UNLESS IRELAND invests in higher-speed rail to compete with faster journey times on new motorways, it will face a “progressive closing of the [railway] network” in the near future, according to a leading transport expert.
Prof Austin Smyth, lead author of a mid-term review of Transport 21 for the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, said the Belfast-Dublin line was “almost a basket case now” due to competition from the M1 motorway and “the same will happen elsewhere”.
The next government would have to decide between three options for the future of the railways – to invest more with the aim of making journey times more competitive, to continue subsidising loss-making services in decline, or to close key routes.
At an institute symposium on the review, Prof Smyth noted that 75 per cent of the money invested under the Transport 21 programme since it was launched in 2005 had gone on roads, with the inter-urban motorways accounting for 89 per cent of this expenditure.
He said it was “not unreasonable to attribute part of the growth in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions to the improvements in inter-urban roads, which also had negative consequences for spatial development – in particular, by facilitating suburban sprawl”.
Referring to rising oil prices, he warned: “You ain’t seen nothing yet. In 10 years time, today’s prices will seem very cheap.
“Petrol prices of €4, €5 or €6 per litre are not inconceivable in the near future, and transport investment needs to be considered in that context.”
Dick Fearn, chief executive of Iarnród Éireann, said it was “committed to making journey time improvements” on the railways with “relatively modest incremental expenditure to eliminate speed restrictions”, and he believed that such a programme could be funded.
“Ten years ago, we didn’t have a rail infrastructure that was sustainable,” he added.
“We have come a long way and now have a very modern intercity fleet. It’s not yet sufficient. We are now uncompetitive on some intercity routes and need to spend some more money.”
Pat Mangan, who recently retired as assistant secretary at the Department of Transport, said an average of €100 million a year had been invested in the railways. “That needs to continue if we are to not face further restrictions in speed and level of service.”
However there was now “a lot less money for transport than before”, with a “sharp decline” in the annual capital allocation from €3 billion last year to just €1 billion in 2014. This “new reality” might mean imposing more road tolls to raise money for transport investment.
“The first priority is to protect what we have already got,” Mr Mangan told the symposium. Money would have to be spent on the maintenance of new roads, including local and regional roads, as well as ensuring that improved rail services did not deteriorate.
He said the next government needs to make early decisions on major transport investment projects such as Dart underground and Metro North and “stick with them”. Instead of having Ministers “navel gaze”, they should “get on with it” by delivering key projects.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 31 January 2011
Coillte urged to end land deals
AN TAISCE has called on Coillte Teoranta to abandon its “ill-advised” commercial property programme following a second planning refusal for a nursing home on its lands.
The State forestry company was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a 100-bed nursing home and community facilities at Carrowbaun, off the M6 in east Co Galway, following an appeal by An Taisce.
A number of grounds for refusal were given by the appeals board, including its view that the “unsuitable rural location” would contribute to piecemeal isolated development as well as being prejudicial to public health because of the risk of ground water pollution from septic tanks.
Ian Lumley, An Taisce’s heritage officer, said the Co Galway scheme – one of five nursing home applications on forest land – was “part of a wider misplaced commercial agenda by Coillte designed to attract investors if privatisation of the State forestry organisation goes ahead”.
“One in Co Wexford has already been refused along with the Galway development, and the remaining three are still in the planning system,” he said.
“The forestry agency is also currently proposing to enter into a deal with Irish Distillers for a poorly placed storage facility in a State forest 9km from the Irish Distillers plant in Middleton.
“These developments are being led entirely by availability of the land bank without any regard for proper spatial planning.
“The Galway refusal also shows that Coillte is wasting time and resources by entering into development proposals which are against national planning policy.”
Attempts to contact Coillte to comment on An Bord Pleanála’s decision and An Taisce’s claims were unsuccessful.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The State forestry company was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a 100-bed nursing home and community facilities at Carrowbaun, off the M6 in east Co Galway, following an appeal by An Taisce.
A number of grounds for refusal were given by the appeals board, including its view that the “unsuitable rural location” would contribute to piecemeal isolated development as well as being prejudicial to public health because of the risk of ground water pollution from septic tanks.
Ian Lumley, An Taisce’s heritage officer, said the Co Galway scheme – one of five nursing home applications on forest land – was “part of a wider misplaced commercial agenda by Coillte designed to attract investors if privatisation of the State forestry organisation goes ahead”.
“One in Co Wexford has already been refused along with the Galway development, and the remaining three are still in the planning system,” he said.
“The forestry agency is also currently proposing to enter into a deal with Irish Distillers for a poorly placed storage facility in a State forest 9km from the Irish Distillers plant in Middleton.
“These developments are being led entirely by availability of the land bank without any regard for proper spatial planning.
“The Galway refusal also shows that Coillte is wasting time and resources by entering into development proposals which are against national planning policy.”
Attempts to contact Coillte to comment on An Bord Pleanála’s decision and An Taisce’s claims were unsuccessful.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Nama reply sought over rezoning plan
NAMA HAS been asked to comment on a draft local area plan for Bandon, Co Cork, which has zoned land for a further 1,700 houses even though land already zoned for housing – some under Nama’s control – remains to be developed.
Declan Waugh, an environmental engineer and member of Cork County Council’s strategic planning committee, wrote to Nama last week seeking clarification of its interest in lands on the outskirts of Bandon.
“Nama is an asset management company that will hold, manage, develop or enhance loans . . . with the aim of achieving the best possible return for the taxpayer on the loans and any underlying assets,” he said.
Mr Waugh said in considering local area plans, councillors “should take cognisance of development lands owned or in the control of Nama . . . given that the taxpayer through the vehicle of Nama needs to ensure a return on these investments by the State”.
Planning bodies should give priority to having these lands developed or construction completed prior to further zoning so there would be “orderly development”.
He cited the draft local area plan for Bandon, which “seeks to zone additional land for 1,700 houses on top of the already zoned and uncompleted lands where planning remains for 1,500 houses, some of which are now under the control of Nama”.
When Mr Waugh raised this at the strategic planning committee, the response he received was that Nama did not own development lands, but the associated loans. As a result, the council could carry on zoning land, “regardless of market implications”.
In his opinion, “there should be co-operation between State bodies on prioritising the completion of unfinished estates and development of suitable lands already in the control of Nama”.
Mr Waugh has not yet received a reply from Nama.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Declan Waugh, an environmental engineer and member of Cork County Council’s strategic planning committee, wrote to Nama last week seeking clarification of its interest in lands on the outskirts of Bandon.
“Nama is an asset management company that will hold, manage, develop or enhance loans . . . with the aim of achieving the best possible return for the taxpayer on the loans and any underlying assets,” he said.
Mr Waugh said in considering local area plans, councillors “should take cognisance of development lands owned or in the control of Nama . . . given that the taxpayer through the vehicle of Nama needs to ensure a return on these investments by the State”.
Planning bodies should give priority to having these lands developed or construction completed prior to further zoning so there would be “orderly development”.
He cited the draft local area plan for Bandon, which “seeks to zone additional land for 1,700 houses on top of the already zoned and uncompleted lands where planning remains for 1,500 houses, some of which are now under the control of Nama”.
When Mr Waugh raised this at the strategic planning committee, the response he received was that Nama did not own development lands, but the associated loans. As a result, the council could carry on zoning land, “regardless of market implications”.
In his opinion, “there should be co-operation between State bodies on prioritising the completion of unfinished estates and development of suitable lands already in the control of Nama”.
Mr Waugh has not yet received a reply from Nama.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Kenny sees old railway as tourist trail
FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny has lent his support to plans for a walking and cycling “greenway” on part of the western rail corridor, implicitly ruling out its reinstatement as a railway.
“I favour this kind of development . . . which will have a considerable impact in respect of tourism,” Mr Kenny told Sligo-based greenway promoter Brendan Quinn, saying it should be subject to a feasibility study by Mayo and Sligo county councils.
The proposal is to create a greenway on the corridor between Claremorris, Co Mayo, and Collooney, Co Sligo, based on the success of the Great Western Greenway from Newport to Mulranny, Co Mayo, which is now being extended to Achill Island.
Last summer, the existing route attracted 300 walkers and cyclists on weekdays and up to 1,000 at weekends. It has been a “phenomenal success”, according to Mr Quinn. “Imagine what that is doing for these sleepy backwaters of Irish tourism,” he said.
Local politicians in Mayo and Sligo had woken up to the value of greenways as revenue-generators for local economies. Sligo County Council’s decision last week to include it as an objective was a huge breakthrough, he said.
Only one section of the western rail corridor, between Ennis and Athenry, has been reinstated for rail services. Plans to extend it further north to Tuam and Claremorris were included in the Government’s Transport 21 investment programme but are “on hold”.
Mr Quinn said Mayo County Council is investigating the opportunity to create a greenway on the rail alignment from Claremorris to Charlestown, rather than persist with the “rather forlorn idea” that the railway line would reopen.
Referring to the West on Track campaign, which is seeking to have the entire rail corridor reopened, he said this was unlikely to happen “any time soon, or at all” because the route did not have the population density to sustain a rail service.
“I don’t think the Ennis-Athenry line has set the world alight,” Mr Quinn said. “The X51 bus from Limerick to Galway does it in just over an hour now with the Gort bypass. The train takes almost two hours and is a lot less frequent.
“I am not anti-rail, but I do recognise that we have to be pragmatic and realistic. We ain’t going to get the line reinstated, so let’s use the track bed for something useful. The greenway idea will deliver something very cost-effectively and very quickly.”
He envisaged disused rail lines in Co Donegal could also be developed as greenways, creating a network of safe cycling and walking routes that would boost activity tourism in the west while also protecting the rail alignments.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
“I favour this kind of development . . . which will have a considerable impact in respect of tourism,” Mr Kenny told Sligo-based greenway promoter Brendan Quinn, saying it should be subject to a feasibility study by Mayo and Sligo county councils.
The proposal is to create a greenway on the corridor between Claremorris, Co Mayo, and Collooney, Co Sligo, based on the success of the Great Western Greenway from Newport to Mulranny, Co Mayo, which is now being extended to Achill Island.
Last summer, the existing route attracted 300 walkers and cyclists on weekdays and up to 1,000 at weekends. It has been a “phenomenal success”, according to Mr Quinn. “Imagine what that is doing for these sleepy backwaters of Irish tourism,” he said.
Local politicians in Mayo and Sligo had woken up to the value of greenways as revenue-generators for local economies. Sligo County Council’s decision last week to include it as an objective was a huge breakthrough, he said.
Only one section of the western rail corridor, between Ennis and Athenry, has been reinstated for rail services. Plans to extend it further north to Tuam and Claremorris were included in the Government’s Transport 21 investment programme but are “on hold”.
Mr Quinn said Mayo County Council is investigating the opportunity to create a greenway on the rail alignment from Claremorris to Charlestown, rather than persist with the “rather forlorn idea” that the railway line would reopen.
Referring to the West on Track campaign, which is seeking to have the entire rail corridor reopened, he said this was unlikely to happen “any time soon, or at all” because the route did not have the population density to sustain a rail service.
“I don’t think the Ennis-Athenry line has set the world alight,” Mr Quinn said. “The X51 bus from Limerick to Galway does it in just over an hour now with the Gort bypass. The train takes almost two hours and is a lot less frequent.
“I am not anti-rail, but I do recognise that we have to be pragmatic and realistic. We ain’t going to get the line reinstated, so let’s use the track bed for something useful. The greenway idea will deliver something very cost-effectively and very quickly.”
He envisaged disused rail lines in Co Donegal could also be developed as greenways, creating a network of safe cycling and walking routes that would boost activity tourism in the west while also protecting the rail alignments.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Public may face €350m bill over incinerator
TAXPAYERS COULD be exposed to paying financial penalties ranging from €187 million to €350 million over 25 years for the Poolbeg incinerator planned by Dublin City Council, according to an official report.
The report, compiled by John Hennessy SC for former minister for the environment John Gormley, said the “put-or-pay” clause in the council’s contract with American waste management company Covanta could cost as much as €14 million per annum, on average.
This “worst case scenario” would arise if waste volumes reduced by 1 per cent per annum, recycling rates increased at 3 per cent per annum (to a level of 60 per cent) and the market shares of the Dublin local authorities reduced by 3 per cent per annum.
The findings of Mr Hennessy’s review of the council’s contract with Covanta, carried out under section 224 of the 2001 Local Government Act, were revealed in a letter from Mr Gormley last Friday to Éamon Ó Cuív, his successor in the Custom House.
The Green Party leader and TD for Dublin South East expresses his concern that the promoters of the project “may again use the election period to create ‘facts on the ground’ which any new Government will have to deal with” – as they had done in 2007.
During the last general election, Mr Gormley says that “the promoters of the incinerator took advantage of the election campaign to resurrect the project, which was at that time moribund following the withdrawal of the original preferred bidder, [Danish firm] Elsam.
“While political attention was focused on the general election, the project board met to agree the involvement of an entirely new bidder, Covanta. This decision was taken days before polling in the 2007 election, and did not come to light until the election was over.” If it now “went past the point where termination or variation of the agreement may be achieved at a relatively low cost, the new Government may find it has no option, in financial terms, but to alter waste policy in such a way as to ensure the viability of this project.
“Having commissioned the Hennessy report and having been aware of its contents for some months, I cannot in good conscience allow debate about this issue to continue during the election campaign without the key facts above being known to the public.” Mr Gormley’s letter says he believes “it is clearly in the public interest that the Hennessy report be published in full without any further delay” and it calls on the new Minister to “make arrangements for its publication within seven days of the date of this letter”.
The report was submitted last September and copies were sent to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Attorney General, with whom Mr Gormley had correspondence on the issue of publication. But he received no formal reply from the Taoiseach or Minister for Finance.
Mr Hennessy’s analysis “makes it clear that, for the Dublin local authorities to avoid financial penalties under their contract with Covanta . . . waste volumes would have to increase again at Celtic Tiger rates and sustain such rates of increase for the next 25 years.
“The scale of the potential losses would be outside the ability of Dublin City Council to meet and therefore constitute a significant risk to the exchequer”, because the council “is likely to have considerable difficulty” in meeting its “put-or-pay” commitment to Covanta.
According to the letter, Mr Hennessy says the council would “struggle to deliver” 320,000 tonnes of waste to the incinerator from the Dublin market in any year unless the volumes of waste generated increased significantly.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The report, compiled by John Hennessy SC for former minister for the environment John Gormley, said the “put-or-pay” clause in the council’s contract with American waste management company Covanta could cost as much as €14 million per annum, on average.
