NTA reverses stance on College Green plaza plans

The National Transport Authority (NTA) is backing Dublin City Council in its standoff with Dublin Bus over the €10 million civic plaza plans for College Green. The NTA had previously said its support for the council’s traffic-free plaza proposal was “contingent” on Dublin Bus being permitted to run two-way services on Parliament Street. However, at the end of a three-week An Bord Pleanála hearing on the plaza, the NTA said it was now prepared to reverse this position and support the council’s plan which would push Dublin Bus out of the city centre zone. The council has applied to the board to build the pedestrian and cycle plaza and ban all traffic, including buses and taxis, from accessing Dame Street through College Green.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

Permission for proposed Lidl supermarket refused

An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a proposed Lidl supermarket in the Cork suburb of Douglas, disagreeing with the recommendation of its inspector. The board determined such a development would run contrary to the local area plan. An inspector had recommended granting permission for the supermarket to be built on a two-acre site behind Barry’s Pub, between the Carrigaline Road and Churchyard Lane. Cork County Council had granted planning permission but submissions from the local Tidy Towns group, along with businesses including Barry’s Bar and Tesco, expressed concerns over traffic, parking, and the visual impact the proposed supermarket would have on the village. The site is located in a designated Architectural Conservation Area.

Read the full article @ The Irish Examiner

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

Judge criticises plan for houses in Galway

A HIGH Court judge has described as very difficult to understand Galway County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a housing estate outside Kinvara town on a blind corner on a main road to Ballyvaughan and the Burren area.

It had been proposed to build 31 houses on a main road with a 100km/h speed limit and the council’s permission also extended a town in an unplanned manner in an important tourist area, Mr Justice Peter Charleton said.

The development would have resulted in the blind movement, in terms of sight lines for traffic, of many vehicle journeys to and from “this suburban-type estate”.

It was difficult to see why the court should be required to authorise a public danger or to quash a well-reasoned decision of An Bord Pleanála which overturned the council’s grant of permission, he said.

Mr Justice Charleton yesterday dismissed developer Brian McMahon’s challenge to the board’s November 2009 refusal of permission. The judge also rejected arguments that the High Court, if it finds defects in the procedures leading to the making of planning decisions, has then no discretion but to quash those decisions.

The board had very strong reasons for its refusal of permission, including its view that the proposed development would imperil traffic safety, subject the water table to potentially life-threatening contamination or further despoil the countryside with suburban development.

Local authority planning departments were not entitled to ignore the central principle of planning law – the proper planning and sustainable development of an area, he said. The “priceless heritage of generations of work within the countryside, as reflected in our landscape and in the separation of town from rural areas, has been an invaluable economic resource since the foundation of the State,” he said.

Tourism was attracted by the very environment the planning code was designed to foster and protect and the obligation to plan for sustainable development must take into account the nation’s need for revenue from this vital industry, the judge added.

In his judicial review proceedings, Mr McMahon had argued the board was required to inquire whether a statutory acknowledgment by the council of a submission to it against the development by two local objectors, Seán Forde and Jane Joyce, who live beside the proposed development site, was valid on its face.

The couple’s submission was made outside the legal time limits, but the council sent them a formal acknowledgment. When the couple later appealed against the grant of permission to An Bord Pleanála, they enclosed that acknowledgment among their documents as they were required to under planning laws.

Mr McMahon had argued the board should have inquired into the validity of the acknowledgment, but Mr Justice Charleton ruled the board did not have authority under the 2000 Act to make any legal analysis of steps conducted in pursuit of a planning application by a local authority.

Irish Times

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Moore St houses 'the Irish Alamo'

“THE IRISH Alamo” is how the Moore Street houses where 1916 rebels spent their final hours before surrender are being described by those campaigning to preserve the site.

Matt Doyle, secretary of the National Graves Association, made the comments before a public meeting of the ‘Save 16 Moore Street’ campaign last night.

Due to their historic significance, the houses at 14 to 17 Moore Street were designated national monuments by then environment minister Dick Roche in 2007. Number 16 Moore Street is said to be where Irish rebel leaders made the decision to surrender to British forces after the 1916 Rising.

However in March this year, An Bord Pleanála approved planning permission for a major redevelopment of the 2.7-hectare Carlton Cinema site on Upper O’Connell Street. Developer Joe O’Reilly was granted permission for an 800,000sq ft development to include retail and residential units, restaurants and car spaces.

