise the Irish property boom, cited tighter building regulations and requirements for larger apartment sizes as making the projects unviable.
But the decision -- and its timing -- has ignited controversy in property, financial and political circles.
Estimates in excess of €1.5bn in borrowings attributed to the high-flying property magnate's development portfolio were roundly rejected by sources close to Mr McNamara, as the developer battled to bring an end to a week of controversy.
News that McNamara had also put landmark assets up for sale while property prices are in free fall fuelled the controversy further.
Contacted by the Sunday Independent for comment, he said: "There's a lot I could say, but I'll say nothing ... ours is a private business and what we do is private."
But while the media-shy developer was remaining tight-lipped on the week's
events, others close to Mr McNamara moved in to defend the integrity of his property empire.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, a highly-placed source insisted there was no threat to the well-connected businessman from his massive property borrowings now, or into the future.
Asked to comment on McNamara's estimated borrowings of €1.5bn, a source close to the builder dismissed the figure. "The borrowings are significantly lower than that," he said, adding that Mr McNamara has a long-standing and substantial property portfolio from which he was earning significant rental income from the State.
The same source also pointed to the decision last Friday by Dublin City Council to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the Burlington Hotel site, which it is speculated will be worth €1bn when completed in eight years' time.
Meanwhile, plans by the developer to break ground on the Burlington project in the spring of 2009 could face challenges which include the ongoing slowdown in the domestic economy.
In a clear illustration of the impact of the slump in construction, Ireland is now being abandoned as the destination of choice for Eastern European migrant workers, many of whom are now seeking their fortune elsewhere.
The number of migrant workers coming to Ireland has halved in the past 12 months and almost one third of those who have come since 2004 have left, new figures obtained by the Sunday Independent reveal. While the number of migrants in Ireland rose from 140,000 in 2004 to over 420,000 today, since the property slump took hold there has been a sharp reduction in the number of migrants from such Eastern European countries as Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia.
According to Integration Minister Conor Lenihan, numbers seeking work this year are set to halve, falling to between 32,500 and 35,000. Another key tracker of migrant workers shows that roughly one third of the migrants who came here since 2004 are no longer here.
By examining the PPS numbers of workers and the activity on those numbers in terms of income being paid and levels of taxation on that income, the Government can estimate the movement of those migrant workers. Of the PPS numbers created since 2004 for migrant workers, between 30 and 35 per cent of these are now 'inactive'. The most likely explanation for this, according to Minister Lenihan, is that these migrants have left the country.
While Ireland's slowdown has provided the trigger for the collapse in migrant numbers, two other key factors are also playing their part. London has become highly attractive to low-skilled manual labourers as a building boom takes hold ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Also Poland is experiencing an economic boom and is set to see growth of over 5.5 per cent this year -- unlike Ireland, which is stagnating. The Polish government has also embarked on a drive to encourage its citizens based in Ireland to return home to address its growing labour needs.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The Clare-born entrepreneur found himself dragged unwittingly into the spotlight with the announcement that his firm, McNamara & Co, was pulling out of five separate Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects to redevelop local authority estates in Dublin's inner city.
The multimillionaire builder and developer, who has come to symbolise the Irish property boom, cited tighter building regulations and requirements for larger apartment sizes as making the projects unviable.
But the decision -- and its timing -- has ignited controversy in property, financial and political circles.
Estimates in excess of €1.5bn in borrowings attributed to the high-flying property magnate's development portfolio were roundly rejected by sources close to Mr McNamara, as the developer battled to bring an end to a week of controversy.
News that McNamara had also put landmark assets up for sale while property prices are in free fall fuelled the controversy further.
Contacted by the Sunday Independent for comment, he said: "There's a lot I could say, but I'll say nothing ... ours is a private business and what we do is private."
But while the media-shy developer was remaining tight-lipped on the week's
events, others close to Mr McNamara moved in to defend the integrity of his property empire.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, a highly-placed source insisted there was no threat to the well-connected businessman from his massive property borrowings now, or into the future.
Asked to comment on McNamara's estimated borrowings of €1.5bn, a source close to the builder dismissed the figure. "The borrowings are significantly lower than that," he said, adding that Mr McNamara has a long-standing and substantial property portfolio from which he was earning significant rental income from the State.
The same source also pointed to the decision last Friday by Dublin City Council to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the Burlington Hotel site, which it is speculated will be worth €1bn when completed in eight years' time.
Meanwhile, plans by the developer to break ground on the Burlington project in the spring of 2009 could face challenges which include the ongoing slowdown in the domestic economy.
In a clear illustration of the impact of the slump in construction, Ireland is now being abandoned as the destination of choice for Eastern European migrant workers, many of whom are now seeking their fortune elsewhere.
The number of migrant workers coming to Ireland has halved in the past 12 months and almost one third of those who have come since 2004 have left, new figures obtained by the Sunday Independent reveal. While the number of migrants in Ireland rose from 140,000 in 2004 to over 420,000 today, since the property slump took hold there has been a sharp reduction in the number of migrants from such Eastern European countries as Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia.
According to Integration Minister Conor Lenihan, numbers seeking work this year are set to halve, falling to between 32,500 and 35,000. Another key tracker of migrant workers shows that roughly one third of the migrants who came here since 2004 are no longer here.
By examining the PPS numbers of workers and the activity on those numbers in terms of income being paid and levels of taxation on that income, the Government can estimate the movement of those migrant workers. Of the PPS numbers created since 2004 for migrant workers, between 30 and 35 per cent of these are now 'inactive'. The most likely explanation for this, according to Minister Lenihan, is that these migrants have left the country.
While Ireland's slowdown has provided the trigger for the collapse in migrant numbers, two other key factors are also playing their part. London has become highly attractive to low-skilled manual labourers as a building boom takes hold ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Also Poland is experiencing an economic boom and is set to see growth of over 5.5 per cent this year -- unlike Ireland, which is stagnating. The Polish government has also embarked on a drive to encourage its citizens based in Ireland to return home to address its growing labour needs.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Treasury to build north Dublin golf resort
Construction is set to begin next January on a €300 million mixed-use scheme that will include 50 houses, a hotel and two golf courses, writes GRETCHEN FRIEMANN .
TREASURY HOLDINGS is in talks with two five-star hotel operators over the management of its planned 300-bedroom 'green' hotel at Milverton Demesne in North County Dublin.
Last week, Fingal County Council granted full planning permission for the €300 million mixed-use scheme which, in addition to the hotel, will feature two 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses, 50 houses, a tennis academy and stables.
Construction at the 467-acre site will begin next January with the completion set for the start of 2013.
Treasury Holdings and its joint partner in this venture, businessman and Malahide-based estate agent Brian O'Farrell, are using a company called Tamorbrick Ltd as a vehicle to develop the historic Milverton Demesne, which is located close to the M1 motorway and is within a 20-minute drive of Dublin airport.
The two partners recently locked horns when a dispute over the freehold interest of Northside shopping centre in Coolock wound up in the High Court.
An AIB trust company, BNY, and Ark Life Assurance Company brought the action against Treasury Holdings after it objected to a proposed €64 million deal with Mr O'Farrell's company, N1 Property Holdings.
BNY and Ark Life wanted to sell their majority stake to N1, but Treasury Holdings claimed that this move would breach a co-ownership agreement.
The international development company had a 21.4 per cent share in the property through its acquisition of Mr Peter Conlon's interest.
Although Mr Justice Frank Clarke ruled in favour of Treasury Holdings, the dispute was recently settled when N1 agreed to pay €100 million for the freehold and remaining leasehold interest.
Despite the steep price tag, Northside Shopping Centre represents a strategic purchase for Mr O'Farrell as it lies at the heart of his €1.2 billion plan to transform the previously neglected area into a new town centre.
Milverton Demesne, however, will be a very different development.
Aimed at the luxury end of the tourism and residential market, the estate will feature 30 upmarket homes and 20 tourist lodges, to be run by the five-star hotel operator.
Treasury Holdings is a seasoned player in this sector, having developed the Ritz Carlton Hotel at Powerscourt in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
The Milverton Demesne hotel will be even greater in scale, with 300 bedrooms and a conference centre - as well as a spa and health centre.
At this size the resort will be one of the largest in the state, but Brian Coppinger, the company's development manager, stressed that the scheme would have a minimal impact on wildlife and the environment.
"We've really followed eco-friendly design principles on this site, so the hotel will be constructed from carbon neutral concrete and it will be heated throughout by bio-mass boilers. We will also have a water recycling scheme where the grey water from the hotel will be pumped to the two golf courses as irrigation," he said.
While the development sector is largely short on green credentials, Treasury Holdings has, in recent years, adopted an increasingly environmentally friendly business strategy with construction underway on its €1.2 billion eco-city just north of China's financial capital, Shanghai. And there are reports that a similar project might be on the cards for Colombia.
But closer to home, the concern for Treasury Holdings and Mr O'Farrell might be the continuing upheaval on global money markets, which has played havoc with Irish property prices.
According to Mr Coppinger, this economic squeeze is likely to be resolved by the time the scheme is completed in 2013 and the "exclusive" three, four and five-bedroom homes are put on the market. "If they haven't, we're going to have much bigger worries on our hands than Milverton."
Henry J Lyons, the architecture firm responsible for Treasury Holdings' swish head office, Connaught House, at Burlington Road in Dublin, is designing the scheme, which was recently enlarged by 30 acres to accommodate the two 18-hole golf courses.
The Arnold Palmer-designed premier course will require club membership while his signature course will operate a pay and play policy. Both will be available to hotel guests.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
TREASURY HOLDINGS is in talks with two five-star hotel operators over the management of its planned 300-bedroom 'green' hotel at Milverton Demesne in North County Dublin.
Last week, Fingal County Council granted full planning permission for the €300 million mixed-use scheme which, in addition to the hotel, will feature two 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses, 50 houses, a tennis academy and stables.
Construction at the 467-acre site will begin next January with the completion set for the start of 2013.
Treasury Holdings and its joint partner in this venture, businessman and Malahide-based estate agent Brian O'Farrell, are using a company called Tamorbrick Ltd as a vehicle to develop the historic Milverton Demesne, which is located close to the M1 motorway and is within a 20-minute drive of Dublin airport.
The two partners recently locked horns when a dispute over the freehold interest of Northside shopping centre in Coolock wound up in the High Court.
An AIB trust company, BNY, and Ark Life Assurance Company brought the action against Treasury Holdings after it objected to a proposed €64 million deal with Mr O'Farrell's company, N1 Property Holdings.
BNY and Ark Life wanted to sell their majority stake to N1, but Treasury Holdings claimed that this move would breach a co-ownership agreement.
The international development company had a 21.4 per cent share in the property through its acquisition of Mr Peter Conlon's interest.
Although Mr Justice Frank Clarke ruled in favour of Treasury Holdings, the dispute was recently settled when N1 agreed to pay €100 million for the freehold and remaining leasehold interest.
Despite the steep price tag, Northside Shopping Centre represents a strategic purchase for Mr O'Farrell as it lies at the heart of his €1.2 billion plan to transform the previously neglected area into a new town centre.
Milverton Demesne, however, will be a very different development.
Aimed at the luxury end of the tourism and residential market, the estate will feature 30 upmarket homes and 20 tourist lodges, to be run by the five-star hotel operator.
Treasury Holdings is a seasoned player in this sector, having developed the Ritz Carlton Hotel at Powerscourt in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
The Milverton Demesne hotel will be even greater in scale, with 300 bedrooms and a conference centre - as well as a spa and health centre.
At this size the resort will be one of the largest in the state, but Brian Coppinger, the company's development manager, stressed that the scheme would have a minimal impact on wildlife and the environment.
"We've really followed eco-friendly design principles on this site, so the hotel will be constructed from carbon neutral concrete and it will be heated throughout by bio-mass boilers. We will also have a water recycling scheme where the grey water from the hotel will be pumped to the two golf courses as irrigation," he said.
While the development sector is largely short on green credentials, Treasury Holdings has, in recent years, adopted an increasingly environmentally friendly business strategy with construction underway on its €1.2 billion eco-city just north of China's financial capital, Shanghai. And there are reports that a similar project might be on the cards for Colombia.
But closer to home, the concern for Treasury Holdings and Mr O'Farrell might be the continuing upheaval on global money markets, which has played havoc with Irish property prices.
According to Mr Coppinger, this economic squeeze is likely to be resolved by the time the scheme is completed in 2013 and the "exclusive" three, four and five-bedroom homes are put on the market. "If they haven't, we're going to have much bigger worries on our hands than Milverton."
Henry J Lyons, the architecture firm responsible for Treasury Holdings' swish head office, Connaught House, at Burlington Road in Dublin, is designing the scheme, which was recently enlarged by 30 acres to accommodate the two 18-hole golf courses.
The Arnold Palmer-designed premier course will require club membership while his signature course will operate a pay and play policy. Both will be available to hotel guests.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Lack of space in Dublin for 'top tier' shopping centres
Dublin lags behind its EU neighbours in terms of per capita shopping space, says a new study.
DUBLIN CITY has a relatively low per capita volume of shopping centre space compared with our EU neighbours, despite the fact that it offers almost 800,000sq m (8,611,128sq ft) of space. The city's urban quarter is dominated by ageing centres and there is also a limited amount of 'top tier' retail space in the city and county, according to a new study.
Savills Hamilton Osborne King has put together a new report that looks in detail at the country's retail sector. Retail Watch is a bi-annual offering and the latest report, published last week, analyses in particular the 791,000sq m (8,514,253sq ft) of space in Dublin's 63 shopping centres.
The report also breaks down the distribution of space across the four county council sub-divisions: Dublin city, Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown, South County and North County Dublin.
This analysis indicates that there is only 0.63sq m (6.78sq ft) of shopping centre space per capita in Dublin city and county, according to Mary-Kate McGarry, an economist at Savills.
"This level of space per capita in Dublin is half that of the current Eurozone average and falls far below the 20sq m (215.27sq ft) of space per capita in the US," she said.
Fingal and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown offer about 1sq m (10.76sq ft) of shopping centre space per capita while the South County stands at 0.8sq m (8.61sq ft).
Surprisingly, the city centre only offers about 0.3sq m (3.23sq ft) of centre space, and of the centre space in the city, more than 80 per cent was built before 1987. Yet the city also provides about 450,000sq m (4,843,759sq ft) of on-street retail space and if this is included in the Dublin retail mix the per capita space pushes up to 1.19sq m (12.81sq ft) - still below the Eurozone average - the report indicates.
McGarry argues that the report highlights the fact there is a limited supply of 'top tier' shopping centre space in Dublin city and county. In the city this is associated with the age of many centres. The volume and quality of space will improve significantly with the arrival of the new shopping space planned for O'Connell Street.
"The addition of the Arnotts Northern Quarter and the Carlton Cinema site will potentially increase the provision of shopping centre space by over 60 per cent," she said.
Dublin's top 10 largest shopping centres account for almost 410,000sq m (4,413,203sq ft), which represents over 50 per cent of Dublin's total shopping centre space, thus illustrating the proportion of Dublin shopping centre stock dominated by smaller, grocery led anchors, McGarry indicated.
"In fact just one-fifth of Dublin shopping centres exceed 15,000sq m (161,458sq ft), which is by no means extravagant, and only one-quarter of shopping centres in the top 10 were completed in the last decade.
Clearly there is a limited supply of 'top-tier' shopping centre retail space." The top ten include Dundrum, Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, the Pavilions and the Square. South County Dublin holds a one-third stake in the space provided by Dublin's top ten largest shopping centres, which is the greatest of the four council areas, McGarry said.
The largest single anchor tenant in terms of space is Dunnes - it is a key tenant in seven of the top ten centres.
Retail development has raced ahead away from the city centre with Fingal adding about 50 per cent to its total between 2000 and 2007, McGarry said.
Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown came off a low base but its totals are now high because of the Dundrum Town Centre and Beacon South Quarter.
South Dublin council area retail space increased by about 33 per cent between 2000 and 2007. Dublin's total for shopping centres rose by only 10 per cent but the Arnotts and Carlton sites will increase this significantly, the report says. "Given the built-up nature of the Dublin city council borough, large-scale shopping centre development has been sporadic simply given the lack of space. Jervis Street and Stephen's Green have been the only major developments in the City in the last 20 years," McGarry said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
DUBLIN CITY has a relatively low per capita volume of shopping centre space compared with our EU neighbours, despite the fact that it offers almost 800,000sq m (8,611,128sq ft) of space. The city's urban quarter is dominated by ageing centres and there is also a limited amount of 'top tier' retail space in the city and county, according to a new study.
Savills Hamilton Osborne King has put together a new report that looks in detail at the country's retail sector. Retail Watch is a bi-annual offering and the latest report, published last week, analyses in particular the 791,000sq m (8,514,253sq ft) of space in Dublin's 63 shopping centres.
The report also breaks down the distribution of space across the four county council sub-divisions: Dublin city, Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown, South County and North County Dublin.
This analysis indicates that there is only 0.63sq m (6.78sq ft) of shopping centre space per capita in Dublin city and county, according to Mary-Kate McGarry, an economist at Savills.
"This level of space per capita in Dublin is half that of the current Eurozone average and falls far below the 20sq m (215.27sq ft) of space per capita in the US," she said.
Fingal and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown offer about 1sq m (10.76sq ft) of shopping centre space per capita while the South County stands at 0.8sq m (8.61sq ft).
Surprisingly, the city centre only offers about 0.3sq m (3.23sq ft) of centre space, and of the centre space in the city, more than 80 per cent was built before 1987. Yet the city also provides about 450,000sq m (4,843,759sq ft) of on-street retail space and if this is included in the Dublin retail mix the per capita space pushes up to 1.19sq m (12.81sq ft) - still below the Eurozone average - the report indicates.
McGarry argues that the report highlights the fact there is a limited supply of 'top tier' shopping centre space in Dublin city and county. In the city this is associated with the age of many centres. The volume and quality of space will improve significantly with the arrival of the new shopping space planned for O'Connell Street.
"The addition of the Arnotts Northern Quarter and the Carlton Cinema site will potentially increase the provision of shopping centre space by over 60 per cent," she said.
Dublin's top 10 largest shopping centres account for almost 410,000sq m (4,413,203sq ft), which represents over 50 per cent of Dublin's total shopping centre space, thus illustrating the proportion of Dublin shopping centre stock dominated by smaller, grocery led anchors, McGarry indicated.
"In fact just one-fifth of Dublin shopping centres exceed 15,000sq m (161,458sq ft), which is by no means extravagant, and only one-quarter of shopping centres in the top 10 were completed in the last decade.
Clearly there is a limited supply of 'top-tier' shopping centre retail space." The top ten include Dundrum, Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, the Pavilions and the Square. South County Dublin holds a one-third stake in the space provided by Dublin's top ten largest shopping centres, which is the greatest of the four council areas, McGarry said.
The largest single anchor tenant in terms of space is Dunnes - it is a key tenant in seven of the top ten centres.
Retail development has raced ahead away from the city centre with Fingal adding about 50 per cent to its total between 2000 and 2007, McGarry said.
Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown came off a low base but its totals are now high because of the Dundrum Town Centre and Beacon South Quarter.
South Dublin council area retail space increased by about 33 per cent between 2000 and 2007. Dublin's total for shopping centres rose by only 10 per cent but the Arnotts and Carlton sites will increase this significantly, the report says. "Given the built-up nature of the Dublin city council borough, large-scale shopping centre development has been sporadic simply given the lack of space. Jervis Street and Stephen's Green have been the only major developments in the City in the last 20 years," McGarry said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
State stands on the sidelines as private sector walks off with ball
Public- private partnerships allow the State to offload social responsibilities to the private sector but there can be no illusion as to who then calls the shots, writes Mary Corcoran
IN LATE 2005 the first residents moved into their new homes in Fatima Mansions, in Dublin's southwest inner city. An ambitious regeneration plan conceived in 2001 was finally coming to fruition.
Dublin City Council entered into a public-private partnership with a developer selected through a tendering process to demolish the existing blocks of flats and redevelop the 11-acre site abutting the Luas Red Line.
The first new residents received the keys to their new home from then taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who was on hand to launch the redevelopment. Ahern described the public-private partnership responsible for the redevelopment as "a pioneering flagship project for the housing sector". Indeed, he expressed his pleasure that the template for redevelopment undertaken at Fatima was being applied elsewhere in the city.
From the State's perspective, the major concerns of the Fatima regeneration project - the provision of high-quality public housing, the development of a sustainable community, and the creation of a socially cohesive neighbourhood - have long been identified as sociologically desirable.
But Fatima also represents part of a wider project attempting to create a new political economy of urban development. This is apparent in the proliferation of place marketing and place development, institutionally directed towards selected urban zones.
From a developer perspective, the regeneration of Fatima (and other similar projects) is fundamentally about turning a profit, and if that requires getting into bed with the State - through public-private partnership - then that is what they will do.
The local authorities have made themselves prominent players once more in the housing sector by promoting a public-private partnership agenda. Unlike in the past, however, the State's new role is one of limited liability. The State, or local authority, is not in the housing arena as an autonomous player but as an agent whose primary task it is to smooth the path for the private developer.
But as we have seen in the past few days, when the going gets tough, the developers get going, leaving the shattered dreams of disadvantaged communities in their wake.
The cost of poor planning was brought home to local authorities in the 1970s and 1980s with the breakdown of social order in many inner-city and suburban social housing estates. Attempts to engage in limited physical refurbishments were doomed to failure, and many of these estates entered a spiral of decline. Cosmetic solutions could not address their problems.
The local authority in Dublin began divesting itself of its housing responsibility by selling its housing stock to tenants, and by handing over troubled estates (or parts of them) to housing associations whose job it was to redevelop, manage and maintain them. It seemed as if the State had embarked on a gradual withdrawal from the housing arena.
By the turn of the century, the Fatima Mansions complex, and others like it, had come to be seen as unsustainable in their current form. The seemingly intractable problems associated with inner-city housing complexes required visionary and innovative solutions.
The re-emergence of the State as a prominent player in urban development must be seen against the backdrop of a number of key factors, including: the growing knowledge and awareness of how cities and neighbourhoods are managed in other European countries; the turn towards partnership at all institutional levels requiring a multi-player approach to problem-solving; the lure of public-private partnership as a means of delivering infrastructural projects in a timely fashion, and the impact of modernising management systems within the local authorities themselves.
This volte face on the part of the State must also be seen as a (somewhat belated) response to civil society protests about the failures of Irish urban planning and development. The conjunction of these factors with the rise of the Celtic Tiger economy, which was generating both resources and also new housing demands, made it possible for local authorities to begin to think outside of the box.
Against a national and international backdrop emphasising the importance of good planning in order to create sustainable communities, local authorities became more receptive to the idea of change. The principles of urban planning took on a new salience, as the failure of simple bricks-and-mortar solutions became apparent. Local authorities began to sign up to the idea that housing provision needs to be integrated with wider policies that address the social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of everyday life.
The planning approach taken within Fatima reflects a new "sociological turn" in local authority policy. Having effectively abandoned Fatima Mansions and other similar estates in the closing decades of the 20th century, the State had finally come back in. In the case of Fatima, Dublin City Council assumed the driving instructor's seat (with the private sector in the driving seat) to guide the regeneration project. While the State has made the running on public-private partnership, crucially it is the private sector that will deliver (or not), and ultimately it is the private sector that will benefit from such redevelopment projects.
In Fatima, for example, the redevelopment is based on a public-private partnership, whereby in exchange for the land (owned by DCC) a private developer has built 396 private housing units, 70 affordable housing units and 150 social housing units. According to Michael Punch of UCD, public-private partnerships represent the hidden face of power, because they entail disposal of public-owned lands in the private interest, producing symbolic if not overt segregation. In effect the State, while coming back in as a housing player, has adopted an arm's-length or limited liability role in relation to urban redevelopment.
The Fatima regeneration project has been widely promoted as an example of how government can work in the interests of its citizens. The template produced in Fatima gave hope to other disadvantaged communities in St Michael's estate, O'Devaney Gardens (both projects now in doubt because of the withdrawal of developer Bernard McNamara from the PPP behind their regeneration), and across the State.
But while Dublin City Council has helped to make the Fatima regeneration happen, it has also relinquished ultimate control of the regeneration agenda to the developers. Ultimately, these urban regeneration projects are owned and delivered by private sector interests, with the State sitting on the sidelines.
The decision of McNamara to pull out of a number of planned redevelopments in Dublin city attests to the fragility of the public-private partnership project. The developers call the shots, and when they decide that their profit margins are not optimised through such developments, or that new regulations which require a higher standard of build are too cumbersome, they are extremely quick to pull the plug, leaving the State without a partner, and holding the baby.
Mary P Corcoran is Professor of Sociology at NUI Maynooth
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
IN LATE 2005 the first residents moved into their new homes in Fatima Mansions, in Dublin's southwest inner city. An ambitious regeneration plan conceived in 2001 was finally coming to fruition.
Dublin City Council entered into a public-private partnership with a developer selected through a tendering process to demolish the existing blocks of flats and redevelop the 11-acre site abutting the Luas Red Line.
The first new residents received the keys to their new home from then taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who was on hand to launch the redevelopment. Ahern described the public-private partnership responsible for the redevelopment as "a pioneering flagship project for the housing sector". Indeed, he expressed his pleasure that the template for redevelopment undertaken at Fatima was being applied elsewhere in the city.
From the State's perspective, the major concerns of the Fatima regeneration project - the provision of high-quality public housing, the development of a sustainable community, and the creation of a socially cohesive neighbourhood - have long been identified as sociologically desirable.
But Fatima also represents part of a wider project attempting to create a new political economy of urban development. This is apparent in the proliferation of place marketing and place development, institutionally directed towards selected urban zones.
From a developer perspective, the regeneration of Fatima (and other similar projects) is fundamentally about turning a profit, and if that requires getting into bed with the State - through public-private partnership - then that is what they will do.
The local authorities have made themselves prominent players once more in the housing sector by promoting a public-private partnership agenda. Unlike in the past, however, the State's new role is one of limited liability. The State, or local authority, is not in the housing arena as an autonomous player but as an agent whose primary task it is to smooth the path for the private developer.
But as we have seen in the past few days, when the going gets tough, the developers get going, leaving the shattered dreams of disadvantaged communities in their wake.
The cost of poor planning was brought home to local authorities in the 1970s and 1980s with the breakdown of social order in many inner-city and suburban social housing estates. Attempts to engage in limited physical refurbishments were doomed to failure, and many of these estates entered a spiral of decline. Cosmetic solutions could not address their problems.
The local authority in Dublin began divesting itself of its housing responsibility by selling its housing stock to tenants, and by handing over troubled estates (or parts of them) to housing associations whose job it was to redevelop, manage and maintain them. It seemed as if the State had embarked on a gradual withdrawal from the housing arena.
By the turn of the century, the Fatima Mansions complex, and others like it, had come to be seen as unsustainable in their current form. The seemingly intractable problems associated with inner-city housing complexes required visionary and innovative solutions.
The re-emergence of the State as a prominent player in urban development must be seen against the backdrop of a number of key factors, including: the growing knowledge and awareness of how cities and neighbourhoods are managed in other European countries; the turn towards partnership at all institutional levels requiring a multi-player approach to problem-solving; the lure of public-private partnership as a means of delivering infrastructural projects in a timely fashion, and the impact of modernising management systems within the local authorities themselves.
This volte face on the part of the State must also be seen as a (somewhat belated) response to civil society protests about the failures of Irish urban planning and development. The conjunction of these factors with the rise of the Celtic Tiger economy, which was generating both resources and also new housing demands, made it possible for local authorities to begin to think outside of the box.
Against a national and international backdrop emphasising the importance of good planning in order to create sustainable communities, local authorities became more receptive to the idea of change. The principles of urban planning took on a new salience, as the failure of simple bricks-and-mortar solutions became apparent. Local authorities began to sign up to the idea that housing provision needs to be integrated with wider policies that address the social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of everyday life.
The planning approach taken within Fatima reflects a new "sociological turn" in local authority policy. Having effectively abandoned Fatima Mansions and other similar estates in the closing decades of the 20th century, the State had finally come back in. In the case of Fatima, Dublin City Council assumed the driving instructor's seat (with the private sector in the driving seat) to guide the regeneration project. While the State has made the running on public-private partnership, crucially it is the private sector that will deliver (or not), and ultimately it is the private sector that will benefit from such redevelopment projects.
In Fatima, for example, the redevelopment is based on a public-private partnership, whereby in exchange for the land (owned by DCC) a private developer has built 396 private housing units, 70 affordable housing units and 150 social housing units. According to Michael Punch of UCD, public-private partnerships represent the hidden face of power, because they entail disposal of public-owned lands in the private interest, producing symbolic if not overt segregation. In effect the State, while coming back in as a housing player, has adopted an arm's-length or limited liability role in relation to urban redevelopment.
The Fatima regeneration project has been widely promoted as an example of how government can work in the interests of its citizens. The template produced in Fatima gave hope to other disadvantaged communities in St Michael's estate, O'Devaney Gardens (both projects now in doubt because of the withdrawal of developer Bernard McNamara from the PPP behind their regeneration), and across the State.
But while Dublin City Council has helped to make the Fatima regeneration happen, it has also relinquished ultimate control of the regeneration agenda to the developers. Ultimately, these urban regeneration projects are owned and delivered by private sector interests, with the State sitting on the sidelines.
The decision of McNamara to pull out of a number of planned redevelopments in Dublin city attests to the fragility of the public-private partnership project. The developers call the shots, and when they decide that their profit margins are not optimised through such developments, or that new regulations which require a higher standard of build are too cumbersome, they are extremely quick to pull the plug, leaving the State without a partner, and holding the baby.
Mary P Corcoran is Professor of Sociology at NUI Maynooth
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Windfarm rejected for Arroo mountains
A proposed windfarm in a designated "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" on the Arroo mountain range in north Leitrim has been blocked by An Bord Pleanála.
The Arroo mountains, which feature blanket bog, heathland, wooded ravines and steep limestone cliffs, are a breeding ground for peregrine falcons and golden plover.
The board found that the development, comprising of 12 turbines measuring 80m in height and with rotor blades measuring 45m in length, would be a prominent and obtrusive feature in the landscape, would be "highly visible" locally and would spoil the view.
Leckanarainey Windfarm Limited, Old Schoolhouse, Lower Rosses, Rosses Point, Co Sligo, had appealed against a decision made by Leitrim County Council last November to refuse permission for the windfarm.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Arroo mountains, which feature blanket bog, heathland, wooded ravines and steep limestone cliffs, are a breeding ground for peregrine falcons and golden plover.
The board found that the development, comprising of 12 turbines measuring 80m in height and with rotor blades measuring 45m in length, would be a prominent and obtrusive feature in the landscape, would be "highly visible" locally and would spoil the view.
Leckanarainey Windfarm Limited, Old Schoolhouse, Lower Rosses, Rosses Point, Co Sligo, had appealed against a decision made by Leitrim County Council last November to refuse permission for the windfarm.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
'No indication' Thornton Hall has stalled
THERE ARE "no indications" that the Thornton Hall prison project has stalled following the developer's withdrawal from five Dublin public private partnership (PPP) social housing schemes, the Dáil has heard.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen also said "no further suggestion has been made beyond those which are in the public domain", of projects at risk.
"The Thornton Hall project was a different PPP model, which relates to the building of a prison and a staged annualised payment thereafter and there has been no indication to me from the Minister for Justice that that project has been stalled."
He added that "we're not at the final process there yet. We're advanced in the process but it's not at a final stage."
Mr Cowen was being questioned by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore about the implications for the €900 million projects to regenerate St Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens, Dominick Street, convent lands in Seán MacDermot Street, and Infirmary Road, following the decision by developer Bernard McNamara to pull out of the housing projects on the grounds that they were "unviable".
Mr Cowen said he had asked the Minister for the Environment to prepare a report for him based on Monday's developments.
Mr Gilmore said that "the same developer is the proposed builder of Thornton Hall. It was supposed to have been brought to the Dáil today and tomorrow for approval and I note that it has been withdrawn.
"What hope can you give those people that the regeneration will go ahead and what alternative arrangements are going to be put in place to ensure the regeneration proceeds as planned? Can you explain why the same developer was given the contract on all of those schemes?"
The Labour leader stressed that the "concept of PPP is not that it's a PPP when times are good. It should also be a PPP when times are tightening and it's not an arrangement whereby the public end takes all the risk and the private end pulls out when things get a bit more tricky".
Mr Cowen said members of the regeneration boards had a meeting with the city council on Monday and "there is a continuing commitment by the city council to prioritise the prospect for regeneration . . . which may involve obviously going to others who had expressed an interest in taking up PPP, and at that stage see if there is a prospect of any other involvement who may be able to proceed".
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Taoiseach Brian Cowen also said "no further suggestion has been made beyond those which are in the public domain", of projects at risk.
"The Thornton Hall project was a different PPP model, which relates to the building of a prison and a staged annualised payment thereafter and there has been no indication to me from the Minister for Justice that that project has been stalled."
He added that "we're not at the final process there yet. We're advanced in the process but it's not at a final stage."
Mr Cowen was being questioned by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore about the implications for the €900 million projects to regenerate St Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens, Dominick Street, convent lands in Seán MacDermot Street, and Infirmary Road, following the decision by developer Bernard McNamara to pull out of the housing projects on the grounds that they were "unviable".
Mr Cowen said he had asked the Minister for the Environment to prepare a report for him based on Monday's developments.
Mr Gilmore said that "the same developer is the proposed builder of Thornton Hall. It was supposed to have been brought to the Dáil today and tomorrow for approval and I note that it has been withdrawn.
"What hope can you give those people that the regeneration will go ahead and what alternative arrangements are going to be put in place to ensure the regeneration proceeds as planned? Can you explain why the same developer was given the contract on all of those schemes?"
The Labour leader stressed that the "concept of PPP is not that it's a PPP when times are good. It should also be a PPP when times are tightening and it's not an arrangement whereby the public end takes all the risk and the private end pulls out when things get a bit more tricky".
Mr Cowen said members of the regeneration boards had a meeting with the city council on Monday and "there is a continuing commitment by the city council to prioritise the prospect for regeneration . . . which may involve obviously going to others who had expressed an interest in taking up PPP, and at that stage see if there is a prospect of any other involvement who may be able to proceed".
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
'I feel defeated,' says resident of flats
Two people who live in O'Devaney Gardens tell how everyone has now 'lost heart'
THE NEWS that the long-awaited regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens was not going ahead - in the short term at least - was "like a death in the family", said local resident and development worker Lena Jordan.
"People are so low; so absolutely devastated.
"There have been 10 years of working on the plan and meetings and getting people to agree on things and now, well, people just don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I feel defeated."
Yesterday morning saw two residents in the Dublin north side complex, Janice Flood and Bernice Keane, describe how everyone had "lost heart now".
Standing at the foot of one of the 13 blocks of flats on the 12.2-acre site, Ms Flood said residents had been told work would begin in February.
"Then they said June. There has been nothing done with the place for years. There's no playground for the kids. Nowhere for the teenagers to go."
The two stand near a grass clearing strewn with brown shards of glass, chocolate wrappers and rusting bottle caps.
As they describe life in the flat complex one can look up at empty, boarded-up flats, graffiti-covered windows, walls, doorways and stairwells, broken windows and litter everywhere.
No one lives in four of the blocks in preparation for their demolition, while others are almost empty.
"It's horrible living here - like Beirut," continues Ms Flood.
"It's wrong, the next generation having to live like this," she says, gesturing at two sons of a neighbour aged three and four. "They can't be let out for fresh air at all. They'd just get filthy."
No one knows what will happen now, said Ms Keane.
"We didn't even hear it until we read it in the paper this morning."
Martina Daly, another resident, says she was "furious".
"How can they let someone sign a contract and then let them leave us swinging in limbo.
"You can't leave people like that; string them along with hope and then leave them."
From the cramped balcony of her third floor flat, Ms Keane looks out towards the Phoenix Park and the Dublin mountains.
"Look at that view. It's beautiful. This used to be a gorgeous place to live.
"I've lived here all my life. Can't wait to get out now."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
THE NEWS that the long-awaited regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens was not going ahead - in the short term at least - was "like a death in the family", said local resident and development worker Lena Jordan.
"People are so low; so absolutely devastated.
"There have been 10 years of working on the plan and meetings and getting people to agree on things and now, well, people just don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I feel defeated."
Yesterday morning saw two residents in the Dublin north side complex, Janice Flood and Bernice Keane, describe how everyone had "lost heart now".
Standing at the foot of one of the 13 blocks of flats on the 12.2-acre site, Ms Flood said residents had been told work would begin in February.
"Then they said June. There has been nothing done with the place for years. There's no playground for the kids. Nowhere for the teenagers to go."
The two stand near a grass clearing strewn with brown shards of glass, chocolate wrappers and rusting bottle caps.
As they describe life in the flat complex one can look up at empty, boarded-up flats, graffiti-covered windows, walls, doorways and stairwells, broken windows and litter everywhere.
No one lives in four of the blocks in preparation for their demolition, while others are almost empty.
"It's horrible living here - like Beirut," continues Ms Flood.