This “worst case scenario” would arise if waste volumes reduced by 1 per cent per annum, recycling rates increased at 3 per cent per annum (to a level of 60 per cent) and the market shares of the Dublin local authorities reduced by 3 per cent per annum.
The findings of Mr Hennessy’s review of the council’s contract with Covanta, carried out under section 224 of the 2001 Local Government Act, were revealed in a letter from Mr Gormley last Friday to Éamon Ó Cuív, his successor in the Custom House.
The Green Party leader and TD for Dublin South East expresses his concern that the promoters of the project “may again use the election period to create ‘facts on the ground’ which any new Government will have to deal with” – as they had done in 2007.
During the last general election, Mr Gormley says that “the promoters of the incinerator took advantage of the election campaign to resurrect the project, which was at that time moribund following the withdrawal of the original preferred bidder, [Danish firm] Elsam.
“While political attention was focused on the general election, the project board met to agree the involvement of an entirely new bidder, Covanta. This decision was taken days before polling in the 2007 election, and did not come to light until the election was over.” If it now “went past the point where termination or variation of the agreement may be achieved at a relatively low cost, the new Government may find it has no option, in financial terms, but to alter waste policy in such a way as to ensure the viability of this project.
“Having commissioned the Hennessy report and having been aware of its contents for some months, I cannot in good conscience allow debate about this issue to continue during the election campaign without the key facts above being known to the public.” Mr Gormley’s letter says he believes “it is clearly in the public interest that the Hennessy report be published in full without any further delay” and it calls on the new Minister to “make arrangements for its publication within seven days of the date of this letter”.
The report was submitted last September and copies were sent to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Attorney General, with whom Mr Gormley had correspondence on the issue of publication. But he received no formal reply from the Taoiseach or Minister for Finance.
Mr Hennessy’s analysis “makes it clear that, for the Dublin local authorities to avoid financial penalties under their contract with Covanta . . . waste volumes would have to increase again at Celtic Tiger rates and sustain such rates of increase for the next 25 years.
“The scale of the potential losses would be outside the ability of Dublin City Council to meet and therefore constitute a significant risk to the exchequer”, because the council “is likely to have considerable difficulty” in meeting its “put-or-pay” commitment to Covanta.
According to the letter, Mr Hennessy says the council would “struggle to deliver” 320,000 tonnes of waste to the incinerator from the Dublin market in any year unless the volumes of waste generated increased significantly.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Soccer club wins in rezoning
CLIFFONEY/GRANGE youth soccer club and the local parish council were the big winners of Monday's County Council meeting after the green light was given to a proposal to re-zone a 23 acre site to allow for the' development of a soccer pitch and clubhouse along with a burial ground at Aughagad..
Councillors, who met to discuss the Second Manager's Report on submissions and observations relating to the Draft Development Plan, voted narrowly by nine votes to seven to back a submission by Gavin Engineering on behalf of Gilleece Brothers Construction, Grange Pastoral Council and Cliffoney/Grange Youth soccer club for a new development which will also include a proposal for a residential scheme.
However, council officials opposed the idea saying the proposed residential element of 17 acres would have the potential to provide at least 78 houses giving an additional population of 171 people, and that this was unjustified given the level of vacant dwellings.
Councillor Michael Clarke proposed an amendment to the Draft Development Plan in line with the submission already made that 17 acres be zoned for residential uses, three acres be zoned for a burial ground and a further three be set aside for a soccer pitch, training ground and a clubhouse. At present, the lands were zoned as 'buffer zone!
Clr. Clarke said it was a very generous proposal by the developers and he was strongly recommending that the plan be backed. The motion was seconded by Clr. Sean MacManus who said he would be normally reluctant to back such plans but in this case the developer was giving back six acres to the community for much needed facilities. Clr. Hubert Keaney said a lot of land had already been zoned for housing and he did not believe it was right to proceed with more
houses at that location. Councillors voted 9 to 7 to amend the Grange mini-plan to rezone the 23 acre site to allow for the development to go ahead.
The Champion
www.buckplanning.ie
Councillors, who met to discuss the Second Manager's Report on submissions and observations relating to the Draft Development Plan, voted narrowly by nine votes to seven to back a submission by Gavin Engineering on behalf of Gilleece Brothers Construction, Grange Pastoral Council and Cliffoney/Grange Youth soccer club for a new development which will also include a proposal for a residential scheme.
However, council officials opposed the idea saying the proposed residential element of 17 acres would have the potential to provide at least 78 houses giving an additional population of 171 people, and that this was unjustified given the level of vacant dwellings.
Councillor Michael Clarke proposed an amendment to the Draft Development Plan in line with the submission already made that 17 acres be zoned for residential uses, three acres be zoned for a burial ground and a further three be set aside for a soccer pitch, training ground and a clubhouse. At present, the lands were zoned as 'buffer zone!
Clr. Clarke said it was a very generous proposal by the developers and he was strongly recommending that the plan be backed. The motion was seconded by Clr. Sean MacManus who said he would be normally reluctant to back such plans but in this case the developer was giving back six acres to the community for much needed facilities. Clr. Hubert Keaney said a lot of land had already been zoned for housing and he did not believe it was right to proceed with more
houses at that location. Councillors voted 9 to 7 to amend the Grange mini-plan to rezone the 23 acre site to allow for the development to go ahead.
The Champion
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Port firm turns deaf ear to residents
THE DUBLIN Port Company has told residents of Pigeon House Road that they should go to court if they want to put an end to sleep deprivation from the night-time operation of a container terminal near their homes.
The terminal, operated by Marine Terminals Ltd (MTL), bills itself as “Ireland’s largest and most modern container terminal” and was recently refitted with at a cost of €25 million. It has three gantry cranes capable of handling Panamax container vessels.
The gantries operate day and night, generating noise in the neighbourhood “significantly above the guideline values for community noise to avoid sleep disturbance . . . as recommended by the World Health Organisation”, according to noise consultants Fehily Timoney.
“We are at our wits end,” said Alexander Downes, a spokesman for 25 local residents, who range in age from six weeks to 86 years. “We have tried for years to work with Dublin Port to bring about a resolution to this matter, without success.”
Julie McCann (86), who had been living at Coastguard Station since 1943, moved out two years ago. “I could not stand the noise from the docks,” she said. “It seems to get worse at night. No sleep – my nerves were in bits listening to the crash of containers.”
Last May a report compiled by Byrne Environmental, for the residents, concluded that noise monitoring results “demonstrated that MTL site activities have a very significant detrimental impact . . . and that there is unambiguous evidence that noise complaints are justified”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The terminal, operated by Marine Terminals Ltd (MTL), bills itself as “Ireland’s largest and most modern container terminal” and was recently refitted with at a cost of €25 million. It has three gantry cranes capable of handling Panamax container vessels.
The gantries operate day and night, generating noise in the neighbourhood “significantly above the guideline values for community noise to avoid sleep disturbance . . . as recommended by the World Health Organisation”, according to noise consultants Fehily Timoney.
“We are at our wits end,” said Alexander Downes, a spokesman for 25 local residents, who range in age from six weeks to 86 years. “We have tried for years to work with Dublin Port to bring about a resolution to this matter, without success.”
Julie McCann (86), who had been living at Coastguard Station since 1943, moved out two years ago. “I could not stand the noise from the docks,” she said. “It seems to get worse at night. No sleep – my nerves were in bits listening to the crash of containers.”
Last May a report compiled by Byrne Environmental, for the residents, concluded that noise monitoring results “demonstrated that MTL site activities have a very significant detrimental impact . . . and that there is unambiguous evidence that noise complaints are justified”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 24 January 2011
Bord Pleanála rejects appeal over wind farm
An Bord Pleanála has overruled the recommendation of its own inspector to give the go-ahead to a new €50 million wind farm near Lissycasey in west Clare.
In its ruling, the appeals board dismissed an appeal by An Taisce against a Clare County Council decision to give the go-ahead to plans by Hibernian Windpower Ltd to construct an 11-unit 375ft high wind farm at Boolynagleragh, Lissycasey.
The proposal is one of four wind farms involving 40 wind turbines in the general area that have secured planning permission, are seeking planning or are operational.
In its ruling, the appeals board ordered the omission of two turbines. The wind farm is to be located on a 180-hectare site containing some bog and Hibernian states that it will produce 27.5MW of electricity.
In his inspector’s report, Bord Pleanála planner, Conor McGrath recommended that planning permission be refused as there was a failure to investigate and adequately describe the impact of the proposed development on ground stability in the vicinity of the turbines.
Mr McGrath also stated that there were inconsistencies in evidence submitted in relation to the cumulative impact of wind farms on the protected hen harrier bird.
He recommended that the bord would not be satisfied that the proposed development would not have significant adverse impacts on the environment and the proposed development would be contrary to the proper planning and development of the area.
However, the Bord, in its formal order, stated that the proposed development would not adversely affect the natural heritage of the area, would not have a significant impact on any protected bird species in the area, would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not give rise to water pollution and would be acceptable in terms of risk of land slippage.
The Bord stated that, in deciding not to accept the inspector’s recommendation, it had regard to the site investigation report including the peat risk assessment it received, noting that peat depths on the site are generally low.
The bord concluded that the project "would not have any significant impacts on the local hen harrier population - noting that, cumulatively, wind farm developments in the area occupy a small part of the overall foraging area for hen harriers".
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In its ruling, the appeals board dismissed an appeal by An Taisce against a Clare County Council decision to give the go-ahead to plans by Hibernian Windpower Ltd to construct an 11-unit 375ft high wind farm at Boolynagleragh, Lissycasey.
The proposal is one of four wind farms involving 40 wind turbines in the general area that have secured planning permission, are seeking planning or are operational.
In its ruling, the appeals board ordered the omission of two turbines. The wind farm is to be located on a 180-hectare site containing some bog and Hibernian states that it will produce 27.5MW of electricity.
In his inspector’s report, Bord Pleanála planner, Conor McGrath recommended that planning permission be refused as there was a failure to investigate and adequately describe the impact of the proposed development on ground stability in the vicinity of the turbines.
Mr McGrath also stated that there were inconsistencies in evidence submitted in relation to the cumulative impact of wind farms on the protected hen harrier bird.
He recommended that the bord would not be satisfied that the proposed development would not have significant adverse impacts on the environment and the proposed development would be contrary to the proper planning and development of the area.
However, the Bord, in its formal order, stated that the proposed development would not adversely affect the natural heritage of the area, would not have a significant impact on any protected bird species in the area, would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not give rise to water pollution and would be acceptable in terms of risk of land slippage.
The Bord stated that, in deciding not to accept the inspector’s recommendation, it had regard to the site investigation report including the peat risk assessment it received, noting that peat depths on the site are generally low.
The bord concluded that the project "would not have any significant impacts on the local hen harrier population - noting that, cumulatively, wind farm developments in the area occupy a small part of the overall foraging area for hen harriers".
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Watchdog probes Gormley's refusal to back Poolbeg incinerator plan
Environment Minister John Gormley is being investigated by the Dail ethics watchdog over his opposition to a €350m incinerator in his constituency, the Irish Independent has learnt.
The Green Party leader tried to reject the probe by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO), claiming the allegations against him are politically motivated.
However, SIPO pushed ahead with a formal investigation on November 18 last year and appointed an inquiry officer to investigate the matter, just days before Mr Gormley sounded the death knell for the Government by calling for a general election.
SIPO is investigating Mr Gormley's two-year refusal to grant a foreshore licence to Covanta, the US company behind the Poolbeg development.
The probe was sparked by complaints that Mr Gormley was allowing personal and political concerns to expose the taxpayer to possible EU landfill fines and legal action from the company.
Mr Gormley dismissed complaints made by Fine Gael frontbencher Phil Hogan that he had broken the code of conduct for office holders as "political and vexatious". He told SIPO he had no case to answer.
"Essentially, what he was saying is that this is an attempt by Fine Gael to score political points and SIPO has no business getting involved," a source told the Irish Independent.
Geraldine Tallon, secretary general of the Department, also told SIPO she sought legal advice and was told any inquiry should be done in a formal manner.
The revelation comes as Mr Gormley faces renewed pressure to allow the incinerator to go ahead.
Covanta Europe president Scott Whitney recently hit out at a bill being rushed through by Mr Gormley in the final days of the Dail that will impose punitive levies on waste incineration of up to €120 a tonne.
"This measure will have very damaging consequences for the economy," Mr Whitney said in a statement. "Mr Gormley's behaviour has been prejudicial to the project and he has violated his duty as minister."
Mr Gormley has refused to grant the licence since becoming Environment Minister in May 2008, despite Dublin planners giving the incinerator the green light in December 2007.
Supporters of the project claimed Mr Gormley's opposition has thrown up to 600 new jobs into jeopardy.
Last July, US ambassador Dan Rooney lobbied Taoiseach Brian Cowen on behalf of Covanta to push the project through.
A spokesman for Mr Gormley refused to comment on the SIPO investigation. However, in a statement, he insisted the minister had upheld the highest ethical standards as a government minister and a public representative and that "any examination will bear this out".
Mr Gormley has insisted the project would cost the taxpayer dearly because it would be impossible to supply the plant with the 320,000 tonnes a year required under a 'put-or-pay' clause in the contract, exposing the taxpayer to fines.
However, recent waste projection reports revealed the incinerator was urgently needed. One such report pointed out that household waste will increase to 605,519 tonnes in 2020 and commercial waste to 981,605 tonnes.
The Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The Green Party leader tried to reject the probe by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO), claiming the allegations against him are politically motivated.
However, SIPO pushed ahead with a formal investigation on November 18 last year and appointed an inquiry officer to investigate the matter, just days before Mr Gormley sounded the death knell for the Government by calling for a general election.
SIPO is investigating Mr Gormley's two-year refusal to grant a foreshore licence to Covanta, the US company behind the Poolbeg development.
The probe was sparked by complaints that Mr Gormley was allowing personal and political concerns to expose the taxpayer to possible EU landfill fines and legal action from the company.
Mr Gormley dismissed complaints made by Fine Gael frontbencher Phil Hogan that he had broken the code of conduct for office holders as "political and vexatious". He told SIPO he had no case to answer.
"Essentially, what he was saying is that this is an attempt by Fine Gael to score political points and SIPO has no business getting involved," a source told the Irish Independent.
Geraldine Tallon, secretary general of the Department, also told SIPO she sought legal advice and was told any inquiry should be done in a formal manner.
The revelation comes as Mr Gormley faces renewed pressure to allow the incinerator to go ahead.