While the facade would be preserved, campaigners say the work will infringe on an area of national interest. James Connolly Heron, a great-grandson of James Connolly and a member of the ‘Save 16 Moore Street’ committee, said: “We’re calling for the terrace to be taken out of the development plan altogether and for the creation of a holistic cultural quarter.”

Mr Doyle said: “We welcome regeneration of the area but we’re concerned the development will be an infringement on the national monument site. Next year is the 95th anniversary of the Rising and politicians will be banging their chests. They’re not interested until it comes to an anniversary. . .

“This site is the Irish Alamo, there should be a national monument to it.”

The campaigners have also expressed concern that Mr O’Reilly is one of the first 10 developers going into Nama.

A statement issued by Minister John Gormley’s office yesterday reiterated the national monument status of the Moore Street houses.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Luas hearing deferred to avoid 'conflict'

AN BORD Pleanála has postponed a preliminary hearing on plans for a city-centre link between Dublin’s two Luas lines after discovering the senior planning inspector appointed to deal with the case had what it called “a possible perceived conflict of interest”.

In its notification to some 80 parties, the appeals board said it had “come to the board’s attention that the inspector appointed to examine this application attended a public information exhibition in connection with the proposed project approximately 18 months ago. The board is confident that such attendance would not have influenced the inspector or have given rise to prejudice or bias in the performance of her duties.

“However, in order to avoid possible perceived conflict of interest, the board has decided it would be appropriate to appoint a replacement inspector.”

The hearing, which was due to open today, was to have been held by senior planning inspector Anne Marie O’Connor. However, it is understood that one of the parties – who the board declined to identify – drew the board’s attention to her attendance at the exhibition. “It’s for them to say who it was,” a spokesman said.

One planning source who did not wish to be identified commented that the potential conflict of interest in the latest case involving Luas was “relatively innocuous”, as any member of the public was entitled to attend the Railway Procurement Agency public information exhibition on plans for the city-centre link.

The agency has sought approval from An Bord Pleanála for the construction of the new Luas line, which would run for 5.6km from St Stephen’s Green – where the Sandyford line terminates – to Broombridge in Cabra.

It would run through the city centre via Dawson Street, Nassau Street, Lower Grafton Street, College Green, Westmoreland Street and O’Connell Street, returning via Marlborough Street, Hawkins Street and College Street via a new bridge over the river Liffey.

The appeals board expressed regret that it was necessary to postpone the preliminary hearing, to allow for the appointment of a replacement inspector. But its spokesman said this would involve no undue delay in dealing with the agency’s application.

The board has become particularly sensitive to potential conflicts of interest after losing a High Court case over how it handled plans for a landfill at Usk, Co Kildare. The court quashed its decision to grant permission, saying it had shown “objective bias”.

In another case, involving Dublin Port’s controversial plan to infill 52 acres of Dublin Bay, An Bord Pleanála had to dispense with the services of HR Wallingford, its technical advisers on the application, after it emerged that they had undertaken work for a potential rival, Bremore Port.

Earlier this month, the board denied there was any conflict of interest in one of its members, Conall Boland, handling a case involving heavily contested plans by the Cosgrave Property Group for 600 apartments on the former Dún Laoghaire Golf Club lands. He had previously worked for RPS, who acted as consultants on the scheme.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Bord Pleanala denies conflict of interest in Dublin development

AN Bord Pleanala says it sees no conflict of interest in a board member granting planning permission for a development, even though he worked for one of the companies involved until 2007.

Conall Boland overturned Senior Planning Inspector Dermot Kelly's recommendation to deny permission for a 600-unit apartment complex on a Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, golf course last month.

Before being appointed to An Bord Pleanala, Mr Boland worked for the engineering consultancy firm RPS as its technical director.

RPS worked for developers Cosgrave Brothers on the golf course site.

In his report, Mr Kelly wrote that the project "would result in overdevelopment of the site in the form of large apartment blocks to an excessive height and scale which would be visually obtrusive and seriously injurious to the amenities of adjacent two-storey residential properties."

Mr Boland rejected the report and reversed Mr Kelly's decision to refuse permission.

Mr Boland's decision to over-ride the inspector's report and grant permission was described as "shocking" by local resident association member, Ms Gene Feighery.

"It was granted permission, despite the recommendations of their own inspector who, more or less, upheld residents' concerns in the interest of proper planning and sustainable development for the area."

A spokesman for An Bord Pleanala emphatically denied there was a conflict of interest in the case.

He said it was a "matter of public record" that Mr Boland worked for RPS Consulting until 2007 when he took up his planning authority position.