"It's wrong, the next generation having to live like this," she says, gesturing at two sons of a neighbour aged three and four. "They can't be let out for fresh air at all. They'd just get filthy."
No one knows what will happen now, said Ms Keane.
"We didn't even hear it until we read it in the paper this morning."
Martina Daly, another resident, says she was "furious".
"How can they let someone sign a contract and then let them leave us swinging in limbo.
"You can't leave people like that; string them along with hope and then leave them."
From the cramped balcony of her third floor flat, Ms Keane looks out towards the Phoenix Park and the Dublin mountains.
"Look at that view. It's beautiful. This used to be a gorgeous place to live.
"I've lived here all my life. Can't wait to get out now."
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Public-private partnership rules to be reviewed
THE GOVERNMENT is to order a review of the rules governing public private partnership housing deals with private developers, following the decision of a leading construction firm to pull out of five deals in Dublin.
In all, the State and local authorities are involved in up to 15 such partnerships in the capital and a smaller number elsewhere in the State.
Although a review would take months, Minister of State for Finance Michael Finneran last night insisted that the State needed private builders to be involved in such developments. He said there "is no going back" to the large local authority estates of the past.
Meanwhile, Dublin City Council is seeking legal advice as to whether it can impose penalties on developer Bernard McNamara - although some close to the projects say that penalties are not explicitly stated in the contracts.
A council spokesman confirmed senior officials would meet Department of the Environment officials today or tomorrow to discuss how to get the regeneration plans, now on hold, underway. They are worth a total of €900 million.
"Our lawyers are weighing up our options. We will await their advice. Our priority is to get the projects back up and running. A lot of preparatory work has been done and the projects cannot be left."
Among the affected projects are the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, the €200 million plan for Seán McDermott Street and the €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens, off the North Circular Road.
Mr McNamara is understood to have withdrawn from the projects because of a downturn in the housing market and changes to planning regulations for apartments.
The Department of the Environment last night said that the first of the developments would not have been covered by the new tougher building regulations because planning permission had been granted in advance of their introduction.
A spokesman for the Department said the meeting with DCC officials was being scheduled "with urgency", adding that funding and the use of PPPs for social and affordable housing would be on the agenda.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul said the situation exposed how unsuitable PPPs were for providing social and affordable housing.
Meanwhile, Mr McNamara's company is still in talks with the State about building the Thornton jail in north Dublin, 14 months after it was selected as the preferred bidder by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Asked if there were any difficulties in agreeing the final terms of the contract, a Department of Justice spokesman said: "Negotiations with this preferred bidder are at an advanced stage".
Labour's Senator Alex White said the collapse of the public-private partnerships in Dublin is a symbol of the times - where the poor are the first to suffer from an economic downturn.
"It demonstrates the folly of our over-reliance, particularly in recent years, on the private sector to address pressing social problems and concerns. We have become completely obsessed with outsourcing everything to the private sector and have little or no confidence in our ability or the ability of a properly funded public sector to take the lead in issues such as this," he said.
Sinn Féin Dublin South Central TD, Aengus Ó Snódaigh said: "The effect of this is that hundreds of much-needed social housing units will not be built in the near future."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In all, the State and local authorities are involved in up to 15 such partnerships in the capital and a smaller number elsewhere in the State.
Although a review would take months, Minister of State for Finance Michael Finneran last night insisted that the State needed private builders to be involved in such developments. He said there "is no going back" to the large local authority estates of the past.
Meanwhile, Dublin City Council is seeking legal advice as to whether it can impose penalties on developer Bernard McNamara - although some close to the projects say that penalties are not explicitly stated in the contracts.
A council spokesman confirmed senior officials would meet Department of the Environment officials today or tomorrow to discuss how to get the regeneration plans, now on hold, underway. They are worth a total of €900 million.
"Our lawyers are weighing up our options. We will await their advice. Our priority is to get the projects back up and running. A lot of preparatory work has been done and the projects cannot be left."
Among the affected projects are the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, the €200 million plan for Seán McDermott Street and the €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens, off the North Circular Road.
Mr McNamara is understood to have withdrawn from the projects because of a downturn in the housing market and changes to planning regulations for apartments.
The Department of the Environment last night said that the first of the developments would not have been covered by the new tougher building regulations because planning permission had been granted in advance of their introduction.
A spokesman for the Department said the meeting with DCC officials was being scheduled "with urgency", adding that funding and the use of PPPs for social and affordable housing would be on the agenda.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul said the situation exposed how unsuitable PPPs were for providing social and affordable housing.
Meanwhile, Mr McNamara's company is still in talks with the State about building the Thornton jail in north Dublin, 14 months after it was selected as the preferred bidder by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Asked if there were any difficulties in agreeing the final terms of the contract, a Department of Justice spokesman said: "Negotiations with this preferred bidder are at an advanced stage".
Labour's Senator Alex White said the collapse of the public-private partnerships in Dublin is a symbol of the times - where the poor are the first to suffer from an economic downturn.
"It demonstrates the folly of our over-reliance, particularly in recent years, on the private sector to address pressing social problems and concerns. We have become completely obsessed with outsourcing everything to the private sector and have little or no confidence in our ability or the ability of a properly funded public sector to take the lead in issues such as this," he said.
Sinn Féin Dublin South Central TD, Aengus Ó Snódaigh said: "The effect of this is that hundreds of much-needed social housing units will not be built in the near future."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council says yes to David Arnold's Foxrock scheme
DEVELOPER DAVID Arnold has got planning permission to turn Gortanore on Brighton Road, Foxrock, D18 into an apartment scheme, despite local opposition.
Arnold paid €31 million for the four-bed detached property on 2.8 acres in 2006, making it the top selling house of the year.
Despite 52 objections to the scheme, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council granted permission to demolish the house and outbuildings and build 37 apartments in three blocks with a gym and conference room, shops and commercial space at street level, and 90 car-parking spaces, 84 of which are at basement level. The apartments, on the edge of Foxrock village, will be 167-297sq m (1,800-3,000sq ft) in size and have a full-time concierge.
Two brick and granite-fronted buildings will flank the entrance to the development on Brighton Road, with the majority of the apartments in a curved building at the back of the site surrounded by over two acres of grounds. Mature trees on the site are to be kept.
The design, by O'Mahony Pike Architects, has attracted criticism from some Foxrock residents who say it is out of keeping with the Edwardian style of house that dominates the neighbourhood.
Foxrock Area Development Ltd (FADL) objected to the scheme, citing traffic congestion in the village and over development of the site as concerns. It said the scheme ignores the Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) status of the area and that the demolition of an existing habitable house is not in accordance with ACA objectives.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Arnold paid €31 million for the four-bed detached property on 2.8 acres in 2006, making it the top selling house of the year.
Despite 52 objections to the scheme, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council granted permission to demolish the house and outbuildings and build 37 apartments in three blocks with a gym and conference room, shops and commercial space at street level, and 90 car-parking spaces, 84 of which are at basement level. The apartments, on the edge of Foxrock village, will be 167-297sq m (1,800-3,000sq ft) in size and have a full-time concierge.
Two brick and granite-fronted buildings will flank the entrance to the development on Brighton Road, with the majority of the apartments in a curved building at the back of the site surrounded by over two acres of grounds. Mature trees on the site are to be kept.
The design, by O'Mahony Pike Architects, has attracted criticism from some Foxrock residents who say it is out of keeping with the Edwardian style of house that dominates the neighbourhood.
Foxrock Area Development Ltd (FADL) objected to the scheme, citing traffic congestion in the village and over development of the site as concerns. It said the scheme ignores the Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) status of the area and that the demolition of an existing habitable house is not in accordance with ACA objectives.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
New Lighthouse a beacon for cinema design
The design of the new Lighthouse cinemas in Smithfield - miles away from the multiplex model - has real star quality, writes Frank McDonald , Environment editor
FOUR CINEMAS in a basement - it sounds terrible, evoking fears of claustrophobia and being shovelled into the bowels of the Earth. But with the new Lighthouse cinemas in Smithfield, DTA Architects has turned the idea of a basement upside down and transformed it into a "scenographic experience".
The inspiration, believe it or not, came from the Palais Garnier in Paris - not the opulence of the opera house, but the sense of arrival and procession through various levels, going down rather than up. "We wanted to create maximum drama of coming to the cinema, a different experience than going to a multiplex," says Derek Tynan.
Multiplexes have become so commonplace that we overlook how bad they really are. Cineworld on Parnell Street is one of the worst.
It's like finding yourself in a very congested airport terminal, suffused with the smell of popcorn, with escalators going up through several floors to disgorge you into corridors with rooms off (ie, the cinemas).
The Lighthouse, run by Neil Connolly and Mareta Dillon, was always different. A beacon for arthouse movie buffs (pre-dating the IFI on Eustace Street), it thrived on Middle Abbey Street until the building was gobbled up by Arnotts in the mid-1990s. And since then, it had been without a home - at least until two weeks ago.
Its re-materialisation in Smithfield was a long drawn-out process.
A cultural use had to be found for the huge scheme of apartments, offices and retail units built on the west side of the square by Fusano Properties, led by Paddy Kelly, John Flynn and Joe Linders. Indeed, it was one of the conditions of Fusano's planning permission.
Various options were examined, including a science museum and even a reincarnation of Donie Cassidy's Waxworks, before Fusano finally did a deal with the Lighthouse. Fusano put up €3.75 million for the project, with a further €1.75 million coming from the Arts Council, the Irish Film Board and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.
The original Lighthouse had been designed by O'Donnell and Tuomey Architects, and they did a feasibility study for the Smithfield scheme. In the end, however, the developers chose DTA Architects to carry out the challenging task of installing four cinemas in two enormous voids, 9.5 metres (over 31ft) deep, below ground level.
Derek Tynan had previous experience of cinema design with the Northgate in Cork, which is still highly rated, and he worked on the Smithfield project with Colin MacKay and Dermot Reynolds. To get their heads around it, they made models to show how the cinemas, back-up services and circulation space could be slotted in.
Flanked on both sides by a three-level car park, the four-storey void under HKR's tower block was linked to a three-storey void beneath Market Square on the podium in front by a structure that already had floors and a staircase. Reinforced concrete columns supporting the apartments overhead were another design constraint.
What the architects did was to install screens 1 (the largest, with 288 seats) and 2 under the podium, while screens 3 and 4 are under the ground-floor cafe and the stepped terrace - more than a mere staircase - that leads down to the depths. The latter two intersect to form an angular ceiling for the bar area below.
The volumes are all clearly expressed, clad in black aluminium, and "you can see the top, side or underbelly" of each of them, as Tynan says. They are also used to form the processional route to the four cinemas, so that "at every turn, you're informed of what we've inserted as opposed to what was given", according to MacKay.
Behind the scenes, in the area that was already floored, the architects located all the back-up services, including projection suites, management offices, staff areas and a multi-purpose room that could be used for seminars. There are also two lifts, to ensure universal access, but hardly anyone uses or even notices them. At the foyer level, glass balustrades give views down so that cinemagoers can get a sense of the depth and scale of the new Lighthouse. "You can't drop people down three floors - it just makes them feel uncomfortable and claustrophobic," says Tynan. "So what we were at was to provide a sequential experience of descending."
THE ENTRANCE, tucked away near the corner of Market Square, is marked by an elongated upstand in mirror-finish stainless steel, with a large rectangular cut-out - an extension of the wall inside - and the idea is "to draw people in physically, hook them into the space", as MacKay says. Above it are vents for the air conditioners.
Mirror-finish stainless steel is also used for the poster board on one side of the foyer, the box office and the counters of both the cafe and bar. Floors are all done in American light oak, at least in the circulation areas, with simple resin-coated floors alongside. The carpets in the cinemas seem a bit cheap, reflecting budget constraints.
Altogether, the Lighthouse has a capacity of 600 and each of its four cinemas has a different colour code. Screen 1 is all blue, Screen 2 (which is peculiarly narrow) has grey walls and multi- coloured seating, Screen 3 is red and vivid, while Screen 4 has multi-coloured walls and black seating. In other words, it's nothing like a multiplex.
Clusters of fluorescent tubes, huge vertically, provide lighting in the circulation areas, which could provide dramatically different settings for fashion shows, product launches and receptions such as the opening bash on May 8th, when the place was thronged with sightseers from the southside, marvelling at what the northside has to offer.
Smithfield is off the beaten track, even though it's a short hop on the Luas from Abbey Street. But then, most of the city centre cinemas are actually located on the northside. South of the river, with the exception of the Screen and the IFI, so many cinemas have closed that the nearest now is probably the multiplex in Dundrum.
There is a large public car park underground, beside the Lighthouse, so anyone with a car can easily get to Smithfield without having to worry about parking. The office of film censor John Kelleher is to relocate here from Harcourt Terrace, using the smallest of the Lighthouse cinemas as a screening room - and helping with the rent.
There is an obvious payback for Fusano in playing host to Connolly and Dillon's new venture, not least because it will increase "footfall" in the area and make it easier to find tenants for several vacant retail units. Creating "critical mass" is what it's all about, and this 5,500sq m (59,201sq ft) cultural facility is a step towards that goal.
Market Square, previously a vacuous space, is already more lively, with the Thomas Read pub spilling chairs and tables outside. People were also making use of the limestone benches, which pre-exist the Lighthouse, to loll about or read the cinema programme.
But there was litter everywhere. Doesn't anyone have a brush?
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
FOUR CINEMAS in a basement - it sounds terrible, evoking fears of claustrophobia and being shovelled into the bowels of the Earth. But with the new Lighthouse cinemas in Smithfield, DTA Architects has turned the idea of a basement upside down and transformed it into a "scenographic experience".
The inspiration, believe it or not, came from the Palais Garnier in Paris - not the opulence of the opera house, but the sense of arrival and procession through various levels, going down rather than up. "We wanted to create maximum drama of coming to the cinema, a different experience than going to a multiplex," says Derek Tynan.
Multiplexes have become so commonplace that we overlook how bad they really are. Cineworld on Parnell Street is one of the worst.
It's like finding yourself in a very congested airport terminal, suffused with the smell of popcorn, with escalators going up through several floors to disgorge you into corridors with rooms off (ie, the cinemas).
The Lighthouse, run by Neil Connolly and Mareta Dillon, was always different. A beacon for arthouse movie buffs (pre-dating the IFI on Eustace Street), it thrived on Middle Abbey Street until the building was gobbled up by Arnotts in the mid-1990s. And since then, it had been without a home - at least until two weeks ago.
Its re-materialisation in Smithfield was a long drawn-out process.
A cultural use had to be found for the huge scheme of apartments, offices and retail units built on the west side of the square by Fusano Properties, led by Paddy Kelly, John Flynn and Joe Linders. Indeed, it was one of the conditions of Fusano's planning permission.
Various options were examined, including a science museum and even a reincarnation of Donie Cassidy's Waxworks, before Fusano finally did a deal with the Lighthouse. Fusano put up €3.75 million for the project, with a further €1.75 million coming from the Arts Council, the Irish Film Board and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.
The original Lighthouse had been designed by O'Donnell and Tuomey Architects, and they did a feasibility study for the Smithfield scheme. In the end, however, the developers chose DTA Architects to carry out the challenging task of installing four cinemas in two enormous voids, 9.5 metres (over 31ft) deep, below ground level.
Derek Tynan had previous experience of cinema design with the Northgate in Cork, which is still highly rated, and he worked on the Smithfield project with Colin MacKay and Dermot Reynolds. To get their heads around it, they made models to show how the cinemas, back-up services and circulation space could be slotted in.
Flanked on both sides by a three-level car park, the four-storey void under HKR's tower block was linked to a three-storey void beneath Market Square on the podium in front by a structure that already had floors and a staircase. Reinforced concrete columns supporting the apartments overhead were another design constraint.
What the architects did was to install screens 1 (the largest, with 288 seats) and 2 under the podium, while screens 3 and 4 are under the ground-floor cafe and the stepped terrace - more than a mere staircase - that leads down to the depths. The latter two intersect to form an angular ceiling for the bar area below.
The volumes are all clearly expressed, clad in black aluminium, and "you can see the top, side or underbelly" of each of them, as Tynan says. They are also used to form the processional route to the four cinemas, so that "at every turn, you're informed of what we've inserted as opposed to what was given", according to MacKay.
Behind the scenes, in the area that was already floored, the architects located all the back-up services, including projection suites, management offices, staff areas and a multi-purpose room that could be used for seminars. There are also two lifts, to ensure universal access, but hardly anyone uses or even notices them. At the foyer level, glass balustrades give views down so that cinemagoers can get a sense of the depth and scale of the new Lighthouse. "You can't drop people down three floors - it just makes them feel uncomfortable and claustrophobic," says Tynan. "So what we were at was to provide a sequential experience of descending."
THE ENTRANCE, tucked away near the corner of Market Square, is marked by an elongated upstand in mirror-finish stainless steel, with a large rectangular cut-out - an extension of the wall inside - and the idea is "to draw people in physically, hook them into the space", as MacKay says. Above it are vents for the air conditioners.
Mirror-finish stainless steel is also used for the poster board on one side of the foyer, the box office and the counters of both the cafe and bar. Floors are all done in American light oak, at least in the circulation areas, with simple resin-coated floors alongside. The carpets in the cinemas seem a bit cheap, reflecting budget constraints.
Altogether, the Lighthouse has a capacity of 600 and each of its four cinemas has a different colour code. Screen 1 is all blue, Screen 2 (which is peculiarly narrow) has grey walls and multi- coloured seating, Screen 3 is red and vivid, while Screen 4 has multi-coloured walls and black seating. In other words, it's nothing like a multiplex.
Clusters of fluorescent tubes, huge vertically, provide lighting in the circulation areas, which could provide dramatically different settings for fashion shows, product launches and receptions such as the opening bash on May 8th, when the place was thronged with sightseers from the southside, marvelling at what the northside has to offer.
Smithfield is off the beaten track, even though it's a short hop on the Luas from Abbey Street. But then, most of the city centre cinemas are actually located on the northside. South of the river, with the exception of the Screen and the IFI, so many cinemas have closed that the nearest now is probably the multiplex in Dundrum.
There is a large public car park underground, beside the Lighthouse, so anyone with a car can easily get to Smithfield without having to worry about parking. The office of film censor John Kelleher is to relocate here from Harcourt Terrace, using the smallest of the Lighthouse cinemas as a screening room - and helping with the rent.
There is an obvious payback for Fusano in playing host to Connolly and Dillon's new venture, not least because it will increase "footfall" in the area and make it easier to find tenants for several vacant retail units. Creating "critical mass" is what it's all about, and this 5,500sq m (59,201sq ft) cultural facility is a step towards that goal.
Market Square, previously a vacuous space, is already more lively, with the Thomas Read pub spilling chairs and tables outside. People were also making use of the limestone benches, which pre-exist the Lighthouse, to loll about or read the cinema programme.
But there was litter everywhere. Doesn't anyone have a brush?
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Report on Status of Habitats and Species in Ireland
The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley TD, has launched a report on the status of habitats and species in Ireland.
The report is the first such comprehensive compilation of the status of habitats, animals and plants in Ireland which have protected status under national and EU law.
The habitats include bogs, rivers, marine bays, deep sea reefs, sand dunes and many more.
Many of the habitats are scarce or absent elsewhere in Europe. The species vary from whales and otters to mosses and snails.
The assessments were carried out by expert ecologists and then screened by scientists in the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Each species was assessed according to its range across Ireland, the population, the quality of its habitat and its future prospects. A similar assessment was used for the habitats.
The report found that only 7% of the habitats examined are in good status, with 46% inadequate and 47% bad. Of particular concern is the status of the midland’s raised bogs. Less than 1% remains of the living, growing bog and this is rapidly being lost. Another habitat in serious peril is lowland hay meadow - important for birds such as corncrake and plants such as cornflower. The meadows have disappeared as agriculture has modernised.
Many habitats associated with water were considered to be in bad condition. Even moderate declines in water quality makes rivers and lakes unsuitable for many fish and invertebrate species. Coastal habitats were found to have declined in quality - often as a result of recreation and development pressure over the past 20 years.
The Freshwater Pearl Mussel
The report paints a more encouraging picture of Ireland’s animals and plants. Roughly 50% of the species examined are in good status, while 10% are considered bad. Species such as bat, seals, dolphins and whales are considered to be in good condition.
However, there is a real fear that the freshwater pearl mussel, which can live to an age of 130 years, is on the brink of extinction in Ireland.
The Natterjack Toad is another species considered in bad status, but already a programme is in place to expand on the pond habitat it needs.
The assessments outline the pressures and threats that habitats and species face in Ireland. The main threats and pressures are -
* direct damage - such as peat cutting, drainage and infilling, building and road making, reclamation of wetlands such as bogs and fens and removal of sand and gravel
* overgrazing and undergrazing
* pollution of waters by nutrients or silt
* unsustainable harvesting - and
* invasive alien species.
The bad and poor ratings for habitats reflect the impacts of 35 years of agricultural intensification and a period of unrivalled economic growth in Ireland. Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe of the National Parks and Wildlife Service said that the bad rating for habitats is not surprising - the report covers habitats across the entire country (not just in Special Areas of Conservation) after 35 years of agricultural intensification and a period of unrivalled economic growth in Ireland.
Banks of shingle in Clew Bay
He added - “The habitats and species examined were protected by the EU because they are threatened in the EU, therefore unfavourable ratings at this early stage of the implementation of the Directive is to be expected. Furthermore, the EU criteria set a high standard to achieve a ranking of 'good' and minor disimprovements can yield a result of 'inadequate'."
Mr Gormley said - “This report sets us many tough challenges. The critical issue in the next 5 years and beyond is to maintain and restore habitats (particularly in Special Areas of Conservation) and monitor and report on changes achieved. This will require careful prioritisation, planning and execution and full engagement with landowners, farmers, other government Departments, local authorities and other stakeholders.
“The Programme for Government 2007-2012 includes a commitment to strengthen Ireland’s implementation of the Habitats Directive. I have significantly increased funding to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2008. However, measures will also be needed across a wide range of policy areas, including planning and infrastructure investment. These measures are already being pursued as a priority by myself and the Department of the Environment.
“Record levels of investment in water and waste water infrastructure - a key measure for the protection of many of our vulnerable habitats - is also continuing. I will continue to work to strengthen the resources of NPWS and to achieve progress in the conservation of Ireland’s biodiversity.”
The report can be downloaded from National Parks and Wildlife Service website where more detailed information on each of the habitats and species is also available.
www.buckplanning.ie
The report is the first such comprehensive compilation of the status of habitats, animals and plants in Ireland which have protected status under national and EU law.
The habitats include bogs, rivers, marine bays, deep sea reefs, sand dunes and many more.
Many of the habitats are scarce or absent elsewhere in Europe. The species vary from whales and otters to mosses and snails.
The assessments were carried out by expert ecologists and then screened by scientists in the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Each species was assessed according to its range across Ireland, the population, the quality of its habitat and its future prospects. A similar assessment was used for the habitats.
The report found that only 7% of the habitats examined are in good status, with 46% inadequate and 47% bad. Of particular concern is the status of the midland’s raised bogs. Less than 1% remains of the living, growing bog and this is rapidly being lost. Another habitat in serious peril is lowland hay meadow - important for birds such as corncrake and plants such as cornflower. The meadows have disappeared as agriculture has modernised.
Many habitats associated with water were considered to be in bad condition. Even moderate declines in water quality makes rivers and lakes unsuitable for many fish and invertebrate species. Coastal habitats were found to have declined in quality - often as a result of recreation and development pressure over the past 20 years.
The Freshwater Pearl Mussel
The report paints a more encouraging picture of Ireland’s animals and plants. Roughly 50% of the species examined are in good status, while 10% are considered bad. Species such as bat, seals, dolphins and whales are considered to be in good condition.
However, there is a real fear that the freshwater pearl mussel, which can live to an age of 130 years, is on the brink of extinction in Ireland.
The Natterjack Toad is another species considered in bad status, but already a programme is in place to expand on the pond habitat it needs.
The assessments outline the pressures and threats that habitats and species face in Ireland. The main threats and pressures are -
* direct damage - such as peat cutting, drainage and infilling, building and road making, reclamation of wetlands such as bogs and fens and removal of sand and gravel
* overgrazing and undergrazing
* pollution of waters by nutrients or silt
* unsustainable harvesting - and
* invasive alien species.
The bad and poor ratings for habitats reflect the impacts of 35 years of agricultural intensification and a period of unrivalled economic growth in Ireland. Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe of the National Parks and Wildlife Service said that the bad rating for habitats is not surprising - the report covers habitats across the entire country (not just in Special Areas of Conservation) after 35 years of agricultural intensification and a period of unrivalled economic growth in Ireland.
Banks of shingle in Clew Bay
He added - “The habitats and species examined were protected by the EU because they are threatened in the EU, therefore unfavourable ratings at this early stage of the implementation of the Directive is to be expected. Furthermore, the EU criteria set a high standard to achieve a ranking of 'good' and minor disimprovements can yield a result of 'inadequate'."
Mr Gormley said - “This report sets us many tough challenges. The critical issue in the next 5 years and beyond is to maintain and restore habitats (particularly in Special Areas of Conservation) and monitor and report on changes achieved. This will require careful prioritisation, planning and execution and full engagement with landowners, farmers, other government Departments, local authorities and other stakeholders.
“The Programme for Government 2007-2012 includes a commitment to strengthen Ireland’s implementation of the Habitats Directive. I have significantly increased funding to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2008. However, measures will also be needed across a wide range of policy areas, including planning and infrastructure investment. These measures are already being pursued as a priority by myself and the Department of the Environment.
“Record levels of investment in water and waste water infrastructure - a key measure for the protection of many of our vulnerable habitats - is also continuing. I will continue to work to strengthen the resources of NPWS and to achieve progress in the conservation of Ireland’s biodiversity.”
The report can be downloaded from National Parks and Wildlife Service website where more detailed information on each of the habitats and species is also available.
www.buckplanning.ie
Transport plans open to public scrutiny
COMMUTERS will have a say in the future of Dublin’s transportation system for the first time.
A vision of the capital’s road, rail and tram links will go under public scrutiny as transport chiefs consult future projects with members of the public.
The Dublin Transportation Office will take submissions from commuters, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians through a public consultation website www.2030vision.ie The strategy, to run from up to 2030, will replace Transport 21.
“We are planning for the people so the people should know what we are doing, what we are saying, and we should know what that they are saying,” said John Henry, DTO director.
“We want to hear all views on what the key transport issues are, and to learn what people feel the objectives for Dublin’s transport should be.”
Consultations have already taken place with business and community groups, tourism organisations, and representatives from counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
The strategy has been opened for public input before a consultation process begins through advertising, public meetings and websites.
Launching the scheme, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said there will eventually be fewer cars in the city centre, but stressed it would remain open for business.
He also attempted to ease concerns of disruption during the construction of the Metro North and Interconnector between 2010 and 2015: “Works will be taking place at different places at different times, and whatever disruptions there will be confined to a particular area.”
Mr Henry said private cars may be rerouted from the main thoroughfares.
Meanwhile, the Green Party will launch its submission to the Government’s public consultation on Sustainable Travel and Transport tomorrow.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
A vision of the capital’s road, rail and tram links will go under public scrutiny as transport chiefs consult future projects with members of the public.
The Dublin Transportation Office will take submissions from commuters, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians through a public consultation website www.2030vision.ie The strategy, to run from up to 2030, will replace Transport 21.
“We are planning for the people so the people should know what we are doing, what we are saying, and we should know what that they are saying,” said John Henry, DTO director.
“We want to hear all views on what the key transport issues are, and to learn what people feel the objectives for Dublin’s transport should be.”
Consultations have already taken place with business and community groups, tourism organisations, and representatives from counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
The strategy has been opened for public input before a consultation process begins through advertising, public meetings and websites.
Launching the scheme, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said there will eventually be fewer cars in the city centre, but stressed it would remain open for business.
He also attempted to ease concerns of disruption during the construction of the Metro North and Interconnector between 2010 and 2015: “Works will be taking place at different places at different times, and whatever disruptions there will be confined to a particular area.”
Mr Henry said private cars may be rerouted from the main thoroughfares.
Meanwhile, the Green Party will launch its submission to the Government’s public consultation on Sustainable Travel and Transport tomorrow.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Hotel extension plan criticised
A spectacular view of Downings Bay will be lost after Donegal County Council granted planning permission for a hotel extension.
The claim was made by Cllr Liam Blaney at last week's Milford electoral meeting in relation to a new development at the Rosapenna Hotel.
Mr Blaney said he had been inundated with complaints from residents who were furious that the view from the Carrigart approach to the village had been blocked.
"I am not against tourism, but what's happening in Downings is a disgrace," he said.
"There is a massive concrete jungle blocking the view of the bay. Three local caravan park owners were put out of business by the council because they did not have planning permission. It is a total disgrace that planners would give permission for that ."
However, Cllr Noel McBride defended the Casey family who own and run the hotel.
He said the planning application went through the proper procedure and was granted permission.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The claim was made by Cllr Liam Blaney at last week's Milford electoral meeting in relation to a new development at the Rosapenna Hotel.
Mr Blaney said he had been inundated with complaints from residents who were furious that the view from the Carrigart approach to the village had been blocked.
"I am not against tourism, but what's happening in Downings is a disgrace," he said.
"There is a massive concrete jungle blocking the view of the bay. Three local caravan park owners were put out of business by the council because they did not have planning permission. It is a total disgrace that planners would give permission for that ."
However, Cllr Noel McBride defended the Casey family who own and run the hotel.
He said the planning application went through the proper procedure and was granted permission.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Restrictions on cars in city centre may be permanent
RESTRICTIONS ON private cars in Dublin city centre, to be introduced for rail works, may become permanent, John Henry, chairman of the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO), suggested yesterday.
"It is necessary to have restrictions while construction is going on but I would like to see a more permanent solution, to make the city centre a much friendlier place to do business," Mr Henry said.
A congestion charge, such as the one introduced in London city centre, will be one of the solutions for traffic control that will be considered in the future, Mr Henry said.
The traffic management plan will not be introduced until 2010, before works on Metro North, Luas extensions and the underground interconnector begin, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said yesterday at the launch of a public consultation on a new transport strategy for Dublin from 2010 until 2030.
This is despite an earlier target of April 2009 recently proposed by Frank Fahey, chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport.
"We need to have a plan in place well in advance of construction starting rather than just reacting to construction," Mr Henry said, adding that he would prefer to see the restrictions in place up to a year in advance of the works in order to get the city streets under control.
Proposals would restrict private cars in O'Connell Street, Westmoreland Street, College Green and Dame Street and would see cross-city traffic diverted onto a proposed new bridge between Marlborough Street and Hawkins Street.
"It won't be an entirely car-free city centre as people still have to do business but traffic that has no need to be there should find an alternative route," he said.
"We are not talking about banning traffic in the city centre but rerouting it," Mr Henry said, adding that he is confident it can be achieved with a bit of courage.
While disruption in the city centre is inevitable during the construction, Mr Dempsey said the way disruption is managed is important, such as planning works to take place in different places at different times.
"Trying to provide a world-class public transport system does entail some inconvenience and disruption," he said.
He also wants to ensure Dublin city centre will be clearly promoted as being open for business during the expected disruption.
He was launching the first part of the consultation, seeking the public's vision for transport in the greater Dublin area until 2030.
A draft vision and objectives for Dublin have already been developed following consultation with local politicians, community groups and businesses.
This draft vision defines Dublin as "a competitive, vibrant, city-region of inclusive and engaged communities, proud of its heritage and its national and European roles, and looking to the future, where an improved quality of life for all is guided by the principle of sustainability."
Draft objectives include: strengthening communities, improving its economic competitiveness, improving accessibility, improving governance and attractiveness of the public realm, respecting the environment and reducing stress in the lives of citizens.
Members of the public interested in giving their views on the future shape of transport in the greater Dublin area have until June 30th to answer an online questionnaire at www.2030vision.ie; e-mail their views to consult@dto.ie or send their opinions by post to: 2030 Vision, Block 2, West Pier Business Campus, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
"It is necessary to have restrictions while construction is going on but I would like to see a more permanent solution, to make the city centre a much friendlier place to do business," Mr Henry said.
A congestion charge, such as the one introduced in London city centre, will be one of the solutions for traffic control that will be considered in the future, Mr Henry said.
The traffic management plan will not be introduced until 2010, before works on Metro North, Luas extensions and the underground interconnector begin, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said yesterday at the launch of a public consultation on a new transport strategy for Dublin from 2010 until 2030.
This is despite an earlier target of April 2009 recently proposed by Frank Fahey, chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport.
"We need to have a plan in place well in advance of construction starting rather than just reacting to construction," Mr Henry said, adding that he would prefer to see the restrictions in place up to a year in advance of the works in order to get the city streets under control.
Proposals would restrict private cars in O'Connell Street, Westmoreland Street, College Green and Dame Street and would see cross-city traffic diverted onto a proposed new bridge between Marlborough Street and Hawkins Street.
"It won't be an entirely car-free city centre as people still have to do business but traffic that has no need to be there should find an alternative route," he said.
"We are not talking about banning traffic in the city centre but rerouting it," Mr Henry said, adding that he is confident it can be achieved with a bit of courage.
While disruption in the city centre is inevitable during the construction, Mr Dempsey said the way disruption is managed is important, such as planning works to take place in different places at different times.
"Trying to provide a world-class public transport system does entail some inconvenience and disruption," he said.
He also wants to ensure Dublin city centre will be clearly promoted as being open for business during the expected disruption.
He was launching the first part of the consultation, seeking the public's vision for transport in the greater Dublin area until 2030.
A draft vision and objectives for Dublin have already been developed following consultation with local politicians, community groups and businesses.
This draft vision defines Dublin as "a competitive, vibrant, city-region of inclusive and engaged communities, proud of its heritage and its national and European roles, and looking to the future, where an improved quality of life for all is guided by the principle of sustainability."
Draft objectives include: strengthening communities, improving its economic competitiveness, improving accessibility, improving governance and attractiveness of the public realm, respecting the environment and reducing stress in the lives of citizens.
Members of the public interested in giving their views on the future shape of transport in the greater Dublin area have until June 30th to answer an online questionnaire at www.2030vision.ie; e-mail their views to consult@dto.ie or send their opinions by post to: 2030 Vision, Block 2, West Pier Business Campus, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Minister rejects 'buy-out' call for residents near new prison
THE MINISTER for Justice, Dermot Ahern, has said there are no proposals to introduce a “buy-out” scheme for home owners with properties near the controversial new “super-prison” at Thornton Hall in north Dublin.
He also rejected “any allegations of impropriety in the site selection process”, and said that he is “strongly of the view” that proceeding with the development at Thornton Hall is the best possible option. However, he noted that this was a matter for the Oireachtas to decide.
Mr Ahern was commenting after yesterday publishing details of a rapporteur’s report into the proposed Thornton Hall prison.
The rapporteur, James Farrelly, was appointed in July 2007 to outline the content of submissions from parties with an interest in the project during a six-week period.This concluded on April 11th last.
He received 130 separate submissions, from both individuals and groups. Mr Farrelly highlighted a wide range of concerns about the proposed new prison among those who participated in the process.
These included fears that the “value, saleability and appearance of residences and local businesses will be adversely affected by the existence of the prison”, and suggestions that residents affected in this manner “should have the option of being bought out or financially compensated”.
However, Mr Ahern said that there are “no proposals to introduce a buy-out scheme”.
Mr Ahern also said there were no plans to move high-risk prisoners such as terrorists to the site, and added that the cordon sanitaire around the prison meant it is “not feasible to try and launch drugs and other material over the perimeter wall to an area where prisoners have access”.
“There is no reason to believe that the development itself will result in local residents being more exposed to drug dealing or discarded drug-related paraphernalia,” he added.
Mr Ahern said the majority of local businesses should benefit from the development, but acknowledged that others “may be adversely affected”.
He said the new development had been “specifically designed to ensure a secure environment both along the perimeter as well as inside the development”, and noted that the R130 road will not be used during construction or operation of the prison.
Mr Ahern said the main purpose of the new facility, which is being designed to cater for 1,400 prisoners in single cells, is to replace the “substandard” prison accommodation in Mountjoy.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
He also rejected “any allegations of impropriety in the site selection process”, and said that he is “strongly of the view” that proceeding with the development at Thornton Hall is the best possible option. However, he noted that this was a matter for the Oireachtas to decide.
Mr Ahern was commenting after yesterday publishing details of a rapporteur’s report into the proposed Thornton Hall prison.
The rapporteur, James Farrelly, was appointed in July 2007 to outline the content of submissions from parties with an interest in the project during a six-week period.This concluded on April 11th last.
He received 130 separate submissions, from both individuals and groups. Mr Farrelly highlighted a wide range of concerns about the proposed new prison among those who participated in the process.
These included fears that the “value, saleability and appearance of residences and local businesses will be adversely affected by the existence of the prison”, and suggestions that residents affected in this manner “should have the option of being bought out or financially compensated”.
However, Mr Ahern said that there are “no proposals to introduce a buy-out scheme”.