Covanta Europe president Scott Whitney recently hit out at a bill being rushed through by Mr Gormley in the final days of the Dail that will impose punitive levies on waste incineration of up to €120 a tonne.
"This measure will have very damaging consequences for the economy," Mr Whitney said in a statement. "Mr Gormley's behaviour has been prejudicial to the project and he has violated his duty as minister."
Mr Gormley has refused to grant the licence since becoming Environment Minister in May 2008, despite Dublin planners giving the incinerator the green light in December 2007.
Supporters of the project claimed Mr Gormley's opposition has thrown up to 600 new jobs into jeopardy.
Last July, US ambassador Dan Rooney lobbied Taoiseach Brian Cowen on behalf of Covanta to push the project through.
A spokesman for Mr Gormley refused to comment on the SIPO investigation. However, in a statement, he insisted the minister had upheld the highest ethical standards as a government minister and a public representative and that "any examination will bear this out".
Mr Gormley has insisted the project would cost the taxpayer dearly because it would be impossible to supply the plant with the 320,000 tonnes a year required under a 'put-or-pay' clause in the contract, exposing the taxpayer to fines.
However, recent waste projection reports revealed the incinerator was urgently needed. One such report pointed out that household waste will increase to 605,519 tonnes in 2020 and commercial waste to 981,605 tonnes.
The Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Environment and human rights code to be ratified soon, says Gormley
THE GOVERNMENT is due to ratify a key international convention linking environmental and human rights which had been promised by the Green Party over three years ago.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley expects to secure ratification of the Aarhus Convention “very shortly” which would allow for the public right to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters.
Ireland signed the convention on June 25th, 1998, but is the only EU state still to ratify it.
The convention, named after the Danish city of Aarhus, has been described by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan as “the most ambitious venture in the area of environmental democracy so far undertaken under the auspices of the UN”.
Failure to ratify its provisions has hindered Government attempts to handle the Corrib gas project in a democratic manner, according to Sister Majella McCarron of the Table human rights group.
In a recent Table report she said if the convention was fully implemented, people would not have to protest and risk arrest to highlight a lack of information on authorisations for various works.
Friends of Irish Environment (FIE) spokesman Tony Lowes said he had no doubt that the convention had been a major priority of the Green Party since entering the Government with Fianna Fáil in 2007.
He said the fact that it had taken over three years to ratify “shows the degree to which civil servants will frustrate the green message”.
Mr Gormley’s department was obliged to consult in detail with every other department, and Mr Lowes believes there was an attempt to stall the ratification procedure at every stage.
“It is unfair to blame John Gormley for this one, though I also personally believe it will not be ratified before the next government is formed.”
Mr Gormley has said “ratification of the convention is a matter of the highest priority, and my department is working closely with the Office of the Attorney General in order to finalise this process”.
His department has said that progress was “closely aligned with work at EU level” on adopting two directives related to public access to environmental information and public participation in “certain environmental decision-making procedures”.
It said that several new pieces of legislation were also necessary to transpose the Public Participation Directive and these “have been completed over a number of years”.
“The judgment of the European Court of Justice against Ireland in case C427/07, concerning non-notification of the Public Participation Directive, also necessitated additional legislative amendments which have now been finalised and signed into law,” the department said.
These included section 33 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010, and a number of other regulations.
The department said the planning Act provision aimed to ensure that access to justice must not be “prohibitively expensive”.
Relevant public bodies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, will be obliged to ensure under statute that practical information is made available to the public in relation to certain consents, such as integrated pollution prevention control licences.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Minister for the Environment John Gormley expects to secure ratification of the Aarhus Convention “very shortly” which would allow for the public right to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters.
Ireland signed the convention on June 25th, 1998, but is the only EU state still to ratify it.
The convention, named after the Danish city of Aarhus, has been described by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan as “the most ambitious venture in the area of environmental democracy so far undertaken under the auspices of the UN”.
Failure to ratify its provisions has hindered Government attempts to handle the Corrib gas project in a democratic manner, according to Sister Majella McCarron of the Table human rights group.
In a recent Table report she said if the convention was fully implemented, people would not have to protest and risk arrest to highlight a lack of information on authorisations for various works.
Friends of Irish Environment (FIE) spokesman Tony Lowes said he had no doubt that the convention had been a major priority of the Green Party since entering the Government with Fianna Fáil in 2007.
He said the fact that it had taken over three years to ratify “shows the degree to which civil servants will frustrate the green message”.
Mr Gormley’s department was obliged to consult in detail with every other department, and Mr Lowes believes there was an attempt to stall the ratification procedure at every stage.
“It is unfair to blame John Gormley for this one, though I also personally believe it will not be ratified before the next government is formed.”
Mr Gormley has said “ratification of the convention is a matter of the highest priority, and my department is working closely with the Office of the Attorney General in order to finalise this process”.
His department has said that progress was “closely aligned with work at EU level” on adopting two directives related to public access to environmental information and public participation in “certain environmental decision-making procedures”.
It said that several new pieces of legislation were also necessary to transpose the Public Participation Directive and these “have been completed over a number of years”.
“The judgment of the European Court of Justice against Ireland in case C427/07, concerning non-notification of the Public Participation Directive, also necessitated additional legislative amendments which have now been finalised and signed into law,” the department said.
These included section 33 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010, and a number of other regulations.
The department said the planning Act provision aimed to ensure that access to justice must not be “prohibitively expensive”.
Relevant public bodies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, will be obliged to ensure under statute that practical information is made available to the public in relation to certain consents, such as integrated pollution prevention control licences.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Calls to scrap new Kerry county plan
THE “SCRAPPING” of the current Kerry county development plan in favour of the previous plan was called for at yesterday’s meeting of Kerry County Council after cross-party complaints.
It was claimed that the new plan was militating against the spirit of recent Government measures to give applicants a break and allow them an extension of time on planning permissions granted during the boom.
Industrial development was being refused also, it was claimed.
The new planning and development regulations allowing applicants to seek to carry their permissions beyond the five years normally allowed were introduced in 2010 by the Minister for the Environment because of the economic downturn, the meeting heard.
However, in Kerry individuals were being refused on the grounds that they did not meet the requirements of the new county plan which also came into force last year. Some 21 per cent of planning applications for commercial developments had been refused, and jobs had fled the county as a result, the meeting also heard.
A total of 19 planning applications for commercial development were refused, according to information released to Fianna Fáil councillor Paul O’Donoghue.
He said he sought the details after hearing from two applicants, one of whom had to leave the country and another who could not now employ seven people as planned.
However, county manager Tom Curran said the sites were inappropriate, and one concerned an attempt to legitimise an unauthorised development. Proper planning and sustainable development had to take precedence, irrespective of jobs.
Mr Curran also said: “We have Government legislation coming at us left, right and centre on planning, and what we are doing is implementing Government policy.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
It was claimed that the new plan was militating against the spirit of recent Government measures to give applicants a break and allow them an extension of time on planning permissions granted during the boom.
Industrial development was being refused also, it was claimed.
The new planning and development regulations allowing applicants to seek to carry their permissions beyond the five years normally allowed were introduced in 2010 by the Minister for the Environment because of the economic downturn, the meeting heard.
However, in Kerry individuals were being refused on the grounds that they did not meet the requirements of the new county plan which also came into force last year. Some 21 per cent of planning applications for commercial developments had been refused, and jobs had fled the county as a result, the meeting also heard.
A total of 19 planning applications for commercial development were refused, according to information released to Fianna Fáil councillor Paul O’Donoghue.
He said he sought the details after hearing from two applicants, one of whom had to leave the country and another who could not now employ seven people as planned.
However, county manager Tom Curran said the sites were inappropriate, and one concerned an attempt to legitimise an unauthorised development. Proper planning and sustainable development had to take precedence, irrespective of jobs.
Mr Curran also said: “We have Government legislation coming at us left, right and centre on planning, and what we are doing is implementing Government policy.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Corrib pipeline gets approval
Bord Pleanála has approved Shell E&P Ireland’s third proposed route for the final section of the Corrib gas pipeline with 58 conditions.
Inspector Martin Nolan, who chaired last year’s resumed oral hearing on the revised plan, says that the application’s “clarity and transparency” provides “confidence that the safety of the public is fully protected, and that the public will not be put at risk”.
He said this new plan submitted by Shell and partners last year was the “most suitable, the shortest and the most obvious route for this development”.
The route involves constructing a 4.2m-wide tunnel in Sruwaddacon estuary for a pipe carrying high pressure raw gas from the landfall at Glengad. The final section will run overland to the gas terminal already completed at Ballinaboy.
The offshore pipeline has already been laid.
Sruwaddacon estuary is a special area of conservation (SAC), running between the communities of Rossport, Pollathomas, Glengad and Aughoose. Among the groups which made submissions to Bord Pleanála on health and safety issues was the local national school at Pollathomas
Mr Nolan said the development was a “major project by any measure”, but the modifications proposed would have a “remarkably light impact on the pristine environment of the area”.
A previous application submitted by Shell and Corrib gas partners was rejected by Bord Pleanála as half of it was deemed unacceptable on safety grounds due to proximity to housing.
Mr Nolan said the board’s decision to “adopt a consequence based routing distance was a key driver” which “provided the impetus for Shell to moderate the consequence of a gas release" from the pipeline.
“Corrib will, I have no doubt, provide impetus for future expansion of the natural gas network in Ireland and I expect it will provide impetus for additional exploration off the coast,” Mr Nolan said. “Corrib will in my view provide opportunity for Mayo in particular to develop as a new energy producing centre."
However, he said that new momentum was required to “engage the local community and to ensure the benefits of the scheme are developed and harnessed locally”.
He has recommended that an €8.5 million “community gain investment fund” be paid over five years by Shell and partners, which would be held in trust by Mayo County Council.
He said he believed this fund would “provide a strong enabling community gain which can be developed with leadership at every level into a long term economic and social stimulus for the area locally, but regionally as well”.
He praised Government policy on developing gas energy, but said that “further strategic planning” was required if “the depths of controversy and conflict seen in the Corrib scheme are to be avoided in future”.
“Standards, strategic development sites, strategic corridors, clear process requirements for all consents, open procedures for decision making, transparency in presentation of projects” were areas which had “led to the depth of conflict and controversy seen in the Corrib scheme”, Mr Nolan said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Inspector Martin Nolan, who chaired last year’s resumed oral hearing on the revised plan, says that the application’s “clarity and transparency” provides “confidence that the safety of the public is fully protected, and that the public will not be put at risk”.
He said this new plan submitted by Shell and partners last year was the “most suitable, the shortest and the most obvious route for this development”.
The route involves constructing a 4.2m-wide tunnel in Sruwaddacon estuary for a pipe carrying high pressure raw gas from the landfall at Glengad. The final section will run overland to the gas terminal already completed at Ballinaboy.
The offshore pipeline has already been laid.
Sruwaddacon estuary is a special area of conservation (SAC), running between the communities of Rossport, Pollathomas, Glengad and Aughoose. Among the groups which made submissions to Bord Pleanála on health and safety issues was the local national school at Pollathomas
Mr Nolan said the development was a “major project by any measure”, but the modifications proposed would have a “remarkably light impact on the pristine environment of the area”.
A previous application submitted by Shell and Corrib gas partners was rejected by Bord Pleanála as half of it was deemed unacceptable on safety grounds due to proximity to housing.
Mr Nolan said the board’s decision to “adopt a consequence based routing distance was a key driver” which “provided the impetus for Shell to moderate the consequence of a gas release" from the pipeline.
“Corrib will, I have no doubt, provide impetus for future expansion of the natural gas network in Ireland and I expect it will provide impetus for additional exploration off the coast,” Mr Nolan said. “Corrib will in my view provide opportunity for Mayo in particular to develop as a new energy producing centre."
However, he said that new momentum was required to “engage the local community and to ensure the benefits of the scheme are developed and harnessed locally”.
He has recommended that an €8.5 million “community gain investment fund” be paid over five years by Shell and partners, which would be held in trust by Mayo County Council.
He said he believed this fund would “provide a strong enabling community gain which can be developed with leadership at every level into a long term economic and social stimulus for the area locally, but regionally as well”.
He praised Government policy on developing gas energy, but said that “further strategic planning” was required if “the depths of controversy and conflict seen in the Corrib scheme are to be avoided in future”.
“Standards, strategic development sites, strategic corridors, clear process requirements for all consents, open procedures for decision making, transparency in presentation of projects” were areas which had “led to the depth of conflict and controversy seen in the Corrib scheme”, Mr Nolan said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Corrib controversy: timeline
1996 Corrib gas field discovery, 80km off the Mayo coast, confirmed by Enterprise Energy Ireland
October 2000 Bord Gáis announces a gas pipeline from Mayo to Galway
November 2000 Enterprise Energy Ireland applies for planning permission for a gas processing plant at Ballinaboy
April 2002 Minister for the Marine Frank Fahey approves construction of the pipeline, exempt from planning
May 2002 Shell takes over Enterprise Energy Ireland
April 2003 An Bord Pleanála turns down application for onshore terminal at Ballinaboy
October 2004 New planning application for Corrib onshore terminal given final approval by planning board
June 2005 Residents’ concerns over first proposed onshore pipeline route lead to jailing of Rossport Five for 94 days
July 2005 Minister for the marine Noel Dempsey directs Shell to dismantle an illegal 3km section of onshore pipeline
July 2006 Mediation fails to resolve dispute, but report recommends pipeline route be modified to take it away from houses
November 2007 Restoration of special area of conservation ordered at Glengad after unauthorised drilling
February 2009 Shell seeks permission for revised pipeline route, avoiding houses in Rossport
May 2009 An Bord Pleanála hearing on pipeline opens
November 2009 An Bord Pleanála deems half of the new route unacceptable due to proximity to housing, but gives approval if alterations made
May 2010 Third route under Sruwaddacon estuary applied for by Corrib gas partners
August 2010 An Bord Pleanála resumes oral hearing into pipeline
December 2010 Pobal Chill Chomáin appeals unsuccessfully to Bord Pleanála to re-open the oral hearing, due to a disparity in information given by the Corrib gas developers for a separate foreshore licence application for the third pipeline route
January 2011 An Bord Pleanála approves third pipeline route and compulsory acquisition orders. Foreshore licence and Gas Act section 40 approval still required, along with application from Environmental Protection Agency for revised emissions licence.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
October 2000 Bord Gáis announces a gas pipeline from Mayo to Galway
November 2000 Enterprise Energy Ireland applies for planning permission for a gas processing plant at Ballinaboy
April 2002 Minister for the Marine Frank Fahey approves construction of the pipeline, exempt from planning
May 2002 Shell takes over Enterprise Energy Ireland
April 2003 An Bord Pleanála turns down application for onshore terminal at Ballinaboy
October 2004 New planning application for Corrib onshore terminal given final approval by planning board
June 2005 Residents’ concerns over first proposed onshore pipeline route lead to jailing of Rossport Five for 94 days
July 2005 Minister for the marine Noel Dempsey directs Shell to dismantle an illegal 3km section of onshore pipeline
July 2006 Mediation fails to resolve dispute, but report recommends pipeline route be modified to take it away from houses
November 2007 Restoration of special area of conservation ordered at Glengad after unauthorised drilling
February 2009 Shell seeks permission for revised pipeline route, avoiding houses in Rossport
May 2009 An Bord Pleanála hearing on pipeline opens
November 2009 An Bord Pleanála deems half of the new route unacceptable due to proximity to housing, but gives approval if alterations made
May 2010 Third route under Sruwaddacon estuary applied for by Corrib gas partners
August 2010 An Bord Pleanála resumes oral hearing into pipeline
December 2010 Pobal Chill Chomáin appeals unsuccessfully to Bord Pleanála to re-open the oral hearing, due to a disparity in information given by the Corrib gas developers for a separate foreshore licence application for the third pipeline route
January 2011 An Bord Pleanála approves third pipeline route and compulsory acquisition orders. Foreshore licence and Gas Act section 40 approval still required, along with application from Environmental Protection Agency for revised emissions licence.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
'Trying to buy support with money will never solve this'
REACTION: CORRIB GAS developer Shell E&P Ireland says it hopes An Bord Pleanála’s “thorough examination” and “endorsement” of its revised pipeline route “will allow people to feel their concerns have been fully addressed”.