He agreed that it was known, before the inspector's report was given to Mr Boland, that he had worked for RPS and agreed RPS had worked for the developers.

Asked if it might be seen by some people that a conflict of interest issue arose, he replied: "That is a matter of opinion."

The development has attracted a considerable amount of controversy since Cosgrave Brothers bought the 78-acre site in 2002, in a deal reportedly worth €100m.

Councillors in Dun Laoghaire voted against re-zoning the golf course land for development but their decision was overturned when Environment Minister Martin Cullen ordered the land rezoned in 2004.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council also signed a contract with Cosgrave Brothers to buy the "social and affordable" element of the development, at the height of the property boom, and are now saddled with a bill of almost €36m for 143 apartments which are now empty.

The council-agreed price put the value of the apartments at around €270,000.

There are 3,000 half-built or empty apartments in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council area, and many will be reduced to bargain prices when NAMA begins disposing of developers' assets.

JIM CUSACK
Sunday Independent

www.buckplanning.ie

Plan for private club at Stardust site is rejected

A PLAN to develop a private members club at the site of the infamous Stardust Ballroom in Artane, Dublin has been rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

The dismissal marks the second rejection of the application which was turned down by Dublin City Council last December.

Under the proposal, the family of Patrick Butterly who own the property, applied for a change of use relating to the Artane House Pub.

In a statement issued yesterday, An Bord Pleanála said the intended development did not fit in with the zoning criteria attached to the site.

“The proposed development is in an area zoned as Z6 for which the land use objective is to provide for the creation of enterprise to facilitate opportunities for employment creation as set out in the Dublin City development plan.

“The proposed use of the site as a private members club is neither a permissible use nor a use stated for consideration.”

The rejection of the application was welcomed by Fine Gael TD for Dublin North-East Terence Flanagan who said such a development would be disrespectful to the 48 people who lost their lives at the Stardust Fire on the night of February 13th, 1981.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Power plant to be built in Co Offaly

An Bord Pleanála has approved an application for a 350 megawatt gas fired power plant in Co Offaly.

Lumcloon Energy, the private consortium behind the project, expects to create 500 jobs during construction and up to 50 permanent jobs when the plant is completed.

The €350 million gas fired power plant, planned at the site of an old peat power plant at Lumcloon near Ferbane, will be backed up by wind energy.

Spokesman for Lumcloon Energy, Mr John Gallagher expressed his delight at the decision. He said it wouldn’t have been easy without local support.

“There was no specific objection to Lumcloon which I think is virtually unique to a project like this,” he explained. With construction expected to begin around the end of 2010 the Taoiseach has already been asked to turn the sod, he revealed.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Court rules hospital needs parking

An Bord Pleanála was entitled to turn down a development in Dún Laoghaire as it would mean the loss of parking spaces for the local hospital, the High Court has ruled.

Wexele, Sandyford, Dublin, lost its challenge yesterday to a board decision of July 14th, 2008, refusing permission for 80 apartments and two retail units at a site on Crofton Road which was used as a car park for St Michael’s hospital by staff and patients. Wexele bought the three-quarter acre site from the hospital, along with a former nurses’ residence, in December 2006.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton ruled that 110 parking spaces which would be lost to the hospital were essential for its operation. He said any development of the site should accommodate the hospital “based on a common-sense approach and a planning policy one”.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Bord Pleanála warns on relaxing planning rules

ANY RELAXATION of planning standards in response to the recession – even for land that falls into the hands of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) – would be “extremely shortsighted”, the chairman of An Bord Pleanála has said.

At a press briefing yesterday on the board’s 2008 annual report, John O’Connor also said the “excessive and unsustainable zoning of land” that contributed to the property bubble would have to be tackled by local authorities.

“If we are to return to realistic development planning, some of this land will have to be dezoned, and facing up to this has a part to play in deflating the bubble,” he said, adding that this would apply “irrespective of whether it’s in the hands of Nama or not”.

Mr O’Connor said there was nothing in the legislation establishing Nama that would change the need to obtain planning permission. He said that “the normal requirements will apply”.

“There can be no expectation that proper planning standards would not be applied to development proposals, even where the land is linked to distressed loans,” Mr O’Connor said. “Now, more than ever, we need to embrace the principles of good planning and sustainable development in order to prevent further deterioration of our environment, to respond to climate change [and] to maximise the return from expensive infrastructure investment.”