Mr Ahern also said there were no plans to move high-risk prisoners such as terrorists to the site, and added that the cordon sanitaire around the prison meant it is “not feasible to try and launch drugs and other material over the perimeter wall to an area where prisoners have access”.
“There is no reason to believe that the development itself will result in local residents being more exposed to drug dealing or discarded drug-related paraphernalia,” he added.
Mr Ahern said the majority of local businesses should benefit from the development, but acknowledged that others “may be adversely affected”.
He said the new development had been “specifically designed to ensure a secure environment both along the perimeter as well as inside the development”, and noted that the R130 road will not be used during construction or operation of the prison.
Mr Ahern said the main purpose of the new facility, which is being designed to cater for 1,400 prisoners in single cells, is to replace the “substandard” prison accommodation in Mountjoy.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Regeneration still a priority, says Cowen
Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said other developers may be approached to build social housing in Dublin following the collapse of the five public-private partnership (PPP) programmes yesterday.
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, the Taoiseach acknowledged that the collapse of the planned projects was a setback for those communities who have been working with Dublin City Council to devise regeneration for their areas.
"There is continued commitment by the city council to prioritise the prospect of regeneration for these communities despite the fact that this setback has occurred," the Taoiseach said.
"It may involve going to other people who have indicate or expressed an interest in taking up PPP involvement at that stage to see if there is any other developer who may be available to proceed where this developer has decided not to proceed," he added.
A meeting between Dublin City Council and the Department of the Environment over the collapse of the five social housing programmes is expected to take place over the next few days.
Dublin City Council officials are expected to urge the department to provide funding for social housing programmes following the collapse of plans to build thousands of housing units when the developer withdrew from the scheme.
Citing "current economic climate and the substantial changes" in the housing sector, Dublin City Council said yesterday that plans for the €900 million regeneration of St Michael’s Estate, O’Devaney Gardens, Dominic Street, Convent Lands in Sean MacDermot Street, and Infirmary Road were "unviable".
The council confirmed that developer Bernard McNamara had pulled out of five public-private partnership (PPP) schemes, worth a total of €900 million.
In a letter to the council confirming his withdrawal from the projects, Mr McNamara attributed his decision to the "adversely changed circumstances" of the housing market, new guidelines forcing developers to build larger apartments and new energy regulations. A number of PPP schemes involving rival developers have not proceeded either, he pointed out.
In a statement, the council blamed the current economic situation and "substantial changes" in the housing market for making the projects unviable.
It says it will now explore the options available for regenerating the project areas, but admitted it will take longer than planned to provide the social and affordable housing.
Assistant Dublin city manager Ciarán McNamara said today the council had not ruled out going back to the second bidder on the project to discuss building the homes.
He said McNamara had bid for the scheme at a time when there was a "very strong, reliable and buoyant housing market” and that these conditions had changed.
"Let’s be realistic here. The main reasons for the projects not going ahead at this stage is that we don’t have a strong residential property market and when you are using this process and the market changes, well obviously from Bernard McNamara's perspective these projects became unviable. But that doesn’t stop us from going back to the market at this stage.”
Ciaran McNamara told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that the options included the PPP route or the council building the housing units itself.
“If we are going down the traditional route of building the houses ourselves, that comes from our capital allocation from Government and it would possibly take a slightly longer period of time. But our guarantee is that we’re working with the regeneration board to make this happen and to make it happen as soon as possible.”
Much of the existing run-down stock of council housing at the five locations has already been demolished and tenants are waiting to be rehoused. The demolition of a further four blocks at O'Devaney Gardens is to go ahead next month.
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, the Taoiseach acknowledged that the collapse of the planned projects was a setback for those communities who have been working with Dublin City Council to devise regeneration for their areas.
"There is continued commitment by the city council to prioritise the prospect of regeneration for these communities despite the fact that this setback has occurred," the Taoiseach said.
"It may involve going to other people who have indicate or expressed an interest in taking up PPP involvement at that stage to see if there is any other developer who may be available to proceed where this developer has decided not to proceed," he added.
A meeting between Dublin City Council and the Department of the Environment over the collapse of the five social housing programmes is expected to take place over the next few days.
Dublin City Council officials are expected to urge the department to provide funding for social housing programmes following the collapse of plans to build thousands of housing units when the developer withdrew from the scheme.
Citing "current economic climate and the substantial changes" in the housing sector, Dublin City Council said yesterday that plans for the €900 million regeneration of St Michael’s Estate, O’Devaney Gardens, Dominic Street, Convent Lands in Sean MacDermot Street, and Infirmary Road were "unviable".
The council confirmed that developer Bernard McNamara had pulled out of five public-private partnership (PPP) schemes, worth a total of €900 million.
In a letter to the council confirming his withdrawal from the projects, Mr McNamara attributed his decision to the "adversely changed circumstances" of the housing market, new guidelines forcing developers to build larger apartments and new energy regulations. A number of PPP schemes involving rival developers have not proceeded either, he pointed out.
In a statement, the council blamed the current economic situation and "substantial changes" in the housing market for making the projects unviable.
It says it will now explore the options available for regenerating the project areas, but admitted it will take longer than planned to provide the social and affordable housing.
Assistant Dublin city manager Ciarán McNamara said today the council had not ruled out going back to the second bidder on the project to discuss building the homes.
He said McNamara had bid for the scheme at a time when there was a "very strong, reliable and buoyant housing market” and that these conditions had changed.
"Let’s be realistic here. The main reasons for the projects not going ahead at this stage is that we don’t have a strong residential property market and when you are using this process and the market changes, well obviously from Bernard McNamara's perspective these projects became unviable. But that doesn’t stop us from going back to the market at this stage.”
Ciaran McNamara told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that the options included the PPP route or the council building the housing units itself.
“If we are going down the traditional route of building the houses ourselves, that comes from our capital allocation from Government and it would possibly take a slightly longer period of time. But our guarantee is that we’re working with the regeneration board to make this happen and to make it happen as soon as possible.”
Much of the existing run-down stock of council housing at the five locations has already been demolished and tenants are waiting to be rehoused. The demolition of a further four blocks at O'Devaney Gardens is to go ahead next month.
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Council to seek State aid as social housing plan collapses
DUBLIN CITY Council is to ask the Government to help fund its social housing budget following the collapse of plans to build thousands of housing units in partnership with one of the State's biggest builders. PAUL CULLEN and BARRY O'HALLORAN report
Opposition parties also called on the Government to "fill the gap" after the council confirmed that developer Bernard McNamara had pulled out of five public-private partnership (PPP) schemes, worth a total of €900 million.
In a statement, the council blamed the current economic situation and "substantial changes" in the housing market for making the projects unviable.
It says it will now explore the options available for regenerating the project areas, but admitted it will take longer than planned to provide the social and affordable housing.
In a letter to the council confirming his withdrawal from the projects, Mr McNamara attributed his decision to the "adversely changed circumstances" of the housing market, new guidelines forcing developers to build larger apartments and new energy regulations. A number of PPP schemes involving rival developers have not proceeded either, he pointed out.
Mr McNamara is involved in a wide range of construction projects. Recently, he sold his stake in Superquinn and has put a number of valuable city centre properties on the market, including the Ormond Hotel in the centre of Dublin and two buildings on Grafton Street.
Recent estimates of his personal wealth say he is worth close to €230 million. Assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara said he would be asking the Department of the Environment for financial support for social housing programmes at a meeting later this week. Another funding option being explored is the sale of part of the sites owned by the council.
"While this is a setback we could do without, the council is confident we will be still able to provide high-quality social and affordable housing, possibly over a longer time span."
The largest affected project is the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate, Inchicore, which has been in planning since 2001.
The other abandoned schemes are the €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, a €200 million project on the convent grounds on Seán MacDermott Street, the regeneration of the Dominick Street flats and a €100 million project on Infirmary Road, near the Phoenix Park.
Much of the existing run-down stock of council housing at the five locations has already been demolished and tenants are waiting to be rehoused.
The demolition of a further four blocks at O'Devaney Gardens is to go ahead next month.
The announcement was greeted with dismay by the affected communities, who have been waiting for years for regeneration schemes to begin.
"I'm so angry. We've been on this road for 10 years now, and this is the third plan that has been pulled out from under our feet," said one resident of St Michael's Estate, Caroline McNulty.
Under PPP schemes, the council gives a site to the developer in return for a specified number of social housing units. The developer then makes a profit by building private apartments on the rest of the site. However, the collapse in property prices has made such schemes much less attractive to developers.
Council officials say they will meet the regeneration boards of St Michael's, Dominick Street and O'Devaney Gardens shortly to put an alternative plan in place to deliver social housing.
Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on the Government to "step into the builder's shoes" to ensure the social housing units were built.
Gerry Breen, Fine Gael group leader on the council, said the department would have to put money in to redress deprivation in the areas. He accused the council of putting "all its eggs in one basket" by granting so many contracts to Mr McNamara.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Opposition parties also called on the Government to "fill the gap" after the council confirmed that developer Bernard McNamara had pulled out of five public-private partnership (PPP) schemes, worth a total of €900 million.
In a statement, the council blamed the current economic situation and "substantial changes" in the housing market for making the projects unviable.
It says it will now explore the options available for regenerating the project areas, but admitted it will take longer than planned to provide the social and affordable housing.
In a letter to the council confirming his withdrawal from the projects, Mr McNamara attributed his decision to the "adversely changed circumstances" of the housing market, new guidelines forcing developers to build larger apartments and new energy regulations. A number of PPP schemes involving rival developers have not proceeded either, he pointed out.
Mr McNamara is involved in a wide range of construction projects. Recently, he sold his stake in Superquinn and has put a number of valuable city centre properties on the market, including the Ormond Hotel in the centre of Dublin and two buildings on Grafton Street.
Recent estimates of his personal wealth say he is worth close to €230 million. Assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara said he would be asking the Department of the Environment for financial support for social housing programmes at a meeting later this week. Another funding option being explored is the sale of part of the sites owned by the council.
"While this is a setback we could do without, the council is confident we will be still able to provide high-quality social and affordable housing, possibly over a longer time span."
The largest affected project is the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate, Inchicore, which has been in planning since 2001.
The other abandoned schemes are the €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, a €200 million project on the convent grounds on Seán MacDermott Street, the regeneration of the Dominick Street flats and a €100 million project on Infirmary Road, near the Phoenix Park.
Much of the existing run-down stock of council housing at the five locations has already been demolished and tenants are waiting to be rehoused.
The demolition of a further four blocks at O'Devaney Gardens is to go ahead next month.
The announcement was greeted with dismay by the affected communities, who have been waiting for years for regeneration schemes to begin.
"I'm so angry. We've been on this road for 10 years now, and this is the third plan that has been pulled out from under our feet," said one resident of St Michael's Estate, Caroline McNulty.
Under PPP schemes, the council gives a site to the developer in return for a specified number of social housing units. The developer then makes a profit by building private apartments on the rest of the site. However, the collapse in property prices has made such schemes much less attractive to developers.
Council officials say they will meet the regeneration boards of St Michael's, Dominick Street and O'Devaney Gardens shortly to put an alternative plan in place to deliver social housing.
Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on the Government to "step into the builder's shoes" to ensure the social housing units were built.
Gerry Breen, Fine Gael group leader on the council, said the department would have to put money in to redress deprivation in the areas. He accused the council of putting "all its eggs in one basket" by granting so many contracts to Mr McNamara.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
City could have congestion charge and car ban by 2010
THE introduction of a congestion charge in Dublin will have to be considered before construction works begin on Metro North in just two years' time.
And a ban on private cars in the city centre could be in place by the end of next year, with traffic re-routed across a new bridge at Macken Street and cars taken off Westmoreland and O'Connell streets to avoid chaos during construction works.
Speaking at the launch of a public consultation on the future of transport yesterday, Director of the Dublin Transportation Office John Henry said cars would be "re-routed" from Dame Street, College Green, Westmoreland Street and O'Connell Street up to a year before works begin in 2010 -- and the measure could be permanent.
"Most traffic on O'Connell Street and Westmoreland Street goes to Parnell Square and onwards. We're not banning cars, but re-routing," he said.
"The plan is likely to be made a permanent solution. It (the city centre ) won't be entirely car-free, traffic that doesn't need to be there will be re-routed. It should be in place a year before construction begins to bed in."
And he said that congestion charging "could come".
"We're going to have to look at that because we have to plan," he said.
The possibility of a congestion charge being introduced was criticised by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, which said the capital suffered from a "severe public transport deficit".
The Railway Procurement Agency, responsible for delivering Metro North by 2013, said it expects to apply for planning permission to build the Metro North line from St Stephen's Green to Lissenhall in north Dublin by the autumn.
It will also produce a detailed traffic management plan, which will state where private vehicles can travel in the city.
The main construction works would begin at the end of 2010 or early in 2011, meaning a ban on private cars in the city could be in place by late in 2009.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said yesterday that managing the disruption would be "very important".
"Every day that passes, we're near the traffic management plan," he said. "Every consideration is being given to every aspect. How you manage that disruption is very important.
Disruption
"There will certainly be a lessening of capacity for cars in the city centre, so we have to ensure there's public transport to provide the capacity. We're trying to ensure that when that disruption takes place, the message will be loud and clear that the city centre is open for business."
In a separate development, Mr Dempsey said a proposed new Luas line linking Dundrum with Harold's Cross would be difficult to build because of "very difficult constraints" including the requirement to take gardens from 150 homes and a number of "pinch points" along the route.
"It does seem to me it will be very difficult to enhance transport along that corridor -- 150 people are not going to be happy to lose a bit of their garden. You certainly couldn't run Luas, bus and cars along the same corridor."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
And a ban on private cars in the city centre could be in place by the end of next year, with traffic re-routed across a new bridge at Macken Street and cars taken off Westmoreland and O'Connell streets to avoid chaos during construction works.
Speaking at the launch of a public consultation on the future of transport yesterday, Director of the Dublin Transportation Office John Henry said cars would be "re-routed" from Dame Street, College Green, Westmoreland Street and O'Connell Street up to a year before works begin in 2010 -- and the measure could be permanent.
"Most traffic on O'Connell Street and Westmoreland Street goes to Parnell Square and onwards. We're not banning cars, but re-routing," he said.
"The plan is likely to be made a permanent solution. It (the city centre ) won't be entirely car-free, traffic that doesn't need to be there will be re-routed. It should be in place a year before construction begins to bed in."
And he said that congestion charging "could come".
"We're going to have to look at that because we have to plan," he said.
The possibility of a congestion charge being introduced was criticised by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, which said the capital suffered from a "severe public transport deficit".
The Railway Procurement Agency, responsible for delivering Metro North by 2013, said it expects to apply for planning permission to build the Metro North line from St Stephen's Green to Lissenhall in north Dublin by the autumn.
It will also produce a detailed traffic management plan, which will state where private vehicles can travel in the city.
The main construction works would begin at the end of 2010 or early in 2011, meaning a ban on private cars in the city could be in place by late in 2009.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said yesterday that managing the disruption would be "very important".
"Every day that passes, we're near the traffic management plan," he said. "Every consideration is being given to every aspect. How you manage that disruption is very important.
Disruption
"There will certainly be a lessening of capacity for cars in the city centre, so we have to ensure there's public transport to provide the capacity. We're trying to ensure that when that disruption takes place, the message will be loud and clear that the city centre is open for business."
In a separate development, Mr Dempsey said a proposed new Luas line linking Dundrum with Harold's Cross would be difficult to build because of "very difficult constraints" including the requirement to take gardens from 150 homes and a number of "pinch points" along the route.
"It does seem to me it will be very difficult to enhance transport along that corridor -- 150 people are not going to be happy to lose a bit of their garden. You certainly couldn't run Luas, bus and cars along the same corridor."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Developer quits €600m social housing project
ONE of the country's largest property developers has pulled out of deals worth at least €600m to build social housing in Dublin.
Castlethorn Construction, which is owned by businessman Bernard McNamara, has decided not to go ahead with plans to build hundreds of new homes for the least well-off, citing the current economic climate and "substantial" changes in the housing market.
The Opposition lashed out at the Government for failing to support those awaiting social and affordable housing.
And the developer faces the possibility of legal action for pulling out of the deals, signed in the past two years.
Dublin City Council sources said that while the first priority was to go ahead with some projects, there would be "discussions" with the developer over a possible compensation package for withdrawing.
Housing Minister Michael Finneran last night said he was in discussions with officials "at the highest level" in Dublin City Council. He said it was a matter for the local authority.
Fine Gael housing spokesman Terence Flanagan lashed out at the collapse of the deal, branding it a "blow to the most vulnerable".
In an attack on Taoiseach Brian Cowen, he said his mismanagement of the economy would hit more people daily.
"The waiting lists for social and affordable housing in Dublin are the highest in the country and this deal collapse, due to Cowen's property crash, means that these people face an uncertain future," he said.
"We are now seeing the first large bloc of victims of the economic downturn and they are exactly the people who always suffer first in these situations.
"It is time the Government re-examines direct provision of social and affordable units to ensure the most vulnerable get a roof over their head."
Projects
The five projects affected involved construction of hundreds of social and affordable homes, with facilities, and a substantial number of private homes to be sold on the market.
Some 700 new homes were planned for the St Michael's Estate in Inchicore in a deal worth €265m. At least 220 were social and affordable.
Other projects include the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens off the North Circular Road with 860 homes, worth €180m, and 360 apartments on Dominic Street, worth €150m.
Another 179 units were due to be built at the Convent lands on Sean McDermott Street, of which 20pc would be social and affordable, with another 162 units on Infirmary Road, with 130 social and affordable.
The council said that the projects were "unviable" from the private partner's perspective as the deal was partly based on the sale of private units to fund the cost of the social and affordable units being provided free of cost to Dublin City Council.
"Our priority is to find a new solution that will allow us continue with the much-needed regeneration of these five areas," assistant city manager Ciaran McNamara said yesterday.
"The council is confident we will be still able to provide high quality social and affordable housing, possibly over a longer time span."
The Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) were adopted by the council as an economically efficient way of improving the public housing stock.
Dublin Central TD Cyprian Brady said: "If independent economic commentators, including the ESRI, are expecting the economy to grow within the next few years, both Dublin City Council and McNamara will be able to get a reasonable return for their investment by the time the work in completed."
Castlethorn Construction is developing 10,000 homes at Adamstown in west Dublin, but nobody was available for comment last night.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Castlethorn Construction, which is owned by businessman Bernard McNamara, has decided not to go ahead with plans to build hundreds of new homes for the least well-off, citing the current economic climate and "substantial" changes in the housing market.
The Opposition lashed out at the Government for failing to support those awaiting social and affordable housing.
And the developer faces the possibility of legal action for pulling out of the deals, signed in the past two years.
Dublin City Council sources said that while the first priority was to go ahead with some projects, there would be "discussions" with the developer over a possible compensation package for withdrawing.
Housing Minister Michael Finneran last night said he was in discussions with officials "at the highest level" in Dublin City Council. He said it was a matter for the local authority.
Fine Gael housing spokesman Terence Flanagan lashed out at the collapse of the deal, branding it a "blow to the most vulnerable".
In an attack on Taoiseach Brian Cowen, he said his mismanagement of the economy would hit more people daily.
"The waiting lists for social and affordable housing in Dublin are the highest in the country and this deal collapse, due to Cowen's property crash, means that these people face an uncertain future," he said.
"We are now seeing the first large bloc of victims of the economic downturn and they are exactly the people who always suffer first in these situations.
"It is time the Government re-examines direct provision of social and affordable units to ensure the most vulnerable get a roof over their head."
Projects
The five projects affected involved construction of hundreds of social and affordable homes, with facilities, and a substantial number of private homes to be sold on the market.
Some 700 new homes were planned for the St Michael's Estate in Inchicore in a deal worth €265m. At least 220 were social and affordable.
Other projects include the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens off the North Circular Road with 860 homes, worth €180m, and 360 apartments on Dominic Street, worth €150m.
Another 179 units were due to be built at the Convent lands on Sean McDermott Street, of which 20pc would be social and affordable, with another 162 units on Infirmary Road, with 130 social and affordable.
The council said that the projects were "unviable" from the private partner's perspective as the deal was partly based on the sale of private units to fund the cost of the social and affordable units being provided free of cost to Dublin City Council.
"Our priority is to find a new solution that will allow us continue with the much-needed regeneration of these five areas," assistant city manager Ciaran McNamara said yesterday.
"The council is confident we will be still able to provide high quality social and affordable housing, possibly over a longer time span."
The Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) were adopted by the council as an economically efficient way of improving the public housing stock.
Dublin Central TD Cyprian Brady said: "If independent economic commentators, including the ESRI, are expecting the economy to grow within the next few years, both Dublin City Council and McNamara will be able to get a reasonable return for their investment by the time the work in completed."
Castlethorn Construction is developing 10,000 homes at Adamstown in west Dublin, but nobody was available for comment last night.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 19 May 2008
Anger over plans for Dowra marina
A DECISION by An Bord Pleanala to refuse permission for a 16-berth marina near the village of Dowra in Co Cavan has angered local politicians who say the move will thwart commercial development and hinder tourism in the area.
The Waterways Ireland proposal would have involved dredging a stretch of the Annagh River to create a 3.5km navigable channel north of Lough Allen to within 2km of Dowra, where the mooring facilities were to be constructed. Supporters of the scheme point out that building the marina would make the Shannon River navigable from Limerick right up to Dowra and claim the new facilities would significantly increase tourism and commercial development.
However the planning board ruled that the proposal would be at variance with the general provisions of the county development plan and would be "contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area". The board also expres - s ed concerns that dredging the river could destroy fish spawning grounds and would facilitate the spread of an invasive species of mussel which damages fish stocks.
"To say people round here are outraged by this decision would be putting it mildly, " says Cavan councillor, John Paul Feeley. "Dowra is the first village on the Shannon and it makes perfect sense to extend the navigable channel to that point. Other towns and villages along the Shannon waterway have benefited hugely during the Celtic Tiger years. Pubs, restaurants and service industries in places like Drumshanbo, Carrick-onShannon and Leitrim have all experienced commercial spinoff effects. But even though it's at the heart of an area earmarked for urban renewal, Dowra has missed out."
Dowra straddles counties Cavan and Leitrim with most of the village located in the Ulster county. "Colleagues of mine on Leitrim County Council are quite adamant that An Bord Pleanala is absolutely wrong in its interpretation of the county development plan. You have to remember this was a carefully considered application from a state body with a mandate to ensure that the waterways of Ireland are accessible to the people."
According to Feeley, the vast majority of local people are in favour of extending the waterway and building the marina. He claims a small group of locally based objectors consistently oppose any proposals for development in the area.
"I believe people who object to An Bord Pleanala should have to prove they'll be directly impacted by a proposed development. And I also think the local authority should be able to seek clarification of any decision arriv - ed at by the board."
Paschal Mooney, chairman of Failte Eireann Northwest, believes the decision to refuse permission for the marina will mean the area's tourism potential remains unrealised.
"I would strongly urge Water ways Ireland to look at the judgement in detail and to address the objections with a view to resubmitting a further application. The propos - ed canal forms part of a tour ism development plan for an area that is socially and economically disadvantaged and if completed would generate significant income for the local economy and the wider Leitrim, west Cavan and north Roscommon region."
A spokesperson for Waterways Ireland says the state body will "study the planning board inspector's report before we comment on the decision".
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The Waterways Ireland proposal would have involved dredging a stretch of the Annagh River to create a 3.5km navigable channel north of Lough Allen to within 2km of Dowra, where the mooring facilities were to be constructed. Supporters of the scheme point out that building the marina would make the Shannon River navigable from Limerick right up to Dowra and claim the new facilities would significantly increase tourism and commercial development.
However the planning board ruled that the proposal would be at variance with the general provisions of the county development plan and would be "contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area". The board also expres - s ed concerns that dredging the river could destroy fish spawning grounds and would facilitate the spread of an invasive species of mussel which damages fish stocks.
"To say people round here are outraged by this decision would be putting it mildly, " says Cavan councillor, John Paul Feeley. "Dowra is the first village on the Shannon and it makes perfect sense to extend the navigable channel to that point. Other towns and villages along the Shannon waterway have benefited hugely during the Celtic Tiger years. Pubs, restaurants and service industries in places like Drumshanbo, Carrick-onShannon and Leitrim have all experienced commercial spinoff effects. But even though it's at the heart of an area earmarked for urban renewal, Dowra has missed out."
Dowra straddles counties Cavan and Leitrim with most of the village located in the Ulster county. "Colleagues of mine on Leitrim County Council are quite adamant that An Bord Pleanala is absolutely wrong in its interpretation of the county development plan. You have to remember this was a carefully considered application from a state body with a mandate to ensure that the waterways of Ireland are accessible to the people."
According to Feeley, the vast majority of local people are in favour of extending the waterway and building the marina. He claims a small group of locally based objectors consistently oppose any proposals for development in the area.
"I believe people who object to An Bord Pleanala should have to prove they'll be directly impacted by a proposed development. And I also think the local authority should be able to seek clarification of any decision arriv - ed at by the board."
Paschal Mooney, chairman of Failte Eireann Northwest, believes the decision to refuse permission for the marina will mean the area's tourism potential remains unrealised.
"I would strongly urge Water ways Ireland to look at the judgement in detail and to address the objections with a view to resubmitting a further application. The propos - ed canal forms part of a tour ism development plan for an area that is socially and economically disadvantaged and if completed would generate significant income for the local economy and the wider Leitrim, west Cavan and north Roscommon region."
A spokesperson for Waterways Ireland says the state body will "study the planning board inspector's report before we comment on the decision".
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Developers of harbour tower never applied for planning
THE development company which was given the contract four years ago to build an apartment and commercial tower block in Dun Laoghaire Harbour never submitted an application for planning permission, it has emerged.
The controversial project began to unravel three years ago when the selected developer, Urban Capital, failed to meet a first deadline for a planning application based on plans drawn up by Dublin architects, Heneghan Peng. From the outset there was local opposition to the idea of building apartments up to 10 storeys high in the centre of the 19th-century harbour beside the single storey yacht clubs and other low-rise Victorian buildings on the sea front.
Two weeks ago, Sisk Builders, one of the major partners in the firm, Urban Capital, announced it was pulling out of the project citing a "combination of the uncertain economic market conditions and the planning risks associated with a project of that nature".
Days later, the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company chief executive, Michael Hanahoe, resigned, although he said his decision was not linked to the collapse of the apartment project whose initial design included 229 apartments, a 127-bed hotel and retail outlets.
Sources close to the project said there had been disagreement about the project from an early stage between the Harbour Company, local planners and the developers.
It was also pointed out that the development of high-rise buildings on the sea front has also become a major political hot potato in Dun Laoghaire.
Campaigner Richard Boyd Barrett came within a whisker of being elected to the Dail in last year's general election with over 5,300 first preference votes largely due to his "Save Our Seafront" campaign against the proposal to build another massive apartment complex on the site of the old Dun Laoghaire Baths.
In the previous general election, he ran as a Socialist Workers' Party candidate and polled less than 800 votes.
Over 14,000 people in the town signed a petition against the proposed apartment complex on the Baths and 4,000 took part in the biggest ever public protest in Dun Laoghaire.
With local government elections due next year, sources close to the Government-owned Harbour Company said that it appears no one is prepared to risk moving on yet another unpopular high-rise development in the Harbour.
Mr Boyd Barrett said he welcomed the news that Sisk had pulled out of the project which he said would have made a major section of the harbour the "exclusive property of the super-wealthy and utterly ruined its unique character". He added: "The decision to abandon this plan is a major victory for people power and the Save Our Seafront campaign to prevent the creeping privatisation of our harbour and public seafront."
He said Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company should now engage with the public and the Save Our Seafront group to come up with what he described as an "acceptable plan" for the pier. "It is an ideal site to locate sea-related and other amenities that will enhance public access to the harbour."
Despite the fact that Dun Laoghaire Harbour has the second biggest concentration of yachts and leisure craft in either Ireland or Britain, after the Solent and Hamble, there is a severe lack of facilities for yachting.
Local yachtsman, Des Kelliher, whose family has been sailing out of Dun Laoghaire for generations, said: "From a service point of view Dun Laoghaire is disastrous. There is still no boat yard. Owners have to go North and even over to Wales for work.
"If there was a boat yard it would provide an extraordinary amount of work. It is one of the main reasons Dun Laoghaire can't attract major sailing events. We can't have anything on the scale of Cork Week because the facilities aren't there. On any Saturday there are a 1,000 people out in the Bay in anything from canoes to windsurfers to expensive yachts. It is one of the biggest participant sporting centres in Ireland and yet there are no support services available."
Although it now appears the high rise Carlisle Pier and Baths projects are finished, consideration is taking place of further major commercial development of the Harbour.
Last month, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council put forward plans for the infill of around 100 acres of Scotsman's Bay. The first "module" of the plan involves the building of a 500-space car park on an area of about five acres of infill beside the East Pier.
It is understood the building of a major marina with a hotel and apartment complex is one of the ideas being mooted in the Harbour Company should Stena Line, which runs its HSS ferry service from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead, pull out of the town when its current contract runs out in 2010.
JIM CUSACK
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The controversial project began to unravel three years ago when the selected developer, Urban Capital, failed to meet a first deadline for a planning application based on plans drawn up by Dublin architects, Heneghan Peng. From the outset there was local opposition to the idea of building apartments up to 10 storeys high in the centre of the 19th-century harbour beside the single storey yacht clubs and other low-rise Victorian buildings on the sea front.
Two weeks ago, Sisk Builders, one of the major partners in the firm, Urban Capital, announced it was pulling out of the project citing a "combination of the uncertain economic market conditions and the planning risks associated with a project of that nature".
Days later, the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company chief executive, Michael Hanahoe, resigned, although he said his decision was not linked to the collapse of the apartment project whose initial design included 229 apartments, a 127-bed hotel and retail outlets.
Sources close to the project said there had been disagreement about the project from an early stage between the Harbour Company, local planners and the developers.
It was also pointed out that the development of high-rise buildings on the sea front has also become a major political hot potato in Dun Laoghaire.
Campaigner Richard Boyd Barrett came within a whisker of being elected to the Dail in last year's general election with over 5,300 first preference votes largely due to his "Save Our Seafront" campaign against the proposal to build another massive apartment complex on the site of the old Dun Laoghaire Baths.
In the previous general election, he ran as a Socialist Workers' Party candidate and polled less than 800 votes.
Over 14,000 people in the town signed a petition against the proposed apartment complex on the Baths and 4,000 took part in the biggest ever public protest in Dun Laoghaire.
With local government elections due next year, sources close to the Government-owned Harbour Company said that it appears no one is prepared to risk moving on yet another unpopular high-rise development in the Harbour.
Mr Boyd Barrett said he welcomed the news that Sisk had pulled out of the project which he said would have made a major section of the harbour the "exclusive property of the super-wealthy and utterly ruined its unique character". He added: "The decision to abandon this plan is a major victory for people power and the Save Our Seafront campaign to prevent the creeping privatisation of our harbour and public seafront."
He said Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company should now engage with the public and the Save Our Seafront group to come up with what he described as an "acceptable plan" for the pier. "It is an ideal site to locate sea-related and other amenities that will enhance public access to the harbour."
Despite the fact that Dun Laoghaire Harbour has the second biggest concentration of yachts and leisure craft in either Ireland or Britain, after the Solent and Hamble, there is a severe lack of facilities for yachting.
Local yachtsman, Des Kelliher, whose family has been sailing out of Dun Laoghaire for generations, said: "From a service point of view Dun Laoghaire is disastrous. There is still no boat yard. Owners have to go North and even over to Wales for work.
"If there was a boat yard it would provide an extraordinary amount of work. It is one of the main reasons Dun Laoghaire can't attract major sailing events. We can't have anything on the scale of Cork Week because the facilities aren't there. On any Saturday there are a 1,000 people out in the Bay in anything from canoes to windsurfers to expensive yachts. It is one of the biggest participant sporting centres in Ireland and yet there are no support services available."
Although it now appears the high rise Carlisle Pier and Baths projects are finished, consideration is taking place of further major commercial development of the Harbour.
Last month, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council put forward plans for the infill of around 100 acres of Scotsman's Bay. The first "module" of the plan involves the building of a 500-space car park on an area of about five acres of infill beside the East Pier.
It is understood the building of a major marina with a hotel and apartment complex is one of the ideas being mooted in the Harbour Company should Stena Line, which runs its HSS ferry service from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead, pull out of the town when its current contract runs out in 2010.
JIM CUSACK
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Structure of society key to policy goals
Strategic planning for changes based on shifts in population must take account of economic and social indicators, writes Brendan M Walsh
THE POPULATION and Labour Force Projections 2006-2041 recently published by the Central Statistics Office contain a wealth of information about the likely size and age distribution of the country's future population.
The projections are the result of applying a range of assumptions regarding fertility and migration to the results of the 2006 Census of Population. Only one assumption is made about mortality, namely that the recent improvement in Irish life expectancy will continue, so that by 2046 male life expectancy will have risen by a further 10 years, to 86, and female life by about seven years, to 88. Two fertility scenarios are explored. The "high" scenario assumes that the total fertility rate (roughly the average number of births per women) will remain at its present level of 1.9 over the projection period; while in the "low" fertility scenario this declines to 1.65 by 2016 and then stabilises.
Three migration scenarios are presented. The first assumes zero net migration over the entire period - reflecting offsetting inflows and outflows of 20,000 a year. Under the "low" migration assumption, net immigration falls from 50,000 annually to 10,000 a year after 2021, while under the "high" migration assumption, the annual net inflow falls from 60,000 to 30,000 between 2006 and 2021. The combination of three migration and two fertility assumptions yields six different projected populations for 2021, ranging from 5.7 million (high fertility and high net immigration) to 4.7 million (low fertility and zero net migration).
Under the bullish assumptions the total population will grow at an annual average rate of 2 per cent a year - much the same as that recorded during the exceptional growth spurt of the period 2002-06 - while the bearish assumptions bring the growth rate back to 0.7 per cent a year, still quite high by European standards.
Looking further ahead, the range of uncertainty increases. The projected 2041 population ranges from a high of 7.1 million to a low of 4.9 million.
These wide ranges highlight the uncertainty inherent in medium term population projections. Most of the difference - especially in the economically active age groups - derives from the migration assumption. Ireland is a classic example of a small, open labour market, whose rate of population growth has fluctuated widely depending on the flow of people into and out of the country. As recently as 1987-91 high emigration led to a falling population, while in the late 1990s and early years of the present decade unprecedented net immigration propelled population growth to the highest in the developed world.
The headlines following the publication of the population projections tended to focus on the higher end of the projection range. The possibility of surpassing the pre-Famine 1841 total of 6.5 million by the 2030s was highlighted.
Perhaps this emphasis reflects an optimistic psychology that became ingrained during the heady years of the Celtic Tiger when a strong demographic impetus was seen as one of the "fundamentals" underpinning the exceptional performance of the Irish economy. The demographic backdrop is still invoked to support the belief that we have an ongoing requirement for a high rate of house building. But if we look only at the upper end of the population projection range we risk missing the point that our demographic "fundamentals" are very sensitive to migration flows.
Even under the highest net immigration assumption in the CSO exercise, the rate of population growth in the main household-formation age group (20 to 44 years) will fall from the exceptional 29 per cent recorded between 1996 and 2006 to 20 per cent between 2006 and 2016. If, however, net immigration were to average zero over the coming decade, the population in this age group would reduce by almost 5 per cent, implying a fall of some 4,000 a year in the number of potential couples in this age group. The abrupt decline in the birth rate during the 1980s is now being reflected in the number of young adults in the population and a continuation of net immigration is required to stabilise it.
The Irish economy is slowing rapidly, raising a real prospect of a return to net emigration in the short term at least. Zero net migration represents a balance between the continuing outflow of a large proportion of each cohort of Irish school and university graduates and a continuing substantial inflow of new immigrants and returning emigrants.
Rising unemployment could easily tip this balance into net emigration, leading to a significant fall in the numbers in the household formation age groups.
This would exacerbate the downward trend in house prices. Uncertainty about future net migration is thus a key element in the short to medium-term outlook for the Irish housing market.
Of course, demography is only one influence on the demand for housing and any calculations made are only a rough indicator of the demographic component in housing demand.
Among the non-demographic factors that also have to be taken into account are income growth, expected house price inflation, and real interest rates, while the demographic component of housing demand needs to be refined to take account of changing household structures and internal population movements.
However, it is likely that these factors will play a much smaller role - if any - in boosting the demand for housing in the years ahead than they did during the past 10 years.
The author is professor emeritus of economics at University College Dublin.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
THE POPULATION and Labour Force Projections 2006-2041 recently published by the Central Statistics Office contain a wealth of information about the likely size and age distribution of the country's future population.
The projections are the result of applying a range of assumptions regarding fertility and migration to the results of the 2006 Census of Population. Only one assumption is made about mortality, namely that the recent improvement in Irish life expectancy will continue, so that by 2046 male life expectancy will have risen by a further 10 years, to 86, and female life by about seven years, to 88. Two fertility scenarios are explored. The "high" scenario assumes that the total fertility rate (roughly the average number of births per women) will remain at its present level of 1.9 over the projection period; while in the "low" fertility scenario this declines to 1.65 by 2016 and then stabilises.