Shell Ireland’s managing director Terry Nolan says the company is “committed to working positively with the local community throughout the construction period and thereafter”, and “was looking forward to completing the final phase”.
However, community group Pobal Chill Chomáin is examining legal options, while Shell to Sea has warned that “opposition to Shell’s inland refinery and high- pressure onshore pipeline will continue and escalate”.
The Pro-Gas Mayo group, representing some business interests, says: “As democrats, we hope all right-thinking people will abide by the decision and bring this long-running saga to an end. We also note with approval the financial conditions, which will greatly benefit the local area.”
A recommendation by the inspector that an €8.5 million “community gain investment fund” be paid over five years by Shell and partners, which would be held in trust by Mayo County Council, has angered residents living closer to the project.
Mary Corduff, whose husband Willie was one of five men jailed over opposition to the pipeline in 2005, said she was surprised the inspector did not recognise that “trying to buy support with money will never solve this issue”. This fund could be written off by Shell against tax, she said.
She also expressed concern that monitoring of the pipeline’s operation had been given to Mayo County Council, which “approved this project way back when it was clearly not safe to do so”.
Ms Corduff added: “We will only have Shell’s word for it that the pipeline operating pressure will be limited.”
The inspector has ruled that maximum allowable operating pressure onshore will be 150 bar upstream of the landfall valve installation at Glengad, and 100 bar downstream. Government safety consultants Advantica had recommended limiting pressure to 144 bar in 2006.
Pobal Chill Chomáin spokesman John Monaghan said conditions set would allow for expansion of the Corrib gas infrastructure, as “residents had always feared”.
An Taisce said the decision was “fundamentally legally flawed”, flew in the face of EU law, and failed to properly take account of the legislative requirements of the EU Habitats, Birds and Environmental Impact Assessment directives.
Its chairman, Charles Stanley-Smith, said the two Green Party ministers with Corrib decisions on their desks should “refuse” them.
Former Bord Gáis engineering manager Leo Corcoran, who acted as consultant to Pobal Chill Chomáin, said Glengad was still the “weak link” in the project.
He did not believe An Bord Pleanála had “any legal basis” for exempting the landfall valve installation at Glengad from planning permission.
Residents at Ballinaboy, who had originally opposed the planning application for the gas terminal, did not object to the route.
However, resident Jacinta Healy said yesterday she was “very saddened” by the decision.“If we had had more support initially when the gas terminal was being opposed – things might be very different today,” Ms Healy said.
Des Branigan, of Marine Research Teo in Dublin, who objected, said An Bord Pleanála should have “listened to its own inspector back in 2003”.
“The Corrib field will only last for five years at its maximum yield, so this is not about Corrib – this is all about developing further fields out there, at a community’s expense,” Mr Branigan said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Shell Ireland’s managing director Terry Nolan says the company is “committed to working positively with the local community throughout the construction period and thereafter”, and “was looking forward to completing the final phase”.
However, community group Pobal Chill Chomáin is examining legal options, while Shell to Sea has warned that “opposition to Shell’s inland refinery and high- pressure onshore pipeline will continue and escalate”.
The Pro-Gas Mayo group, representing some business interests, says: “As democrats, we hope all right-thinking people will abide by the decision and bring this long-running saga to an end. We also note with approval the financial conditions, which will greatly benefit the local area.”
A recommendation by the inspector that an €8.5 million “community gain investment fund” be paid over five years by Shell and partners, which would be held in trust by Mayo County Council, has angered residents living closer to the project.
Mary Corduff, whose husband Willie was one of five men jailed over opposition to the pipeline in 2005, said she was surprised the inspector did not recognise that “trying to buy support with money will never solve this issue”. This fund could be written off by Shell against tax, she said.
She also expressed concern that monitoring of the pipeline’s operation had been given to Mayo County Council, which “approved this project way back when it was clearly not safe to do so”.
Ms Corduff added: “We will only have Shell’s word for it that the pipeline operating pressure will be limited.”
The inspector has ruled that maximum allowable operating pressure onshore will be 150 bar upstream of the landfall valve installation at Glengad, and 100 bar downstream. Government safety consultants Advantica had recommended limiting pressure to 144 bar in 2006.
Pobal Chill Chomáin spokesman John Monaghan said conditions set would allow for expansion of the Corrib gas infrastructure, as “residents had always feared”.
An Taisce said the decision was “fundamentally legally flawed”, flew in the face of EU law, and failed to properly take account of the legislative requirements of the EU Habitats, Birds and Environmental Impact Assessment directives.
Its chairman, Charles Stanley-Smith, said the two Green Party ministers with Corrib decisions on their desks should “refuse” them.
Former Bord Gáis engineering manager Leo Corcoran, who acted as consultant to Pobal Chill Chomáin, said Glengad was still the “weak link” in the project.
He did not believe An Bord Pleanála had “any legal basis” for exempting the landfall valve installation at Glengad from planning permission.
Residents at Ballinaboy, who had originally opposed the planning application for the gas terminal, did not object to the route.
However, resident Jacinta Healy said yesterday she was “very saddened” by the decision.“If we had had more support initially when the gas terminal was being opposed – things might be very different today,” Ms Healy said.
Des Branigan, of Marine Research Teo in Dublin, who objected, said An Bord Pleanála should have “listened to its own inspector back in 2003”.
“The Corrib field will only last for five years at its maximum yield, so this is not about Corrib – this is all about developing further fields out there, at a community’s expense,” Mr Branigan said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Minister to decide within weeks on final section of Corrib gas pipeline
MINISTER FOR Energy Eamon Ryan is expected to issue a decision in “the coming weeks” on Shell E&P Ireland’s application to construct the last section of the Corrib gas pipeline. But it could still be two years or more before the gas starts coming ashore.
Mr Ryan’s decision will follow An Bord Pleanála’s landmark ruling yesterday that approved the developer’s revised plans for the onshore link.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley is also still considering a foreshore licence for the third pipeline route, which will run under Sruwaddacon estuary to the gas terminal at Ballinaboy.
If the company secures these approvals, it is expected to take between 18 and 24 months to build. A separate licence review of emissions from the Ballinaboy gas terminal is still with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The 689-page report by An Bord Pleanála inspector Martin Nolan comes with 58 conditions relating to aspects of the construction and management of the 8.3km pipeline from the landfall at Glengad to the gas terminal at Ballinaboy. Some 4.3km of the route will involve tunnelling through Sruwaddacon estuary, a special area of conservation, with a 24-hour work schedule permitted.
The conditions include extra security at the landfall valve installation at Glengad, which was the subject of much controversy at the oral hearing.
A contentious section of the pipeline laid before the oral hearing at Glengad has also been permitted by the board.
The inspector says the onshore upstream pipeline will be “confined to the transportation of natural gas from the Corrib gas field”, and any proposal to connect additional gas fields to the pipeline will be the subject of “appropriate planning application and approval”.
He has recommended that an €8.5 million “community gain investment fund” be paid over five years by Shell and partners, which would be held in trust by Mayo County Council.
Mr Nolan says the application’s “clarity and transparency” provides “confidence that the safety of the public is fully protected, and that the public will not be put at risk”.
He said this new plan submitted by Shell and partners last year was the “most suitable, the shortest and the most obvious route for this development”. The original pipeline route was exempted in 2002 by former minister for the marine Frank Fahey, and a modified route was submitted for planning in 2009.
This third option was suggested by An Bord Pleanála when it deemed up to half of the modified route unacceptable on safety grounds in November 2009, due to proximity to housing.
The inspector stipulates a number of preconditions, including preparation of an emergency response plan by the developer after pipeline construction. He also recommends a project monitoring committee be established by Mayo County Council, comprising two representatives for the developer, two for the local authority and four representatives from the Kilcommon parish.
Inland Fisheries Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Energy, the EPA and Bord na Móna will also be invited to provide one representative each.
Mayo County Council will monitor the conditions set by An Bord Pleanála, and the developer must maintain a “complaints register” at its Belmullet office.
Traffic management conditions for the construction phase include engagement of a traffic warden at the developer’s expense to ensure the safety of schoolchildren. Mr Nolan said the development was a “major project by any measure”, but the modifications would have a “remarkably light impact on the pristine environment of the area”.
Mr Nolan said the board’s decision to “adopt a consequence-based routing distance” provided “the impetus for Shell to moderate the consequence of a gas release from the pipeline”.
However, he said “new momentum” was required to “engage the local community and to ensure the benefits of the scheme are developed and harnessed locally”. “Standards, strategic development sites, strategic corridors, clear process requirements for all consents, open procedures for decision-making, transparency in presentation of projects” were areas that had “led to the depth of conflict and controversy seen in the Corrib scheme”, Mr Nolan said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Ryan’s decision will follow An Bord Pleanála’s landmark ruling yesterday that approved the developer’s revised plans for the onshore link.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley is also still considering a foreshore licence for the third pipeline route, which will run under Sruwaddacon estuary to the gas terminal at Ballinaboy.
If the company secures these approvals, it is expected to take between 18 and 24 months to build. A separate licence review of emissions from the Ballinaboy gas terminal is still with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The 689-page report by An Bord Pleanála inspector Martin Nolan comes with 58 conditions relating to aspects of the construction and management of the 8.3km pipeline from the landfall at Glengad to the gas terminal at Ballinaboy. Some 4.3km of the route will involve tunnelling through Sruwaddacon estuary, a special area of conservation, with a 24-hour work schedule permitted.
The conditions include extra security at the landfall valve installation at Glengad, which was the subject of much controversy at the oral hearing.
A contentious section of the pipeline laid before the oral hearing at Glengad has also been permitted by the board.
The inspector says the onshore upstream pipeline will be “confined to the transportation of natural gas from the Corrib gas field”, and any proposal to connect additional gas fields to the pipeline will be the subject of “appropriate planning application and approval”.
He has recommended that an €8.5 million “community gain investment fund” be paid over five years by Shell and partners, which would be held in trust by Mayo County Council.
Mr Nolan says the application’s “clarity and transparency” provides “confidence that the safety of the public is fully protected, and that the public will not be put at risk”.
He said this new plan submitted by Shell and partners last year was the “most suitable, the shortest and the most obvious route for this development”. The original pipeline route was exempted in 2002 by former minister for the marine Frank Fahey, and a modified route was submitted for planning in 2009.
This third option was suggested by An Bord Pleanála when it deemed up to half of the modified route unacceptable on safety grounds in November 2009, due to proximity to housing.
The inspector stipulates a number of preconditions, including preparation of an emergency response plan by the developer after pipeline construction. He also recommends a project monitoring committee be established by Mayo County Council, comprising two representatives for the developer, two for the local authority and four representatives from the Kilcommon parish.
Inland Fisheries Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Energy, the EPA and Bord na Móna will also be invited to provide one representative each.
Mayo County Council will monitor the conditions set by An Bord Pleanála, and the developer must maintain a “complaints register” at its Belmullet office.
Traffic management conditions for the construction phase include engagement of a traffic warden at the developer’s expense to ensure the safety of schoolchildren. Mr Nolan said the development was a “major project by any measure”, but the modifications would have a “remarkably light impact on the pristine environment of the area”.
Mr Nolan said the board’s decision to “adopt a consequence-based routing distance” provided “the impetus for Shell to moderate the consequence of a gas release from the pipeline”.
However, he said “new momentum” was required to “engage the local community and to ensure the benefits of the scheme are developed and harnessed locally”. “Standards, strategic development sites, strategic corridors, clear process requirements for all consents, open procedures for decision-making, transparency in presentation of projects” were areas that had “led to the depth of conflict and controversy seen in the Corrib scheme”, Mr Nolan said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Senator urges Corrib gas delay
GREEN Party Senator Niall Ó Brolcháin has said he believes it is “inappropriate” for two Green Ministers to sign off on outstanding consents for the Corrib gas pipeline with a general election imminent.
The Galway-based Senator said he would be discussing this with Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan and Minister for the Environment John Gormley shortly, and would raise the issue at next week’s parliamentary party meeting. Mr Ó Brolcháin made his comments a day after An Bord Pleanála’s landmark ruling to approve the third proposed route for the onshore pipeline linking a landfall at Glengad to the gas terminal at Bellinaboy.
The developers still have to secure a foreshore licence from Mr Gormley, and approval from Mr Ryan for an amended plan of development and a section 40 consent under the Petroleum and Gas Acts before starting construction on the last section of the project, which could take two years.
However, Mr Gormley said on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Pat Kenny that “unless something can be fast forwarded”, the file on the foreshore licence application would not be on his desk “for quite a while”.
Mr Gormley said there were about 700 foreshore licence applications to be dealt with, as the function had been transferred from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to his department. A spokesman for the Minister said Mr Gormley was outlining the statutory procedures that had to be followed and the backlog of applications.
Shell EP Ireland applied last year to the Department of the Environment for foreshore licence approval to lay its final section, along with its revised application to An Bord Pleanála. The board approved the application with 58 conditions.