Mr O’Connor said the planning Bill now before the Oireachtas should ensure a “much more coherent and sustainable approach to zoning”. Anyone assessing property values in terms of development potential would now have to “look beyond the particular zoning” and focus on the availability of services as well as other planning issues such as density, height, impact on amenities and orderly urban expansion.

Mr O’Connor expressed concern that developers may be tempted to return to lower density development as a “safer option” in the present market and warned that such applications, particularly in major urban centres, would be “critically assessed” by the board.

The recession has had an impact on An Bord Pleanála’s workload, with a drop of more than 30 per cent in the intake of appeals in the past year. As a result, the number of cases on hand had almost halved to 1,550 and “routine delays” may soon be eliminated.

In 2008, however, “severe workload pressure” meant that the board met the statutory objective of determining appeals within 18 weeks in only 23 per cent of cases – down from 48 per cent in 2007. Last month, Mr O’Connor said the figure was 36 per cent.

Of 5,801 cases determined, appeals by developers against refusals had a 28 per cent success rate, while 39 per cent of third- party appeals were upheld.

The proportion of local authority decisions appealed rose from 6.7 per cent to 8.1 per cent.

From the introduction of the Strategic Infrastructure Act in 2007 to the end of last month, the board dealt with 137 requests from project sponsors for “pre-application consultations” on projects that were “too vague” in some cases, according to Mr O’Connor.

Of the 137 requests for projects to be processed under the Act, 33 qualified for its “fast-track” planning treatment, 46 were not regarded by the board as strategic infrastructure cases, and 18 were withdrawn or otherwise concluded.

Of 15 formal applications for permission received under the Act, eight have been concluded with four granted, three refused and one withdrawn.

Mr O’Connor said the public-service reform agenda must include rationalisation of the number of local authorities with planning functions – currently 88 county, city and town councils.

“Many of these authorities have administrative areas that are much too small and fractured to constitute meaningful planning units,” he said, adding that he would not favour “one big monolithic planning authority”.

Irish Times

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Permission for €250m Beacon hospital in Cork granted

THE BEACON Medical Group has welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for a €250 million co-located hospital in the grounds of Cork University Hospital and has expressed confidence that the hospital will be completed by 2012.

The board of An Bord Pleanála overruled the decision of its own inspector who, following a three- day oral hearing last September, recommended refusal of planning permission for the new two- to five-storey 33,000 square metre hospital on the northeast corner of the CUH campus.

The board ruled that revised road proposals adequately addressed concerns expressed by the inspector in relation to traffic safety, while a minor relocation of the building southwards would ensure it did not have an unduly negative impact on nearby houses.

It made it a condition of planning that the hospital would not become operational until the Bishopstown Road roundabout had been converted to a signal controlled junction and the entrance to CUH and the new co-located hospital moved some 90 metres to the west.

Beacon chief executive Michael Cullen welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála and said the new hospital would greatly benefit the health and wellbeing of the people of Cork while providing significant economic benefit by employing some 500 staff.

The new hospital will comprise 175 single rooms with eight critical-care unit beds, six theatres, ambulatory surgery and full diagnostics incorporating almost €26 million worth of new generation equipment and will cater for public and private patients. It will cater for 11,000 inpatients, 20,000 day patients and 12,000 surgeries a year.

“We will spend the next four to six months securing finance and doing detailed designs and we hope to be in a position to start construction work on the hospital either late this year or early next year,” Mr Cullen said.

He expressed confidence the group would secure about €800 million in funding for its Cork project and its two other similar projects in Limerick and Beaumont, although he conceded that financing may involve a greater number of banks than originally planned.

BMG is not buying the site on which the proposed hospital is being built and legal agreements have yet to be finalised with the HSE and the Department of Health for the facility.

Local residents had opposed the project. Eamon Cashell, chairman of the Laburnum/Wilton Residents’ Association, said yesterday that residents in the area were outraged at the fact that An Bord Pleanála had ignored its own inspector’s views.

“The hospital isn’t built yet and we haven’t thrown in the towel,” he said, adding that the residents were considering all their options including seeking legal advice.

“People are outraged at this decision,” Mr Cashell added. “We based our arguments not on emotion but solely on planning grounds and we take some solace from the fact that planning inspector found in our favour, but we’re angered that the board then ignored his recommendations and went against its own experts.”

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Planning head urges key role for assets body

THE PROPOSED National Assets Management Agency (Nama) needs to be part of a different future for Irish planning, compared to the developer-led approach of the the boom years, according to John O’Connor, chairman of An Bord Pleanála.