Three migration scenarios are presented. The first assumes zero net migration over the entire period - reflecting offsetting inflows and outflows of 20,000 a year. Under the "low" migration assumption, net immigration falls from 50,000 annually to 10,000 a year after 2021, while under the "high" migration assumption, the annual net inflow falls from 60,000 to 30,000 between 2006 and 2021. The combination of three migration and two fertility assumptions yields six different projected populations for 2021, ranging from 5.7 million (high fertility and high net immigration) to 4.7 million (low fertility and zero net migration).
Under the bullish assumptions the total population will grow at an annual average rate of 2 per cent a year - much the same as that recorded during the exceptional growth spurt of the period 2002-06 - while the bearish assumptions bring the growth rate back to 0.7 per cent a year, still quite high by European standards.
Looking further ahead, the range of uncertainty increases. The projected 2041 population ranges from a high of 7.1 million to a low of 4.9 million.
These wide ranges highlight the uncertainty inherent in medium term population projections. Most of the difference - especially in the economically active age groups - derives from the migration assumption. Ireland is a classic example of a small, open labour market, whose rate of population growth has fluctuated widely depending on the flow of people into and out of the country. As recently as 1987-91 high emigration led to a falling population, while in the late 1990s and early years of the present decade unprecedented net immigration propelled population growth to the highest in the developed world.
The headlines following the publication of the population projections tended to focus on the higher end of the projection range. The possibility of surpassing the pre-Famine 1841 total of 6.5 million by the 2030s was highlighted.
Perhaps this emphasis reflects an optimistic psychology that became ingrained during the heady years of the Celtic Tiger when a strong demographic impetus was seen as one of the "fundamentals" underpinning the exceptional performance of the Irish economy. The demographic backdrop is still invoked to support the belief that we have an ongoing requirement for a high rate of house building. But if we look only at the upper end of the population projection range we risk missing the point that our demographic "fundamentals" are very sensitive to migration flows.
Even under the highest net immigration assumption in the CSO exercise, the rate of population growth in the main household-formation age group (20 to 44 years) will fall from the exceptional 29 per cent recorded between 1996 and 2006 to 20 per cent between 2006 and 2016. If, however, net immigration were to average zero over the coming decade, the population in this age group would reduce by almost 5 per cent, implying a fall of some 4,000 a year in the number of potential couples in this age group. The abrupt decline in the birth rate during the 1980s is now being reflected in the number of young adults in the population and a continuation of net immigration is required to stabilise it.
The Irish economy is slowing rapidly, raising a real prospect of a return to net emigration in the short term at least. Zero net migration represents a balance between the continuing outflow of a large proportion of each cohort of Irish school and university graduates and a continuing substantial inflow of new immigrants and returning emigrants.
Rising unemployment could easily tip this balance into net emigration, leading to a significant fall in the numbers in the household formation age groups.
This would exacerbate the downward trend in house prices. Uncertainty about future net migration is thus a key element in the short to medium-term outlook for the Irish housing market.
Of course, demography is only one influence on the demand for housing and any calculations made are only a rough indicator of the demographic component in housing demand.
Among the non-demographic factors that also have to be taken into account are income growth, expected house price inflation, and real interest rates, while the demographic component of housing demand needs to be refined to take account of changing household structures and internal population movements.
However, it is likely that these factors will play a much smaller role - if any - in boosting the demand for housing in the years ahead than they did during the past 10 years.
The author is professor emeritus of economics at University College Dublin.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning permission granted for Cork medical centre
PLANNING PERMISSION has been granted for a multi-million euro medical centre in Bishopstown, Cork city.
3G Partnership previously lodged two applications to Cork City Council to build a medical centre on the Wilton Road.
The first application was turned down in January 2007, while a second was granted in May 2007. However, residents in Wilton appealed the matter to An Bord Pleanála, which overturned the city council's decision.
A third amended application was launched, with the city council now giving permission for the project. Residents in Wilton have lodged over 30 objections, saying the facility would lead to traffic congestion. The Wilton Medical Centre will include facilities for a day surgery, specialist imaging and cancer services, a specialist children's clinic and a walk-in urgent care centre that will deal with minor injuries and illnesses.
3G Partnership says the new facility will be a boost to medical services in Cork, creating more than 150 full-time medical-related jobs. The Wilton Medical Centre, which will cost €65 million to build, is intended to complement Cork University Hospital and to relieve some of the pressure on medical services in Cork, according to the developers.
The developers says the latest design takes into consideration the planning, traffic and design issues raised by An Bord Pleanála and Cork City Council in the previous applications. Opponents to the project have four weeks to appeal the decision to grant planning permission to the project.
The five-storey building will comprise three basement levels for 205 car parking spaces, medical and health services, retail units and cafes on the ground floor.
This is the second private medical facility to receive planning permission in the Wilton-Bishopstown area in recent months. Planning permission was granted in March to the Beacon Medical Group to build a private hospital at Cork University Hospital, Wilton, Cork city, under the Government's co-location policy.
The project was granted permission despite 140 objections from residents. The majority of these, 98 per cent, related to traffic congestion, lighting, waste management and subsidence.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
3G Partnership previously lodged two applications to Cork City Council to build a medical centre on the Wilton Road.
The first application was turned down in January 2007, while a second was granted in May 2007. However, residents in Wilton appealed the matter to An Bord Pleanála, which overturned the city council's decision.
A third amended application was launched, with the city council now giving permission for the project. Residents in Wilton have lodged over 30 objections, saying the facility would lead to traffic congestion. The Wilton Medical Centre will include facilities for a day surgery, specialist imaging and cancer services, a specialist children's clinic and a walk-in urgent care centre that will deal with minor injuries and illnesses.
3G Partnership says the new facility will be a boost to medical services in Cork, creating more than 150 full-time medical-related jobs. The Wilton Medical Centre, which will cost €65 million to build, is intended to complement Cork University Hospital and to relieve some of the pressure on medical services in Cork, according to the developers.
The developers says the latest design takes into consideration the planning, traffic and design issues raised by An Bord Pleanála and Cork City Council in the previous applications. Opponents to the project have four weeks to appeal the decision to grant planning permission to the project.
The five-storey building will comprise three basement levels for 205 car parking spaces, medical and health services, retail units and cafes on the ground floor.
This is the second private medical facility to receive planning permission in the Wilton-Bishopstown area in recent months. Planning permission was granted in March to the Beacon Medical Group to build a private hospital at Cork University Hospital, Wilton, Cork city, under the Government's co-location policy.
The project was granted permission despite 140 objections from residents. The majority of these, 98 per cent, related to traffic congestion, lighting, waste management and subsidence.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council members seek meeting over stalled housing projects
FINE GAEL and Sinn Féin members of Dublin City Council have called for an emergency meeting to discuss the apparent collapse of the council's plans to build thousands of housing units in partnership with developer Bernard McNamara, writes Paul Cullen .
Senior council officials continued to insist yesterday that they were still in discussions with Mr McNamara over the fate of six public-private partnership (PPP) projects, worth over €900 million, involving the two parties.
However, senior members of the council told The Irish Times their understanding from senior council officials was that the PPP schemes with Mr McNamara were over, and an announcement to this effect would be made shortly.
Fine Gael group leader Gerry Breen said the breakdown of the projects was a fait accompli because of changed market conditions, and now it was just a matter of timing the announcement. He has proposed an emergency council meeting on the matter and wants Minister for the Environment John Gormley to attend.
Sinn Féin group leader Christy Burke said he was devastated to learn from officials that the projects would not be going ahead. He described the news as a serious blow for thousands of Dubliners who had been living in appalling conditions for the past 10 years.
"Millions of euro have been spent on ground testing, preparatory work and demolition on these sites, and much of the original housing has been knocked. This is going to leave parts of Dublin looking like Beirut."
According to assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara, discussions were continuing with the developer and a statement would be issued on Monday. If the deals with the developer failed to materialise, the council would have to work on an alternative plan, but this would take time.
He denied the council had been foolish to rely on the private sector so heavily to renew its housing stock. He said: "Hindsight is 20/20 vision. In each case, we went through an open, transparent and competitive procurement process in which locals were involved at all stages."
A spokesman for Bernard McNamara said talks were continuing. He said there had been "recurring difficulties" in a number of the PPP processes with a lot of "chopping and changing" by the council. Some of these had been so fundamental as to require revised planning applications.
Community workers in two of the projects yesterday appealed to the developers to continue their involvement.
In a statement issued in the name of Community Technical Aid, the local regeneration workers said that in preparing themselves for redevelopment, communities were in a worse state than before. "Blocks have been knocked down, flats emptied and families moved, with the inevitable result of increased anti-social behaviour. If the redevelopment collapses now, it will be a devastating blow to our already deteriorating communities."
The largest affected project is the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, which has been in planning since 2001. Seven of the 11 tower blocks have already been demolished.
The €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, for which contracts had been signed, is also affected.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Senior council officials continued to insist yesterday that they were still in discussions with Mr McNamara over the fate of six public-private partnership (PPP) projects, worth over €900 million, involving the two parties.
However, senior members of the council told The Irish Times their understanding from senior council officials was that the PPP schemes with Mr McNamara were over, and an announcement to this effect would be made shortly.
Fine Gael group leader Gerry Breen said the breakdown of the projects was a fait accompli because of changed market conditions, and now it was just a matter of timing the announcement. He has proposed an emergency council meeting on the matter and wants Minister for the Environment John Gormley to attend.
Sinn Féin group leader Christy Burke said he was devastated to learn from officials that the projects would not be going ahead. He described the news as a serious blow for thousands of Dubliners who had been living in appalling conditions for the past 10 years.
"Millions of euro have been spent on ground testing, preparatory work and demolition on these sites, and much of the original housing has been knocked. This is going to leave parts of Dublin looking like Beirut."
According to assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara, discussions were continuing with the developer and a statement would be issued on Monday. If the deals with the developer failed to materialise, the council would have to work on an alternative plan, but this would take time.
He denied the council had been foolish to rely on the private sector so heavily to renew its housing stock. He said: "Hindsight is 20/20 vision. In each case, we went through an open, transparent and competitive procurement process in which locals were involved at all stages."
A spokesman for Bernard McNamara said talks were continuing. He said there had been "recurring difficulties" in a number of the PPP processes with a lot of "chopping and changing" by the council. Some of these had been so fundamental as to require revised planning applications.
Community workers in two of the projects yesterday appealed to the developers to continue their involvement.
In a statement issued in the name of Community Technical Aid, the local regeneration workers said that in preparing themselves for redevelopment, communities were in a worse state than before. "Blocks have been knocked down, flats emptied and families moved, with the inevitable result of increased anti-social behaviour. If the redevelopment collapses now, it will be a devastating blow to our already deteriorating communities."
The largest affected project is the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, which has been in planning since 2001. Seven of the 11 tower blocks have already been demolished.
The €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, for which contracts had been signed, is also affected.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Building permits worth €150m to council
MORE THAN €150 million has been paid by developers to Dublin City Council for permission to build in the city since the development contribution scheme was introduced in 2004, new figures from the council show.
The scheme, introduced by the Government under the planning acts, allows local authorities to attach a condition to the grant of planning permission requiring a developer to pay a contribution for public infrastructure and services, such as roads or water mains, which benefit the development.
Last year the rate of contribution sought by the council was €13,908 per residential unit, or €132 per square metre in commercial developments. The council earned just over €51.6 million from these contributions last year and has earned closed to €153 million since the scheme began operating in January 2004.
Despite a slowdown in the construction industry, the council's finance department said it still expects to take in €168 million in the next three years, an average of €56 million a year, and has already allocated all the funds to capital projects - road construction, water and drainage schemes, urban regeneration schemes, parks and amenities and community facilities.
In a report to councillors, head of the finance department Kathy Quinn said the total cost of these projects for the next three years was in excess of €2 billion. Government funding and the council's own earnings would not cover this cost. The development contributions of €168 million were essential to the funding of projects and even with this funding the council was still facing a deficit of almost €29.5 million.
Any additional projects requiring funding which might arise over the next three years would require very careful consideration because of "scarce capital resources", Ms Quinn said. She noted that the changing economic conditions were likely to have an impact on the level of development contributions the council would receive.
The council is seeking greater independence from central Government in relation to its finances and is making a submission to the commission on taxation on this basis. The council is seeking a share of income tax, stamp duty and VAT generated in the city, as well as the power to levy rates on government buildings, schools, universities and hospitals and to introduce a hotel bed tax.
Dublin Chamber of Commerce has said it is opposed to an increase in business taxation and any new local taxation measure that would make the city and region more expensive for visiting tourists or shoppers. However, its chief executive Gina Quinn said the chamber does support the call for the levying of rates on government buildings, and for the State to bear the full economic cost of providing domestic water and emergency services such as fire and ambulance services.
"If all of the Government-occupied properties in the city were subject to commercial rates, just like businesses are, then City Council's annual revenue would increase by approximately €27m," she said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The scheme, introduced by the Government under the planning acts, allows local authorities to attach a condition to the grant of planning permission requiring a developer to pay a contribution for public infrastructure and services, such as roads or water mains, which benefit the development.
Last year the rate of contribution sought by the council was €13,908 per residential unit, or €132 per square metre in commercial developments. The council earned just over €51.6 million from these contributions last year and has earned closed to €153 million since the scheme began operating in January 2004.
Despite a slowdown in the construction industry, the council's finance department said it still expects to take in €168 million in the next three years, an average of €56 million a year, and has already allocated all the funds to capital projects - road construction, water and drainage schemes, urban regeneration schemes, parks and amenities and community facilities.
In a report to councillors, head of the finance department Kathy Quinn said the total cost of these projects for the next three years was in excess of €2 billion. Government funding and the council's own earnings would not cover this cost. The development contributions of €168 million were essential to the funding of projects and even with this funding the council was still facing a deficit of almost €29.5 million.
Any additional projects requiring funding which might arise over the next three years would require very careful consideration because of "scarce capital resources", Ms Quinn said. She noted that the changing economic conditions were likely to have an impact on the level of development contributions the council would receive.
The council is seeking greater independence from central Government in relation to its finances and is making a submission to the commission on taxation on this basis. The council is seeking a share of income tax, stamp duty and VAT generated in the city, as well as the power to levy rates on government buildings, schools, universities and hospitals and to introduce a hotel bed tax.
Dublin Chamber of Commerce has said it is opposed to an increase in business taxation and any new local taxation measure that would make the city and region more expensive for visiting tourists or shoppers. However, its chief executive Gina Quinn said the chamber does support the call for the levying of rates on government buildings, and for the State to bear the full economic cost of providing domestic water and emergency services such as fire and ambulance services.
"If all of the Government-occupied properties in the city were subject to commercial rates, just like businesses are, then City Council's annual revenue would increase by approximately €27m," she said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Castletown House facing 'threat' from proposed development
IRELAND’S MOST important stately home, Castletown House in Co Kildare, is now facing the “biggest threat” to its setting since it was saved by Desmond and Mariga Guinness 40 years ago, according to the Irish Georgian Society (IGS).
The society’s president, Knight of Glin Desmond FitzGerald, said this “significant new threat” to the setting of Castletown House comes from the proposed redevelopment of Donaghcumper demesne on the opposite bank of the River Liffey, to the south.
Developer Devondale Ltd has sought planning permission from Kildare County Council for a mixed use scheme of offices, shops, restaurants, six-screen cinema and 108 detached houses on the 98-acre site, which is being promoted as a natural extension to Celbridge.
But the IGS “strenuously objects” to the plan, saying the mainly five and six-storey commercial buildings would “dwarf the existing scale of the town” and also “irrevocably compromise” its relationship with the parklands of Donaghcumper demesne.
The proposed development would be visible from the upper floors of Castletown House as well as its avenue of lime trees, it said. Given its central role in safeguarding the building, the society was “gravely concerned” that its setting would be severely compromised.
Mr FitzGerald said that the Devondale scheme at Donaghcumper would “be silhouetted when viewed from much of the Castletown demesne” and this was “the biggest threat to Ireland’s most important country house” since it was saved in 1967.
Dating from the 1720s, Castletown is the earliest Palladian house in Ireland and is of international significance. Appreciation of the house is greatly enhanced by the survival of its parkland setting, one of the finest created landscapes of its type here.
The house was designed for Speaker William Conolly by Edward Lovett Pearce, architect of the old Parliament House (now Bank of Ireland) on College Green. It remained in the hands of the Conolly-Carews until 1965, when it was sold to developers.
Finding Castletown empty, with its doors wide open, Desmond Guinness was so fearful for its future that he purchased the house and 120 acres of parkland and embarked on a rescue programme, aided by his spirited first wife Mariga and numerous volunteers.
The Castletown Foundation, chaired by Prof Kevin B Nowlan, was set up to manage the house and receive charitable donations – including some of its original furniture – and Desmond Guinness eventually handed over the house to the foundation in 1979.
It ran Castletown until the early 1990s, when fears about its condition – particularly the roof – led to ownership of the house being transferred to the State in 1994. A five-year restoration, costing £5 million, was then carried out by the Office of Public Works.
Even though it was still “a work in progress”, according to OPW architect John Cahill, Castletown re-opened to the public in 1999.
Since then further restoration has been supported, most recently by a €1.2 million grant from the Department of the Environment.
Works have included securing the cantilevered Portland stone staircase in the entrance hall. A tender for the renovation of the stables has also been advertised.
Most of the land to the rear of the house is owned by Janus Securities, a consortium formed by the McMullan brothers, who own Maxol Oil, and the Rhatigan brothers, who have been involved in numerous developments, mainly in the Dublin area.
Seven years ago, Janus got approval from Kildare County Council for a major business and technology park on their land, in return for ceding some 130 acres in the immediate vicinity of Castletown to the council. However, this scheme was successfully appealed by An Taisce.
In 2005, Desmond Guinness sold his last remaining interest in the estate – one of its 18th century gate lodges along with 12 acres of riverside land and a modern chalet-style house. The asking price for this property at the time was €1 million-plus.
At its agm last week, the Irish Georgian Society’s director, Donough Cahill, announced that €200,000 had been raised towards the restoration of the Robert Adam rooms at Headfort, Co Meath – a project that will mark its 50th anniversary.
The IGS has also completed works at Kilshannig, Co Cork, Barmeath Castle, Co Louth and Scregg House, Co Roscommon. According to Mr Cahill, “the society’s contribution to important conservation projects was often essential in ensuring their success”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The society’s president, Knight of Glin Desmond FitzGerald, said this “significant new threat” to the setting of Castletown House comes from the proposed redevelopment of Donaghcumper demesne on the opposite bank of the River Liffey, to the south.
Developer Devondale Ltd has sought planning permission from Kildare County Council for a mixed use scheme of offices, shops, restaurants, six-screen cinema and 108 detached houses on the 98-acre site, which is being promoted as a natural extension to Celbridge.
But the IGS “strenuously objects” to the plan, saying the mainly five and six-storey commercial buildings would “dwarf the existing scale of the town” and also “irrevocably compromise” its relationship with the parklands of Donaghcumper demesne.
The proposed development would be visible from the upper floors of Castletown House as well as its avenue of lime trees, it said. Given its central role in safeguarding the building, the society was “gravely concerned” that its setting would be severely compromised.
Mr FitzGerald said that the Devondale scheme at Donaghcumper would “be silhouetted when viewed from much of the Castletown demesne” and this was “the biggest threat to Ireland’s most important country house” since it was saved in 1967.
Dating from the 1720s, Castletown is the earliest Palladian house in Ireland and is of international significance. Appreciation of the house is greatly enhanced by the survival of its parkland setting, one of the finest created landscapes of its type here.
The house was designed for Speaker William Conolly by Edward Lovett Pearce, architect of the old Parliament House (now Bank of Ireland) on College Green. It remained in the hands of the Conolly-Carews until 1965, when it was sold to developers.
Finding Castletown empty, with its doors wide open, Desmond Guinness was so fearful for its future that he purchased the house and 120 acres of parkland and embarked on a rescue programme, aided by his spirited first wife Mariga and numerous volunteers.
The Castletown Foundation, chaired by Prof Kevin B Nowlan, was set up to manage the house and receive charitable donations – including some of its original furniture – and Desmond Guinness eventually handed over the house to the foundation in 1979.
It ran Castletown until the early 1990s, when fears about its condition – particularly the roof – led to ownership of the house being transferred to the State in 1994. A five-year restoration, costing £5 million, was then carried out by the Office of Public Works.
Even though it was still “a work in progress”, according to OPW architect John Cahill, Castletown re-opened to the public in 1999.
Since then further restoration has been supported, most recently by a €1.2 million grant from the Department of the Environment.
Works have included securing the cantilevered Portland stone staircase in the entrance hall. A tender for the renovation of the stables has also been advertised.
Most of the land to the rear of the house is owned by Janus Securities, a consortium formed by the McMullan brothers, who own Maxol Oil, and the Rhatigan brothers, who have been involved in numerous developments, mainly in the Dublin area.
Seven years ago, Janus got approval from Kildare County Council for a major business and technology park on their land, in return for ceding some 130 acres in the immediate vicinity of Castletown to the council. However, this scheme was successfully appealed by An Taisce.
In 2005, Desmond Guinness sold his last remaining interest in the estate – one of its 18th century gate lodges along with 12 acres of riverside land and a modern chalet-style house. The asking price for this property at the time was €1 million-plus.
At its agm last week, the Irish Georgian Society’s director, Donough Cahill, announced that €200,000 had been raised towards the restoration of the Robert Adam rooms at Headfort, Co Meath – a project that will mark its 50th anniversary.
The IGS has also completed works at Kilshannig, Co Cork, Barmeath Castle, Co Louth and Scregg House, Co Roscommon. According to Mr Cahill, “the society’s contribution to important conservation projects was often essential in ensuring their success”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Disruption due during Metro works
There will be a decrease in capacity for cars in Dublin city centre during works on Metro North and the Luas interconnector, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has said.
"Trying to provide world class public transport system does entail some inconvenience and disruption" Mr Dempsey said at the launch of a public consultation on a new transport strategy for Dublin from 2010 to 2030.
The time frame for the Metro North and the Luas Interconnector is from 2010 to 2015 but works will take place in different places at different times to confine disruption, Mr Dempsey added.
Director of the Dublin Transportation Office John Henry said the disruption was necessary and added: "I would like to see a more permanent solution, to make the city centre a much friendlier place to do business "
A congestion charge, such as the one adopted in London, will be one of the solutions to control transport use which will be looked at in the future, Mr Henry added.
"We are not talking about banning traffic in the city centre but rerouting it" Mr Henry said. "We need to re-establish the dominance of citizens of the city and reduce dominance of the car".
Dublin Chamber of Commerce said it supported plans to transform the city centre into a pedestrian-friendly, shopper-friendly, family-friendly and tourist-friendly space. However it warned that plans to introduce congestion charging were premature and must not be considered until adequate public transport is in place.
“Dublin suffers from a severe public transport deficit, which impacts upon workers, shoppers and tourists daily,” said Chief Executive Gina Quin
“Responding to this deficit by restricting private vehicles or imposing congestion charging will not improve traffic flows or patterns in the city centre. What is needed first is a significant increase in bus capacity in the Greater Dublin Area, and a fully operational traffic management plan which helps us to understand current traffic flows in and around the city.”
Members of the public interested in giving their views on the future shape of transport in the greater Dublin area can answer an online questionnaire at www.2030vision.ie by June 30th.
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
"Trying to provide world class public transport system does entail some inconvenience and disruption" Mr Dempsey said at the launch of a public consultation on a new transport strategy for Dublin from 2010 to 2030.
The time frame for the Metro North and the Luas Interconnector is from 2010 to 2015 but works will take place in different places at different times to confine disruption, Mr Dempsey added.
Director of the Dublin Transportation Office John Henry said the disruption was necessary and added: "I would like to see a more permanent solution, to make the city centre a much friendlier place to do business "
A congestion charge, such as the one adopted in London, will be one of the solutions to control transport use which will be looked at in the future, Mr Henry added.
"We are not talking about banning traffic in the city centre but rerouting it" Mr Henry said. "We need to re-establish the dominance of citizens of the city and reduce dominance of the car".
Dublin Chamber of Commerce said it supported plans to transform the city centre into a pedestrian-friendly, shopper-friendly, family-friendly and tourist-friendly space. However it warned that plans to introduce congestion charging were premature and must not be considered until adequate public transport is in place.
“Dublin suffers from a severe public transport deficit, which impacts upon workers, shoppers and tourists daily,” said Chief Executive Gina Quin
“Responding to this deficit by restricting private vehicles or imposing congestion charging will not improve traffic flows or patterns in the city centre. What is needed first is a significant increase in bus capacity in the Greater Dublin Area, and a fully operational traffic management plan which helps us to understand current traffic flows in and around the city.”
Members of the public interested in giving their views on the future shape of transport in the greater Dublin area can answer an online questionnaire at www.2030vision.ie by June 30th.
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin private-public housing plans collapse
Dublin City Council confirmed today that plans to build thousands of housing units in partnership with developer Bernard McNamara, have collapsed.
The six public-private partnership (PPP) projects were worth over €900 million. The council said it was looking at new funding options following the announcement that McNamara Construction are not to proceed with the regeneration plans.
"Current economic climate and the substantial changes that have taken place in the residential housing sector recently, have rendered these projects unviable, from the private partner's perspective, as the PPP concept was partly based on the sale of private units to fund the cost of new social and affordable units being provided free to Dublin City Council," said the council in a statement.
"Dublin City Council s priority now is its tenants and the City Council will explore its options for regenerating these areas and providing the social and affordable housing for its tenants," it added.
The largest affected project is the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, which has been in planning since 2001. Seven of the 11 tower blocks have already been demolished ahead of the planned project.
The €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, for which contracts had been signed, is also affected as are similar projects on Dominic Street, ConventLands in Sean McDermott Street, and Infirmary Road, also in Inchicore.
Public Private Partnerships were adopted by Dublin City Council as a way of modernising its public housing stock. The Partnership process was based upon the council developing its land bank using the private partner's finance,arising from the sale of the remaining apartments to the general public, and their development expertise to deliver high quality, mixed-tenure, sustainable neighbourhoods.
"We will be meeting immediately with the three Regeneration Boards involved in St Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens and Dominic Street to explore all options and put an alternative plan in place that will deliver the social housing we need in these areas," said Ciaran McNamara, assistant City manager, Dublin City Council.
"It is possible that the City Council could invite Tenders to develop Phase 1 of St Michael s Estate immediately, where we already have planning permission for 138 new social homes. We already plan to put a proposal to the July meeting of Dublin City Council to demolish four vacant blocks in O'Devaney Gardens and if approved, we will go to Tender to get them demolished," he added.
Mr McNamara said the remaining projects would have to be examined with a view to developing the most appropriate action.
"The regeneration of these five areas is very important to the City Council and we will be using our best endeavours to see how best it can be achieved. "While this is a setback we could do without, the City Council is confident we will be still able to provide high quality social and affordable housing, possibly over a longer time span," said Mr McNamara.
Opposition parties this afternoon described the collapse of the public-private partnerships as a blow to people living in the affected areas.
The Labour Party said that Dublin City council must ensure that a new plan is put in place so that the much-needed social housing and community facilities are still provided.
Fine Gael also called on the council to redouble its efforts to find the finance necessary to make sure that the regeneration plans get back on track.
The party's housing spokesman Terence Flanagan called on the Government to re-examine direct provision of social and affordable units to ensure that the most vulnerable in Dublin have access to proper housing.
Separately, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh said the Government should step into the gap created by the loss of McNamara builders to ensure that the housing units were built.
"A change in Government policy is required to ban the use of Public Private Partnerships for such basic requirements as public housing projects,” said Ó Snodaigh
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
The six public-private partnership (PPP) projects were worth over €900 million. The council said it was looking at new funding options following the announcement that McNamara Construction are not to proceed with the regeneration plans.
"Current economic climate and the substantial changes that have taken place in the residential housing sector recently, have rendered these projects unviable, from the private partner's perspective, as the PPP concept was partly based on the sale of private units to fund the cost of new social and affordable units being provided free to Dublin City Council," said the council in a statement.
"Dublin City Council s priority now is its tenants and the City Council will explore its options for regenerating these areas and providing the social and affordable housing for its tenants," it added.
The largest affected project is the €265 million redevelopment of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore, which has been in planning since 2001. Seven of the 11 tower blocks have already been demolished ahead of the planned project.
The €180 million regeneration of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, for which contracts had been signed, is also affected as are similar projects on Dominic Street, ConventLands in Sean McDermott Street, and Infirmary Road, also in Inchicore.
Public Private Partnerships were adopted by Dublin City Council as a way of modernising its public housing stock. The Partnership process was based upon the council developing its land bank using the private partner's finance,arising from the sale of the remaining apartments to the general public, and their development expertise to deliver high quality, mixed-tenure, sustainable neighbourhoods.
"We will be meeting immediately with the three Regeneration Boards involved in St Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens and Dominic Street to explore all options and put an alternative plan in place that will deliver the social housing we need in these areas," said Ciaran McNamara, assistant City manager, Dublin City Council.
"It is possible that the City Council could invite Tenders to develop Phase 1 of St Michael s Estate immediately, where we already have planning permission for 138 new social homes. We already plan to put a proposal to the July meeting of Dublin City Council to demolish four vacant blocks in O'Devaney Gardens and if approved, we will go to Tender to get them demolished," he added.
Mr McNamara said the remaining projects would have to be examined with a view to developing the most appropriate action.
"The regeneration of these five areas is very important to the City Council and we will be using our best endeavours to see how best it can be achieved. "While this is a setback we could do without, the City Council is confident we will be still able to provide high quality social and affordable housing, possibly over a longer time span," said Mr McNamara.
Opposition parties this afternoon described the collapse of the public-private partnerships as a blow to people living in the affected areas.
The Labour Party said that Dublin City council must ensure that a new plan is put in place so that the much-needed social housing and community facilities are still provided.
Fine Gael also called on the council to redouble its efforts to find the finance necessary to make sure that the regeneration plans get back on track.
The party's housing spokesman Terence Flanagan called on the Government to re-examine direct provision of social and affordable units to ensure that the most vulnerable in Dublin have access to proper housing.
Separately, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh said the Government should step into the gap created by the loss of McNamara builders to ensure that the housing units were built.
"A change in Government policy is required to ban the use of Public Private Partnerships for such basic requirements as public housing projects,” said Ó Snodaigh
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 16 May 2008
Dunleer pressure to get Greens behind station pian
DUNLEER Community Development Board have been putting pressure on the Green Party to get behind the campaign to reopen the town's rail station.
When the coalalition party held its annual conference in Dundalk, members of the board met party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley and pressed on him the importance of the station to mid-Louth.
The board has written to lan Lumley, Heritage Officer with An Taisce requesting a meeting to discuss the station and the Dunleer town development.
After the rejection by An Bord Planeala of the plan to re-open the rail station, Mr Dave Murray, the Financial Director of Peachglen Development, the company behind the proposed Dunleer Development Plan, said an amended plan will be resubmitted.
An Bord Pleanala rejected the 60 million plan which included the 4.5 million needed to reopen the rail station.
"We're in the process of drawing up a new plan and hope to submit it by the end of May," Mr Murray said.
"We are absolutely committed to resubmitting this plan. We have been very encouraged by the overwhelming support of the public."
There were three areas of land involved in the proposed development: one owned by Peachglen; one by Dunleer co-Ownership; and one by larnrod Eireann.
Peaschglen and Dunleer co-Ownership then amalgamated and after two years of talks with Louth County Council, planning permission was granted.
An appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanala by An Taisce and upheld.
"From day one, we wanted to re-open the station," Mr Murray said.
"The re-opening of Dunleex station is not included in Transport 2021 so we decided to dig deep into our pockets. The station would help our development and the town."
It was proposed to have a bus link between the centre of Dunleer, the development, and the rail station.
The 60 million development would create 150 jobs during construction and 170 permanent jobs.
It would include a main store, fitness centre, creche, 11 shops, offices, houses, restaurant, bookmakers and 316 underground car parking spaces.
Michael King and Gene Yore
Dundalk Democrat
www.buckplanning.ie
When the coalalition party held its annual conference in Dundalk, members of the board met party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley and pressed on him the importance of the station to mid-Louth.
The board has written to lan Lumley, Heritage Officer with An Taisce requesting a meeting to discuss the station and the Dunleer town development.
After the rejection by An Bord Planeala of the plan to re-open the rail station, Mr Dave Murray, the Financial Director of Peachglen Development, the company behind the proposed Dunleer Development Plan, said an amended plan will be resubmitted.
An Bord Pleanala rejected the 60 million plan which included the 4.5 million needed to reopen the rail station.
"We're in the process of drawing up a new plan and hope to submit it by the end of May," Mr Murray said.
"We are absolutely committed to resubmitting this plan. We have been very encouraged by the overwhelming support of the public."
There were three areas of land involved in the proposed development: one owned by Peachglen; one by Dunleer co-Ownership; and one by larnrod Eireann.
Peaschglen and Dunleer co-Ownership then amalgamated and after two years of talks with Louth County Council, planning permission was granted.
An appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanala by An Taisce and upheld.
"From day one, we wanted to re-open the station," Mr Murray said.
"The re-opening of Dunleex station is not included in Transport 2021 so we decided to dig deep into our pockets. The station would help our development and the town."
It was proposed to have a bus link between the centre of Dunleer, the development, and the rail station.
The 60 million development would create 150 jobs during construction and 170 permanent jobs.
It would include a main store, fitness centre, creche, 11 shops, offices, houses, restaurant, bookmakers and 316 underground car parking spaces.
Michael King and Gene Yore
Dundalk Democrat
www.buckplanning.ie
New town near Bray would cause chaos
Plans to build a new town on the outskirts of Bray would only lead to further traffic congestion and perhaps even complete gridlock on the N11, according to a local councillor.
The proposed new town would be built to the west of Fassaroe and designed to take advantage of the suggested Luas extention.
Supporters of the plan say the new town would also be able to make use of its close proximity to both the N11 and M50 motorway.
But Wicklow County Councillor Derek Mitchell is strongly opposed to any such proposals, believing that the new town would would bring an effective halt to traffic on the N11.
The N11 is a vital artery for all places South. I am against this plan for a new town unless a major and expensive N11 upgrade is built.'
The County Councillor said he was disturbed' by the new plans.
The Bray Chamber of Commerce, on the other hand, said it recognises the need for expansion in the Bray area and in principle agrees that this area is suitable.
Spokesman for the Chamber, Jason Cooke said, the development of this land is important in ensuring that the Luas proposal will be secured and that an add-on can be included, linking the proposed new town to Bray Dart station.
Planning guidelines state that the combined population of Bray and the proposed new town could reach 100,000 people by 2020.
Consultants have however been requested to plan for more modest growth.
A spokesperson for Wicklow County Council said that the Council would prefer more modest growth in the population of Bray by 5,000 people over the next eight years.
Niall McGunness
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
The proposed new town would be built to the west of Fassaroe and designed to take advantage of the suggested Luas extention.
Supporters of the plan say the new town would also be able to make use of its close proximity to both the N11 and M50 motorway.
But Wicklow County Councillor Derek Mitchell is strongly opposed to any such proposals, believing that the new town would would bring an effective halt to traffic on the N11.
The N11 is a vital artery for all places South. I am against this plan for a new town unless a major and expensive N11 upgrade is built.'
The County Councillor said he was disturbed' by the new plans.
The Bray Chamber of Commerce, on the other hand, said it recognises the need for expansion in the Bray area and in principle agrees that this area is suitable.
Spokesman for the Chamber, Jason Cooke said, the development of this land is important in ensuring that the Luas proposal will be secured and that an add-on can be included, linking the proposed new town to Bray Dart station.
Planning guidelines state that the combined population of Bray and the proposed new town could reach 100,000 people by 2020.
Consultants have however been requested to plan for more modest growth.
A spokesperson for Wicklow County Council said that the Council would prefer more modest growth in the population of Bray by 5,000 people over the next eight years.
Niall McGunness
Bray People
www.buckplanning.ie
Mind the gap
The Dublin Airport Metro is in danger of repeating Luas mistakes of under-capacity, unconnected lines and incompatible track widths, writes Ruadhán Mac Eoin
€5 billion buys a lot of train, and at a projected cost of €4.88 billion, Dubliners need to get a properly integrated airport metro that should also free up key elements of the capital's existing infrastructure.
At present there are a number of "ghost" railways, which although linking heavily populated suburbs are simply not used for passenger services. Two of these routes, the Heuston to Connolly Station line under the Phoenix Park, and the Navan - Drogheda - Dublin route, have obvious potential in that one links the capital's two rail termini, while the other could half commuters journey-times traveling to Navan. The tracks are in place and little further engineering is required.
Yet although Irish Rail is progressing the Interconnector project, (which would effectively link Connolly via Docklands and Pearse to Heuston), the rail company is adamant that current congestion at Connolly makes it impossible to add in any additional services in the meantime - thus ruling out the possibility of the Navan and Heuston lines being put into service.