Mr Ryan said on Thursday the applications before his department were at an advanced stage and a decision was expected within weeks. However, An Taisce urged the two Green Ministers to refuse the applications, and both it and the Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership, have described the board’s ruling as legally flawed.
The ruling by inspector Martin Nolan did not take into account EU directive requirements, both groups said. The pipeline route runs through a special area of conservation. “Ireland has the highest per capita level of actions and judgments by the European Court of Justice against any nation state in relation to breaches of environmental directives, namely waste, water, environmental impact assessment, birds and habitats directive,” Charles Stanley-Smith of An Taisce said. “It would be an admirable legacy if the Green Ministers were to ensure their last ministerial actions did not add to Ireland’s environmental and financial liability,” he said.
During a debate on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s Iris Aniar show yesterday, the Department of the Environment confirmed it did not consult with the European Commission on the implications of granting planning permission in Sruwaddacon Bay, a protected area. Shell EP Ireland and Pro-Gas Mayo have both welcomed the board’s ruling, while community groups and residents said they are taking legal advice.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Galway-based Senator said he would be discussing this with Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan and Minister for the Environment John Gormley shortly, and would raise the issue at next week’s parliamentary party meeting. Mr Ó Brolcháin made his comments a day after An Bord Pleanála’s landmark ruling to approve the third proposed route for the onshore pipeline linking a landfall at Glengad to the gas terminal at Bellinaboy.
The developers still have to secure a foreshore licence from Mr Gormley, and approval from Mr Ryan for an amended plan of development and a section 40 consent under the Petroleum and Gas Acts before starting construction on the last section of the project, which could take two years.
However, Mr Gormley said on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Pat Kenny that “unless something can be fast forwarded”, the file on the foreshore licence application would not be on his desk “for quite a while”.
Mr Gormley said there were about 700 foreshore licence applications to be dealt with, as the function had been transferred from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to his department. A spokesman for the Minister said Mr Gormley was outlining the statutory procedures that had to be followed and the backlog of applications.
Shell EP Ireland applied last year to the Department of the Environment for foreshore licence approval to lay its final section, along with its revised application to An Bord Pleanála. The board approved the application with 58 conditions.
Mr Ryan said on Thursday the applications before his department were at an advanced stage and a decision was expected within weeks. However, An Taisce urged the two Green Ministers to refuse the applications, and both it and the Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership, have described the board’s ruling as legally flawed.
The ruling by inspector Martin Nolan did not take into account EU directive requirements, both groups said. The pipeline route runs through a special area of conservation. “Ireland has the highest per capita level of actions and judgments by the European Court of Justice against any nation state in relation to breaches of environmental directives, namely waste, water, environmental impact assessment, birds and habitats directive,” Charles Stanley-Smith of An Taisce said. “It would be an admirable legacy if the Green Ministers were to ensure their last ministerial actions did not add to Ireland’s environmental and financial liability,” he said.
During a debate on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s Iris Aniar show yesterday, the Department of the Environment confirmed it did not consult with the European Commission on the implications of granting planning permission in Sruwaddacon Bay, a protected area. Shell EP Ireland and Pro-Gas Mayo have both welcomed the board’s ruling, while community groups and residents said they are taking legal advice.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Public to view harbour plan
GALWAY HARBOUR Company has begun a two-day consultation with the public on its €200 million plan for developing the port.
The redevelopment aims to move the port south on land reclaimed from Galway Bay, attracting cruise liners into a transformed deepwater port, developing a new rail link and providing more than 200 marina berths.
A planning application will be lodged with An Bord Pleanála under the strategic infrastructure legislation in April, the harbour company said yesterday.
The plan is a scaled-down version of an original €350 million project, which was to have been developed over three phases.
The revised plan extends over four stages, and involves reclaiming almost 24 hectares of land from the sea, extending the port 917m south and providing 660m of quay berth.
Harbour company chief executive Eamon Bradshaw said the first stage, valued at €50 million, would be financed by the company itself, with a possibility of some EU funding, public-private partnerships and private investment.
It was anticipated no State funding would be available under current legislation for commercial ports, in spite of the fact that 99 per cent of trade passed through the harbours, he said.
The harbour company would draw on its own resources, borrow and sell “non-core assets” to help finance this first phase, he said.
If planning approval is granted, the company hopes to start development at the end of 2012, months after the return of the Volvo Ocean race to Galway.
“We need to future-proof Galway harbour’s contribution to the west of Ireland and to the economy,” he said. Cruise liners, which once visited Galway, were a “growing business”, with 50 coming to Cork each year and more than 70 to Dublin.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The redevelopment aims to move the port south on land reclaimed from Galway Bay, attracting cruise liners into a transformed deepwater port, developing a new rail link and providing more than 200 marina berths.
A planning application will be lodged with An Bord Pleanála under the strategic infrastructure legislation in April, the harbour company said yesterday.
The plan is a scaled-down version of an original €350 million project, which was to have been developed over three phases.
The revised plan extends over four stages, and involves reclaiming almost 24 hectares of land from the sea, extending the port 917m south and providing 660m of quay berth.
Harbour company chief executive Eamon Bradshaw said the first stage, valued at €50 million, would be financed by the company itself, with a possibility of some EU funding, public-private partnerships and private investment.
It was anticipated no State funding would be available under current legislation for commercial ports, in spite of the fact that 99 per cent of trade passed through the harbours, he said.
The harbour company would draw on its own resources, borrow and sell “non-core assets” to help finance this first phase, he said.
If planning approval is granted, the company hopes to start development at the end of 2012, months after the return of the Volvo Ocean race to Galway.
“We need to future-proof Galway harbour’s contribution to the west of Ireland and to the economy,” he said. Cruise liners, which once visited Galway, were a “growing business”, with 50 coming to Cork each year and more than 70 to Dublin.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning for 178 homes on site of Stardust appealed
A DECISION by Dublin City Council to allow the construction of 178 apartments and houses and a hotel on the site of the Stardust nightclub in Artane has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
Next month marks the 30th anniversary of the Stardust fire, in which 48 people died. Relatives of the victims continue to seek a criminal investigation of the fire and a State apology after the original verdict of arson as its cause was found to be without evidence.
The relatives, local residents, city councillors and TDs, including Fine Gael’s Terence Flanagan and Fianna Fáil’s Michael Woods and Seán Haughey, had objected to the city council against the plans by Patrick Butterly Sons Limited, owners of the site. However, the development was approved by the council last month.
Labour city councillor Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against the council’s decision, which he said would scupper any possibility of the site being protected as a memorial to the victims.
The application makes provision for a memorial garden in the development but this was just tokenism, Mr Ó Ríordáin added, adding there were also strong planning grounds for rejecting the application.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Next month marks the 30th anniversary of the Stardust fire, in which 48 people died. Relatives of the victims continue to seek a criminal investigation of the fire and a State apology after the original verdict of arson as its cause was found to be without evidence.
The relatives, local residents, city councillors and TDs, including Fine Gael’s Terence Flanagan and Fianna Fáil’s Michael Woods and Seán Haughey, had objected to the city council against the plans by Patrick Butterly Sons Limited, owners of the site. However, the development was approved by the council last month.
Labour city councillor Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against the council’s decision, which he said would scupper any possibility of the site being protected as a memorial to the victims.
The application makes provision for a memorial garden in the development but this was just tokenism, Mr Ó Ríordáin added, adding there were also strong planning grounds for rejecting the application.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 17 January 2011
Welcome for public hearings into plans for Dublin-Derry road
OPPONENTS OF plans for a new road between Dublin and Derry have welcomed a decision by the Oireachtas transport committee to hold public hearings next month.
The proposed route would be Ireland’s longest new road, replacing much of the N2 in the Republic and the A5 in Northern Ireland. It would be part-financed by €500 million which the Government agreed to provide under the 2006 St Andrews Agreement.
The Oireachtas hearings were requested by Joe Costello TD, Labour’s transport spokesman, after he met a coalition of anti-motorway and pro-heritage groups from both sides of the Border in Leinster House this week.
Mr Costello told the delegation that Labour would draft a new national development plan if it entered government and every current infrastructure project would be reviewed, “no matter what stage of planning it is at”.
While refusing to be drawn on the N2-A5 given divided views on it in his own party, Mr Costello said the €500 million commitment would be the single biggest drawdown on transport spending in the coming years.
Public consultation is under way on three sections of the route – the Slane bypass, the Monaghan bypass and the A5 in the North – which are being opposed by Save Newgrange, Don’t Bypass the Bypass and the Alternative A5 Alliance respectively. “No cost-benefit analysis has been performed on the proposed road and traffic numbers do not justify building a new road rather than upgrading the existing one,” said Lynne Smyth of the Alternative A5 Alliance.
John Dunbar, the group’s chairman, said Sinn Féin and DUP Ministers, as well as those from the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP, along with Taoiseach Brian Cowen, “have been saying quite matter of factly that the A5 is a ‘done deal’ and that is that”.
He said Mr Costello’s comments that any new administration in the Republic “would need to look again at taking a half a billion out of the Southern economy at a time of a national economic emergency puts paid to that notion”.
Save Newgrange spokesman Vincent Salafia said leading archaeologists had made submissions to An Bord Pleanála against the Slane bypass route, arguing that it would be too close to Brú na Bóinne. He said the obvious solution to traffic problems in Slane would be to ban trucks, as agreed by Meath County Council in 2009, which would force them to use the M1.
Noel Murphy of the Don’t Bypass the Bypass campaign said Economic and Social Research Institute transport economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth had characterised the proposal to build a motorway east of the new Monaghan bypass as “total overkill”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The proposed route would be Ireland’s longest new road, replacing much of the N2 in the Republic and the A5 in Northern Ireland. It would be part-financed by €500 million which the Government agreed to provide under the 2006 St Andrews Agreement.
The Oireachtas hearings were requested by Joe Costello TD, Labour’s transport spokesman, after he met a coalition of anti-motorway and pro-heritage groups from both sides of the Border in Leinster House this week.
Mr Costello told the delegation that Labour would draft a new national development plan if it entered government and every current infrastructure project would be reviewed, “no matter what stage of planning it is at”.
While refusing to be drawn on the N2-A5 given divided views on it in his own party, Mr Costello said the €500 million commitment would be the single biggest drawdown on transport spending in the coming years.
Public consultation is under way on three sections of the route – the Slane bypass, the Monaghan bypass and the A5 in the North – which are being opposed by Save Newgrange, Don’t Bypass the Bypass and the Alternative A5 Alliance respectively. “No cost-benefit analysis has been performed on the proposed road and traffic numbers do not justify building a new road rather than upgrading the existing one,” said Lynne Smyth of the Alternative A5 Alliance.
John Dunbar, the group’s chairman, said Sinn Féin and DUP Ministers, as well as those from the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP, along with Taoiseach Brian Cowen, “have been saying quite matter of factly that the A5 is a ‘done deal’ and that is that”.
He said Mr Costello’s comments that any new administration in the Republic “would need to look again at taking a half a billion out of the Southern economy at a time of a national economic emergency puts paid to that notion”.
Save Newgrange spokesman Vincent Salafia said leading archaeologists had made submissions to An Bord Pleanála against the Slane bypass route, arguing that it would be too close to Brú na Bóinne. He said the obvious solution to traffic problems in Slane would be to ban trucks, as agreed by Meath County Council in 2009, which would force them to use the M1.
Noel Murphy of the Don’t Bypass the Bypass campaign said Economic and Social Research Institute transport economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth had characterised the proposal to build a motorway east of the new Monaghan bypass as “total overkill”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
New levies may scupper plans to restart Poolbeg incinerator work
CONSTRUCTION OF the Poolbeg incinerator is set to restart by the end of April, Dublin city manager John Tierney has said. It is almost one year since work on the facility was stopped.
However, legislation setting levies on incineration, which could threaten the viability of the plant, is planned for publication before the Dáil returns, according to sources in the Department of the Environment.
The council will begin working with Covanta, the developers of the plant, in the coming weeks towards restarting the project, Mr Tierney said, following the removal of the last legal barrier to its development just days before Christmas.
The final date for objectors to the incinerator to seek a judicial review of An Bord Pleanála’s decision to grant permission to Dublin City Council to compulsorily purchase land required for the facility expired on December 22nd. No application for a review was lodged.
Although the council has had planning permission for the incinerator for three years, it had to apply to An Bord Pleanála last August for permission to compulsorily acquire land it needed for a water-cooling facility for the plant.
The council had not included this element of the project in its original application as it had expected to receive a foreshore licence from the Department of Agriculture for the water-cooling facility. However, responsibility for foreshore licences was transferred to the Department of the Environment last January and the application has yet to be processed.
“We’re going to be working with Covanta early in the new year in order to get the project back up and going,” Mr Tierney said. “From my point of view, I would be hopeful that it would commence before the end of April.”
Covanta is no longer under a legal obligation to build the plant because the foreshore licence was not granted by last September, as set out in the terms of the contract with the council. However, Mr Tierney said he believed Covanta was committed to the project. “We can’t force Covanta to start, but they have confirmed as recently as last month that they are committed and want to build the Poolbeg project.”
Mr Tierney said this commitment came with the proviso that new waste levies were not introduced which would make the plant unviable.
It is understood that new legislation, which would allow for a levy on incineration of up to €120 a tonne, will be in place within weeks.
Mr Tierney said no final decision on levies had been made by Government and that Mr Gormley was out of step with other Green parties in Europe in relation to incineration. In a recent position paper put forward by Alliance 90/Greens, the German Green Party supported incineration over mechanical biological treatment (MBT), Mr Gormley’s favoured form of waste treatment, Mr Tierney said.
The paper by Dr Michael Weltzin, scientific assistant to the party, said MBT had been supported by the Greens “in the early days”, but was now seen only as an intermediate solution.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
However, legislation setting levies on incineration, which could threaten the viability of the plant, is planned for publication before the Dáil returns, according to sources in the Department of the Environment.
The council will begin working with Covanta, the developers of the plant, in the coming weeks towards restarting the project, Mr Tierney said, following the removal of the last legal barrier to its development just days before Christmas.
The final date for objectors to the incinerator to seek a judicial review of An Bord Pleanála’s decision to grant permission to Dublin City Council to compulsorily purchase land required for the facility expired on December 22nd. No application for a review was lodged.
Although the council has had planning permission for the incinerator for three years, it had to apply to An Bord Pleanála last August for permission to compulsorily acquire land it needed for a water-cooling facility for the plant.