It is in this context that the Airport Metro must be considered. If deficiencies in existing rail infrastructure are ignored and we simply build another stand-alone project, we may get a "trendy toy" it will be a wasted opportunity in terms of filling strategic gaps in Dublin's infrastructure.
It is critical that the RPA complete the Airport Metro by linking it to the main Dublin to Belfast rail line at Donabate. Located three kilometers away from the proposed Lissenhall stop with only green fields in between, this is the obvious terminus for a project that will involve digging out half of Dublin.
Connected to Donabate, the Metro would alleviate the congested line leading into Connolly - with resulting increased capacity allowing for new services to be instated on the Heuston and Navan lines.
It is a "no-brainer". To not do so is a folly comparable to the missing gap between the Red and Green Luas lines; it is in fact the sequel - yet this time the consequences are further reaching.
Despite this, in October 2006 the RPA response to senator Tom Morrissey was that that such a link is outside their remit as it does not fall within Transport 21. This throws up serious questions as to what exactly is the RPA's brief, and if and when project deficiencies emerge, who is accountable?
The opportunity to link with the Belfast line must be reviewed. But then this requires another mind-shift by the RPA regarding their planned track width. The RPA's present plan is to build the metro at the narrower gauge of 4'8", rather than the Irish standard of 5'3" - yet if permitted, this permanently rules out the option of interconnectivity.
In terms of flaws in this project, this has to be the most strategic.It was an under-achievement to build a tramline capacity at an incompatible gauge on the former Harcourt Street railway - but at least that line is in open space should retrofitting ever be considered.
Yet with much of the Metro due to be underground, tunnel bores built according to a module of 4'8" will make it prohibitively expensive to ever recalibrate to the standard 5'3" module.
It is conceivable that a 7-inch difference on bores of this scale should not add too much to the estimated costs. However, upon enquiring to the RPA as to the reasoning, I was assured that they had "looked at it" - but that owing to prohibitive costs it was ruled out. Yet they were unable to provide me with any figures as to what the cost differences would be.
This is a disaster. Not only does the wrong width rule out options already outlined, but it also rules out the opportunity of ever revisiting oversights on the Harcourt Street Luas line. There is at present a phenomenon of city-bound Luas passengers getting on at Dundrum and first riding out to Sandyford in order to get a seat for the city-bound trip. PR spin would suggest that this is indicative of the "Luas being a victim of its own success".
I beg to differ; building at tram capacity on a segregated permanent way - and only going half the distance to the original terminus in Bray, is in my opinion a failure. Having cost twice as much as estimated, the Luas project should have delivered far more.
That the Harcourt Street Luas line is at a 4'8" gauge does not mean that the same mistake should be repeated with the metro. If the Metro is built at 5'3", it leaves open the prospect that at a later date the Harcourt Luas could be recalibrated and linked into the Dart line at Bray. Ultimately such an arrangement would yield great benefits in terms of providing two connecting parallel north-south heavy rail corridors through the city. Adding to these glitches, the RPA is also planning on a Metro capacity of only 20,000 passengers per hour - as opposed to the 30,000 capacity of a comparable metro in Munich, or the 36,000 capacity of the Dart.
Unlike the Dart, which hugs the coastline, the Metro is due to go through heavily built-up areas with population pools on both sides of the tracks; if anything its capacity should therefore be greater than the Dart. In getting the Airport Metro right, maximizing access will be critical. Of particular concern are the proposed locations of city-centre stations as an alternative routing under Marlborough Street offers a number of advantages over the mooted Parnell Square -
O'Connell Street axis.
The current plan to have the 2 stations at Abbey Street/ O'Connell Bridge and at Parnell Square does not make sense as it will disrupt O'Connell Street, while delivering two stations that are too close together - hence subverting the actual functionality of the Metro.
Rather than building these two separate stations, one well-planned station located under the Department of Education on Marlborough Street may be the better and more cost-effective option. Linked by subterranean pedestrian travelators connecting O' Connell Bridge, Busárus/ Connolly Stations, Parnell and Mountjoy Squares, such access points would significantly increase the schemes immediate hinterland. Such a model is found in many cities, from Paris to Montreal, and in Dublin the construction of three or four 500 metre-long tunnels should not be an insurmountable hurdle.
There is a joke currently doing the rounds regarding the proposed raw concrete finish in the stations interiors, to the effect "for Bertie's biggest dig-out, could they not at least get in Paddy the Plasterer?" Somewhat pertinently it sums up a general concern that for what the exchequer is about to spend, the public deserve to get more.
Ultimately unless we are to end up with a project that is over-engineered yet under-spec - in effect a stand-alone underground tram, basic but significant issues need to be faced.
Ruadhán Mac Eoin
Plan Magazine
www.buckplanning.ie
€5 billion buys a lot of train, and at a projected cost of €4.88 billion, Dubliners need to get a properly integrated airport metro that should also free up key elements of the capital's existing infrastructure.
At present there are a number of "ghost" railways, which although linking heavily populated suburbs are simply not used for passenger services. Two of these routes, the Heuston to Connolly Station line under the Phoenix Park, and the Navan - Drogheda - Dublin route, have obvious potential in that one links the capital's two rail termini, while the other could half commuters journey-times traveling to Navan. The tracks are in place and little further engineering is required.
Yet although Irish Rail is progressing the Interconnector project, (which would effectively link Connolly via Docklands and Pearse to Heuston), the rail company is adamant that current congestion at Connolly makes it impossible to add in any additional services in the meantime - thus ruling out the possibility of the Navan and Heuston lines being put into service.
It is in this context that the Airport Metro must be considered. If deficiencies in existing rail infrastructure are ignored and we simply build another stand-alone project, we may get a "trendy toy" it will be a wasted opportunity in terms of filling strategic gaps in Dublin's infrastructure.
It is critical that the RPA complete the Airport Metro by linking it to the main Dublin to Belfast rail line at Donabate. Located three kilometers away from the proposed Lissenhall stop with only green fields in between, this is the obvious terminus for a project that will involve digging out half of Dublin.
Connected to Donabate, the Metro would alleviate the congested line leading into Connolly - with resulting increased capacity allowing for new services to be instated on the Heuston and Navan lines.
It is a "no-brainer". To not do so is a folly comparable to the missing gap between the Red and Green Luas lines; it is in fact the sequel - yet this time the consequences are further reaching.
Despite this, in October 2006 the RPA response to senator Tom Morrissey was that that such a link is outside their remit as it does not fall within Transport 21. This throws up serious questions as to what exactly is the RPA's brief, and if and when project deficiencies emerge, who is accountable?
The opportunity to link with the Belfast line must be reviewed. But then this requires another mind-shift by the RPA regarding their planned track width. The RPA's present plan is to build the metro at the narrower gauge of 4'8", rather than the Irish standard of 5'3" - yet if permitted, this permanently rules out the option of interconnectivity.
In terms of flaws in this project, this has to be the most strategic.It was an under-achievement to build a tramline capacity at an incompatible gauge on the former Harcourt Street railway - but at least that line is in open space should retrofitting ever be considered.
Yet with much of the Metro due to be underground, tunnel bores built according to a module of 4'8" will make it prohibitively expensive to ever recalibrate to the standard 5'3" module.
It is conceivable that a 7-inch difference on bores of this scale should not add too much to the estimated costs. However, upon enquiring to the RPA as to the reasoning, I was assured that they had "looked at it" - but that owing to prohibitive costs it was ruled out. Yet they were unable to provide me with any figures as to what the cost differences would be.
This is a disaster. Not only does the wrong width rule out options already outlined, but it also rules out the opportunity of ever revisiting oversights on the Harcourt Street Luas line. There is at present a phenomenon of city-bound Luas passengers getting on at Dundrum and first riding out to Sandyford in order to get a seat for the city-bound trip. PR spin would suggest that this is indicative of the "Luas being a victim of its own success".
I beg to differ; building at tram capacity on a segregated permanent way - and only going half the distance to the original terminus in Bray, is in my opinion a failure. Having cost twice as much as estimated, the Luas project should have delivered far more.
That the Harcourt Street Luas line is at a 4'8" gauge does not mean that the same mistake should be repeated with the metro. If the Metro is built at 5'3", it leaves open the prospect that at a later date the Harcourt Luas could be recalibrated and linked into the Dart line at Bray. Ultimately such an arrangement would yield great benefits in terms of providing two connecting parallel north-south heavy rail corridors through the city. Adding to these glitches, the RPA is also planning on a Metro capacity of only 20,000 passengers per hour - as opposed to the 30,000 capacity of a comparable metro in Munich, or the 36,000 capacity of the Dart.
Unlike the Dart, which hugs the coastline, the Metro is due to go through heavily built-up areas with population pools on both sides of the tracks; if anything its capacity should therefore be greater than the Dart. In getting the Airport Metro right, maximizing access will be critical. Of particular concern are the proposed locations of city-centre stations as an alternative routing under Marlborough Street offers a number of advantages over the mooted Parnell Square -
O'Connell Street axis.
The current plan to have the 2 stations at Abbey Street/ O'Connell Bridge and at Parnell Square does not make sense as it will disrupt O'Connell Street, while delivering two stations that are too close together - hence subverting the actual functionality of the Metro.
Rather than building these two separate stations, one well-planned station located under the Department of Education on Marlborough Street may be the better and more cost-effective option. Linked by subterranean pedestrian travelators connecting O' Connell Bridge, Busárus/ Connolly Stations, Parnell and Mountjoy Squares, such access points would significantly increase the schemes immediate hinterland. Such a model is found in many cities, from Paris to Montreal, and in Dublin the construction of three or four 500 metre-long tunnels should not be an insurmountable hurdle.
There is a joke currently doing the rounds regarding the proposed raw concrete finish in the stations interiors, to the effect "for Bertie's biggest dig-out, could they not at least get in Paddy the Plasterer?" Somewhat pertinently it sums up a general concern that for what the exchequer is about to spend, the public deserve to get more.
Ultimately unless we are to end up with a project that is over-engineered yet under-spec - in effect a stand-alone underground tram, basic but significant issues need to be faced.
Ruadhán Mac Eoin
Plan Magazine
www.buckplanning.ie
Mayo Plan to halt rural decline now in Minister's hands
MAYO County Council's last ditch effort to create a County Development Plan designed to halt rural decline could be shelved by the Department of the Environment.
At a special meeting last Tuesday, Director of Services Joe Loftus told the authority that the five-year plan must comply with regional, national and local levels, the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) and Government policy'.
But councillors voted in favour of adopting amendments to enable the increase of one-off houses in rural areas even though the move does not toe the line with the sustainable housing policy, regional planning guidelines or the NSS.
The amendments were originally added in spite of strong opposition from the authority's legal advisor Michael Browne and senior planner lain Douglas.
The adoption now leaves the door open for the rejection of the plan by Environment Minister John Gormley TD in favour of his own replacement. Should this happen, it would be the first time a Government Minister interjected in the development plan of this county.
Fine Gael Party Whip, Cllr Paddy McGuinness.and Fianna Fail councillor, Al McDonnell, joined forces to deliver the plan at the final review stage last week.
Cllr McGuinness suggested a tape of the entire meeting be sent to the Minister to emphasise the strong views on rural decline in the chamber. He referred to the original draft plan as 'flawed' as it was compiled for cities and towns.
He said the Council recommended 96 submissions, accepted 62 and rejected 24 from the Manager's Report.
The Castlebar-based councillor cited a submission by An Taisce, as 'impinging on councillors' rights' and referred to the conservation body's claim that amendments were 'deliberately introduced'. "That is outside the bounds of what is acceptable by way of submission. It is not good enough that An Taisce are able to abuse the system in this way."
The Whip stated that proposed one-off houses will comply with council-designed standards and cannot have a negative impact on the landscape.
Speaking on behalf of his party, Cllr Al McDonnell labelled suggestions made by David Walsh, Principal Spatial Officer of Department of Environment, as 'false and in need of challenge'.
He refuted claims that rural housing causes water quality problems, saying: "The Environmental Protection Agency, Mayo County Council and the Fisheries Board water study of Lough Conn concluded that 96 per cent of pollution problems were from a source other than rural housing. Just 4.3 per cent is from rural sewage and town sewage accounts for 3.6 per cent."
The five-year residency clause was also a bone of contention for elected members and was set out as another example of how the plan neglected to address the problem of rural decline in the West and other regions.
Mayo News
www.buckplanning.ie
At a special meeting last Tuesday, Director of Services Joe Loftus told the authority that the five-year plan must comply with regional, national and local levels, the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) and Government policy'.
But councillors voted in favour of adopting amendments to enable the increase of one-off houses in rural areas even though the move does not toe the line with the sustainable housing policy, regional planning guidelines or the NSS.
The amendments were originally added in spite of strong opposition from the authority's legal advisor Michael Browne and senior planner lain Douglas.
The adoption now leaves the door open for the rejection of the plan by Environment Minister John Gormley TD in favour of his own replacement. Should this happen, it would be the first time a Government Minister interjected in the development plan of this county.
Fine Gael Party Whip, Cllr Paddy McGuinness.and Fianna Fail councillor, Al McDonnell, joined forces to deliver the plan at the final review stage last week.
Cllr McGuinness suggested a tape of the entire meeting be sent to the Minister to emphasise the strong views on rural decline in the chamber. He referred to the original draft plan as 'flawed' as it was compiled for cities and towns.
He said the Council recommended 96 submissions, accepted 62 and rejected 24 from the Manager's Report.
The Castlebar-based councillor cited a submission by An Taisce, as 'impinging on councillors' rights' and referred to the conservation body's claim that amendments were 'deliberately introduced'. "That is outside the bounds of what is acceptable by way of submission. It is not good enough that An Taisce are able to abuse the system in this way."
The Whip stated that proposed one-off houses will comply with council-designed standards and cannot have a negative impact on the landscape.
Speaking on behalf of his party, Cllr Al McDonnell labelled suggestions made by David Walsh, Principal Spatial Officer of Department of Environment, as 'false and in need of challenge'.
He refuted claims that rural housing causes water quality problems, saying: "The Environmental Protection Agency, Mayo County Council and the Fisheries Board water study of Lough Conn concluded that 96 per cent of pollution problems were from a source other than rural housing. Just 4.3 per cent is from rural sewage and town sewage accounts for 3.6 per cent."
The five-year residency clause was also a bone of contention for elected members and was set out as another example of how the plan neglected to address the problem of rural decline in the West and other regions.
Mayo News
www.buckplanning.ie
Inquiry into Corrib protests urged
A PROPOSAL by the Garda Ombudsman Commission that it examine the handling of protests over the Corrib gas project should be reconsidered by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, according to Denny Larson, director of US-based Global Community Monitor.
The Garda ombudsman's annual report published earlier this month identified Mayo as one of three areas recording the highest number of complaints submitted to it about Garda actions. The ombudsman commission wrote to minister for justice Brian Lenihan, proposing that it carry out an examination of management of crowd protests and civil disobedience. However, the minister turned down the proposal, as he "did not feel that it was appropriate at that time".
Mr Larson said the €8.9 million spent by the State over the past 19 months providing Garda security was "being wasted due to deployment of untrained" gardaí in the Erris area.
Mr Larson, who is in Ireland with representatives of Global Community Monitor, an international environmental group, claims the public's right to demonstrate was being breached on a regular basis in north Mayo.
"We believe that there has been a Garda policy of making minimal arrests, but behaving in an intimidatory fashion towards objectors and towards residents in the area," he said.
"Clearly, from management of other protests we have looked at in Dublin, gardaí are trained in handling civil disobedience - but the policy applied in north Mayo has been very different and would appear to serve the interests of the Corrib gas developers, not the public interest," Mr Larson said.
This has been denied by the head of Mayo's Garda Síochána division, Chief Supt Tony McNamara, who said he "refuted totally" Mr Larson's claims.
LORNA SIGGINS
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Garda ombudsman's annual report published earlier this month identified Mayo as one of three areas recording the highest number of complaints submitted to it about Garda actions. The ombudsman commission wrote to minister for justice Brian Lenihan, proposing that it carry out an examination of management of crowd protests and civil disobedience. However, the minister turned down the proposal, as he "did not feel that it was appropriate at that time".
Mr Larson said the €8.9 million spent by the State over the past 19 months providing Garda security was "being wasted due to deployment of untrained" gardaí in the Erris area.
Mr Larson, who is in Ireland with representatives of Global Community Monitor, an international environmental group, claims the public's right to demonstrate was being breached on a regular basis in north Mayo.
"We believe that there has been a Garda policy of making minimal arrests, but behaving in an intimidatory fashion towards objectors and towards residents in the area," he said.
"Clearly, from management of other protests we have looked at in Dublin, gardaí are trained in handling civil disobedience - but the policy applied in north Mayo has been very different and would appear to serve the interests of the Corrib gas developers, not the public interest," Mr Larson said.
This has been denied by the head of Mayo's Garda Síochána division, Chief Supt Tony McNamara, who said he "refuted totally" Mr Larson's claims.
LORNA SIGGINS
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Street furniture 'taking over' Cork city
BUSINESSES flouting Cork's street furniture rules will face prosecution.
Cork's city manager Joe Gavin issued the warning after complaints about several flagrant breaches of the licensing scheme governing the placement of tables and chairs on footpaths outside pubs and restaurants.
The scheme was introduced to enhance the ambience and atmosphere of the city streetscape.
It was strengthened in late 2004 when 29 conditions were added as the city prepared to become European Capital of Culture.
Despite calls from senior gardaí, a 9pm curfew was also scrapped. People must now move back inside at 11pm in winter and 11.30pm in summer.
Under the scheme, publicans and restaurant owners have to apply to the city council's roads directorate for a special licence to allow tables and chairs to be placed outside premises.
However, strict guidelines are laid down to ensure footpaths are not blocked.
Business owners must have a minimum of 1.8 metres of footpath clearance in front of their premises and, on pedestrianised streets, a continuous three-metre wide channel is required to facilitate the visually impaired and wheelchair users.
If they meet the requirements, they have to fork out €600 a year for a maximum 25-square metre seated area surrounded by a removable barrier. It costs €65 for every additional square metre.
But Fianna Fáil Councillor Damian Wallace said he witnessed several unauthorised incursions of outdoor tables and chairs onto the public footpaths.
He told Mr Gavin that, in some cases, publicans are "taking over" parts of the public road for seating or for queuing areas.
Cllr Wallace asked the city manager several weeks ago if he felt that this was an appropriate use of public space. Mr Gavin had said it was not.
Cllr Wallace this week also called on Mr Gavin to deal with the issue.
Mr Gavin said that each location was inspected individually before licences are granted.
He said breaches are treated seriously and promised action, up to and including legal action, if necessary.
Breaches of the licence are punishable under Section 71 of the 1993 Roads Act.
Fines upon conviction range up to €1,270 or six months in prison.
Eoin English
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Cork's city manager Joe Gavin issued the warning after complaints about several flagrant breaches of the licensing scheme governing the placement of tables and chairs on footpaths outside pubs and restaurants.
The scheme was introduced to enhance the ambience and atmosphere of the city streetscape.
It was strengthened in late 2004 when 29 conditions were added as the city prepared to become European Capital of Culture.
Despite calls from senior gardaí, a 9pm curfew was also scrapped. People must now move back inside at 11pm in winter and 11.30pm in summer.
Under the scheme, publicans and restaurant owners have to apply to the city council's roads directorate for a special licence to allow tables and chairs to be placed outside premises.
However, strict guidelines are laid down to ensure footpaths are not blocked.
Business owners must have a minimum of 1.8 metres of footpath clearance in front of their premises and, on pedestrianised streets, a continuous three-metre wide channel is required to facilitate the visually impaired and wheelchair users.
If they meet the requirements, they have to fork out €600 a year for a maximum 25-square metre seated area surrounded by a removable barrier. It costs €65 for every additional square metre.
But Fianna Fáil Councillor Damian Wallace said he witnessed several unauthorised incursions of outdoor tables and chairs onto the public footpaths.
He told Mr Gavin that, in some cases, publicans are "taking over" parts of the public road for seating or for queuing areas.
Cllr Wallace asked the city manager several weeks ago if he felt that this was an appropriate use of public space. Mr Gavin had said it was not.
Cllr Wallace this week also called on Mr Gavin to deal with the issue.
Mr Gavin said that each location was inspected individually before licences are granted.
He said breaches are treated seriously and promised action, up to and including legal action, if necessary.
Breaches of the licence are punishable under Section 71 of the 1993 Roads Act.
Fines upon conviction range up to €1,270 or six months in prison.
Eoin English
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Council denies cover-up over contamination of Ennis water
THE ENNIS town engineer has denied that Clare County Council concealed information from the public in relation to the level of cryptosporidium in the Ennis water supply.
Tom Tiernan was commenting yesterday after it emerged through a Freedom of Information request from The Irish Times that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), had warned the council there was a risk of a cryptosporidium outbreak a month before two children contracted it.
The council decided not to make the EPA's concerns public and Mr Tiernan denied that the council had concealed information from the public. "We have been up front. Absolutely! We inform the public when we need to inform the public, and when we believe that it is appropriate," he said
Mr Tiernan added it was very difficult to emerge "squeaky clean" when deciding what level of information to release to the public.
"The council is liaising with the Health Service Executive [HSE] and the EPA on a continuing basis and we wouldn't have time to do anything else if we were telling the public about all our dealings with these bodies."
Mr Tiernan said a balance had to be struck between advising the public of any elevated risk and causing panic."There are enough people doing that and we try our best to keep councillors and the general public informed as best we can.
"When there is a change to the status quo or a deterioration in the water supply, we would notify the public in consultation with the HSE."
He said the water from the Ennis public water supply was safe to drink, particularly after the plant's treatment capacity increased by 25 per cent since March. "There is no question, but there has been significant improvement in the water quality and a significant reduction in the level of risk, but not the reduction you would have with the permanent plant when it becomes operational."
Before June 2006, Mr Tiernan added, when the temporary treatment plant became operational, there was no filtration of the water for cryptosporidium and no water was bypassing the temporary treatment plant for treatment for cryptosporidium.
"We haven't arrived at where we want to be yet. We are working towards compliance and we are taking this very seriously. I would expect that the council would be compliant over the next number of days as we are tweaking and optimising the additional capacity."
GORDON DEEGAN
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tom Tiernan was commenting yesterday after it emerged through a Freedom of Information request from The Irish Times that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), had warned the council there was a risk of a cryptosporidium outbreak a month before two children contracted it.
The council decided not to make the EPA's concerns public and Mr Tiernan denied that the council had concealed information from the public. "We have been up front. Absolutely! We inform the public when we need to inform the public, and when we believe that it is appropriate," he said
Mr Tiernan added it was very difficult to emerge "squeaky clean" when deciding what level of information to release to the public.
"The council is liaising with the Health Service Executive [HSE] and the EPA on a continuing basis and we wouldn't have time to do anything else if we were telling the public about all our dealings with these bodies."
Mr Tiernan said a balance had to be struck between advising the public of any elevated risk and causing panic."There are enough people doing that and we try our best to keep councillors and the general public informed as best we can.
"When there is a change to the status quo or a deterioration in the water supply, we would notify the public in consultation with the HSE."
He said the water from the Ennis public water supply was safe to drink, particularly after the plant's treatment capacity increased by 25 per cent since March. "There is no question, but there has been significant improvement in the water quality and a significant reduction in the level of risk, but not the reduction you would have with the permanent plant when it becomes operational."
Before June 2006, Mr Tiernan added, when the temporary treatment plant became operational, there was no filtration of the water for cryptosporidium and no water was bypassing the temporary treatment plant for treatment for cryptosporidium.
"We haven't arrived at where we want to be yet. We are working towards compliance and we are taking this very seriously. I would expect that the council would be compliant over the next number of days as we are tweaking and optimising the additional capacity."
GORDON DEEGAN
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Environment: Landfills remain overused
IRELAND is likely to send more waste to landfills and for incineration despite there being a raft of environmental policies in place.
Many EU targets for reducing carbon emissions will be missed, the ESRI warned, saying new policies were needed to bridge the "substantial gap" between the "ambitions of policy makers and reality".
While sulphur dioxide emissions -- linked to acid rain and ammonia -- have reduced, we are unlikely to meet EU targets for carbon dioxide emissions, which will be 30pc higher than the target for 2020.
Recycling
And with 80pc of household waste going to landfills, unless recycling rates improve and planned incinerators are utilised to their full capacity, EU targets will be missed. Even then, more incineration capacity is needed to reduce dependency on landfills.
"For waste, there is a discrepancy between the stated ambitions of government and the policies in place," the ESRI said, adding that meeting targets on greenhouse gas emissions will prove "extremely difficult" to achieve.
"The amount of waste arising will continue to increase as the population grows and gets richer. Although the share of waste that is recycled will be higher in future, there is an upward trend in the amount of waste to be incinerated and disposed of in landfills."
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Many EU targets for reducing carbon emissions will be missed, the ESRI warned, saying new policies were needed to bridge the "substantial gap" between the "ambitions of policy makers and reality".
While sulphur dioxide emissions -- linked to acid rain and ammonia -- have reduced, we are unlikely to meet EU targets for carbon dioxide emissions, which will be 30pc higher than the target for 2020.
Recycling
And with 80pc of household waste going to landfills, unless recycling rates improve and planned incinerators are utilised to their full capacity, EU targets will be missed. Even then, more incineration capacity is needed to reduce dependency on landfills.
"For waste, there is a discrepancy between the stated ambitions of government and the policies in place," the ESRI said, adding that meeting targets on greenhouse gas emissions will prove "extremely difficult" to achieve.
"The amount of waste arising will continue to increase as the population grows and gets richer. Although the share of waste that is recycled will be higher in future, there is an upward trend in the amount of waste to be incinerated and disposed of in landfills."
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Transport: Motorists to face congestion fees
CONGESTION charging will have to be introduced to obtain value from the multi-billion euro spend on new roads and public transport.
And planned extensions of rail and light rail will provide an alternative to the car to just a "fraction" of commuters.
The ESRI also says it is "not clear" if the necessary planning has been undertaken to ensure the benefits accruing from public transport are realised.
"In addition, the ability of the public administration to manage and implement very large projects in a very tight time scale has yet to be proved," it says.
The ESRI assumes that cycling and walking will continue to decline and that the additional demand for motorised transport will be met by public transport.
Rises
As fuel rises in price, and a carbon tax is introduced, there will be a demand for small-engine cars.
A switch to moving freight by rail is unlikely over the next 20 years because of the "limited capacity" of the rail network.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
And planned extensions of rail and light rail will provide an alternative to the car to just a "fraction" of commuters.
The ESRI also says it is "not clear" if the necessary planning has been undertaken to ensure the benefits accruing from public transport are realised.
"In addition, the ability of the public administration to manage and implement very large projects in a very tight time scale has yet to be proved," it says.
The ESRI assumes that cycling and walking will continue to decline and that the additional demand for motorised transport will be met by public transport.
Rises
As fuel rises in price, and a carbon tax is introduced, there will be a demand for small-engine cars.
A switch to moving freight by rail is unlikely over the next 20 years because of the "limited capacity" of the rail network.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Rathmines cinema appealed
AN APPEAL to An Bord Pleanála regarding the redevelopment of the Swan shopping centre in Rathmines by Sawbridge Ltd into a three-screen cinema says the old vacant site of the Stella cinema would be more suitable for a cinema complex.
RAB Management Ltd says its apartment blocks are across the road from the shopping centre at Castlewood Close and there has been no consultation with residents. Among the concerns are traffic coming from the shopping centre late at night, loitering and anti-social behaviour, and a shortage of parking in the area. They say they constantly endure nuisance parking by outsiders who block their entrance.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
RAB Management Ltd says its apartment blocks are across the road from the shopping centre at Castlewood Close and there has been no consultation with residents. Among the concerns are traffic coming from the shopping centre late at night, loitering and anti-social behaviour, and a shortage of parking in the area. They say they constantly endure nuisance parking by outsiders who block their entrance.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council says yes to office scheme in Digital Hub
MANOR PARK Homebuilders has been granted planning permission by Dublin City Council for nearly 8,000sq m (86,111sq ft) of digital media office space on its 2.5-acre Digital Hub site on Thomas Street, Dublin 8.
Last October the developer was refused permission by An Bord Pleanála for an office and residential development dubbed "Mini-Manhattan" because it proposed Ireland's tallest building of 53 storeys.
The tallest building in the current permission is eight storeys and there will also be seven retail units, a bar and three duplex apartments.
Part of the development involves a change of use of 1 Crane Street and 7 and 8 Thomas Street West, all protected structures, from financial services to retail use at ground floor level and residential use at first and second floor level.
The proposal for the four-storey Vat House Number 7 is to add another three storeys to the building to turn it into an office block with eight shops and a bar, and for the refurbishment of the overhead walkway link to the Hopstore on Rainsfort Street. Cavan-based developer P Elliott Co, which owns the adjoining site, submitted a proposal for its 3.2-acre Windmill site, also concentrating on the digital media office element of the site.
It has submitted a planning application for just 8,713sq m (93,786sq ft) of development, mostly comprising of digital media space, in two blocks on around a quarter of the site. Last October An Bord Pleanála rejected P Elliot Co's proposal for a 45,000sq m (484,375sq ft) mixed-use development with a 16-storey residential tower, overturning planning permission granted by Dublin City Council for the scheme.
The company says a further planning application for the site will be submitted next month, which may include a residential element.
The most recent planning applications by both developers are an attempt to expedite planning permission for office space - key to the success of the Digital Hub where the Digital Hub Environmental Agency wants to keep companies geographically close but there is currently little space available for companies looking to expand. Both developers had a deadline of June to get planning permission with an extension to February 2009 if they are subsequently referred to An Bord Pleanála.
Both sites sold for €118 million but the State accepted part payment in the form of office buildings and this reduced the cash payment concerned to around €72 million.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Last October the developer was refused permission by An Bord Pleanála for an office and residential development dubbed "Mini-Manhattan" because it proposed Ireland's tallest building of 53 storeys.
The tallest building in the current permission is eight storeys and there will also be seven retail units, a bar and three duplex apartments.
Part of the development involves a change of use of 1 Crane Street and 7 and 8 Thomas Street West, all protected structures, from financial services to retail use at ground floor level and residential use at first and second floor level.
The proposal for the four-storey Vat House Number 7 is to add another three storeys to the building to turn it into an office block with eight shops and a bar, and for the refurbishment of the overhead walkway link to the Hopstore on Rainsfort Street. Cavan-based developer P Elliott Co, which owns the adjoining site, submitted a proposal for its 3.2-acre Windmill site, also concentrating on the digital media office element of the site.
It has submitted a planning application for just 8,713sq m (93,786sq ft) of development, mostly comprising of digital media space, in two blocks on around a quarter of the site. Last October An Bord Pleanála rejected P Elliot Co's proposal for a 45,000sq m (484,375sq ft) mixed-use development with a 16-storey residential tower, overturning planning permission granted by Dublin City Council for the scheme.
The company says a further planning application for the site will be submitted next month, which may include a residential element.
The most recent planning applications by both developers are an attempt to expedite planning permission for office space - key to the success of the Digital Hub where the Digital Hub Environmental Agency wants to keep companies geographically close but there is currently little space available for companies looking to expand. Both developers had a deadline of June to get planning permission with an extension to February 2009 if they are subsequently referred to An Bord Pleanála.
Both sites sold for €118 million but the State accepted part payment in the form of office buildings and this reduced the cash payment concerned to around €72 million.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Rail chiefs offer €150,000 to new bridge designer
The Railway Procurement Agency is to offer a €150,000 prize to design a new bridge over Liffey Valley for Metro West, due to be open by 2014.
The bridge, which will display the "highest levels of design excellence", will carry the light rail system across the valley and must blend with the countryside.
The RPA said yesterday that some of the world's top architects had already expressed an interest in designing the bridge which will run almost parallel with the M50 motorway.
Metro West will run from Tallaght to Dublin Airport and link with Metro North at the Metropark stop, north of the M50.
The proposed route crosses the Liffey Valley, which is an area renowned for its wealth of ecological, archaeological and high amenity landscape value, the RPA said.
"This new Liffey Bridge for Metro West should be designed to make a prominent, yet still aesthetically pleasing addition to the Liffey Valley whilst enabling views across the Liffey to be maintained as far as possible," a spokesman said.
PAUL MELIA
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The bridge, which will display the "highest levels of design excellence", will carry the light rail system across the valley and must blend with the countryside.
The RPA said yesterday that some of the world's top architects had already expressed an interest in designing the bridge which will run almost parallel with the M50 motorway.
Metro West will run from Tallaght to Dublin Airport and link with Metro North at the Metropark stop, north of the M50.
The proposed route crosses the Liffey Valley, which is an area renowned for its wealth of ecological, archaeological and high amenity landscape value, the RPA said.
"This new Liffey Bridge for Metro West should be designed to make a prominent, yet still aesthetically pleasing addition to the Liffey Valley whilst enabling views across the Liffey to be maintained as far as possible," a spokesman said.
PAUL MELIA
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Harry Crosbie tries again for 'no star' hotel
DEVELOPER HARRY Crosbie has come back with a planning application to build a no-star hotel to the rear of the Vicar Street music venue in Dublin's Liberties.
In March Crosbie's plan for an eight-storey 180-bedroom hotel was turned down by Dublin City Council because of its height, massing and proximity to properties on Vicar Street, which it said would "seriously injure" and overshadow residential amenities and other developments in the area.
This time around he is still looking to build an eight-storey hotel but on a smaller scale - it will be over 300sq m (3,229sq ft) less than the last planning application at 1,285sq m (13,832sq ft).
He is seeking to build 14 more hotel bedrooms than the last application at 194 but, while he is proposing a creative art studio, he is no longer proposing a workshop and rehearsal space on the ground floor.
Crosbie has said the hotel will be almost "monastic" in terms of its facilities and will not seek a star rating from Bord Fáilte because it will be "too basic to have any stars".
He described the rooms as "cells to sleep in with concrete walls and a very good bed with a duvet".
The most lavish aspect of the development will be the €1 million spent on art works by young Irish artists for the bedrooms.
A freight lift will bring patrons to the residents' bar, restaurant and check-in area in a "big glass box on top of the hotel" which will look out over the city.
The proposal is to locate the hotel to the rear of the music venue and demolish a warehouse on the site.
He says that the "no star" approach is part of a worldwide trend to offer hotel accommodation "at the lowest possible prices".
Special package deals will be available to people attending shows and concerts at Vicar Street, the new Point Arena and the Libeskind theatre in the docklands. Room rates will start at €50.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In March Crosbie's plan for an eight-storey 180-bedroom hotel was turned down by Dublin City Council because of its height, massing and proximity to properties on Vicar Street, which it said would "seriously injure" and overshadow residential amenities and other developments in the area.
This time around he is still looking to build an eight-storey hotel but on a smaller scale - it will be over 300sq m (3,229sq ft) less than the last planning application at 1,285sq m (13,832sq ft).
He is seeking to build 14 more hotel bedrooms than the last application at 194 but, while he is proposing a creative art studio, he is no longer proposing a workshop and rehearsal space on the ground floor.
Crosbie has said the hotel will be almost "monastic" in terms of its facilities and will not seek a star rating from Bord Fáilte because it will be "too basic to have any stars".
He described the rooms as "cells to sleep in with concrete walls and a very good bed with a duvet".
The most lavish aspect of the development will be the €1 million spent on art works by young Irish artists for the bedrooms.
A freight lift will bring patrons to the residents' bar, restaurant and check-in area in a "big glass box on top of the hotel" which will look out over the city.
The proposal is to locate the hotel to the rear of the music venue and demolish a warehouse on the site.
He says that the "no star" approach is part of a worldwide trend to offer hotel accommodation "at the lowest possible prices".
Special package deals will be available to people attending shows and concerts at Vicar Street, the new Point Arena and the Libeskind theatre in the docklands. Room rates will start at €50.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
€2bn Navan to Newbridge orbital road 'a top priority'
THE National Roads Authority (NRA) plans to make construction of a motorway outside the M50 and linking Navan to Newbridge a "priority" within the next two years, a conference was told yesterday.
NRA chief executive Fred Barry said once the inter-urban motorways linking Dublin with Cork, Limerick, and Galway were completed in 2010, planning would begin on the Leinster Outer Orbital, which would connect with most of the main routes out of the capital.
And it is understood that the €2bn motorway is at the planning stage after a study compiled by the NRA found it would be a "viable" project.
The authority is also working on plans to build the eastern bypass in Dublin, which would link Sandymount and Portmarnock.
The 80km-long motorway will run outside the M50, linking the M1 near Drogheda, through the N2 at Slane, the N3 at Navan, the N4 at Kilcock, and linking into the M7 motorway at Kilcullen, close to the M7/M9 interchange.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has previously said that while there was "merit" in constructing an Outer Orbital Route, there was no funding set aside in the National Development Plan or Transport 21 to fund it.
But in reply to a Dail question last summer, he said the Programme for Government contained a commitment "to prepare for delivery of the route".
Last night, informed sources said the project was at a planning stage.
"It's still going to be a critical part of our plans," one said. "It connects with all the major routes coming out of Dublin and would allow traffic to bypass the city and allow Dublin focus on its own development.
"The second largest economic hub on the island is Belfast, and this would allow goods and freight to be shipped across Ireland without going through Dublin. It's in the formal study stage, so it's not pie in the sky."
The Transport Ireland conference at Croke Park was also told by Northern Ireland Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy that £3.1bn (€3.8bn) would be invested in roads over the next 10 years.
Stretch
Included in road schemes were the final stretch of the M1 between Belfast and Dublin, while plans to improve the frequency of the rail service between the two cities were under discussion.
"The two rail companies, the NIR and Iarnrod Eireann, work well together," he said.
"They have provided the North South Ministerial Council with a joint presentation setting out an initial consideration of options for improving frequency and journey times on the Belfast to Dublin service.
"Proposals include increasing the frequency from eight to 13 services each way daily and reducing journey times from 125 minutes to 100 minutes."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
NRA chief executive Fred Barry said once the inter-urban motorways linking Dublin with Cork, Limerick, and Galway were completed in 2010, planning would begin on the Leinster Outer Orbital, which would connect with most of the main routes out of the capital.
And it is understood that the €2bn motorway is at the planning stage after a study compiled by the NRA found it would be a "viable" project.
The authority is also working on plans to build the eastern bypass in Dublin, which would link Sandymount and Portmarnock.
The 80km-long motorway will run outside the M50, linking the M1 near Drogheda, through the N2 at Slane, the N3 at Navan, the N4 at Kilcock, and linking into the M7 motorway at Kilcullen, close to the M7/M9 interchange.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has previously said that while there was "merit" in constructing an Outer Orbital Route, there was no funding set aside in the National Development Plan or Transport 21 to fund it.
But in reply to a Dail question last summer, he said the Programme for Government contained a commitment "to prepare for delivery of the route".
Last night, informed sources said the project was at a planning stage.
"It's still going to be a critical part of our plans," one said. "It connects with all the major routes coming out of Dublin and would allow traffic to bypass the city and allow Dublin focus on its own development.
"The second largest economic hub on the island is Belfast, and this would allow goods and freight to be shipped across Ireland without going through Dublin. It's in the formal study stage, so it's not pie in the sky."
The Transport Ireland conference at Croke Park was also told by Northern Ireland Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy that £3.1bn (€3.8bn) would be invested in roads over the next 10 years.
Stretch
Included in road schemes were the final stretch of the M1 between Belfast and Dublin, while plans to improve the frequency of the rail service between the two cities were under discussion.
"The two rail companies, the NIR and Iarnrod Eireann, work well together," he said.
"They have provided the North South Ministerial Council with a joint presentation setting out an initial consideration of options for improving frequency and journey times on the Belfast to Dublin service.
"Proposals include increasing the frequency from eight to 13 services each way daily and reducing journey times from 125 minutes to 100 minutes."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
Planners focus on Part V
A SUBJECT surrounded by great mystery and confusion, maybe Ireland's planners will finally get to the bottom of how Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 actually works.
They will be out in force on May 22nd for an IPI members only conference on Part V, "Lessons learnt, future directions".
Part V requires builders to set aside a percentage of new homes developments for social and affordable housing. So far, so straightforward, but some developers have been allowed give financial contributions to the local authorities in lieu of housing units or ignore the rule in swanky developments, offering alternative units in their less, shall we say, salubrious developments instead.
Speakers at the conference will include Nicholas Mansergh, who was involved in a recent court case relating to Part V. Barrister Brian Conroy will talk about recent case law relating to Part V and IHBA director Hubert Fitzpatrick will give the construction industry's perspective on how it will be implemented.
According to Dr Diarmuid O'Grada, planning consultant and lecturer in planning in UCD, another Part V issue is the "growing anomaly between the urban and rural contributions to Part V" and he says it has essentially become "a levy on apartments. The threshold is set at four units so it is predominantly apartments, and Dublin is making an inordinate contribution.
In rural areas where there is more one-off housing, there is a much lower contribution with Roscommon and Leitrim making zero contribution to Part V last year." He says the property tax was abolished because of similar inequities.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
They will be out in force on May 22nd for an IPI members only conference on Part V, "Lessons learnt, future directions".
Part V requires builders to set aside a percentage of new homes developments for social and affordable housing. So far, so straightforward, but some developers have been allowed give financial contributions to the local authorities in lieu of housing units or ignore the rule in swanky developments, offering alternative units in their less, shall we say, salubrious developments instead.
Speakers at the conference will include Nicholas Mansergh, who was involved in a recent court case relating to Part V. Barrister Brian Conroy will talk about recent case law relating to Part V and IHBA director Hubert Fitzpatrick will give the construction industry's perspective on how it will be implemented.
According to Dr Diarmuid O'Grada, planning consultant and lecturer in planning in UCD, another Part V issue is the "growing anomaly between the urban and rural contributions to Part V" and he says it has essentially become "a levy on apartments. The threshold is set at four units so it is predominantly apartments, and Dublin is making an inordinate contribution.
In rural areas where there is more one-off housing, there is a much lower contribution with Roscommon and Leitrim making zero contribution to Part V last year." He says the property tax was abolished because of similar inequities.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
NRA chief backs eastern bypass for Dublin
THE ECONOMIC arguments for building Dublin’s eastern bypass and the proposed Leinster outer orbital motorway were “immense”, the chief executive of the National Roads Authority (NRA), Fred Barry, told a transport planning conference yesterday.
The all-island conference, entitled Transport Ireland: Towards a Modern and Sustainable Transport Future, also heard that CIÉ and Northern Irish Railways had in recent weeks briefed transport ministers North and South on plans for a €500 million high-speed Dublin-Belfast rail link.
Addressing the issue of the National Roads Authority’s priorities beyond the inter-urban motorway programme that ends in 2010, Mr Barry said forecasts for the Republic had predicted populations of between 4.8 million and 6.4 million in 25 years. This represented an increase of a minimum of five times the current population of Cork city or a maximum of five times the current population of Dublin city.
Coupled with the development of Dublin Port, the Docklands area and the Poolbeg peninsula, “the economic arguments in favour of the eastern bypass are immense,” he said.
Mr Barry added he had come to this conclusion even though he had initially been “jaundiced” about the proposal.
Outlining other priorities, Mr Barry instanced work on the motorway from Cork through Limerick to north of Tuam, Co Galway. Some stretches of the route such as the Ennis bypass were already open or under way.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The all-island conference, entitled Transport Ireland: Towards a Modern and Sustainable Transport Future, also heard that CIÉ and Northern Irish Railways had in recent weeks briefed transport ministers North and South on plans for a €500 million high-speed Dublin-Belfast rail link.
Addressing the issue of the National Roads Authority’s priorities beyond the inter-urban motorway programme that ends in 2010, Mr Barry said forecasts for the Republic had predicted populations of between 4.8 million and 6.4 million in 25 years. This represented an increase of a minimum of five times the current population of Cork city or a maximum of five times the current population of Dublin city.
Coupled with the development of Dublin Port, the Docklands area and the Poolbeg peninsula, “the economic arguments in favour of the eastern bypass are immense,” he said.
Mr Barry added he had come to this conclusion even though he had initially been “jaundiced” about the proposal.
Outlining other priorities, Mr Barry instanced work on the motorway from Cork through Limerick to north of Tuam, Co Galway. Some stretches of the route such as the Ennis bypass were already open or under way.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council to meet developer over stalled projects
DUBLIN CITY Council officials are to meet leading developer Bernard McNamara today over the fate of a number of stalled public-private partnership (PPP) projects between the two parties.
Amid growing concern by developers over the effect of the credit crunch on the council's PPP programme, council officials are to press Mr McNamara to go ahead with the longest-delayed project, the €265 million flagship regeneration of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore.
Dublin assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara said he would be seeking an "immediate conclusion" to protracted negotiations on the St Michael's site.
Progress had been "slower than anticipated" in the discussions since McNamara Construction and Castlethorn Construction were chosen last year to redevelop the site and a number of deadlines had been missed, he said.
Ciarán McNamara denied claims that the developer had pulled out of the project. "We're still in serious negotiation with them and it's not over. It's never over till it's over."
He said the property market had changed since the contract was agreed last year.
The council had introduced new guidelines on the size of apartments and new requirements for energy ratings for buildings, and both of these would lead to the developers incurring extra costs.
Bernard McNamara declined to comment in advance of today's meeting.
The credit crunch has made it more expensive for developers to raise finance from banks, further contributing to a slowdown of the property market.
One option under discussion is believed to be a phased development of the site, with the developer having the option of not proceeding with later phases if economic conditions are not favourable.
Concerns have also been raised about the cost of clearing the site, which is said to contain petrol and other toxins left over from the time it was occupied by Richmond Barracks, before the departure of the British army in 1922.
A meeting of the board overseeing the regeneration of St Michael's is scheduled for next Monday, at which council officials are expected to indicate whether the project will go ahead or not.
Board chairman Finbarr Flood, a former chairman of the Labour Court, said his group signed off on the plans for St Michael's last January and was awaiting the outcome of the discussions between the council and the developers.
"I haven't been told the project is finished but I wouldn't be surprised if they said this," he commented, adding that "economic circumstances are very different from what they were two years ago".
The St Michael's project, which has been in planning since 2001, is to include 720 new private and social housing units, a creche, a civic centre, retail spaces, restaurants, bars, a health centre and all-weather pitches.
Most of the tower blocks on the existing site have been demolished and planning permission has been obtained for a portion of the site.
Last week's announcement by Guinness that it intends to dispose of half of its lands at nearby St James's Gate could render the lands at St Michael's less attractive to developers.
The regeneration of St Michael's Estate is one of five PPPs involving Mr McNamara and the council.
The other four are regeneration projects at O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, the convent grounds on Seán MacDermott Street, Dominick Street flats and Infirmary Road. None has yet started.
PPPs were promoted by the council as an economically efficient way of modernising the city's public housing stock, but many have been beset by difficulties.
The major exception has been the regeneration of Fatima Mansions in Rialto, which is nearing completion.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Amid growing concern by developers over the effect of the credit crunch on the council's PPP programme, council officials are to press Mr McNamara to go ahead with the longest-delayed project, the €265 million flagship regeneration of St Michael's Estate in Inchicore.
Dublin assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara said he would be seeking an "immediate conclusion" to protracted negotiations on the St Michael's site.
Progress had been "slower than anticipated" in the discussions since McNamara Construction and Castlethorn Construction were chosen last year to redevelop the site and a number of deadlines had been missed, he said.
Ciarán McNamara denied claims that the developer had pulled out of the project. "We're still in serious negotiation with them and it's not over. It's never over till it's over."
He said the property market had changed since the contract was agreed last year.
The council had introduced new guidelines on the size of apartments and new requirements for energy ratings for buildings, and both of these would lead to the developers incurring extra costs.
Bernard McNamara declined to comment in advance of today's meeting.
The credit crunch has made it more expensive for developers to raise finance from banks, further contributing to a slowdown of the property market.
One option under discussion is believed to be a phased development of the site, with the developer having the option of not proceeding with later phases if economic conditions are not favourable.
Concerns have also been raised about the cost of clearing the site, which is said to contain petrol and other toxins left over from the time it was occupied by Richmond Barracks, before the departure of the British army in 1922.
A meeting of the board overseeing the regeneration of St Michael's is scheduled for next Monday, at which council officials are expected to indicate whether the project will go ahead or not.
Board chairman Finbarr Flood, a former chairman of the Labour Court, said his group signed off on the plans for St Michael's last January and was awaiting the outcome of the discussions between the council and the developers.
"I haven't been told the project is finished but I wouldn't be surprised if they said this," he commented, adding that "economic circumstances are very different from what they were two years ago".
The St Michael's project, which has been in planning since 2001, is to include 720 new private and social housing units, a creche, a civic centre, retail spaces, restaurants, bars, a health centre and all-weather pitches.
Most of the tower blocks on the existing site have been demolished and planning permission has been obtained for a portion of the site.
Last week's announcement by Guinness that it intends to dispose of half of its lands at nearby St James's Gate could render the lands at St Michael's less attractive to developers.
The regeneration of St Michael's Estate is one of five PPPs involving Mr McNamara and the council.
The other four are regeneration projects at O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, the convent grounds on Seán MacDermott Street, Dominick Street flats and Infirmary Road. None has yet started.
PPPs were promoted by the council as an economically efficient way of modernising the city's public housing stock, but many have been beset by difficulties.
The major exception has been the regeneration of Fatima Mansions in Rialto, which is nearing completion.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Policy against rural decline
SUPPORTING rural communities who want to transform their local area into dynamic regions capable of attracting visitors, investors or residents must be placed at the centre of policy, it was suggested yesterday.
Irish Rural Link, the national organisation campaigning for sustainable rural communities, is examining how these places can ensure their future at its national conference in Charleville, Co Cork.
Seamus Boland, chief executive, said rural communities are facing challenges such as the decline in traditional areas of employment, reduced public services and an ageing population.
“Many of these communities feel ... they don’t have the skills or resources to deal with the challenges they face.
“Many commentators... argue in a globalised world only major city-regions will compete economically and getting infrastructure and services right in our cities... should be the national priority,” he said.
However, citing examples of rural communities that have transformed their locality, Mr Boland referred to communities that have taken previously unused buildings or land and transformed them into tourist attractions.
Communities have established co-ops to run a local shop which has transformed village life, while community-owned renewable energy resources have been developed.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Irish Rural Link, the national organisation campaigning for sustainable rural communities, is examining how these places can ensure their future at its national conference in Charleville, Co Cork.
Seamus Boland, chief executive, said rural communities are facing challenges such as the decline in traditional areas of employment, reduced public services and an ageing population.
“Many of these communities feel ... they don’t have the skills or resources to deal with the challenges they face.
“Many commentators... argue in a globalised world only major city-regions will compete economically and getting infrastructure and services right in our cities... should be the national priority,” he said.
However, citing examples of rural communities that have transformed their locality, Mr Boland referred to communities that have taken previously unused buildings or land and transformed them into tourist attractions.
Communities have established co-ops to run a local shop which has transformed village life, while community-owned renewable energy resources have been developed.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
South Dublin land rezoned against advice of planners
COUNCILLORS IN south Dublin have rezoned land in a green belt area at Citywest near Saggart to allow for the development of a shopping centre of up to 40,000sq ft (3,700sq m), against the advice of the county planners.
The rezoned land is known as “golf village” and is part of the Citywest Hotel complex. The land was previously rezoned to provide facilities specifically to cater for golfers and their guests, consisting of designer shops and golf outlets.
Councillors have now rezoned the land for a general retail centre, even though the site is less than 1km from the Citywest shopping centre and close to Saggart Village which, when combined with the current retail element of golf village, leaves more than 68,000sq ft of unoccupied retail space in the immediate area.
The motion to rezone the land was originally proposed last year by Fianna Fáil councillor Jim Daly, who said it would be appropriate given that the proposed Luas extension to Citywest would have a stop adjacent to golf village.
However, the director of planning with the council, Tom Doherty, said the zoning should not go ahead. The change would have “a negative impact on the vitality and viability” of the Citywest shopping centre and the Saggart local centre, would undermine both centres and be contrary to the overall settlement strategy for the county, he said.
Mr Doherty also noted that An Bord Pleanála had in 2005 refused a previous application to increase the retail space at golf village on the same grounds and on the grounds that such a change would conflict with green belt zoning.
Green Party councillor Tony McDermott, who voted against the rezoning, said it had been a “speculative, developer-led” move.
“This decision defies logic. The last thing the Saggart/Citywest area needs is more shops. The Citywest shopping centre was opened only last September and has plenty of vacant retail space. Saggart Village also has thousands of square feet of retail space available. This variation of the County Development Plan is uncalled for and not good for the area.”
He noted that there had been no submissions supporting the zoning during the public consultation process.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The rezoned land is known as “golf village” and is part of the Citywest Hotel complex. The land was previously rezoned to provide facilities specifically to cater for golfers and their guests, consisting of designer shops and golf outlets.
Councillors have now rezoned the land for a general retail centre, even though the site is less than 1km from the Citywest shopping centre and close to Saggart Village which, when combined with the current retail element of golf village, leaves more than 68,000sq ft of unoccupied retail space in the immediate area.
The motion to rezone the land was originally proposed last year by Fianna Fáil councillor Jim Daly, who said it would be appropriate given that the proposed Luas extension to Citywest would have a stop adjacent to golf village.
However, the director of planning with the council, Tom Doherty, said the zoning should not go ahead. The change would have “a negative impact on the vitality and viability” of the Citywest shopping centre and the Saggart local centre, would undermine both centres and be contrary to the overall settlement strategy for the county, he said.
Mr Doherty also noted that An Bord Pleanála had in 2005 refused a previous application to increase the retail space at golf village on the same grounds and on the grounds that such a change would conflict with green belt zoning.
Green Party councillor Tony McDermott, who voted against the rezoning, said it had been a “speculative, developer-led” move.
“This decision defies logic. The last thing the Saggart/Citywest area needs is more shops. The Citywest shopping centre was opened only last September and has plenty of vacant retail space. Saggart Village also has thousands of square feet of retail space available. This variation of the County Development Plan is uncalled for and not good for the area.”
He noted that there had been no submissions supporting the zoning during the public consultation process.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dempsey expects 'vibrant culture of cycling' by 2020
NEW RESEARCH carried out on behalf of the Department of Transport has indicated that 10 per cent of all journeys here will be undertaken by bicycle by 2020.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has reported that international cycling consultants, hired by his department as part of a national cycling policy study, have outlined the “prospect of a vibrant culture of cycling” in Ireland within the next 12 years.
“In 2006, the modal share enjoyed by cycling stood at just 2 per cent. Increasing the modal share to just 10 per cent would move as many people on to bikes as the public transport element of Transport 21 could accommodate,” said Mr Dempsey, who also encouraged cyclists to be as vocal as the “well-organised motoring lobby”.
Mr Dempsey was speaking at the annual lecture of the Dublin Cycling Campaign in Trinity College last night and said he hoped to be able to formulate a national cycling policy later in the year.
In late February, public consultation on the issue of sustainable travel and transport was initiated.
The Minister said more than 400 responses had been submitted, with a substantial number of these coming not only from cycling groups but from members of the public who strongly supported the promotion of cycling.
The Governments action plan on sustainable travel and transport “that will emerge later this year, will include support for, and promotion of, cycling as one of its key commitments”, he added.
Mr Dempsey also said an environmentally friendly workplace travel initiative for staff at his department would be rolled out for all Government departments.
Meanwhile, before last night’s lecture, Dr John Parkin of the school of the built environment and engineering at the University of Bolton, told The Irish Times that a “truly permeable network” for cycle traffic needed to be created in Irish and British cities.
This would encourage bicycle use and would help people to steer around urban areas quickly and safely.
Mr Parkin said good value-for-money measures to do so would include: an exemption for cyclists from turn left/right restrictions; allowing a cycle contra-flow on one-way streets; converting bridges for both pedestrian and cycle use; the erection of visibly clear route signs for cyclists and the creation of off-highway shortcuts.
The former civil engineer also suggested that strong policies needed to be formulated to support existing one-car households – “who may see the bike as the equivalent of the second car” – to discourage the need to purchase another vehicle.
Previously, there was a perception that the bicycle was the poor man’s mode of transport, Mr Parkin added, but now in England and Wales, the socio-economic class with the higher prevalence of cycling was the higher professional group.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has reported that international cycling consultants, hired by his department as part of a national cycling policy study, have outlined the “prospect of a vibrant culture of cycling” in Ireland within the next 12 years.
“In 2006, the modal share enjoyed by cycling stood at just 2 per cent. Increasing the modal share to just 10 per cent would move as many people on to bikes as the public transport element of Transport 21 could accommodate,” said Mr Dempsey, who also encouraged cyclists to be as vocal as the “well-organised motoring lobby”.
Mr Dempsey was speaking at the annual lecture of the Dublin Cycling Campaign in Trinity College last night and said he hoped to be able to formulate a national cycling policy later in the year.
In late February, public consultation on the issue of sustainable travel and transport was initiated.
The Minister said more than 400 responses had been submitted, with a substantial number of these coming not only from cycling groups but from members of the public who strongly supported the promotion of cycling.
The Governments action plan on sustainable travel and transport “that will emerge later this year, will include support for, and promotion of, cycling as one of its key commitments”, he added.
Mr Dempsey also said an environmentally friendly workplace travel initiative for staff at his department would be rolled out for all Government departments.
Meanwhile, before last night’s lecture, Dr John Parkin of the school of the built environment and engineering at the University of Bolton, told The Irish Times that a “truly permeable network” for cycle traffic needed to be created in Irish and British cities.
This would encourage bicycle use and would help people to steer around urban areas quickly and safely.
Mr Parkin said good value-for-money measures to do so would include: an exemption for cyclists from turn left/right restrictions; allowing a cycle contra-flow on one-way streets; converting bridges for both pedestrian and cycle use; the erection of visibly clear route signs for cyclists and the creation of off-highway shortcuts.
The former civil engineer also suggested that strong policies needed to be formulated to support existing one-car households – “who may see the bike as the equivalent of the second car” – to discourage the need to purchase another vehicle.
Previously, there was a perception that the bicycle was the poor man’s mode of transport, Mr Parkin added, but now in England and Wales, the socio-economic class with the higher prevalence of cycling was the higher professional group.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Kerry councillors warned over site 'availability'
THE CHILDREN of landowners were coming into planners presenting unsuitable sites as "the only site available" to them from their parents, Kerry county manager Tom Curran said yesterday. This was quite unfair as it "put the gun" to planners' heads when other sites were available, he said.
Mr Curran appealed to councillors not to be unduly influenced by individual cases, but to look instead at the overall strategy for proper planning in the new county development plan. The capacity of the landscape had to be allowed to determine the number of houses allowed, and the same density could not be allowed in areas of prime special amenity as in other areas.
He said families who were giving children sites could be much more flexible in the choice of site offered. "If there was more flexibility from a family point of view, maybe some of the problems you are encountering as councillors could be resolved."
Mr Curran said that in one year alone, 2007, the council had granted permission for 3,968 units. This was enough to accommodate 9,920 people. In other words, Kerry County Council had granted enough planning permission in one year to accommodate 14 times the population increase in the census period 2002 to 2006.
He was responding to conflicting reports from councillors in advance of the new six-year plan, he told a special planning meeting.
Fine Gael councillor Johnny O'Connor said housing on the Ring of Kerry would not be a problem if landscaping and screening plans were set down and implemented.
Sinn Féin councillor Toireasa Ferris said in the coming years "no-body would get permission" in north Kerry. The difficulties being encountered were because of directives from the EU.
Labour councillor Pat Leahy from the Listowel electoral area said there had been a huge improvement in obtaining planning for farmers and others who owned land. But "the major problem now is for people who don't own land". Town dwellers who wished to move to the countryside were being refused planning on sites they had bought, he said.
Some councillors highlighted what they said was lack of consistency among planners. Cllr Norma Foley (FF) said "not all planners sing off the same hymn sheet" and guidelines for applicants should be more specific.
The draft plan will go on public display next month.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Curran appealed to councillors not to be unduly influenced by individual cases, but to look instead at the overall strategy for proper planning in the new county development plan. The capacity of the landscape had to be allowed to determine the number of houses allowed, and the same density could not be allowed in areas of prime special amenity as in other areas.
He said families who were giving children sites could be much more flexible in the choice of site offered. "If there was more flexibility from a family point of view, maybe some of the problems you are encountering as councillors could be resolved."
Mr Curran said that in one year alone, 2007, the council had granted permission for 3,968 units. This was enough to accommodate 9,920 people. In other words, Kerry County Council had granted enough planning permission in one year to accommodate 14 times the population increase in the census period 2002 to 2006.
He was responding to conflicting reports from councillors in advance of the new six-year plan, he told a special planning meeting.
Fine Gael councillor Johnny O'Connor said housing on the Ring of Kerry would not be a problem if landscaping and screening plans were set down and implemented.
Sinn Féin councillor Toireasa Ferris said in the coming years "no-body would get permission" in north Kerry. The difficulties being encountered were because of directives from the EU.
Labour councillor Pat Leahy from the Listowel electoral area said there had been a huge improvement in obtaining planning for farmers and others who owned land. But "the major problem now is for people who don't own land". Town dwellers who wished to move to the countryside were being refused planning on sites they had bought, he said.
Some councillors highlighted what they said was lack of consistency among planners. Cllr Norma Foley (FF) said "not all planners sing off the same hymn sheet" and guidelines for applicants should be more specific.
The draft plan will go on public display next month.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Lough Ree tourism scheme dropped
PROPOSALS TO rezone land along the river Shannon for a marina, slipway, island and hotel, among other tourism related amenities, overlooking Lough Ree near Athlone, have been dropped by Westmeath County Council.
The council said the plan for the Hillquarter area of Coosan, which is a location set to benefit under the mid-Shannon tax reliefs, was dropped due to environmental considerations.
The council is, however, to go ahead with rezoning of the land for more than 100 "executive homes", each on one-sixth of an acre, which was originally part of the Hillquarter local area plan. Opponents of the tourism scheme have welcomed the dropping of the tourism related elements, but said the retained housing developments would be "just as bad".
Hillquarter is located on the eastern shore of Lough Ree, close to the Lough Ree Yacht Club and Coosan Point, well known landmarks on Lough Ree proper and the Inner Lakes respectively.
The area is about 4km north of Athlone but is outside the Athlone town boundary.
Under proposals for the Hillquarter local area plan the council had initially hoped to provide for a new marina which would have public and private areas for boats. It would also have a slipway. As well as the hotel the development was to have an area zoned for further tourism related amenity, such as a water based adventure centre.
The plan had also mentioned a lakeside amenity, a possible new home for Athlone's Viking boat and a Viking interpretative centre. The new island was to have been designed as a nature reserve.
But council director of services for planning Barry Kehoe told The Irish Times that the plan had been truncated due to environmental considerations, including the designations Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protected Area.
He said the council would go ahead with the rezoning of land for between 100 and 150 "executive" style new homes, even though the houses on their own would not attract the special tax reliefs. To attract the new tax reliefs more than 50 per cent of a development had to be clearly tourism related, he explained.
Mr Kehoe said the housing element would be well away from the riverside, in an area where it would not be obtrusive. He said the rezoning was based on the need for quality housing to cater for investors in the region. He said the lack of such housing in the Athlone area could become a serious drawback to attracting foreign direct investment to the region.
But Ian Lumley of An Taisce said Coosan had "suffered enough" in terms of one-off housing and although outside the town boundary, had become the town's expensive, leafy suburb.
Mr Lumley said he believed such a rezoning would be contrary to the National Spatial Strategy, as it was in the rural area, and would likely be struck down if challenged.
The National Spatial Strategy envisages a triple-centred midlands gateway made up of the towns of Athlone, Tullamore and Mullingar.
A spokesman for Friends of the Irish Environment said any area proposed for tax reliefs should have been subjected to a strategic environmental assessment, under EU rules.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The council said the plan for the Hillquarter area of Coosan, which is a location set to benefit under the mid-Shannon tax reliefs, was dropped due to environmental considerations.
The council is, however, to go ahead with rezoning of the land for more than 100 "executive homes", each on one-sixth of an acre, which was originally part of the Hillquarter local area plan. Opponents of the tourism scheme have welcomed the dropping of the tourism related elements, but said the retained housing developments would be "just as bad".
Hillquarter is located on the eastern shore of Lough Ree, close to the Lough Ree Yacht Club and Coosan Point, well known landmarks on Lough Ree proper and the Inner Lakes respectively.
The area is about 4km north of Athlone but is outside the Athlone town boundary.
Under proposals for the Hillquarter local area plan the council had initially hoped to provide for a new marina which would have public and private areas for boats. It would also have a slipway. As well as the hotel the development was to have an area zoned for further tourism related amenity, such as a water based adventure centre.
The plan had also mentioned a lakeside amenity, a possible new home for Athlone's Viking boat and a Viking interpretative centre. The new island was to have been designed as a nature reserve.
But council director of services for planning Barry Kehoe told The Irish Times that the plan had been truncated due to environmental considerations, including the designations Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protected Area.
He said the council would go ahead with the rezoning of land for between 100 and 150 "executive" style new homes, even though the houses on their own would not attract the special tax reliefs. To attract the new tax reliefs more than 50 per cent of a development had to be clearly tourism related, he explained.
Mr Kehoe said the housing element would be well away from the riverside, in an area where it would not be obtrusive. He said the rezoning was based on the need for quality housing to cater for investors in the region. He said the lack of such housing in the Athlone area could become a serious drawback to attracting foreign direct investment to the region.
But Ian Lumley of An Taisce said Coosan had "suffered enough" in terms of one-off housing and although outside the town boundary, had become the town's expensive, leafy suburb.
Mr Lumley said he believed such a rezoning would be contrary to the National Spatial Strategy, as it was in the rural area, and would likely be struck down if challenged.
The National Spatial Strategy envisages a triple-centred midlands gateway made up of the towns of Athlone, Tullamore and Mullingar.
A spokesman for Friends of the Irish Environment said any area proposed for tax reliefs should have been subjected to a strategic environmental assessment, under EU rules.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council takes action over unauthorised business park in east Clare
THE UNAUTHORISED landing of helicopters is one of the complaints of Clare County Council officials who have written to the operators of an unofficial business park at Gillogue in east Clare ordering them to cease all "unauthorised operations" at the facility and to "regularise matters" immediately.
The local authority has confirmed that it has written a warning letter to the operators of the former Burlington plant in Gillogue informing them that unauthorised development is being carried out at the facility, namely "the manufacturing of concrete and the landing and storage of helicopters for light maintenance and repairs".
Following a site visit by officials from Clare County Council, the local authority wrote to the facility managers last Friday to inform them that operations being undertaken by Bobby O'Connell Concrete and Sky Aviation were unauthorised.
A council spokesman said: "Other companies operating on site are not of immediate concern to the council and will be dealt with in due course.
"Following a site visit, we have warned the operators that we consider the operations of two specific companies to be unauthorised."
The council has also warned that in the event that this activity continues, an enforcement notice will be served. The council is awaiting a response from the operators.
Clare County Council previously confirmed that the unofficial business park was operating without the appropriate planning permission.
The former Burlington textiles plant at Gillogue was sold by Shannon Development to a Limerick businessman in 2006 for an estimated €8 million. Since then, the operators of the facility have opened the 30,000sq m (323,000sq ft) plant to several businesses, with plans to attract additional firms to the site.
Clare County Council has confirmed that operations at the plant now constitute a "change of use", which is in contravention of the planning permission originally granted to the factory.
According to a spokesman: "Planning was granted in July 1974 for a dyeing facility and plant and had strict conditions attached, particularly pertaining to the environment. Currently there are six or seven different companies based there and their operations constitute a 'change of use' at the plant and as such require planning permission."
The local residents association has also called on the owners of the plant to ensure that the facility is operated in accordance with planning regulations.
They want a weight and speed restriction imposed on the road where they live, along which gas and local water scheme pipes run.
They are also seeking assurances relating to safety at the facility and in their local area.
The manager of the park, Brian Whelan, said last month: "We will do all in our power to alleviate the concerns of locals."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The local authority has confirmed that it has written a warning letter to the operators of the former Burlington plant in Gillogue informing them that unauthorised development is being carried out at the facility, namely "the manufacturing of concrete and the landing and storage of helicopters for light maintenance and repairs".
Following a site visit by officials from Clare County Council, the local authority wrote to the facility managers last Friday to inform them that operations being undertaken by Bobby O'Connell Concrete and Sky Aviation were unauthorised.
A council spokesman said: "Other companies operating on site are not of immediate concern to the council and will be dealt with in due course.
"Following a site visit, we have warned the operators that we consider the operations of two specific companies to be unauthorised."
The council has also warned that in the event that this activity continues, an enforcement notice will be served. The council is awaiting a response from the operators.
Clare County Council previously confirmed that the unofficial business park was operating without the appropriate planning permission.
The former Burlington textiles plant at Gillogue was sold by Shannon Development to a Limerick businessman in 2006 for an estimated €8 million. Since then, the operators of the facility have opened the 30,000sq m (323,000sq ft) plant to several businesses, with plans to attract additional firms to the site.
Clare County Council has confirmed that operations at the plant now constitute a "change of use", which is in contravention of the planning permission originally granted to the factory.
According to a spokesman: "Planning was granted in July 1974 for a dyeing facility and plant and had strict conditions attached, particularly pertaining to the environment. Currently there are six or seven different companies based there and their operations constitute a 'change of use' at the plant and as such require planning permission."
The local residents association has also called on the owners of the plant to ensure that the facility is operated in accordance with planning regulations.
They want a weight and speed restriction imposed on the road where they live, along which gas and local water scheme pipes run.
They are also seeking assurances relating to safety at the facility and in their local area.
The manager of the park, Brian Whelan, said last month: "We will do all in our power to alleviate the concerns of locals."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Council urged to shelve plans for derelict baths site
DÚN LAOGHAIRE-Rathdown County Council has been urged to shelve its two proposals for the redevelopment of the derelict public baths site. The call was made at a public meeting attended by 150 people in Dún Laoghaire last night. The meeting also agreed to hold a demonstration next month to highlight the concerns of local people.
In February, consultants presented councillors with two designs for the site along the East Pier to Sandycove.
"Concept A" would cost €129 million and involves a lagoon beach and a pedestrian bridge adjacent to the East Pier. An aquatic play area is intended for the old public baths site, alongside a civic space. It includes an underground car park with up to 500 spaces.
"Concept B" would cost €92 million and involves a new promenade and sandy beach from the East Pier to the Newtownsmith section. It also includes a new water sports centre in Sandycove Park.
Last night's meeting was organised by the Save our Seafront group, which had objected to plans for a high-rise apartment block on the site of the baths.
The meeting heard claims that the council's proposals were excessive, impractical, too expensive and likely to damage the seafront.
The council was urged to shelve those plans and restore the baths as a public swimming pool. Richard Boyd Barrett, who organised the meeting, said the council's plans were over the top.
He said restoring the public swimming pool would cost a fraction of the cost estimated for the two options presented by the council. "Instead of listening to what the public wanted and getting down to delivering on it, they have wasted nearly €200,000 paying consultants to come up with an excessive and vastly expensive plan," he said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In February, consultants presented councillors with two designs for the site along the East Pier to Sandycove.
"Concept A" would cost €129 million and involves a lagoon beach and a pedestrian bridge adjacent to the East Pier. An aquatic play area is intended for the old public baths site, alongside a civic space. It includes an underground car park with up to 500 spaces.
"Concept B" would cost €92 million and involves a new promenade and sandy beach from the East Pier to the Newtownsmith section. It also includes a new water sports centre in Sandycove Park.
Last night's meeting was organised by the Save our Seafront group, which had objected to plans for a high-rise apartment block on the site of the baths.
The meeting heard claims that the council's proposals were excessive, impractical, too expensive and likely to damage the seafront.
The council was urged to shelve those plans and restore the baths as a public swimming pool. Richard Boyd Barrett, who organised the meeting, said the council's plans were over the top.
He said restoring the public swimming pool would cost a fraction of the cost estimated for the two options presented by the council. "Instead of listening to what the public wanted and getting down to delivering on it, they have wasted nearly €200,000 paying consultants to come up with an excessive and vastly expensive plan," he said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Galway to get new 'cultural quarter'
Galway councillors have agreed to develop a cultural quarter around the historic Spanish Arch area.
They unanimously agreed the plan at a meeting last night.
The cultural quarter would include the Galway City Museum, Spanish Arch, the soon to be refurbished Druid Theatre and the new Art House cinema to be built across the road from the museum.
Councillor Niall Ó Brolchain, who proposed the motion, said Galway’s credentials as a city of culture were “second to none” and that it was important to ensure arts groups, businesses and community groups get a say in how it is developed.
"I believe that the potential of the area is enormous if we can get things right", he said.
“It is important that we get a look and feel to the area that we are all happy with and this can only be achieved by careful and considerate planning."
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
They unanimously agreed the plan at a meeting last night.
The cultural quarter would include the Galway City Museum, Spanish Arch, the soon to be refurbished Druid Theatre and the new Art House cinema to be built across the road from the museum.
Councillor Niall Ó Brolchain, who proposed the motion, said Galway’s credentials as a city of culture were “second to none” and that it was important to ensure arts groups, businesses and community groups get a say in how it is developed.
"I believe that the potential of the area is enormous if we can get things right", he said.
“It is important that we get a look and feel to the area that we are all happy with and this can only be achieved by careful and considerate planning."
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 12 May 2008
Search for site of new Dublin sewerage facility to resume
THE SEARCH for a site for a new regional sewerage plant for the greater Dublin area is to resume more than three years after the original location at Portrane in north Dublin was rejected by Fingal county councillors.
The plant, which would have the capacity to process the waste of up to 850,000 people and would be second in size only to the Ringsend sewerage plant, was recommended by the Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study, published in 2005.
This study was commissioned by the seven local authorities in the greater Dublin area – the four Dublin councils and Meath, Kildare and Wicklow – to determine the sewerage and drainage needs of the region until 2031.