The council had not included this element of the project in its original application as it had expected to receive a foreshore licence from the Department of Agriculture for the water-cooling facility. However, responsibility for foreshore licences was transferred to the Department of the Environment last January and the application has yet to be processed.
“We’re going to be working with Covanta early in the new year in order to get the project back up and going,” Mr Tierney said. “From my point of view, I would be hopeful that it would commence before the end of April.”
Covanta is no longer under a legal obligation to build the plant because the foreshore licence was not granted by last September, as set out in the terms of the contract with the council. However, Mr Tierney said he believed Covanta was committed to the project. “We can’t force Covanta to start, but they have confirmed as recently as last month that they are committed and want to build the Poolbeg project.”
Mr Tierney said this commitment came with the proviso that new waste levies were not introduced which would make the plant unviable.
It is understood that new legislation, which would allow for a levy on incineration of up to €120 a tonne, will be in place within weeks.
Mr Tierney said no final decision on levies had been made by Government and that Mr Gormley was out of step with other Green parties in Europe in relation to incineration. In a recent position paper put forward by Alliance 90/Greens, the German Green Party supported incineration over mechanical biological treatment (MBT), Mr Gormley’s favoured form of waste treatment, Mr Tierney said.
The paper by Dr Michael Weltzin, scientific assistant to the party, said MBT had been supported by the Greens “in the early days”, but was now seen only as an intermediate solution.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Buttevant to get motorway link
Residents living in Buttevant, north Cork, have secured direct junction access to the planned M20 motorway.
In previous plans for the €800 million M20 linking Cork to Limerick, Buttevant was the only town not served by a junction connection to the road.
Residents presented their case at an An Bord Pleanála oral hearing last July, arguing that the lack of access would be a massive economic disadvantage.
The board has now requested detailed plans for the proposed motorway including a new link to Buttevant.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In previous plans for the €800 million M20 linking Cork to Limerick, Buttevant was the only town not served by a junction connection to the road.
Residents presented their case at an An Bord Pleanála oral hearing last July, arguing that the lack of access would be a massive economic disadvantage.
The board has now requested detailed plans for the proposed motorway including a new link to Buttevant.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning decision means Portlaoise are resigned to losing premises
PORTLAOISE GAA club are resigned to losing their premises on Fr Browne Avenue in the town this year, ultimately brought about by the collapse of a development deal after An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for the site and the plummeting property market.
The club have been left in serious debt after receiving a €6,500,000 advance on the planned sale of the original site, used to purchase new premises at Rathleague.
Nonetheless the club remains optimistic now the new Rathleague premises is ready for use and expected to open in March, although there are virtually no funds to develop it beyond a set of pitches and temporary accommodation.
Club treasurer John Hanniffy has been involved in the project since its inception over six years ago. He says much will depend on how the development partners decide to proceed.
“We’re waiting on instructions from the Firestone (the original development partners) and AIB (which lent the company the advance money) perspective as to what exactly they want us to do. Re-applying for planning permission is costly and it wouldn’t make sense for us to sell the ground unless someone actually said ‘this is what we want you to do’.
“I think there’s probably a realisation from all sides that a sale in the morning wouldn’t achieve anything for anyone. In that respect it’s a waiting game.
“As a club I think we’re resigned to the fact that we’re going to lose what we have at least for no further gain so it’s going to be the pitches we have in Rathleague and a couple of Portacabins for the foreseeable future. It leaves a sour taste but in some respects you could say that it could be worse as well.”
The difficulties for the club began when the old grounds behind O’Moore Park in Portlaoise were sold and they moved to a venue more than twice the size two kilometres away. The deal was with the Cork development company Firestone but it depended on both projects – a proposed shopping centre as well as the new club grounds – going ahead at the same time.
Although the Firestone development was approved by Laois county council and included in the county development plan, it was appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
Fearing at the time the Rathleague site would be sold to other bidders, the club were anxious to go ahead with the purchase and on the basis the project was “80 per cent likely” to succeed at An Bórd Pleanála, €6,500,000 was advanced to the club from Firestone and used to purchase the new site.
Unfortunately for the club, An Bórd Pleanála found against the proposal in December 2008.
Firestone pulled the plug on the project in early 2009, leaving the club €6,500,000 in debt and in possession of a property rapidly losing value in the disintegrating market and without planning permission.
Continuing to occupy the old ground pending a decision on the debt to Firestone, Portlaoise expect to move soon and hope to come to an agreement with their former partners.
In the meantime, according to Hanniffy, the crisis for the club has had some unexpected effects on a community that has tended to reflect the more arms-length involvement, characteristic of urban clubs, rather than the rural experience.
“We needed pitches to facilitate the increase in population, which has doubled from 7,000 to 14,000 in less than 25 years and is expected to double again by 2020. No, the current situation’s not what we envisaged but look at the positive side.
“A dad’s army has turned out to help us cut grass, pull up weeds and build fences. A sponsor lent us some dumpers and 20 people turned up to help shift topsoil. Local farmers came in to level the ground. People have given up their time to try and get the club back on its feet. We’ve raised funds and members have taken out loans.”
There will be an event to raise funds for the club in 10 days. A debate, 2020 Vision: The Future of the GAA, will be hosted by Portlaoise GAA club on Friday week, January 21st. RTÉ’s Marty Morrissey will compere the evening and guests will include Liam Griffin, Michael Duignan, Pat McEnaney and Liam O’Neill.
“The impact of the downturn in the economy and the property collapse on the club has been well documented nationally,” according to a media release from Portlaoise, “as the club struggles to develop its new facilities and deal with the financial implications of the collapse of the sale of its existing facilities beside O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The club have been left in serious debt after receiving a €6,500,000 advance on the planned sale of the original site, used to purchase new premises at Rathleague.
Nonetheless the club remains optimistic now the new Rathleague premises is ready for use and expected to open in March, although there are virtually no funds to develop it beyond a set of pitches and temporary accommodation.
Club treasurer John Hanniffy has been involved in the project since its inception over six years ago. He says much will depend on how the development partners decide to proceed.
“We’re waiting on instructions from the Firestone (the original development partners) and AIB (which lent the company the advance money) perspective as to what exactly they want us to do. Re-applying for planning permission is costly and it wouldn’t make sense for us to sell the ground unless someone actually said ‘this is what we want you to do’.
“I think there’s probably a realisation from all sides that a sale in the morning wouldn’t achieve anything for anyone. In that respect it’s a waiting game.
“As a club I think we’re resigned to the fact that we’re going to lose what we have at least for no further gain so it’s going to be the pitches we have in Rathleague and a couple of Portacabins for the foreseeable future. It leaves a sour taste but in some respects you could say that it could be worse as well.”
The difficulties for the club began when the old grounds behind O’Moore Park in Portlaoise were sold and they moved to a venue more than twice the size two kilometres away. The deal was with the Cork development company Firestone but it depended on both projects – a proposed shopping centre as well as the new club grounds – going ahead at the same time.
Although the Firestone development was approved by Laois county council and included in the county development plan, it was appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
Fearing at the time the Rathleague site would be sold to other bidders, the club were anxious to go ahead with the purchase and on the basis the project was “80 per cent likely” to succeed at An Bórd Pleanála, €6,500,000 was advanced to the club from Firestone and used to purchase the new site.
Unfortunately for the club, An Bórd Pleanála found against the proposal in December 2008.
Firestone pulled the plug on the project in early 2009, leaving the club €6,500,000 in debt and in possession of a property rapidly losing value in the disintegrating market and without planning permission.
Continuing to occupy the old ground pending a decision on the debt to Firestone, Portlaoise expect to move soon and hope to come to an agreement with their former partners.
In the meantime, according to Hanniffy, the crisis for the club has had some unexpected effects on a community that has tended to reflect the more arms-length involvement, characteristic of urban clubs, rather than the rural experience.
“We needed pitches to facilitate the increase in population, which has doubled from 7,000 to 14,000 in less than 25 years and is expected to double again by 2020. No, the current situation’s not what we envisaged but look at the positive side.
“A dad’s army has turned out to help us cut grass, pull up weeds and build fences. A sponsor lent us some dumpers and 20 people turned up to help shift topsoil. Local farmers came in to level the ground. People have given up their time to try and get the club back on its feet. We’ve raised funds and members have taken out loans.”
There will be an event to raise funds for the club in 10 days. A debate, 2020 Vision: The Future of the GAA, will be hosted by Portlaoise GAA club on Friday week, January 21st. RTÉ’s Marty Morrissey will compere the evening and guests will include Liam Griffin, Michael Duignan, Pat McEnaney and Liam O’Neill.
“The impact of the downturn in the economy and the property collapse on the club has been well documented nationally,” according to a media release from Portlaoise, “as the club struggles to develop its new facilities and deal with the financial implications of the collapse of the sale of its existing facilities beside O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Redrawing Dublin | the story of a city
Got a copy of this for Christmas. Here's Frank McDonald's review. Haven't finished reading it mysef yet.
It’s Dublin, but not as it’s usually portrayed. A senior city planner and an architect have taken a fresh, provocative look at the city and redefined it in a new book, writes FRANK MCDONALD
WHAT KIND OF city do we want? That’s the fundamental question at the core of Redrawing Dublin , a lively and engaging new book by one of the city council’s senior planners, Paul Kearns, and his partner, Israeli architect Motti Ruimy. It was driven by their “passion for cities” – Dublin, in particular.
The book challenges policy-makers and citizens to confront its contradictions – “to see and tell it as it is, not as it is often believed to be”. Its authors, as Kearns says, have a “huge passion for facts, number-crunching, honesty and reality”. But it’s all presented in a way that aims to get people thinking about the city.
“We’re both coming from opposite sides of the same coin – me as a planner and Motti as an architect – and it wouldn’t have emerged without that creative clash,” Kearns says. Ruimy describes it as “almost like a game, an intellectual exercise, a visual exercise, putting forward the knowledge you have and imagining how it could be.”
The book is provocative, but in a good way. For example, there’s a ward map of the city showing where atheists live – or at least those who responded “no religion” when they filled out the 2006 census form. One out of six residents of the north inner city are “post-God” while more than nine out of 10 in Ballyfermot are “true believers”.
Another fascinating map covers “Sex and the City ” – not a guide to massage parlours, but a ward-by-ward plotting of the number of males and females in each area. Though women and girls outnumber males by 51 to 49 per cent in Dublin generally, men and boys are “on top” in the city centre by a surprising 52 to 48 per cent.
The book is full of such factoids. For example, remarking on the relative absence of green spaces (leaving aside Phoenix Park), its authors calculate that if all of the front and back gardens of suburban Dublin were put together to form a “garden republic”, the overall area would amount to 247 times the area of St Stephen’s Green.
Redrawing Dublin is billed as the story of a city, a celebration of Dublin and the people who live in it. The book is also about “city-making”, design-driven by drawing out ideas and possibilities. Packed with full-colour illustrations, it is both a visual essay and what Kearns and Ruimy describe as a collaborative act of “action urbanism”.
It captures a quirky snapshot of Dublin today and imagines alternative possible futures, such as a more compact city form. But as Kearns says, “beware of what you wish for”. If Dublin, with 4,000 people per square kilometre was to have the same density as, say, Barcelona (16,000 per sq km), we would need “extraordinarily high buildings”.
The authors ask what type of city Dublin really is. For example, where does it begin and end? After the boom, one might say Longford or Gorey. Sure, it has a Georgian core, but the reality is suburban sprawl. They also deal with the difference between the city centre and the inner city and why it is desirable to live in one but not the other.
One of their strong themes is the inherent tension between urban and suburban Dublin. And there’s no prize for guessing which side they’re on. As champions of city living, they delight in exploring Dublin’s urban psyche and identity as well as prodding and probing suburban assumptions and urban prejudices, of which there are many.
It irritates Paul Kearns how few of Dublin’s key decision-makers actually live within the canal ring. “Where people live affects their perceptions of the city and explains many of the problems we have with very small apartments, heavy traffic in the city centre and anti-social behaviour.”
During their research for the book, Kearns and Ruimy interviewed a number of decision-makers, including some from Dublin City Council, asking what would it take to persuade them to live in the inner city? “The responses we got were mildly fascinating. One said simply ‘nothing’ while others shuffled in their seats,” Kearns recalls.
He attributes the “extraordinary energy” of Dublin city architect Ali Grehan to the fact that she lives in Mountjoy Street, in the heart of the north inner city. “She brings that experience to work every day,” he says. Ruimy agrees, and would dearly like to see the conditions created to enable people of all ages to live in the inner city.
Their apartment is on Benburb Street, beside the National Museum at Collins Barracks, from where Ruimy used to set off on 12km runs around Phoenix Park. The only other green spaces in the area are behind the Incorporated Law Society in Blackhall Place, and Bully’s Acre, which is usually padlocked.
Ruimy used to work for Scott Tallon Walker, until he was laid off last March as architectural work dwindled. Now he works for Amos Brandeis in Tel Aviv, where Kearns spends some of his time. Their first public collaboration, in 2002, was a week-long gay art exhibition in the men’s toilets in O’Connell Street before they were concreted over.
Lavishly produced by Gandon Editions, with sponsorship from the Arts Council, the Department of the Environment, Dublin City Council and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and some 20 other institutions, companies or individuals, Redrawing Dublin can be picked up at bookshops (€33).
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
It’s Dublin, but not as it’s usually portrayed. A senior city planner and an architect have taken a fresh, provocative look at the city and redefined it in a new book, writes FRANK MCDONALD
WHAT KIND OF city do we want? That’s the fundamental question at the core of Redrawing Dublin , a lively and engaging new book by one of the city council’s senior planners, Paul Kearns, and his partner, Israeli architect Motti Ruimy. It was driven by their “passion for cities” – Dublin, in particular.
The book challenges policy-makers and citizens to confront its contradictions – “to see and tell it as it is, not as it is often believed to be”. Its authors, as Kearns says, have a “huge passion for facts, number-crunching, honesty and reality”. But it’s all presented in a way that aims to get people thinking about the city.
“We’re both coming from opposite sides of the same coin – me as a planner and Motti as an architect – and it wouldn’t have emerged without that creative clash,” Kearns says. Ruimy describes it as “almost like a game, an intellectual exercise, a visual exercise, putting forward the knowledge you have and imagining how it could be.”
The book is provocative, but in a good way. For example, there’s a ward map of the city showing where atheists live – or at least those who responded “no religion” when they filled out the 2006 census form. One out of six residents of the north inner city are “post-God” while more than nine out of 10 in Ballyfermot are “true believers”.
Another fascinating map covers “Sex and the City ” – not a guide to massage parlours, but a ward-by-ward plotting of the number of males and females in each area. Though women and girls outnumber males by 51 to 49 per cent in Dublin generally, men and boys are “on top” in the city centre by a surprising 52 to 48 per cent.
The book is full of such factoids. For example, remarking on the relative absence of green spaces (leaving aside Phoenix Park), its authors calculate that if all of the front and back gardens of suburban Dublin were put together to form a “garden republic”, the overall area would amount to 247 times the area of St Stephen’s Green.
Redrawing Dublin is billed as the story of a city, a celebration of Dublin and the people who live in it. The book is also about “city-making”, design-driven by drawing out ideas and possibilities. Packed with full-colour illustrations, it is both a visual essay and what Kearns and Ruimy describe as a collaborative act of “action urbanism”.
It captures a quirky snapshot of Dublin today and imagines alternative possible futures, such as a more compact city form. But as Kearns says, “beware of what you wish for”. If Dublin, with 4,000 people per square kilometre was to have the same density as, say, Barcelona (16,000 per sq km), we would need “extraordinarily high buildings”.
The authors ask what type of city Dublin really is. For example, where does it begin and end? After the boom, one might say Longford or Gorey. Sure, it has a Georgian core, but the reality is suburban sprawl. They also deal with the difference between the city centre and the inner city and why it is desirable to live in one but not the other.
One of their strong themes is the inherent tension between urban and suburban Dublin. And there’s no prize for guessing which side they’re on. As champions of city living, they delight in exploring Dublin’s urban psyche and identity as well as prodding and probing suburban assumptions and urban prejudices, of which there are many.
It irritates Paul Kearns how few of Dublin’s key decision-makers actually live within the canal ring. “Where people live affects their perceptions of the city and explains many of the problems we have with very small apartments, heavy traffic in the city centre and anti-social behaviour.”
During their research for the book, Kearns and Ruimy interviewed a number of decision-makers, including some from Dublin City Council, asking what would it take to persuade them to live in the inner city? “The responses we got were mildly fascinating. One said simply ‘nothing’ while others shuffled in their seats,” Kearns recalls.
He attributes the “extraordinary energy” of Dublin city architect Ali Grehan to the fact that she lives in Mountjoy Street, in the heart of the north inner city. “She brings that experience to work every day,” he says. Ruimy agrees, and would dearly like to see the conditions created to enable people of all ages to live in the inner city.
Their apartment is on Benburb Street, beside the National Museum at Collins Barracks, from where Ruimy used to set off on 12km runs around Phoenix Park. The only other green spaces in the area are behind the Incorporated Law Society in Blackhall Place, and Bully’s Acre, which is usually padlocked.
Ruimy used to work for Scott Tallon Walker, until he was laid off last March as architectural work dwindled. Now he works for Amos Brandeis in Tel Aviv, where Kearns spends some of his time. Their first public collaboration, in 2002, was a week-long gay art exhibition in the men’s toilets in O’Connell Street before they were concreted over.
Lavishly produced by Gandon Editions, with sponsorship from the Arts Council, the Department of the Environment, Dublin City Council and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and some 20 other institutions, companies or individuals, Redrawing Dublin can be picked up at bookshops (€33).
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Councillor seeks permission for houses in area prone to flooding
A MEMBER of Clare County Council who had to access his flooded home by dinghy during floods last year, has lodged plans for five detached houses on a site prone to flooding adjacent to his home in Ennis.
Last year, Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulqueen was photographed paddling a dinghy to his family’s home at Cappahard, Tulla Road, Ennis, after water levels rose to more than 76cm (2.5ft) around his home.
In spite of Mr Mulqueen putting in flood protection measures and sandbagging at his home, the house sustained flood damage.
However, the councillor has now lodged an application to secure outline planning permission for the five detached houses adjacent to his home in the residential area.
In planning documents lodged with Ennis Town Council, a consultant acting for Mr Mulqueen confirmed the site in which he has lodged the planning application was prone to flooding.
The consultant said the time of the most extreme flooding at the site was December 2009, but the highest flood level was unknown.
A county council colleague of Mr Mulqueen’s, Brian Meaney of the Green Party, said yesterday the site for Mr Mulqueen’s application was “prone to flooding and it does appear that the plans are at odds with the Department of the Environment’s guidelines on building in areas prone to flooding and the affect such a plan would have on nearby housing”.
“The council will have regard to this in evaluating the application. Any person can apply for whatever they want and it is up to planners to assess the application on planning criteria,” Mr Meaney said.
He added that “there has already been inappropriate housing development around Ennis with the result today that you have people living in homes that are at risk to flooding”.
A decision on the application is due next month. When contacted, Mr Mulqueen declined to comment on the planning application.
However, in a local newspaper interview last year, he said: “I think planners should use local knowledge when it comes to determining whether or not a new housing scheme should be built on a flood plain. One of the problems is that the water is coming into the River Fergus faster and it doesn’t have anywhere to go”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Last year, Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulqueen was photographed paddling a dinghy to his family’s home at Cappahard, Tulla Road, Ennis, after water levels rose to more than 76cm (2.5ft) around his home.
In spite of Mr Mulqueen putting in flood protection measures and sandbagging at his home, the house sustained flood damage.
However, the councillor has now lodged an application to secure outline planning permission for the five detached houses adjacent to his home in the residential area.
In planning documents lodged with Ennis Town Council, a consultant acting for Mr Mulqueen confirmed the site in which he has lodged the planning application was prone to flooding.
The consultant said the time of the most extreme flooding at the site was December 2009, but the highest flood level was unknown.
A county council colleague of Mr Mulqueen’s, Brian Meaney of the Green Party, said yesterday the site for Mr Mulqueen’s application was “prone to flooding and it does appear that the plans are at odds with the Department of the Environment’s guidelines on building in areas prone to flooding and the affect such a plan would have on nearby housing”.
“The council will have regard to this in evaluating the application. Any person can apply for whatever they want and it is up to planners to assess the application on planning criteria,” Mr Meaney said.
He added that “there has already been inappropriate housing development around Ennis with the result today that you have people living in homes that are at risk to flooding”.
A decision on the application is due next month. When contacted, Mr Mulqueen declined to comment on the planning application.
However, in a local newspaper interview last year, he said: “I think planners should use local knowledge when it comes to determining whether or not a new housing scheme should be built on a flood plain. One of the problems is that the water is coming into the River Fergus faster and it doesn’t have anywhere to go”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Planning query on Killarney medical centre
A PHARMACY in Killarney, Co Kerry, is asking An Bord Pleanála to rule on whether the town council’s decision to allow a major medical centre into a new multistorey building, originally planned for office and commercial use, needs planning permission.
The 105,000sq-ft glass-fronted Reeks Gateway, comprising multi-storey blocks at the northern entrance to Killarney, was built by developers Sundays Well Properties Ltd. The local company was granted permission in 2004 and it was built at the height of the boom, but was never fully occupied.
The modern building alongside the grey Gothic spires of the town have attracted much comment.
Last June most of the town’s GP practices, comprising 12 GPs, with the healthcare company Prime Healthcare Group, announced they were to fulfil a long-held ambition of a modern primary healthcare centre. They said they would take up 50,000sq ft of the Gateway – just under half of the development – at a cost of some €25 million. That move is now nearing completion.
Outpatient buildings and satellite services from hospitals in Cork and Kerry would be located there in what would be a one-stop shop for medical care, project spokesman and Killarney GP Dr Gary Stack said. The proposal would include “an ultra-modern pharmacy,” Dr Seán Maguire, Prime Healthcare’s managing director, also said in June.
Pharmacists in Killarney have been opposed to the plan, fearing for their livelihoods. In October, after a submission, Killarney Town Council ruled there was no distinction in the planning between a medical centre and commercial uses of the building and therefore the move to the Gateway centre did not require planning and was exempt.
Now agents on behalf of Cormac and Owen Deasy, Park Road Pharmacy, Countess Road, Killarney, have referred the matter to An Bord Pleanála.
They say there is “a clear distinction” between commercial and medical uses and that medical centres give rise to different planning issues than commercial office uses. Government policy was also against the co-location of retail pharmacies and medical centres, the pharmacists state.
The planning board is expected to rule in the new year.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The 105,000sq-ft glass-fronted Reeks Gateway, comprising multi-storey blocks at the northern entrance to Killarney, was built by developers Sundays Well Properties Ltd. The local company was granted permission in 2004 and it was built at the height of the boom, but was never fully occupied.
The modern building alongside the grey Gothic spires of the town have attracted much comment.
Last June most of the town’s GP practices, comprising 12 GPs, with the healthcare company Prime Healthcare Group, announced they were to fulfil a long-held ambition of a modern primary healthcare centre. They said they would take up 50,000sq ft of the Gateway – just under half of the development – at a cost of some €25 million. That move is now nearing completion.
Outpatient buildings and satellite services from hospitals in Cork and Kerry would be located there in what would be a one-stop shop for medical care, project spokesman and Killarney GP Dr Gary Stack said. The proposal would include “an ultra-modern pharmacy,” Dr Seán Maguire, Prime Healthcare’s managing director, also said in June.
Pharmacists in Killarney have been opposed to the plan, fearing for their livelihoods. In October, after a submission, Killarney Town Council ruled there was no distinction in the planning between a medical centre and commercial uses of the building and therefore the move to the Gateway centre did not require planning and was exempt.
Now agents on behalf of Cormac and Owen Deasy, Park Road Pharmacy, Countess Road, Killarney, have referred the matter to An Bord Pleanála.
They say there is “a clear distinction” between commercial and medical uses and that medical centres give rise to different planning issues than commercial office uses. Government policy was also against the co-location of retail pharmacies and medical centres, the pharmacists state.
The planning board is expected to rule in the new year.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Corrib gas project decision deferred
AN BORD Pleanála has deferred its decision on the penultimate stage of the Corrib gas project until the new year.
The board’s decision on a third pipeline route, submitted by Shell under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, was expected before the end of this month.
The application, which would involve tunnelling under Sruwaddaccon estuary, a special area of conservation, was the subject of an oral hearing that concluded on October 1st.
Community group Pobal Chill Chomáin had written to the board earlier this month asking it to reopen the oral hearing, due to a “disparity” in new information submitted by Shell.
The information was submitted to the Department of the Environment as part of a foreshore licence for the new route.
The community group has not heard back from the board, but sources close to the board said it was “unlikely” the hearing would be reopened at this stage.
Shell EP Ireland has said it has not heard from An Bord Pleanála.
Meanwhile the company said it had no comment to make on information released this week by WikiLeaks. A senior Shell executive said there could be “20 or more” Corrib gas fields off the west coast, according to a leaked US embassy cable dated April 2008. The cable says “Ireland is blessed with some of the best wind and ocean energy resources in the world”. However, “a strong sense of urgency” on climate change and energy security was “lacking”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The board’s decision on a third pipeline route, submitted by Shell under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, was expected before the end of this month.
The application, which would involve tunnelling under Sruwaddaccon estuary, a special area of conservation, was the subject of an oral hearing that concluded on October 1st.
Community group Pobal Chill Chomáin had written to the board earlier this month asking it to reopen the oral hearing, due to a “disparity” in new information submitted by Shell.
The information was submitted to the Department of the Environment as part of a foreshore licence for the new route.
The community group has not heard back from the board, but sources close to the board said it was “unlikely” the hearing would be reopened at this stage.
Shell EP Ireland has said it has not heard from An Bord Pleanála.
Meanwhile the company said it had no comment to make on information released this week by WikiLeaks. A senior Shell executive said there could be “20 or more” Corrib gas fields off the west coast, according to a leaked US embassy cable dated April 2008. The cable says “Ireland is blessed with some of the best wind and ocean energy resources in the world”. However, “a strong sense of urgency” on climate change and energy security was “lacking”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Board approval of village complex criticised
AN BORD Pleanála’s decision to approve a new housing, hotel and leisure development close to the south Galway coastal village of Oranmore has been criticised by environmentalists.
Dr Emer Colleran, a former chairwoman of An Taisce and also an Oranmore resident, said she failed to understand why the appeals board “went against local authority refusal and its own inspector’s report” in granting permission for a development which was “clearly unnecessary”.
The complex of 133 houses, a hotel and leisure centre at Oran-hill on the Maree Road, Oranmore, is on a site “liable to flooding”, Dr Colleran says. It will also cause traffic hazards and will have a negative impact on the nearby marsh, which is a special area of conservation (SAC), she said.
The application was originally for 161 residential units, and the board’s inspector’s report notes an application for this site was refused previously by the local authority because it was “in a general area which is at risk of flooding”.
The inspector said the development would not have a significant environmental impact. However, she recommended refusal due to concerns about public open space provision, and the risks to children living in the northern part of the site who would have to cross a main road to reach a park.
Proximity of houses to national primary routes was also a factor in the inspector’s refusal, as she said this separation distance did not comply with standards set in the Galway County Development Plan.However, the board subsequently approved the proposal on the basis that a number of houses would be omitted to make way for extra parkland and open space.
The Oranmore Development Association did not appeal the Oranhill application, but the association’s former planning officer Ray Lavery is concerned about another application before the board relating to a development at Moneyduff.
Overall, there has been “no joined-up thinking” in relation to Oranmore, according to himself and Dr Colleran. The village is close to protected habitats and is exposed to coastal flooding.
However, its local area plan allowed for a new Tesco development which was to have included a new town square and boardwalk. The development changes the configuration of the shoreline and obliterates views of Oranmore’s historic castle, which was refurbished by second World War submarine commander Bill King and his wife Anita Leslie.
South of Oranmore in the village of Ardrahan, resident Tom Flatley is one of a group of families taking a case to the European Parliament’s petitions committee concerning planning advice.
The group of families say they were never made aware of a report by the OPW that said their residential lands could be prone to flooding. Mr Flatley had received planning approval from Galway County Council to extend and refurbish property that he purchased in 2006, and which subsequently had to be evacuated on November 21st, 2009.
After flooding in the south Galway area in 1995, the State funded a relocation scheme for families who purchased houses in good faith which had been constructed on vulnerable land near Gort. Flatley claims one such house, which was demolished in 2001, was just 50 metres from his property.
“No one informed us of this at the time of purchase, and yet this information was with Galway County Council,” he said.
Galway County Council told Mr Flatley it would refer his case to the OPW in relation to an assistance package for house-owners where there was “no apparent solution to the flooding issue”.