The €140 million Portrane plant was to be one of the key elements of the plan as it was to take the strain from the already overburdened sewerage systems of west Dublin suburbs of Blanchardstown, Mulhuddart, Lucan and Clondalkin, as well as catering for the needs of rapidly growing communities in east Meath and north Kildare.
However, its development has been on hold since November 2005 when Fingal councillors from all parties voted to reject any proposals for a “single super waste water treatment plant” in the Fingal area and ordered that a strategic environmental assessment be carried out on the drainage study.
The commissioning of this assessment was approved by the managers in the seven local authorities. It has now been completed and has recommended that the regional plant is necessary and should be located on the north Dublin coastline. But the exact location of the plant will only be determined following a new site selection process.
The report also said the lack of sewerage facilities was putting constraints on developments that had been accepted for the area. Future development would be “seriously curtailed” if the situation was not remedied.
The search for a new site will hold back the already delayed project by a further two years at the least before planning permission for the plant can be sought.
While Portrane has received a reprieve, it is not out of the running in terms of site selection.
The assessment did not recommend any potential sites but laid down certain environmental criteria – in relation to issues such as air and water quality, health, climate factors, and landscape impact – which will be used to choose the best site.
“The environmental report is the wringer through which potential sites will be put,” Paul Smyth, senior executive officer with Fingal’s water services department, said.
The strategic environmental assessment was last week presented to the environmental committees of the seven local authorities, with the recommendation that consultants now be appointed to select the new site. This appointment will require the approval of each local authority and is likely to take between three and six months.
The selection of a site will take a further six to 18 months.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The plant, which would have the capacity to process the waste of up to 850,000 people and would be second in size only to the Ringsend sewerage plant, was recommended by the Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study, published in 2005.
This study was commissioned by the seven local authorities in the greater Dublin area – the four Dublin councils and Meath, Kildare and Wicklow – to determine the sewerage and drainage needs of the region until 2031.
The €140 million Portrane plant was to be one of the key elements of the plan as it was to take the strain from the already overburdened sewerage systems of west Dublin suburbs of Blanchardstown, Mulhuddart, Lucan and Clondalkin, as well as catering for the needs of rapidly growing communities in east Meath and north Kildare.
However, its development has been on hold since November 2005 when Fingal councillors from all parties voted to reject any proposals for a “single super waste water treatment plant” in the Fingal area and ordered that a strategic environmental assessment be carried out on the drainage study.
The commissioning of this assessment was approved by the managers in the seven local authorities. It has now been completed and has recommended that the regional plant is necessary and should be located on the north Dublin coastline. But the exact location of the plant will only be determined following a new site selection process.
The report also said the lack of sewerage facilities was putting constraints on developments that had been accepted for the area. Future development would be “seriously curtailed” if the situation was not remedied.
The search for a new site will hold back the already delayed project by a further two years at the least before planning permission for the plant can be sought.
While Portrane has received a reprieve, it is not out of the running in terms of site selection.
The assessment did not recommend any potential sites but laid down certain environmental criteria – in relation to issues such as air and water quality, health, climate factors, and landscape impact – which will be used to choose the best site.
“The environmental report is the wringer through which potential sites will be put,” Paul Smyth, senior executive officer with Fingal’s water services department, said.
The strategic environmental assessment was last week presented to the environmental committees of the seven local authorities, with the recommendation that consultants now be appointed to select the new site. This appointment will require the approval of each local authority and is likely to take between three and six months.
The selection of a site will take a further six to 18 months.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Famous site could fetch €400m if part of city 'masterplan'
THE sale of 27 acres of the St James's Gate site could fetch Diageo as much as €400m, and the sky's the limit on how tall any new buildings can go.
Although the company says the city centre site, with its Kilkenny and Dundalk operations, has been valued at half a billion euro, property experts said yesterday it would probably sell for between €12-15m an acre -- meaning it could go for €324-€405m.
Because the location is close to Heuston Station and the Luas, and within walking distance from Broadstone which will become a major transport hub, a high-rise development is likely to get approval.
Heuston Gate, where Eircom is building its headquarters, will be home to a skyscraper of 32 storeys (117 metres) and the city council would be keen to allow a high-density development across the road to help combat urban sprawl and keep people living in the city.
Solo
Whoever buys the land when it goes on sale in 2013 -- and there are few developers with pockets deep enough to do a solo run -- will need to spend a lot of time with city planners.
Diageo has not ruled out getting involved in the redevelopment, with a spokeswoman saying yesterday that while the company was not involved in property development, it would "aim to be involved".
Experts said a masterplan would probably be required showing a "vision" for the site, and it would have to be rezoned.
Currently, most of it is zoned Z7A -- industrial and for employment creation -- but the portion on the quays has a less restrictive Z5 which allows for mixed-use development.
The walls along Victoria Quay, which add a bleakness to the river frontage, may also have to be retained because, although not listed, they are considered historic.
One source said the land would probably sell for €10-€12m an acre, with another putting the figure at €12-15m.
"The zoning would come, but the likelihood is a masterplan would be needed," said one. "There would be every possibility a developer would want to do a joint venture. If you could raise the finance, it would be a great project.. It's one of the last cherries in the city."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Although the company says the city centre site, with its Kilkenny and Dundalk operations, has been valued at half a billion euro, property experts said yesterday it would probably sell for between €12-15m an acre -- meaning it could go for €324-€405m.
Because the location is close to Heuston Station and the Luas, and within walking distance from Broadstone which will become a major transport hub, a high-rise development is likely to get approval.
Heuston Gate, where Eircom is building its headquarters, will be home to a skyscraper of 32 storeys (117 metres) and the city council would be keen to allow a high-density development across the road to help combat urban sprawl and keep people living in the city.
Solo
Whoever buys the land when it goes on sale in 2013 -- and there are few developers with pockets deep enough to do a solo run -- will need to spend a lot of time with city planners.
Diageo has not ruled out getting involved in the redevelopment, with a spokeswoman saying yesterday that while the company was not involved in property development, it would "aim to be involved".
Experts said a masterplan would probably be required showing a "vision" for the site, and it would have to be rezoned.
Currently, most of it is zoned Z7A -- industrial and for employment creation -- but the portion on the quays has a less restrictive Z5 which allows for mixed-use development.
The walls along Victoria Quay, which add a bleakness to the river frontage, may also have to be retained because, although not listed, they are considered historic.
One source said the land would probably sell for €10-€12m an acre, with another putting the figure at €12-15m.
"The zoning would come, but the likelihood is a masterplan would be needed," said one. "There would be every possibility a developer would want to do a joint venture. If you could raise the finance, it would be a great project.. It's one of the last cherries in the city."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
NRA prepares to sue Port Tunnel builders
THE National Roads Authority is preparing to sue the contractor who built the Dublin Port Tunnel following a series of system failures.
Engineers are taking apart the tunnel's Scada safety system "piece by piece" as part of a review of operations which is expected to result in legal action.
The NRA has told Nishimatsu-Mowlem-Irishenco, the joint venture which built the tunnel, that the system must be replaced and the contractor will be expected to pay.
If a dispute arises, the NRA has vowed to go to the courts.
The Scada safety system controls the detection of vehicles, fire suppression mechanisms, closed circuit television and emergency lighting and is described as the "eyes, ears, nose and throat" of the tunnel.
Its failure has led to the tunnel being closed more than 20 times since it opened in December 2006, resulting in traffic chaos in the capital.
Expensive
Informed sources have told the Irish Independent that the taxpayer will not be paying for any replacement systems required in the €752m tunnel, which is Ireland's most expensive piece of infrastructure.
"There were quality assurances with the product, and we're saying to the contractor who built the tunnel that we're taking it apart and conducting a full review," one said.
"You will pay us to replace it, at your own cost. If it's a lightbulb that's broke, we look at the cost of replacing it. If it's €10, give us €10 or do it yourself.
"The Scada system is our eyes, ears, nose and throat. The manual override systems work fine, but we're taking it apart, the whole thing. There's a bond lodged for this, and these guys are insured."
Wrangling
"A big firm don't want residual wrangling. These people have reputations and don't want them dragged through the mud. We're going to seek all remedies open to us to ensure we get justification and that includes taking legal action."
The likely cost of replacing the system, which also controls communications, computer control systems, smoke detectors and power supply, could reach as much as €10m.
The likelihood of legal action arose after a Freedom of Information request seeking access to NRA records concerning the reliability of the tunnel's Scada system was refused.
The reason for refusal was that the documentation could be used in legal action against the joint venture.
The NRA said a review was underway.
"A detailed review of all operating systems in the tunnel will conclusively examine if there are any issues with the operating system," a spokesman said.
Dublin City Council, which commissioned the tunnel, is already in a dispute resolution process with the contractor over the final construction bill.
Legal action over the Scada system will be taken as a separate action. Last March it emerged the turbo-jet fans used to clean the air in the tunnel had to be replaced at a cost of €850,000, a year after being installed.
NRA sources have also said they were "not confident" about the reliability of the systems in place, but have stressed that the tunnel is safe.
Standard clauses in operation contracts can impose penalties against operators who fail to run the system as specified in the contract.
The tunnel is under warranty for 12 years, and for the first two years the builders are required to pay for any faults or failures. For 10 years after that, they must pay contractors employed by the NRA to carry out work on the faulty system.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Engineers are taking apart the tunnel's Scada safety system "piece by piece" as part of a review of operations which is expected to result in legal action.
The NRA has told Nishimatsu-Mowlem-Irishenco, the joint venture which built the tunnel, that the system must be replaced and the contractor will be expected to pay.
If a dispute arises, the NRA has vowed to go to the courts.
The Scada safety system controls the detection of vehicles, fire suppression mechanisms, closed circuit television and emergency lighting and is described as the "eyes, ears, nose and throat" of the tunnel.
Its failure has led to the tunnel being closed more than 20 times since it opened in December 2006, resulting in traffic chaos in the capital.
Expensive
Informed sources have told the Irish Independent that the taxpayer will not be paying for any replacement systems required in the €752m tunnel, which is Ireland's most expensive piece of infrastructure.
"There were quality assurances with the product, and we're saying to the contractor who built the tunnel that we're taking it apart and conducting a full review," one said.
"You will pay us to replace it, at your own cost. If it's a lightbulb that's broke, we look at the cost of replacing it. If it's €10, give us €10 or do it yourself.
"The Scada system is our eyes, ears, nose and throat. The manual override systems work fine, but we're taking it apart, the whole thing. There's a bond lodged for this, and these guys are insured."
Wrangling
"A big firm don't want residual wrangling. These people have reputations and don't want them dragged through the mud. We're going to seek all remedies open to us to ensure we get justification and that includes taking legal action."
The likely cost of replacing the system, which also controls communications, computer control systems, smoke detectors and power supply, could reach as much as €10m.
The likelihood of legal action arose after a Freedom of Information request seeking access to NRA records concerning the reliability of the tunnel's Scada system was refused.
The reason for refusal was that the documentation could be used in legal action against the joint venture.
The NRA said a review was underway.
"A detailed review of all operating systems in the tunnel will conclusively examine if there are any issues with the operating system," a spokesman said.
Dublin City Council, which commissioned the tunnel, is already in a dispute resolution process with the contractor over the final construction bill.
Legal action over the Scada system will be taken as a separate action. Last March it emerged the turbo-jet fans used to clean the air in the tunnel had to be replaced at a cost of €850,000, a year after being installed.
NRA sources have also said they were "not confident" about the reliability of the systems in place, but have stressed that the tunnel is safe.
Standard clauses in operation contracts can impose penalties against operators who fail to run the system as specified in the contract.
The tunnel is under warranty for 12 years, and for the first two years the builders are required to pay for any faults or failures. For 10 years after that, they must pay contractors employed by the NRA to carry out work on the faulty system.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
First look at the model Metro
THIS first glimpse of the new underground Metro stations reveals a modern, sleek design at odds with reports anticipating dull, grey bunkers.
Commuters using Metro North can expect to be "amazed" at the size of the eight underground stations when it opens for business in 2013.
Contrary to suggestions the stations would be dreary, bleak and predominantly grey affairs, the Railway Procurement Agency's chief architect said that stainless steel, glass and smooth concrete would be used as finishes.
"I think people will be amazed at the size of the stations. We're trying to get as much natural light in, even down to 25 metres," he added.
Today the four consortiums bidding to build the 18km line, which could cost up to €3.2bn, will be given detailed designs with a view to making bids by the end of the year.
The consortiums are Dublin Express Link, which includes SIAC, HSBC and French Metro operators Keolis; Cathro Consortium which includes Luas operator Veolia and Siemens; Metro Express which includes AIB and Sisk; and the Celtic Metro Group, which is composed of foreign operators.
The public-private partnership project will see bidders asked to tender for the design, build, funding, maintenance and operation of the line.
The journey time between St Stephen's Green and Dublin Airport will be in the region of 20 minutes and 30 minutes from St Stephen's Green to Swords.
"It's a pretty significant milestone in terms of where the project is going," a RPA spokesman said yesterday.
"They [the bidders] will be given the detail of what they're bidding for, it's the formal detailed documents."
And the project's chief architect, Jim Quinlan, has rubbished claims the stations will be dull. Artists' impressions show bright, airy stations with some natural light.
"We're not talking about bare concrete at all. It's a very high quality spec in the stations, and we are producing an architectural design guide showing materials we would like the bidder to use.
"There's a design life for 120 years for a lot of the structures, and we don't want any painted finishes because we don't want to have to redecorate every five years.
"There'll be a lot of stainless steel, glass and fair-faced concrete. We're looking at putting advertising space on the back walls, hopefully it will be electronic signage.
"We've designed the stations to cope with demand up to 2040. Some may be a little overdesigned."
He said St Stephen's Green will have a 20 metre platform, to link to the DART line being built by Iarnrod Eireann.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Commuters using Metro North can expect to be "amazed" at the size of the eight underground stations when it opens for business in 2013.
Contrary to suggestions the stations would be dreary, bleak and predominantly grey affairs, the Railway Procurement Agency's chief architect said that stainless steel, glass and smooth concrete would be used as finishes.
"I think people will be amazed at the size of the stations. We're trying to get as much natural light in, even down to 25 metres," he added.
Today the four consortiums bidding to build the 18km line, which could cost up to €3.2bn, will be given detailed designs with a view to making bids by the end of the year.
The consortiums are Dublin Express Link, which includes SIAC, HSBC and French Metro operators Keolis; Cathro Consortium which includes Luas operator Veolia and Siemens; Metro Express which includes AIB and Sisk; and the Celtic Metro Group, which is composed of foreign operators.
The public-private partnership project will see bidders asked to tender for the design, build, funding, maintenance and operation of the line.
The journey time between St Stephen's Green and Dublin Airport will be in the region of 20 minutes and 30 minutes from St Stephen's Green to Swords.
"It's a pretty significant milestone in terms of where the project is going," a RPA spokesman said yesterday.
"They [the bidders] will be given the detail of what they're bidding for, it's the formal detailed documents."
And the project's chief architect, Jim Quinlan, has rubbished claims the stations will be dull. Artists' impressions show bright, airy stations with some natural light.
"We're not talking about bare concrete at all. It's a very high quality spec in the stations, and we are producing an architectural design guide showing materials we would like the bidder to use.
"There's a design life for 120 years for a lot of the structures, and we don't want any painted finishes because we don't want to have to redecorate every five years.
"There'll be a lot of stainless steel, glass and fair-faced concrete. We're looking at putting advertising space on the back walls, hopefully it will be electronic signage.
"We've designed the stations to cope with demand up to 2040. Some may be a little overdesigned."
He said St Stephen's Green will have a 20 metre platform, to link to the DART line being built by Iarnrod Eireann.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Cork Harbour Integrated Management Strategy launched
A new approach to coastal management in Cork Harbour was unveiled by Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs, when he launched a new Management Strategy for the Harbour in Cobh, Co. Cork.
Cork Harbour is a unique resource and presents very real management challenges associated with, for example, flooding, water quality, industrial expansion, environmental protection, marina development and recreational usage. This Strategy is based on a voluntary partnership between key management agencies and local stakeholders - including Port of Cork, Irish Naval Service, Local Authorities, Government Departments, Chamber of Commerce, Fáilte Ireland, community development agencies and the IDA.
The aim of the Strategy is to bring all those involved in the development, management and use of Cork Harbour together in a framework which encourages the integration of their interests and responsibilities to achieve common objectives in a sustainable manner. Development of the Strategy - and its subsequent implementation - will put Cork Harbour at the forefront of coastal management practice in Ireland.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Martin said - “What is significant about this Strategy is that it is endeavouring to pull all the strands together - and, I think if we were honest, we were fragmented in the past in terms of approaching development of the Harbour.”
The Minister referred to the dramatic changes of what were iconic industrial features of the Harbour in recent times, with the closure of ISPAT and IFI. "I take up the point that the Strategy represents a historic opportunity to realise a different future of Cork Harbour, which integrates the different functions of the Harbour. As a Government Minister, I wish to both promote and profile Cork Harbour as being the centre for education, training and research in relation to all things maritime” - he added.
The Strategy is the culmination of over three years work, co-ordinated by the Coastal & Marine Resources Centre (CMRC), University College Cork and the Planning Policy Unit in Cork County Council, as part of an EU Interreg Project - COREPOINT (Coastal Research & Policy Integration).
Commenting on the launch, Jeremy Gault, Deputy Director CMRC & Corepoint Project Manager, expressed his delight that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had agreed to launch the Strategy, which is of relevance to anyone with an interest in the sustainable management of Cork Harbour.
He said - "Producing the strategy has been an exhausting - but worthwhile - task that would not have been possible without the support of the joint co-ordinators of the Planning Policy Unit of Cork County Council." He paid tribute to the members of the Cork Harbour Forum and the Strategic Advisory Group for their time, energy and commitment in bringing this Management Strategy to fruition.
In addition to the Strategy, an Action Plan will be developed for the period 2008 to 2011, based on priorities identified from the Strategy document. This will form the next step in the implementation process and funding has already been secured to facilitate this through an additional EU project.
www.buckplanning.ie
Cork Harbour is a unique resource and presents very real management challenges associated with, for example, flooding, water quality, industrial expansion, environmental protection, marina development and recreational usage. This Strategy is based on a voluntary partnership between key management agencies and local stakeholders - including Port of Cork, Irish Naval Service, Local Authorities, Government Departments, Chamber of Commerce, Fáilte Ireland, community development agencies and the IDA.
The aim of the Strategy is to bring all those involved in the development, management and use of Cork Harbour together in a framework which encourages the integration of their interests and responsibilities to achieve common objectives in a sustainable manner. Development of the Strategy - and its subsequent implementation - will put Cork Harbour at the forefront of coastal management practice in Ireland.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Martin said - “What is significant about this Strategy is that it is endeavouring to pull all the strands together - and, I think if we were honest, we were fragmented in the past in terms of approaching development of the Harbour.”
The Minister referred to the dramatic changes of what were iconic industrial features of the Harbour in recent times, with the closure of ISPAT and IFI. "I take up the point that the Strategy represents a historic opportunity to realise a different future of Cork Harbour, which integrates the different functions of the Harbour. As a Government Minister, I wish to both promote and profile Cork Harbour as being the centre for education, training and research in relation to all things maritime” - he added.
The Strategy is the culmination of over three years work, co-ordinated by the Coastal & Marine Resources Centre (CMRC), University College Cork and the Planning Policy Unit in Cork County Council, as part of an EU Interreg Project - COREPOINT (Coastal Research & Policy Integration).
Commenting on the launch, Jeremy Gault, Deputy Director CMRC & Corepoint Project Manager, expressed his delight that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had agreed to launch the Strategy, which is of relevance to anyone with an interest in the sustainable management of Cork Harbour.
He said - "Producing the strategy has been an exhausting - but worthwhile - task that would not have been possible without the support of the joint co-ordinators of the Planning Policy Unit of Cork County Council." He paid tribute to the members of the Cork Harbour Forum and the Strategic Advisory Group for their time, energy and commitment in bringing this Management Strategy to fruition.
In addition to the Strategy, an Action Plan will be developed for the period 2008 to 2011, based on priorities identified from the Strategy document. This will form the next step in the implementation process and funding has already been secured to facilitate this through an additional EU project.
www.buckplanning.ie
Wicklow businessman fined €1m for illegal dumping
A Wicklow businessman has been fined €1m for putting the drinking water in Blessington at risk of contamination by illegally dumping dry industrial waste on a site there.
John Healy (aged 67) a married father with three sons, owns Blessington Plant Hire and Blue Bins Ltd.
Mr Healy collected waste from local companies before dumping it over a four-year period on a small seven acre site called Dillon’s Down at the Roadstone (Dublin) Ltd site in Blessington.
Healy of Crosscool Harbour, Blessington pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to disposing of waste at Roadstone in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution and to disposing of it without a license under the Waste Management Act 1996 between January 1, 1997 and October 31, 2001.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said the court accepted that Healy had been "by no means" the only person involved in this widespread illegal dumping operation and that it had been acknowledged that his involvement was only over a small area of the site. She accepted that he had mainly dumped non-hazardous waste, but added that the site had been vulnerable to this.
Judge Delahunt said that the only reason Healy had engaged in this enterprise was for monetary gain and he had done so with disregard to the local environment. She added that this activity resulted in an entire site being remediated "at great expense".
Mr Donal O’Leary, who was employed as an Independent Environmental Consultant to assess the site, said he found "no engineered or probable natural barrier" between the waste and the groundwater. This ground water was the drinking water source for homes and businesses in Blessington and Mr O'Leary said he found contaminants in it which were in excess of standard drinking water guidelines.
He said the contaminants were consistent with what would have seeped from the waste dumped on the site.
Mr O'Leary accepted a suggestion from defence counsel, Mr Shane Murphy SC, that the risk he feared at the time "was happily not borne out" but added that it was reasonable for him to assume the risk at the time.
Detective Sergeant Gerry McGrath told prosecuting counsel, Mr Eanna Mulloy SC, that gardai received a complaint from Wicklow County Council in August 2001 after litter warden, Bill Ryan, thought it suspicious that a substantial amount of waste had been dumped at the Roadstone site.
Gardaí carried out an extensive search of materials dumped and were able to trace it back to various local companies - who, it later transpired, had all availed of the services of Blue Bins Ltd.
Mr Healy was questioned by gardaí and admitted to running Blue Bins, but denied any involvement in illegal dumping at the site until he made frank admissions a year later following five separate garda interviews.
Detective Sergeant McGrath said Mr Healy had denied responsibility at first because he was in fear of being associated with much publicised allegations in the local and national media at the time, in relation to dumping of hazardous hospital waste at the Roadstone site.
Mr Healy admitted that he never asked permission to dump the waste - which, he said, equated to be between 2,000 and 2,500 tonnes per year. He saw no harm in what he was doing because it was not hazardous material and he believed the amounts being dumped were relatively small.
Detective Sergeant McGrath described Mr Healy as a well-respected man in the local community, who had been in the waste management business since the early 1990s. He had a small number of road traffic convictions that had been dealt with in the District Court.
Detective Sergeant McGrath agreed with Mr Murphy that the site was open and many people had access to it. He also agreed that 12 out of 14 people, including senior staff at local councils, were interviewed by gardai during the investigation and later cautioned as they were also suspected of dumping illegally at the site.
McGrath accepted a suggestion from Mr Murphy that, prior to 1996, when it was not illegal to dump - "it was almost customary practice for people to deposit material on the land".
Mr Cecil Shine, a geologist and defence witness told Mr Murphy that he assessed the site and concluded that the dry industrial waste which Mr Healy claimed he dumped there would have had a "relatively low risk" of polluting the lands, plants, animals and water at the site - but, due to the fact that it was not natural material, it would have affected the soil.
Mr Murphy asked Judge Delahunt to accept that Mr Healy was not part of "an enormous commercial enterprise" - transporting vast amounts of waste from around the country and dumping it in Wicklow.
He said that Mr Healy showed remorse, embarrassment and shame for his actions - having led a blameless commercial life. Mr Healy had sold land and had set aside €300,000 to offer the court.
www.buckplanning.ie
John Healy (aged 67) a married father with three sons, owns Blessington Plant Hire and Blue Bins Ltd.
Mr Healy collected waste from local companies before dumping it over a four-year period on a small seven acre site called Dillon’s Down at the Roadstone (Dublin) Ltd site in Blessington.
Healy of Crosscool Harbour, Blessington pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to disposing of waste at Roadstone in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution and to disposing of it without a license under the Waste Management Act 1996 between January 1, 1997 and October 31, 2001.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said the court accepted that Healy had been "by no means" the only person involved in this widespread illegal dumping operation and that it had been acknowledged that his involvement was only over a small area of the site. She accepted that he had mainly dumped non-hazardous waste, but added that the site had been vulnerable to this.
Judge Delahunt said that the only reason Healy had engaged in this enterprise was for monetary gain and he had done so with disregard to the local environment. She added that this activity resulted in an entire site being remediated "at great expense".
Mr Donal O’Leary, who was employed as an Independent Environmental Consultant to assess the site, said he found "no engineered or probable natural barrier" between the waste and the groundwater. This ground water was the drinking water source for homes and businesses in Blessington and Mr O'Leary said he found contaminants in it which were in excess of standard drinking water guidelines.
He said the contaminants were consistent with what would have seeped from the waste dumped on the site.
Mr O'Leary accepted a suggestion from defence counsel, Mr Shane Murphy SC, that the risk he feared at the time "was happily not borne out" but added that it was reasonable for him to assume the risk at the time.
Detective Sergeant Gerry McGrath told prosecuting counsel, Mr Eanna Mulloy SC, that gardai received a complaint from Wicklow County Council in August 2001 after litter warden, Bill Ryan, thought it suspicious that a substantial amount of waste had been dumped at the Roadstone site.
Gardaí carried out an extensive search of materials dumped and were able to trace it back to various local companies - who, it later transpired, had all availed of the services of Blue Bins Ltd.
Mr Healy was questioned by gardaí and admitted to running Blue Bins, but denied any involvement in illegal dumping at the site until he made frank admissions a year later following five separate garda interviews.
Detective Sergeant McGrath said Mr Healy had denied responsibility at first because he was in fear of being associated with much publicised allegations in the local and national media at the time, in relation to dumping of hazardous hospital waste at the Roadstone site.
Mr Healy admitted that he never asked permission to dump the waste - which, he said, equated to be between 2,000 and 2,500 tonnes per year. He saw no harm in what he was doing because it was not hazardous material and he believed the amounts being dumped were relatively small.
Detective Sergeant McGrath described Mr Healy as a well-respected man in the local community, who had been in the waste management business since the early 1990s. He had a small number of road traffic convictions that had been dealt with in the District Court.
Detective Sergeant McGrath agreed with Mr Murphy that the site was open and many people had access to it. He also agreed that 12 out of 14 people, including senior staff at local councils, were interviewed by gardai during the investigation and later cautioned as they were also suspected of dumping illegally at the site.
McGrath accepted a suggestion from Mr Murphy that, prior to 1996, when it was not illegal to dump - "it was almost customary practice for people to deposit material on the land".
Mr Cecil Shine, a geologist and defence witness told Mr Murphy that he assessed the site and concluded that the dry industrial waste which Mr Healy claimed he dumped there would have had a "relatively low risk" of polluting the lands, plants, animals and water at the site - but, due to the fact that it was not natural material, it would have affected the soil.
Mr Murphy asked Judge Delahunt to accept that Mr Healy was not part of "an enormous commercial enterprise" - transporting vast amounts of waste from around the country and dumping it in Wicklow.
He said that Mr Healy showed remorse, embarrassment and shame for his actions - having led a blameless commercial life. Mr Healy had sold land and had set aside €300,000 to offer the court.
www.buckplanning.ie
Launch of best practice guidelines for wind energy sector
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan TD has launched the IWEA's comprehensive new guidelines on best practice for on-shore wind projects in Ireland.
Commenting, Minister Ryan said: "Government policy has set ambitious, but technically sound, targets that one third of our electricity requirements will be met by renewables by 2020."
The Minister added - "The recently-published all-island grid study goes quite a way further, stating that it is technically feasible to supply up to 42% of our power requirements from renewable energy sources by the same date. The key to achieving these targets will be the proper development of our wind energy industry.
"These best practice guidelines are a proactive and positive response from the industry itself to the challenges it faces and will play a critical role in securing a green energy future for Ireland."
Michael Walsh, Chief Executive of the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA), said - "With over 1,000 megawatts of wind power already connected on the island of Ireland, the wind energy industry has already invested over €1 billion in generation capacity. However, the wind industry is planning the private investment of between €4 billion and €6 billion in wind power over the next ten years. This will require a total annual investment of over €500 million, creating an additional 3000 jobs."
Mr. Walsh added - "The launch of these Guidelines .... sets the agenda for long-term sustainable development of wind power on this island."
Mr. Walsh's remarks were echoed by John McCann, Sustainable Energy Ireland's Wind Energy Programme Manager. "Sustainable Energy Ireland welcomes the publication of the Irish Wind Energy Association Best Practice Guidelines. The development of these guidelines was part-funded under SEI's Renewable Energy Research Development and Demonstration programme. We believe that the guidelines demonstrate the wind energy sector's commitment to protecting the environment, while developing Ireland's wind energy potential."
The 74-page Best Practice Guidelines are aimed at commercial on-shore wind farms and address the main issues which developers face - providing practical guidance and recommendations to ensure responsible and sensitive wind farm developments.
The Guidelines detail standards which the wind energy industry sets itself and includes consultation with local communities, planners and other interested groups at different stages during the development process.
The Best Practice Guidelines provide detailed recommendations for the different stages in the development of a wind farm project - including feasibility assessment, wind monitoring and analysis, wind farm layout, environmental impact assessment and planning, contract and construction, health and safety, operation and maintenance and decommissioning or re-powering.
The Best Practice Guidelines for the Irish Wind Energy Industry have been produced by the Irish Wind Energy Association - with support from Sustainable Energy Ireland.
www.buckplanning.ie
Commenting, Minister Ryan said: "Government policy has set ambitious, but technically sound, targets that one third of our electricity requirements will be met by renewables by 2020."
The Minister added - "The recently-published all-island grid study goes quite a way further, stating that it is technically feasible to supply up to 42% of our power requirements from renewable energy sources by the same date. The key to achieving these targets will be the proper development of our wind energy industry.
"These best practice guidelines are a proactive and positive response from the industry itself to the challenges it faces and will play a critical role in securing a green energy future for Ireland."
Michael Walsh, Chief Executive of the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA), said - "With over 1,000 megawatts of wind power already connected on the island of Ireland, the wind energy industry has already invested over €1 billion in generation capacity. However, the wind industry is planning the private investment of between €4 billion and €6 billion in wind power over the next ten years. This will require a total annual investment of over €500 million, creating an additional 3000 jobs."
Mr. Walsh added - "The launch of these Guidelines .... sets the agenda for long-term sustainable development of wind power on this island."
Mr. Walsh's remarks were echoed by John McCann, Sustainable Energy Ireland's Wind Energy Programme Manager. "Sustainable Energy Ireland welcomes the publication of the Irish Wind Energy Association Best Practice Guidelines. The development of these guidelines was part-funded under SEI's Renewable Energy Research Development and Demonstration programme. We believe that the guidelines demonstrate the wind energy sector's commitment to protecting the environment, while developing Ireland's wind energy potential."
The 74-page Best Practice Guidelines are aimed at commercial on-shore wind farms and address the main issues which developers face - providing practical guidance and recommendations to ensure responsible and sensitive wind farm developments.
The Guidelines detail standards which the wind energy industry sets itself and includes consultation with local communities, planners and other interested groups at different stages during the development process.
The Best Practice Guidelines provide detailed recommendations for the different stages in the development of a wind farm project - including feasibility assessment, wind monitoring and analysis, wind farm layout, environmental impact assessment and planning, contract and construction, health and safety, operation and maintenance and decommissioning or re-powering.
The Best Practice Guidelines for the Irish Wind Energy Industry have been produced by the Irish Wind Energy Association - with support from Sustainable Energy Ireland.
www.buckplanning.ie
Oral hearing on Blasket plan
An oral hearing is to take place into plans to develop new buildings on the Great Blasket Island off the coast of Co Kerry.
Last year Kerry County Council granted permission for a cafe and services building to the company that owns property on the island, An Blascaod Mór Teo.
However, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála last December and a decision was deferred recently.
A spokesman for An Bord Pleanála yesterday said it had now been decided to hold an oral hearing first, but no date for the hearing had been set.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Last year Kerry County Council granted permission for a cafe and services building to the company that owns property on the island, An Blascaod Mór Teo.
However, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála last December and a decision was deferred recently.
A spokesman for An Bord Pleanála yesterday said it had now been decided to hold an oral hearing first, but no date for the hearing had been set.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Bord Pleanála rules against Lough Derg private marina
AN BORD Pleanála has rejected plans for the retention of a private marina on the shore of Lough Derg in Co Tipperary.
Michael Kelly, from Dromineer, Nenagh, had appealed a decision by North Tipperary County Council to refuse permission for the retention and completion of works to convert a berthing area into a marina in the townland of Shannonvale, Dromineer.
The North Tipperary branch of An Taisce had also objected to the development.
The planning board upheld the council’s decision and pointed out that the marina development was “visually obtrusive”. The board also stated that the marina development would detract from what was described as an ecologically sensitive area”.
The development, the board said, would detract from the amenities of this ecologically sensitive and scenic area and would, therefore, be contrary to proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
In its initial decision on the marina, the council’s planning department pointed out that the development “resulted in a significant loss of habitat and erosion of the undeveloped character of a National Heritage Area and Special Protection Area”.
Bord Pleanála agreed that the development also contravened the council’s county development plan, which states that private harbours or jetties would only be considered to accommodate a single boat, and then only in certain circumstances.
“It is considered that the proposed scale is excessive, having regard to the need to limit the amount and scale of such development due to the negative impact which private marina development is having on the shoreline of Lough Derg,” the board stated.
The board also added that “the proposed development has resulted in the removal of a considerable amount of trees and other natural vegetation from the lakeshore. The development would therefore have a significant visual impact when viewed from the lake and would, in addition, detract from the amenities of the Lough Derg Way walking route”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Michael Kelly, from Dromineer, Nenagh, had appealed a decision by North Tipperary County Council to refuse permission for the retention and completion of works to convert a berthing area into a marina in the townland of Shannonvale, Dromineer.
The North Tipperary branch of An Taisce had also objected to the development.
The planning board upheld the council’s decision and pointed out that the marina development was “visually obtrusive”. The board also stated that the marina development would detract from what was described as an ecologically sensitive area”.
The development, the board said, would detract from the amenities of this ecologically sensitive and scenic area and would, therefore, be contrary to proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
In its initial decision on the marina, the council’s planning department pointed out that the development “resulted in a significant loss of habitat and erosion of the undeveloped character of a National Heritage Area and Special Protection Area”.
Bord Pleanála agreed that the development also contravened the council’s county development plan, which states that private harbours or jetties would only be considered to accommodate a single boat, and then only in certain circumstances.
“It is considered that the proposed scale is excessive, having regard to the need to limit the amount and scale of such development due to the negative impact which private marina development is having on the shoreline of Lough Derg,” the board stated.
The board also added that “the proposed development has resulted in the removal of a considerable amount of trees and other natural vegetation from the lakeshore. The development would therefore have a significant visual impact when viewed from the lake and would, in addition, detract from the amenities of the Lough Derg Way walking route”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Campaigners tag Dublin Port Co land transfer plan 'bizarre'
CAMPAIGNERS opposing Dublin Port Company’s 21-hectare expansion into Dublin Bay have described a company proposal to give up its lands on Bull Island, if it gets planning permission for expansion, as desperate and “bizarre”.
The company earlier this week wrote to Dublin city councillors, residents in the bay area, and community and environmental groups, to outline their plans to transfer their 10.75 hectare holding on Bull Island to the city council and provide more than €1 million for its upkeep and development.
The offer is conditional on the company securing permission from An Bord Pleanála to fill in 21 hectares of Dublin Bay to expand port facilities. The expansion project was last year accepted for consideration under the new “fast-track” planning process, which allows applications for major infrastructural projects to be made directly to the board, bypassing the normal local authority planning stage.
Under this process An Bord Pleanála can order applicants to fund community gain projects as a condition to granting permission. Dublin Port Company is advancing the land transfer as a community gain project in its application. However, it could be ordered by the board to provide additional or alternative funds.
Labour councillor and chairman of Dublin Bay Watch Gerry Breen said the recent announcement by Minister for Environment John Gormley that the expansion site was to be included in a special protection area for wild birds made the company’s plans untenable.
Green Party councillor Bronwen Maher dismissed the company’s offer as a “last-ditch attempt” to get public support for the project and said a council-commissioned study had shown there would be much greater financial gain if the port were to move out of the city. The company has said it needs the expansion to create deep berthage for larger ships.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The company earlier this week wrote to Dublin city councillors, residents in the bay area, and community and environmental groups, to outline their plans to transfer their 10.75 hectare holding on Bull Island to the city council and provide more than €1 million for its upkeep and development.