However, the OPW said it could not provide compensation for houses affected by flooding, and the role of its working group was to identify “interim” flood mitigation measures. Its humanitarian assistance scheme was designed to provide financial support, but “not compensation”, it said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dr Emer Colleran, a former chairwoman of An Taisce and also an Oranmore resident, said she failed to understand why the appeals board “went against local authority refusal and its own inspector’s report” in granting permission for a development which was “clearly unnecessary”.
The complex of 133 houses, a hotel and leisure centre at Oran-hill on the Maree Road, Oranmore, is on a site “liable to flooding”, Dr Colleran says. It will also cause traffic hazards and will have a negative impact on the nearby marsh, which is a special area of conservation (SAC), she said.
The application was originally for 161 residential units, and the board’s inspector’s report notes an application for this site was refused previously by the local authority because it was “in a general area which is at risk of flooding”.
The inspector said the development would not have a significant environmental impact. However, she recommended refusal due to concerns about public open space provision, and the risks to children living in the northern part of the site who would have to cross a main road to reach a park.
Proximity of houses to national primary routes was also a factor in the inspector’s refusal, as she said this separation distance did not comply with standards set in the Galway County Development Plan.However, the board subsequently approved the proposal on the basis that a number of houses would be omitted to make way for extra parkland and open space.
The Oranmore Development Association did not appeal the Oranhill application, but the association’s former planning officer Ray Lavery is concerned about another application before the board relating to a development at Moneyduff.
Overall, there has been “no joined-up thinking” in relation to Oranmore, according to himself and Dr Colleran. The village is close to protected habitats and is exposed to coastal flooding.
However, its local area plan allowed for a new Tesco development which was to have included a new town square and boardwalk. The development changes the configuration of the shoreline and obliterates views of Oranmore’s historic castle, which was refurbished by second World War submarine commander Bill King and his wife Anita Leslie.
South of Oranmore in the village of Ardrahan, resident Tom Flatley is one of a group of families taking a case to the European Parliament’s petitions committee concerning planning advice.
The group of families say they were never made aware of a report by the OPW that said their residential lands could be prone to flooding. Mr Flatley had received planning approval from Galway County Council to extend and refurbish property that he purchased in 2006, and which subsequently had to be evacuated on November 21st, 2009.
After flooding in the south Galway area in 1995, the State funded a relocation scheme for families who purchased houses in good faith which had been constructed on vulnerable land near Gort. Flatley claims one such house, which was demolished in 2001, was just 50 metres from his property.
“No one informed us of this at the time of purchase, and yet this information was with Galway County Council,” he said.
Galway County Council told Mr Flatley it would refer his case to the OPW in relation to an assistance package for house-owners where there was “no apparent solution to the flooding issue”.
However, the OPW said it could not provide compensation for houses affected by flooding, and the role of its working group was to identify “interim” flood mitigation measures. Its humanitarian assistance scheme was designed to provide financial support, but “not compensation”, it said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Board approval of village complex criticised
AN BORD Pleanála’s decision to approve a new housing, hotel and leisure development close to the south Galway coastal village of Oranmore has been criticised by environmentalists.
Dr Emer Colleran, a former chairwoman of An Taisce and also an Oranmore resident, said she failed to understand why the appeals board “went against local authority refusal and its own inspector’s report” in granting permission for a development which was “clearly unnecessary”.
The complex of 133 houses, a hotel and leisure centre at Oran-hill on the Maree Road, Oranmore, is on a site “liable to flooding”, Dr Colleran says. It will also cause traffic hazards and will have a negative impact on the nearby marsh, which is a special area of conservation (SAC), she said.
The application was originally for 161 residential units, and the board’s inspector’s report notes an application for this site was refused previously by the local authority because it was “in a general area which is at risk of flooding”.
The inspector said the development would not have a significant environmental impact. However, she recommended refusal due to concerns about public open space provision, and the risks to children living in the northern part of the site who would have to cross a main road to reach a park.
Proximity of houses to national primary routes was also a factor in the inspector’s refusal, as she said this separation distance did not comply with standards set in the Galway County Development Plan.However, the board subsequently approved the proposal on the basis that a number of houses would be omitted to make way for extra parkland and open space.
The Oranmore Development Association did not appeal the Oranhill application, but the association’s former planning officer Ray Lavery is concerned about another application before the board relating to a development at Moneyduff.
Overall, there has been “no joined-up thinking” in relation to Oranmore, according to himself and Dr Colleran. The village is close to protected habitats and is exposed to coastal flooding.
However, its local area plan allowed for a new Tesco development which was to have included a new town square and boardwalk. The development changes the configuration of the shoreline and obliterates views of Oranmore’s historic castle, which was refurbished by second World War submarine commander Bill King and his wife Anita Leslie.
South of Oranmore in the village of Ardrahan, resident Tom Flatley is one of a group of families taking a case to the European Parliament’s petitions committee concerning planning advice.
The group of families say they were never made aware of a report by the OPW that said their residential lands could be prone to flooding. Mr Flatley had received planning approval from Galway County Council to extend and refurbish property that he purchased in 2006, and which subsequently had to be evacuated on November 21st, 2009.
After flooding in the south Galway area in 1995, the State funded a relocation scheme for families who purchased houses in good faith which had been constructed on vulnerable land near Gort. Flatley claims one such house, which was demolished in 2001, was just 50 metres from his property.
“No one informed us of this at the time of purchase, and yet this information was with Galway County Council,” he said.
Galway County Council told Mr Flatley it would refer his case to the OPW in relation to an assistance package for house-owners where there was “no apparent solution to the flooding issue”.
However, the OPW said it could not provide compensation for houses affected by flooding, and the role of its working group was to identify “interim” flood mitigation measures. Its humanitarian assistance scheme was designed to provide financial support, but “not compensation”, it said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dr Emer Colleran, a former chairwoman of An Taisce and also an Oranmore resident, said she failed to understand why the appeals board “went against local authority refusal and its own inspector’s report” in granting permission for a development which was “clearly unnecessary”.
The complex of 133 houses, a hotel and leisure centre at Oran-hill on the Maree Road, Oranmore, is on a site “liable to flooding”, Dr Colleran says. It will also cause traffic hazards and will have a negative impact on the nearby marsh, which is a special area of conservation (SAC), she said.
The application was originally for 161 residential units, and the board’s inspector’s report notes an application for this site was refused previously by the local authority because it was “in a general area which is at risk of flooding”.
The inspector said the development would not have a significant environmental impact. However, she recommended refusal due to concerns about public open space provision, and the risks to children living in the northern part of the site who would have to cross a main road to reach a park.
Proximity of houses to national primary routes was also a factor in the inspector’s refusal, as she said this separation distance did not comply with standards set in the Galway County Development Plan.However, the board subsequently approved the proposal on the basis that a number of houses would be omitted to make way for extra parkland and open space.
The Oranmore Development Association did not appeal the Oranhill application, but the association’s former planning officer Ray Lavery is concerned about another application before the board relating to a development at Moneyduff.
Overall, there has been “no joined-up thinking” in relation to Oranmore, according to himself and Dr Colleran. The village is close to protected habitats and is exposed to coastal flooding.
However, its local area plan allowed for a new Tesco development which was to have included a new town square and boardwalk. The development changes the configuration of the shoreline and obliterates views of Oranmore’s historic castle, which was refurbished by second World War submarine commander Bill King and his wife Anita Leslie.
South of Oranmore in the village of Ardrahan, resident Tom Flatley is one of a group of families taking a case to the European Parliament’s petitions committee concerning planning advice.
The group of families say they were never made aware of a report by the OPW that said their residential lands could be prone to flooding. Mr Flatley had received planning approval from Galway County Council to extend and refurbish property that he purchased in 2006, and which subsequently had to be evacuated on November 21st, 2009.
After flooding in the south Galway area in 1995, the State funded a relocation scheme for families who purchased houses in good faith which had been constructed on vulnerable land near Gort. Flatley claims one such house, which was demolished in 2001, was just 50 metres from his property.
“No one informed us of this at the time of purchase, and yet this information was with Galway County Council,” he said.
Galway County Council told Mr Flatley it would refer his case to the OPW in relation to an assistance package for house-owners where there was “no apparent solution to the flooding issue”.
However, the OPW said it could not provide compensation for houses affected by flooding, and the role of its working group was to identify “interim” flood mitigation measures. Its humanitarian assistance scheme was designed to provide financial support, but “not compensation”, it said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Plans lodged for €60m regeneration of inner city flats
PLANS FOR the long-awaited €60 million regeneration of the Dublin City Council flat complexes at O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála.
The dilapidated estates were two of five schemes in the city which were to have been redeveloped under a public-private partnership (PPP) deal between developer Bernard McNamara and Dublin City Council.
The deal with Mr McNamara collapsed in May 2008 following the downturn in the property market. Attempts were made throughout that summer to rescue the schemes but these were unsuccessful and the council formally terminated its relationship with the developer in August 2008.
The following December the council announced it would rebuild the social housing in the three largest estates – St Michael’s, O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street. The other two proposed developments at Infirmary Road and Seán McDermott Street were not existing social housing complexes with residents needing rehousing, and the schemes have been shelved.
The council expects to spend around €32 million over a 10-year period to build around 200 houses and flats on the site of O’Devaney Gardens, a 1950s flat complex near the Phoenix Park. The application being made to An Bord Pleanála today is 110 units. The buildings, 60 of which will be social units and 50 of which will be private housing, will be between two and four storeys in height. A public park is also included in the application.
At Dominick Street, the 1970s flats are to be replaced by 120 social units over a 10-year period at a cost of about €27 million. The current application is for 58 apartments and duplex units ranging in height from two to six storeys. The plans also include a community centre, a civic plaza and a new street. Both developments must go now through the planning process with An Bord Pleanála. The period for observations or objections to be made in relation to either development will not start until January 10th and will run for six weeks.
While the plot for the new apartments at Dominick Street has been cleared, demolition is ongoing at O’Devaney Gardens, which was the scene of riots following the collapse of the PPP scheme in 2008. Violent incidents reached their peak in August when fighting after a wedding led to the attendance of several dozen gardaí at the complex.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The dilapidated estates were two of five schemes in the city which were to have been redeveloped under a public-private partnership (PPP) deal between developer Bernard McNamara and Dublin City Council.
The deal with Mr McNamara collapsed in May 2008 following the downturn in the property market. Attempts were made throughout that summer to rescue the schemes but these were unsuccessful and the council formally terminated its relationship with the developer in August 2008.
The following December the council announced it would rebuild the social housing in the three largest estates – St Michael’s, O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street. The other two proposed developments at Infirmary Road and Seán McDermott Street were not existing social housing complexes with residents needing rehousing, and the schemes have been shelved.
The council expects to spend around €32 million over a 10-year period to build around 200 houses and flats on the site of O’Devaney Gardens, a 1950s flat complex near the Phoenix Park. The application being made to An Bord Pleanála today is 110 units. The buildings, 60 of which will be social units and 50 of which will be private housing, will be between two and four storeys in height. A public park is also included in the application.
At Dominick Street, the 1970s flats are to be replaced by 120 social units over a 10-year period at a cost of about €27 million. The current application is for 58 apartments and duplex units ranging in height from two to six storeys. The plans also include a community centre, a civic plaza and a new street. Both developments must go now through the planning process with An Bord Pleanála. The period for observations or objections to be made in relation to either development will not start until January 10th and will run for six weeks.
While the plot for the new apartments at Dominick Street has been cleared, demolition is ongoing at O’Devaney Gardens, which was the scene of riots following the collapse of the PPP scheme in 2008. Violent incidents reached their peak in August when fighting after a wedding led to the attendance of several dozen gardaí at the complex.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Approval for new power plant in Tarbert
AN BORD Pleanála has approved the application by Endesa Ireland, part of the Spanish energy company, to build a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant on the former ESB station at Tarbert, Co Kerry.
The power plant, which will generate up to 450 megawatts by 2016, is to be built within the confines of the existing power-generating plant at Tarbert, which is to be demolished, on the Shannon estuary opposite Moneypoint.
The plant is likely to be supplied with gas from the national gas network, An Bord Gáis, currently some 22km away, and possibly from the nearby liquified natural gas terminal, Shannon LNG, at Kilcolgan near Ballylongford.
A submarine cable is to supply Moneypoint.
The new more energy efficient plant at Tarbert will occupy 10 hectares of the existing 42-hectare site and be constructed in two phases over four years.
The Endesa application came under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, which provides for planning applications for some major projects to be made directly to An Bord Pleanála, and an oral hearing was held earlier this year.
An Taisce questioned the need for the plant in light of the increase in carbon emissions that would be involved. The local development organisation welcomed the proposal.
The board has attached more than 20 conditions to the proposal.
A community gain fund of €200,000, made up of four annual payments of €50,000, is to begin the year of construction. The money is to be managed by a liaison committee made up of the local community in Tarbert, representatives of Kerry County Council and Endesa.
Other conditions include noise-level restrictions, screening and dust-control measures. There is a 10-year period for the development.
Endesa has substantial electricity interests in Spain and Latin America. Endesa Ireland was established in January 2009 following its acquisition of former ESB stations at Great Island, Wexford; Tarbert, Co Kerry; Rhode, Offaly, and Tawnaghmore, Co Mayo.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The power plant, which will generate up to 450 megawatts by 2016, is to be built within the confines of the existing power-generating plant at Tarbert, which is to be demolished, on the Shannon estuary opposite Moneypoint.
The plant is likely to be supplied with gas from the national gas network, An Bord Gáis, currently some 22km away, and possibly from the nearby liquified natural gas terminal, Shannon LNG, at Kilcolgan near Ballylongford.
A submarine cable is to supply Moneypoint.
The new more energy efficient plant at Tarbert will occupy 10 hectares of the existing 42-hectare site and be constructed in two phases over four years.
The Endesa application came under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, which provides for planning applications for some major projects to be made directly to An Bord Pleanála, and an oral hearing was held earlier this year.
An Taisce questioned the need for the plant in light of the increase in carbon emissions that would be involved. The local development organisation welcomed the proposal.
The board has attached more than 20 conditions to the proposal.
A community gain fund of €200,000, made up of four annual payments of €50,000, is to begin the year of construction. The money is to be managed by a liaison committee made up of the local community in Tarbert, representatives of Kerry County Council and Endesa.
Other conditions include noise-level restrictions, screening and dust-control measures. There is a 10-year period for the development.
Endesa has substantial electricity interests in Spain and Latin America. Endesa Ireland was established in January 2009 following its acquisition of former ESB stations at Great Island, Wexford; Tarbert, Co Kerry; Rhode, Offaly, and Tawnaghmore, Co Mayo.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
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