The offer is conditional on the company securing permission from An Bord Pleanála to fill in 21 hectares of Dublin Bay to expand port facilities. The expansion project was last year accepted for consideration under the new “fast-track” planning process, which allows applications for major infrastructural projects to be made directly to the board, bypassing the normal local authority planning stage.
Under this process An Bord Pleanála can order applicants to fund community gain projects as a condition to granting permission. Dublin Port Company is advancing the land transfer as a community gain project in its application. However, it could be ordered by the board to provide additional or alternative funds.
Labour councillor and chairman of Dublin Bay Watch Gerry Breen said the recent announcement by Minister for Environment John Gormley that the expansion site was to be included in a special protection area for wild birds made the company’s plans untenable.
Green Party councillor Bronwen Maher dismissed the company’s offer as a “last-ditch attempt” to get public support for the project and said a council-commissioned study had shown there would be much greater financial gain if the port were to move out of the city. The company has said it needs the expansion to create deep berthage for larger ships.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dempsey denies failure on Dublin transport plans
MINISTER FOR Transport Noel Dempsey has rejected Labour Party claims of inadequate preparation for and information about traffic and business disruption in Dublin while major infrastructural projects are under construction.
Labour transport spokesman Tommy Broughan claimed the disruption while Metro North, the rail interconnector and the Luas extensions were under way would be the biggest “since the rebuilding after the 1916 Rising”.
Mr Dempsey insisted, however, that a Transport 21 implementation body had been established, which was preparing a traffic management plan for the city.
This would “make provision for alternative traffic routes and for improved public transport priority measures while taking account of the concerns of various interests, particularly the business community”.
There would be regular meetings to review progress but “disruption will be kept to a minimum but cannot be eliminated,” he said.
Mr Broughan asked about the level of disruption with the construction of Metro North, the rail interconnector and the Luas extensions and claimed that “Dublin city will be torn apart by transport development and yet the Minister does not tell us how it will happen”.
Mr Dempsey retorted that “I have an Opposition spokesperson who is meant to know all about Transport 21 and is supposed to mark me in the House and yet he knows nothing about it”.
He pointed out that a traffic plan would be available before the end of the year and he had had briefings on it. “The object with the construction of two new bridges over the River Liffey is to minimise the disruption. It is not helpful to talk about devastation in Dublin city centre.”
Mr Broughan asked: “What will be the impact of the proposed metro stations at the O’Connell monument and at the Parnell monument on O’Connell Street? Will it be a case of tens of thousands of trucks moving soil up and down O’Connell Street and the quays?”
The Labour spokesman said many people took it for granted that “Dan O’Connell and his angels and CS Parnell, our lost leader, will have to be moved for several years.
“I would not mind if the Spire goes and we do not see it again. O’Connell Street and all its adjoining streets will be a major construction site for five years.”
The Minister pointed out that “I have never said anything other than there will be disruption in Dublin city for the massive changes and improvements to the public transport network.
“It does not matter how well it is managed, there will be restrictions and disruption.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Labour transport spokesman Tommy Broughan claimed the disruption while Metro North, the rail interconnector and the Luas extensions were under way would be the biggest “since the rebuilding after the 1916 Rising”.
Mr Dempsey insisted, however, that a Transport 21 implementation body had been established, which was preparing a traffic management plan for the city.
This would “make provision for alternative traffic routes and for improved public transport priority measures while taking account of the concerns of various interests, particularly the business community”.
There would be regular meetings to review progress but “disruption will be kept to a minimum but cannot be eliminated,” he said.
Mr Broughan asked about the level of disruption with the construction of Metro North, the rail interconnector and the Luas extensions and claimed that “Dublin city will be torn apart by transport development and yet the Minister does not tell us how it will happen”.
Mr Dempsey retorted that “I have an Opposition spokesperson who is meant to know all about Transport 21 and is supposed to mark me in the House and yet he knows nothing about it”.
He pointed out that a traffic plan would be available before the end of the year and he had had briefings on it. “The object with the construction of two new bridges over the River Liffey is to minimise the disruption. It is not helpful to talk about devastation in Dublin city centre.”
Mr Broughan asked: “What will be the impact of the proposed metro stations at the O’Connell monument and at the Parnell monument on O’Connell Street? Will it be a case of tens of thousands of trucks moving soil up and down O’Connell Street and the quays?”
The Labour spokesman said many people took it for granted that “Dan O’Connell and his angels and CS Parnell, our lost leader, will have to be moved for several years.
“I would not mind if the Spire goes and we do not see it again. O’Connell Street and all its adjoining streets will be a major construction site for five years.”
The Minister pointed out that “I have never said anything other than there will be disruption in Dublin city for the massive changes and improvements to the public transport network.
“It does not matter how well it is managed, there will be restrictions and disruption.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Four wheels bad, 46A wheels good
Proposals to ban private cars from travelling along one of Dublin's busiest routes could transform the city centre within less than a year. But have the implications of the plan been properly thought through? asks Rosita Boland .
IT TAKES up to 50 minutes at rush hour to travel by bus between St Stephen's Green and Mountjoy Square, a distance of 2km, according to figures produced by Dublin Bus and quoted by Frank Fahey TD this week. This research contributed to the decision this week by the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, of which Fahey is chairman, to propose fast-tracking a car-free plan for the capital's city centre.
It may sometimes take up to 50 minutes to travel the route, but it certainly doesn't take that long on every rush-hour occasion. This reporter boarded a 46A on Lower Leeson Street at 7.46am on Thursday and got off at Mountjoy Square 16 minutes later. When boarding, the bus was less than a quarter full, and it didn't pick up any more people en route. Five people got off at Dawson Street at 7.50am and the bus travelled down Dame Street at 7.54am. It stopped on O'Connell Street, outside Penneys, at 7.56am to let 11 people alight, at which point I was the only person remaining on board. At 8.02am, the bus was at Mountjoy Square.
While the journey may have taken only 16 minutes on that occasion, nobody who currently drives, walks, cycles or uses public transport in city-centre Dublin can have failed to observe how clogged-up it is. This is particularly true around the area where Trinity College faces College Green, where frustrated pedestrians trying to cross roads can be seen jaywalking at any hour of the day.
Next week, the Oireachtas Committee on Transport will present to the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, its proposals to fast-track by a year one of several existing traffic plans for the centre of Dublin. If these proposals are accepted, by April next year there will no longer be any through traffic of private cars on one of the city's busiest routes: the north-south axis that goes down O'Connell Street, along Westmoreland Street and College Green, and up Dame Street.
The plan is that only public transport, cyclists, taxis and cars accessing existing car parks in those areas will remain on that route. The committee has also proposed that the number of buses on Dublin streets be increased from 1,180 to 1,530 within two years.
Freeing up the route from some of the traffic that presently uses it should make for a quieter, calmer city centre, which is less intimidating to pedestrians.
SO HOW WILL it work? And what will happen to the existing private traffic on that route?
The reason the fast-tracking scheme is now being recommended relates to proposals for two additional temporary bridges across the River Liffey. One of these would link Hawkins Street and Marlborough Street, the other would be located close to the Samuel Beckett Bridge (or Macken Street Bridge), which is currently under construction. These "Bailey bridges", which are commonly in temporary use nowadays in urban centres, were originally designed for use by military engineering units and are robust enough to carry tanks. Depending on their size and the weight they can take, they can be constructed within a timescale which ranges from a morning to a few days. The new, permanent bridge at Macken Street, farther down the Liffey, is a 33-month project and is not due to be completed until 2010.
Michael Aherne, senior transportation planner at Dublin Transportation Office (DTO), says the intention is that the Hawkins Street Bailey bridge will be used only for public transport, travelling in both directions.
"We can't continue to provide for the car, because we will never satisfy the car," he says.
At present, according to Aherne, some 1,800 vehicles per hour travel along the traffic lanes that run between the Bank of Ireland and Trinity. He reckons that once motorists get used to the idea of the new restrictions - which, he points out, are not being brought in overnight - they will avoid the areas accordingly.
"If you're coming into Dublin from, say, Lucan, and you know you can't drive up or down Dame Street any longer, you plan your journey accordingly," he says. "Our plan is not to make Dublin city centre a no-go area, it's about freeing up road space."
"It's good to have vision, and I would love to live in a city that is car-free in the centre," says Conor Faughnan, public affairs manager with AA Roadwatch, of the proposals. "But we do have to be dragged back to reality, which is the state of our public transport. However, I'm critical of the fact that this plan perpetuates a myth that cars are the source of our traffic problems. It's like saying about the health service that there wouldn't be any problems if we didn't have so many sick people. In London, where there is an excellent public transport system, 87 per cent of all commuters use public transport. In Dublin, only 20 per cent of commuters can use public transport, because it currently serves only 20 per cent of commuters."
One of the obvious questions the public will be asking about these proposals is the simple one - where will the existing traffic of private cars on that route be directed to? It proved hard to obtain a clear answer this week. The Irish Times submitted the following questions to Dublin City Council: What is the council's proposed traffic management plan for the existing traffic of private cars on that axis? Where will it be rerouted to? When will the plan be published, or make public?
Dublin City Council did not answer any of these questions, despite repeated attempts to make contact.
"The two Bailey bridges, plus the Macken Street Bridge, taken together, are an essential part of the Traffic Management Plan," Frank Fahey confirms. "If we don't make it possible for buses to run freely through the city centre, then the public won't use them."
So where will private cars be rerouted to, apart from over the Bailey bridge near Macken Street Bridge?
"It's not our business to get involved in that kind of detail," Fahey says, pointing out that Dublin City Council, the DTO and other agencies are involved in the Traffic Management Plan.
"We are welcoming this transport plan because of the pedestrian enhancement to the city it offers," states Aebhric McGibney, director of policy and communications with Dublin Chamber of Commerce. "It will make the city more shopper-friendly, tourist-friendly and family-friendly."
However, McGibney reports that the Chamber of Commerce has certain reservations about the plan.
"Yes, it's important to have a vision for the kind of city we would like to have," he says. "But we don't believe in closing off the city centre to cars unless, first, there is a proper public transport service in place. The city centre still needs to work for people travelling to work, and Dublin has a severe public transport deficit. It will be a challenge to implement that plan by April 2009. It's important to have a full traffic plan to see how current traffic flows will be affected - we need to see where those motorists are trying to get to and from. And we need to know that the city centre is still open for business."
Peat's World of Electronics on Dame Street opened two years ago. "When I read the plans," says manager Tom Strain, "it seemed a bit as if someone had made these decisions without consulting the businesses in the area. I'm not clear, for instance, what the arrangements will be for deliveries. And we regularly have customers drawing up outside to collect their purchases - so will they still be able to do that?"
OVERALL, THOUGH, Strain is pleased with the proposals. "Dame Street will be a lot cleaner. And quieter. We sell a lot of sound systems here, so it will help us that way to have a lot less background noise."
The DTO says businesses and the public will be consulted at a future stage of the planning.
The Pen Corner, on the corner of Trinity Street and Dame Street, has been run by the same family, the Fitzgeralds, for 80 years at the same location. For the last 20 of those, owner John Fitzgerald has been working there.
"What I see at that corner when I look out is a huge number of pedestrians trying to cross at a very dangerous junction," he says. "We're Irish, and we love to jaywalk. From the shop, we see on average one accident a week due to jaywalking."
He is supportive of the transport plan, pointing out that the noise and pollution from the current levels of traffic are "terrible" and that less traffic will favour pedestrians using Dame Street. "What I see increasingly in city-centre traffic are motorists who go from zero to 60mph over the space of a few yards, which is very dangerous for pedestrians stranded on traffic islands, some of them still trying to cross."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
IT TAKES up to 50 minutes at rush hour to travel by bus between St Stephen's Green and Mountjoy Square, a distance of 2km, according to figures produced by Dublin Bus and quoted by Frank Fahey TD this week. This research contributed to the decision this week by the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, of which Fahey is chairman, to propose fast-tracking a car-free plan for the capital's city centre.
It may sometimes take up to 50 minutes to travel the route, but it certainly doesn't take that long on every rush-hour occasion. This reporter boarded a 46A on Lower Leeson Street at 7.46am on Thursday and got off at Mountjoy Square 16 minutes later. When boarding, the bus was less than a quarter full, and it didn't pick up any more people en route. Five people got off at Dawson Street at 7.50am and the bus travelled down Dame Street at 7.54am. It stopped on O'Connell Street, outside Penneys, at 7.56am to let 11 people alight, at which point I was the only person remaining on board. At 8.02am, the bus was at Mountjoy Square.
While the journey may have taken only 16 minutes on that occasion, nobody who currently drives, walks, cycles or uses public transport in city-centre Dublin can have failed to observe how clogged-up it is. This is particularly true around the area where Trinity College faces College Green, where frustrated pedestrians trying to cross roads can be seen jaywalking at any hour of the day.
Next week, the Oireachtas Committee on Transport will present to the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, its proposals to fast-track by a year one of several existing traffic plans for the centre of Dublin. If these proposals are accepted, by April next year there will no longer be any through traffic of private cars on one of the city's busiest routes: the north-south axis that goes down O'Connell Street, along Westmoreland Street and College Green, and up Dame Street.
The plan is that only public transport, cyclists, taxis and cars accessing existing car parks in those areas will remain on that route. The committee has also proposed that the number of buses on Dublin streets be increased from 1,180 to 1,530 within two years.
Freeing up the route from some of the traffic that presently uses it should make for a quieter, calmer city centre, which is less intimidating to pedestrians.
SO HOW WILL it work? And what will happen to the existing private traffic on that route?
The reason the fast-tracking scheme is now being recommended relates to proposals for two additional temporary bridges across the River Liffey. One of these would link Hawkins Street and Marlborough Street, the other would be located close to the Samuel Beckett Bridge (or Macken Street Bridge), which is currently under construction. These "Bailey bridges", which are commonly in temporary use nowadays in urban centres, were originally designed for use by military engineering units and are robust enough to carry tanks. Depending on their size and the weight they can take, they can be constructed within a timescale which ranges from a morning to a few days. The new, permanent bridge at Macken Street, farther down the Liffey, is a 33-month project and is not due to be completed until 2010.
Michael Aherne, senior transportation planner at Dublin Transportation Office (DTO), says the intention is that the Hawkins Street Bailey bridge will be used only for public transport, travelling in both directions.
"We can't continue to provide for the car, because we will never satisfy the car," he says.
At present, according to Aherne, some 1,800 vehicles per hour travel along the traffic lanes that run between the Bank of Ireland and Trinity. He reckons that once motorists get used to the idea of the new restrictions - which, he points out, are not being brought in overnight - they will avoid the areas accordingly.
"If you're coming into Dublin from, say, Lucan, and you know you can't drive up or down Dame Street any longer, you plan your journey accordingly," he says. "Our plan is not to make Dublin city centre a no-go area, it's about freeing up road space."
"It's good to have vision, and I would love to live in a city that is car-free in the centre," says Conor Faughnan, public affairs manager with AA Roadwatch, of the proposals. "But we do have to be dragged back to reality, which is the state of our public transport. However, I'm critical of the fact that this plan perpetuates a myth that cars are the source of our traffic problems. It's like saying about the health service that there wouldn't be any problems if we didn't have so many sick people. In London, where there is an excellent public transport system, 87 per cent of all commuters use public transport. In Dublin, only 20 per cent of commuters can use public transport, because it currently serves only 20 per cent of commuters."
One of the obvious questions the public will be asking about these proposals is the simple one - where will the existing traffic of private cars on that route be directed to? It proved hard to obtain a clear answer this week. The Irish Times submitted the following questions to Dublin City Council: What is the council's proposed traffic management plan for the existing traffic of private cars on that axis? Where will it be rerouted to? When will the plan be published, or make public?
Dublin City Council did not answer any of these questions, despite repeated attempts to make contact.
"The two Bailey bridges, plus the Macken Street Bridge, taken together, are an essential part of the Traffic Management Plan," Frank Fahey confirms. "If we don't make it possible for buses to run freely through the city centre, then the public won't use them."
So where will private cars be rerouted to, apart from over the Bailey bridge near Macken Street Bridge?
"It's not our business to get involved in that kind of detail," Fahey says, pointing out that Dublin City Council, the DTO and other agencies are involved in the Traffic Management Plan.
"We are welcoming this transport plan because of the pedestrian enhancement to the city it offers," states Aebhric McGibney, director of policy and communications with Dublin Chamber of Commerce. "It will make the city more shopper-friendly, tourist-friendly and family-friendly."
However, McGibney reports that the Chamber of Commerce has certain reservations about the plan.
"Yes, it's important to have a vision for the kind of city we would like to have," he says. "But we don't believe in closing off the city centre to cars unless, first, there is a proper public transport service in place. The city centre still needs to work for people travelling to work, and Dublin has a severe public transport deficit. It will be a challenge to implement that plan by April 2009. It's important to have a full traffic plan to see how current traffic flows will be affected - we need to see where those motorists are trying to get to and from. And we need to know that the city centre is still open for business."
Peat's World of Electronics on Dame Street opened two years ago. "When I read the plans," says manager Tom Strain, "it seemed a bit as if someone had made these decisions without consulting the businesses in the area. I'm not clear, for instance, what the arrangements will be for deliveries. And we regularly have customers drawing up outside to collect their purchases - so will they still be able to do that?"
OVERALL, THOUGH, Strain is pleased with the proposals. "Dame Street will be a lot cleaner. And quieter. We sell a lot of sound systems here, so it will help us that way to have a lot less background noise."
The DTO says businesses and the public will be consulted at a future stage of the planning.
The Pen Corner, on the corner of Trinity Street and Dame Street, has been run by the same family, the Fitzgeralds, for 80 years at the same location. For the last 20 of those, owner John Fitzgerald has been working there.
"What I see at that corner when I look out is a huge number of pedestrians trying to cross at a very dangerous junction," he says. "We're Irish, and we love to jaywalk. From the shop, we see on average one accident a week due to jaywalking."
He is supportive of the transport plan, pointing out that the noise and pollution from the current levels of traffic are "terrible" and that less traffic will favour pedestrians using Dame Street. "What I see increasingly in city-centre traffic are motorists who go from zero to 60mph over the space of a few yards, which is very dangerous for pedestrians stranded on traffic islands, some of them still trying to cross."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
10 ways to make a difference to the environment
Brian Cowen wants to improve the planet for his children. Here's how he could help to do it, writes FRANK McDONALD .
IN HIS stirring speech to the Dáil after being elected as Taoiseach on Wednesday, Brian Cowen made it clear that his Government would achieve its goals by "avoiding the mistakes of the past". As he said, "we know only too well from our relatively recent economic history that the wrong policies, the wrong decisions, the wrong behaviour, can carry a very high price . . . " His Green Party colleagues were particularly heartened by what he had to say about addressing climate change: "As a father, I feel an obligation to make Ireland a better environment for my children. As Taoiseach I must provide leadership so we deliver on this for all of our children and future generations". And though the challenge was enormous, he was "fully committed to leading this change".
Mr Cowen is well aware of the deteriorating economic scenario as a result of the global "credit crunch" and the knock-on effects of incipient recession in the US. He also knows that the Government's revenues are falling well short of projections made as recently as last December, when he was minister for finance. So here are 10 things he and his new Government could do that would really make a difference:
1 Introduce carbon taxes
Back in 2000, the Government's first National Climate Change Strategy proposed carbon taxes to achieve cuts in Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. But then minister for finance Charlie McCreevy bowed to pressure from heavy-hitters in industry, whose views were endorsed by then minister for enterprise and employment Mary Harney, and the idea was dropped in 2004.
Since the Green Party became Fianna Fáil's coalition partner last year, carbon taxes are back on the agenda. The switch to taxing cars based on their CO2 emissions, rather than engine size, from July 1st is seen by Minister for the Environment John Gormley as a first step towards wider carbon taxes. Much will depend on what the Commission on Taxation recommends - and on political will.
2 Allow local authorities to raise their own revenue
There isn't much point in having a directly elected mayor for Dublin (and ultimately other city regions) with responsibility for housing, transport, waste management and other key areas, unless the local authorities are given revenue-raising powers. Until 1978, they could rely on domestic rates and, since these were abolished, they have been largely dependent on hand-outs from central government. If Ireland is to have democratic and accountable local government, the power to raise revenue locally must be restored. A property tax, based on the value of houses, would be the fairest. But this is such a hot political potato that all-party agreement would be needed. Other alternatives might include local income or sales taxes, introduced on the same "revenue-neutral" basis as carbon taxes.
3 Reconsider the public service "decentralisation" programme
Like suburban sprawl, the madcap scheme to disperse 10,300 public servants from Dublin to 53 locations throughout the State is a legacy of the Ahern era. Eight entire Government departments are all still slated to move to places as far apart as Portlaoise, Killarney, Cavan, Knock airport, Newbridge, Mullingar, Wexford and Drogheda. This is causing havoc throughout the Civil Service and in State agencies. The consequences in terms of loss of "corporate memory" would be even more severe, with up to 90 per cent of civil servants in some departments seeking redeployment in Dublin. At the very least, headquarters functions should be retained in the capital, otherwise the scheme will only cause further fragmentation in the Civil Service, as the OECD warned in its recently published review.
4 Kick-start the regeneration of Cork and Limerick docklands
Ambitious plans have been announced for the regeneration of redundant dockland areas in both Cork and Limerick. But there must be serious doubt that they will materialise given that neither city has anything like Dublin's critical mass of people and economy. Cork city isn't even going to get a batch of public servants under the decentralisation programme; some 930 are to be dispersed throughout Co Cork instead. Dublin's IFSC wouldn't have happened without the availability of lucrative tax incentives. A case could be made to justify a targeted scheme of incentives to kick-start regeneration in Cork and Limerick.
5 Cancel the Metro North project
Metro North is by far the most expensive infrastructure project ever proposed in Ireland - a 17km line, largely underground, running from Swords to St Stephen's Green with an estimated price-tag of €6 billion. Its main justification is that it would provide a link from Dublin airport to the city centre, though there are much more economical ways of serving the airport - for example, a spur off the Dart at Malahide. The Railway Procurement Agency should be instructed instead to concentrate on building a surface-running Luas light-rail network, including a critical link in the city centre between the Sandyford and Tallaght lines. At least 100km of Luas lines could be provided for the cost of Metro North.
6 Fast-track the rail interconnector
Rather than being hung up on the "big ticket" metro project, Ministers should recognise that the underground rail project for Dublin that really makes sense is the interconnector between Heuston Station and Spencer Dock. This €2 billion scheme would not only bypass a serious bottleneck at Connolly Station, but more importantly integrate all existing suburban rail services (including the Dart) into a real network.
The interconnector, now being branded by Iarnród Éireann as "Dart Underground", would have considerably less impact in both the short and long term on the valued public amenity of St Stephen's Green and would not disrupt the city centre as much as the construction of Metro North. Though it is in the Government's Transport 21 programme, the danger is that it could "fall off the table" if metro goes ahead.
7 Direct Dublin Port to relocate to Bremore
Even as John Gormley prepares to sign an order extending the Dublin Bay Special Protection Area for wild birds, the Dublin Port Company is still pursuing its controversial plan to infill a further 52 acres of the inner bay for port facilities. And Drogheda Port is planning an entirely new port at Bremore, in north Co Dublin, right next to the Dublin-Belfast railway line and within a mile or two of the M1 motorway.
Dublin Port occupies a prime 250-acre site that would form a natural extension of the Docklands area; it would be worth hundreds of millions of euro. The port company's position is untenable, but it will not move unless it is pushed by Government to form a joint venture with Drogheda Port at Bremore to cater for all freight. The port would continue to cater for passenger ferries and ocean liners.
8 Cancel new Abbey Theatre in Docklands
The Abbey Theatre has been seeking a new home for years in a variety of locations, the latest being George's Dock in the IFSC. Last October, it was announced that there would be an international competition to select a design for the new National Theatre - even though the site is not big enough to accommodate what the Abbey has in mind, and it would end up consuming much of the dock basin. Now that the long-running legal wrangle over the Carlton site in O'Connell Street has finally been resolved, there is an unrepeatable opportunity to relocate the Abbey to the city's main thoroughfare. At present, developers Chartered Land are planning a department store behind the retained Carlton facade, but the plans could be modified to accommodate the Abbey as a new "anchor" for O'Connell Street.
9 Reinstate the Freedom of Information Act
The 1997 Freedom of Information (FoI) Act was gutted and filleted by the government in 2003, doing enormous damage to the public's right to know. As Ombudsman and Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly has noted repeatedly, the number of requests made under the Act has plummeted since then - aggravated by the imposition of quite substantial fees for seeking the now limited information available. The original FoI Act needs to be restored so that we are not kept continually in the dark about decisions. After all, even Ronald Reagan said he believed in "government in the sunshine".
10 Review M3 motorway route near Tara
The die is probably cast for the M3 motorway to cut a swathe through the setting of the Hill of Tara, despite all the protests and even the words of poet and Nobel laureate Séamus Heaney, warning that it would "desecrate" a sacred landscape. "If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times . . . it was Tara," he said in March. One last effort should be made to resolve the issue, either by rerouting the motorway or upgrading the N3. Co Meath will soon be traversed by no less than four motorways - the M1, M2, M3 and M4. In a country as small as Ireland, with a relatively low population density, how can such profligacy be justified - especially when the coffers are no longer full?
Frank McDonald is Environment Editor
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
IN HIS stirring speech to the Dáil after being elected as Taoiseach on Wednesday, Brian Cowen made it clear that his Government would achieve its goals by "avoiding the mistakes of the past". As he said, "we know only too well from our relatively recent economic history that the wrong policies, the wrong decisions, the wrong behaviour, can carry a very high price . . . " His Green Party colleagues were particularly heartened by what he had to say about addressing climate change: "As a father, I feel an obligation to make Ireland a better environment for my children. As Taoiseach I must provide leadership so we deliver on this for all of our children and future generations". And though the challenge was enormous, he was "fully committed to leading this change".
Mr Cowen is well aware of the deteriorating economic scenario as a result of the global "credit crunch" and the knock-on effects of incipient recession in the US. He also knows that the Government's revenues are falling well short of projections made as recently as last December, when he was minister for finance. So here are 10 things he and his new Government could do that would really make a difference:
1 Introduce carbon taxes
Back in 2000, the Government's first National Climate Change Strategy proposed carbon taxes to achieve cuts in Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. But then minister for finance Charlie McCreevy bowed to pressure from heavy-hitters in industry, whose views were endorsed by then minister for enterprise and employment Mary Harney, and the idea was dropped in 2004.
Since the Green Party became Fianna Fáil's coalition partner last year, carbon taxes are back on the agenda. The switch to taxing cars based on their CO2 emissions, rather than engine size, from July 1st is seen by Minister for the Environment John Gormley as a first step towards wider carbon taxes. Much will depend on what the Commission on Taxation recommends - and on political will.
2 Allow local authorities to raise their own revenue
There isn't much point in having a directly elected mayor for Dublin (and ultimately other city regions) with responsibility for housing, transport, waste management and other key areas, unless the local authorities are given revenue-raising powers. Until 1978, they could rely on domestic rates and, since these were abolished, they have been largely dependent on hand-outs from central government. If Ireland is to have democratic and accountable local government, the power to raise revenue locally must be restored. A property tax, based on the value of houses, would be the fairest. But this is such a hot political potato that all-party agreement would be needed. Other alternatives might include local income or sales taxes, introduced on the same "revenue-neutral" basis as carbon taxes.
3 Reconsider the public service "decentralisation" programme
Like suburban sprawl, the madcap scheme to disperse 10,300 public servants from Dublin to 53 locations throughout the State is a legacy of the Ahern era. Eight entire Government departments are all still slated to move to places as far apart as Portlaoise, Killarney, Cavan, Knock airport, Newbridge, Mullingar, Wexford and Drogheda. This is causing havoc throughout the Civil Service and in State agencies. The consequences in terms of loss of "corporate memory" would be even more severe, with up to 90 per cent of civil servants in some departments seeking redeployment in Dublin. At the very least, headquarters functions should be retained in the capital, otherwise the scheme will only cause further fragmentation in the Civil Service, as the OECD warned in its recently published review.
4 Kick-start the regeneration of Cork and Limerick docklands
Ambitious plans have been announced for the regeneration of redundant dockland areas in both Cork and Limerick. But there must be serious doubt that they will materialise given that neither city has anything like Dublin's critical mass of people and economy. Cork city isn't even going to get a batch of public servants under the decentralisation programme; some 930 are to be dispersed throughout Co Cork instead. Dublin's IFSC wouldn't have happened without the availability of lucrative tax incentives. A case could be made to justify a targeted scheme of incentives to kick-start regeneration in Cork and Limerick.
5 Cancel the Metro North project
Metro North is by far the most expensive infrastructure project ever proposed in Ireland - a 17km line, largely underground, running from Swords to St Stephen's Green with an estimated price-tag of €6 billion. Its main justification is that it would provide a link from Dublin airport to the city centre, though there are much more economical ways of serving the airport - for example, a spur off the Dart at Malahide. The Railway Procurement Agency should be instructed instead to concentrate on building a surface-running Luas light-rail network, including a critical link in the city centre between the Sandyford and Tallaght lines. At least 100km of Luas lines could be provided for the cost of Metro North.
6 Fast-track the rail interconnector
Rather than being hung up on the "big ticket" metro project, Ministers should recognise that the underground rail project for Dublin that really makes sense is the interconnector between Heuston Station and Spencer Dock. This €2 billion scheme would not only bypass a serious bottleneck at Connolly Station, but more importantly integrate all existing suburban rail services (including the Dart) into a real network.
The interconnector, now being branded by Iarnród Éireann as "Dart Underground", would have considerably less impact in both the short and long term on the valued public amenity of St Stephen's Green and would not disrupt the city centre as much as the construction of Metro North. Though it is in the Government's Transport 21 programme, the danger is that it could "fall off the table" if metro goes ahead.
7 Direct Dublin Port to relocate to Bremore
Even as John Gormley prepares to sign an order extending the Dublin Bay Special Protection Area for wild birds, the Dublin Port Company is still pursuing its controversial plan to infill a further 52 acres of the inner bay for port facilities. And Drogheda Port is planning an entirely new port at Bremore, in north Co Dublin, right next to the Dublin-Belfast railway line and within a mile or two of the M1 motorway.
Dublin Port occupies a prime 250-acre site that would form a natural extension of the Docklands area; it would be worth hundreds of millions of euro. The port company's position is untenable, but it will not move unless it is pushed by Government to form a joint venture with Drogheda Port at Bremore to cater for all freight. The port would continue to cater for passenger ferries and ocean liners.
8 Cancel new Abbey Theatre in Docklands
The Abbey Theatre has been seeking a new home for years in a variety of locations, the latest being George's Dock in the IFSC. Last October, it was announced that there would be an international competition to select a design for the new National Theatre - even though the site is not big enough to accommodate what the Abbey has in mind, and it would end up consuming much of the dock basin. Now that the long-running legal wrangle over the Carlton site in O'Connell Street has finally been resolved, there is an unrepeatable opportunity to relocate the Abbey to the city's main thoroughfare. At present, developers Chartered Land are planning a department store behind the retained Carlton facade, but the plans could be modified to accommodate the Abbey as a new "anchor" for O'Connell Street.
9 Reinstate the Freedom of Information Act
The 1997 Freedom of Information (FoI) Act was gutted and filleted by the government in 2003, doing enormous damage to the public's right to know. As Ombudsman and Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly has noted repeatedly, the number of requests made under the Act has plummeted since then - aggravated by the imposition of quite substantial fees for seeking the now limited information available. The original FoI Act needs to be restored so that we are not kept continually in the dark about decisions. After all, even Ronald Reagan said he believed in "government in the sunshine".
10 Review M3 motorway route near Tara
The die is probably cast for the M3 motorway to cut a swathe through the setting of the Hill of Tara, despite all the protests and even the words of poet and Nobel laureate Séamus Heaney, warning that it would "desecrate" a sacred landscape. "If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times . . . it was Tara," he said in March. One last effort should be made to resolve the issue, either by rerouting the motorway or upgrading the N3. Co Meath will soon be traversed by no less than four motorways - the M1, M2, M3 and M4. In a country as small as Ireland, with a relatively low population density, how can such profligacy be justified - especially when the coffers are no longer full?
Frank McDonald is Environment Editor
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dublin's last iconic factory to become real estate
After 249 years, tracts of the brewery are to be sold to developers, writes Frank McDonald , Environment Editor.
THE SIGHTS, sounds and smells of the Guinness brewery at St James's Gate in Dublin have been part and parcel of the Liberties for nearly 250 years - ever since Arthur Guinness himself first secured a 9,000-year lease on four acres of ground in 1759 for an annual rent of £45, including water rights.
The brewery has expanded substantially since then and now occupies 64 acres on either side of Thomas Street, stretching down to Victoria Quay on the River Liffey. It was from here that the Guinness barges transported kegs of stout downriver to the Lady Patricia and Lady Gwendolyn, moored at City Quay.
The vast brewery has its own theatre and swimming pool, as well as the tracks of a narrow-gauge railway that once served the site. It still has its own power station to fuel the production of over 50 million barrels (nearly 83 million hectolitres) of beer - including Guinness Extra Stout, proudly brewed at "James's Gate Dublin".
At one stage, the brewery employed as many as 4,000 people and, although the number has fallen to a fraction with the onset of automation, Guinness remains the largest employer in the Liberties - but that's now likely to change.
The inner city lost Jacob's biscuit factory, the Powers and Jameson distilleries and many other traditional industries, and now St James's Gate is to be "consolidated", with a new brewery to be built on a greenfield site.
Powers and Jameson went to Middleton, Co Cork, and a replacement distillery that resembles a chemical plant.
A new "state-of-the-art" brewhouse is to be developed at St James's Gate, and much of the rest of the site will be sold off. But the visitor centre will stay. This nine-storey Chicago-style warehouse was converted into the Guinness Storehouse in 2000 and, drawn by the Gravity Bar, tourists have flocked to it in huge numbers. Even by 2004, the storehouse had welcomed two million visitors and it is it now "Ireland's No 1 visitor attraction", as Diageo notes.
The Gravity Bar, with its panoramic views over the city, has also hosted numerous functions, including the 30th birthday party of Rory Guinness, younger brother of the current earl of Iveagh.
The storehouse is a protected structure, listed in the Dublin City Development Plan, as are several other buildings in the brewery, particularly along Thomas Street. Whatever development takes place on the site, these buildings will have to be retained - though many would be suitable for conversion into loft-style apartments.
Even if only half the site is sold, it would be one of the largest areas to come up for redevelopment in recent years. Its long frontage on Victoria Quay is a largely blank wall, protecting a huge marshalling yard for beer trucks. This could be a prime development site, particularly because of its proximity to Heuston station, Dublin's ma
THE SIGHTS, sounds and smells of the Guinness brewery at St James's Gate in Dublin have been part and parcel of the Liberties for nearly 250 years - ever since Arthur Guinness himself first secured a 9,000-year lease on four acres of ground in 1759 for an annual rent of £45, including water rights.
The brewery has expanded substantially since then and now occupies 64 acres on either side of Thomas Street, stretching down to Victoria Quay on the River Liffey. It was from here that the Guinness barges transported kegs of stout downriver to the Lady Patricia and Lady Gwendolyn, moored at City Quay.
The vast brewery has its own theatre and swimming pool, as well as the tracks of a narrow-gauge railway that once served the site. It still has its own power station to fuel the production of over 50 million barrels (nearly 83 million hectolitres) of beer - including Guinness Extra Stout, proudly brewed at "James's Gate Dublin".
At one stage, the brewery employed as many as 4,000 people and, although the number has fallen to a fraction with the onset of automation, Guinness remains the largest employer in the Liberties - but that's now likely to change.
The inner city lost Jacob's biscuit factory, the Powers and Jameson distilleries and many other traditional industries, and now St James's Gate is to be "consolidated", with a new brewery to be built on a greenfield site.
Powers and Jameson went to Middleton, Co Cork, and a replacement distillery that resembles a chemical plant.
A new "state-of-the-art" brewhouse is to be developed at St James's Gate, and much of the rest of the site will be sold off. But the visitor centre will stay. This nine-storey Chicago-style warehouse was converted into the Guinness Storehouse in 2000 and, drawn by the Gravity Bar, tourists have flocked to it in huge numbers. Even by 2004, the storehouse had welcomed two million visitors and it is it now "Ireland's No 1 visitor attraction", as Diageo notes.
The Gravity Bar, with its panoramic views over the city, has also hosted numerous functions, including the 30th birthday party of Rory Guinness, younger brother of the current earl of Iveagh.
The storehouse is a protected structure, listed in the Dublin City Development Plan, as are several other buildings in the brewery, particularly along Thomas Street. Whatever development takes place on the site, these buildings will have to be retained - though many would be suitable for conversion into loft-style apartments.
Even if only half the site is sold, it would be one of the largest areas to come up for redevelopment in recent years. Its long frontage on Victoria Quay is a largely blank wall, protecting a huge marshalling yard for beer trucks. This could be a prime development site, particularly because of its proximity to Heuston station, Dublin's ma