In an outspoken address to the National Housing Conference in Sligo yesterday, he said Nama needed to be “more than a financial exercise” if it was to maximise benefits to the public, and this should include providing sites for schools, enterprise and amenities.

Mr O’Connor said the mooted property tax offered an opportunity to begin tackling the long-standing issue of the value of development land. The absence of such a tax had contributed to the bubble and militated against sustainable planning.

“Land value tax . . . would drive sustainable development, promote logical behaviour and stabilise the market,” he said. It would also reduce pressure on local authorities to grant planning permission to generate revenue for themselves.

He urged local authorities to be pro-active in giving concessions on development levies and making more use of compulsory purchase powers to promote good developments, even at a small-scale, in the right locations such as town centres. During the boom years, Mr O’Connor complained that councillors and local authority managers had succumbed to vested interests and the “any development is good development” syndrome.

“Developers and vested interests had undue influence on plan-making [and] little regard to statutory development plans in buying land and designing schemes,” Mr O’Connor said.

Banks had also ignored planning parameters in lending to developers. Local authorities had often failed to vindicate their own development plans or sent the wrong signals to developers. Land values were “subverted” and many bad planning decisions had to be overturned or amended by An Bord Pleanála on appeal.

He said the current recession was a time to reflect on lessons from the recent past, giving architects, planners and developers an opportunity to start laying the groundwork for a resurgence in the housing market – after it eventually stabilised.

“A ‘plan-led’ system is more efficient, equitable and publicly acceptable than a ‘developer-led’ system,” Mr O’Connor said. “Development plans must be externally and internally consistent: zoning should reflect policy objectives and avoid exceptions.”

Seán Ó Laoire, president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland – which jointly organised the conference with the Department of the Environment, said one of the tasks we faced was to “clean up the mess” left by the boom.

The current recession meant “we now have a chance to ameliorate, remediate and recover”, he told some 200 participants.

He said “this time of crisis” should be used to set out a vision for the renewal and well-being of Irish society . . . “to openly interrogate our mistakes and system failures [and] articulate the economic and social dividends of good governance, planning and design”.

It was a cliche for politicians to talk about developing a smart economy when they didn’t have “a skeleton to put flesh on”. Instead, Ireland should focus on becoming a smart society, based on being collectively rather than merely individually creative.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Planning head urges key role for assets body

THE PROPOSED National Assets Management Agency (Nama) needs to be part of a different future for Irish planning, compared to the developer-led approach of the the boom years, according to John O’Connor, chairman of An Bord Pleanála.

In an outspoken address to the National Housing Conference in Sligo yesterday, he said Nama needed to be “more than a financial exercise” if it was to maximise benefits to the public, and this should include providing sites for schools, enterprise and amenities.

Mr O’Connor said the mooted property tax offered an opportunity to begin tackling the long-standing issue of the value of development land. The absence of such a tax had contributed to the bubble and militated against sustainable planning.

“Land value tax . . . would drive sustainable development, promote logical behaviour and stabilise the market,” he said. It would also reduce pressure on local authorities to grant planning permission to generate revenue for themselves.

He urged local authorities to be pro-active in giving concessions on development levies and making more use of compulsory purchase powers to promote good developments, even at a small-scale, in the right locations such as town centres. During the boom years, Mr O’Connor complained that councillors and local authority managers had succumbed to vested interests and the “any development is good development” syndrome.

“Developers and vested interests had undue influence on plan-making [and] little regard to statutory development plans in buying land and designing schemes,” Mr O’Connor said.

Banks had also ignored planning parameters in lending to developers. Local authorities had often failed to vindicate their own development plans or sent the wrong signals to developers. Land values were “subverted” and many bad planning decisions had to be overturned or amended by An Bord Pleanála on appeal.

He said the current recession was a time to reflect on lessons from the recent past, giving architects, planners and developers an opportunity to start laying the groundwork for a resurgence in the housing market – after it eventually stabilised.

“A ‘plan-led’ system is more efficient, equitable and publicly acceptable than a ‘developer-led’ system,” Mr O’Connor said. “Development plans must be externally and internally consistent: zoning should reflect policy objectives and avoid exceptions.”

Seán Ó Laoire, president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland – which jointly organised the conference with the Department of the Environment, said one of the tasks we faced was to “clean up the mess” left by the boom.

The current recession meant “we now have a chance to ameliorate, remediate and recover”, he told some 200 participants.

He said “this time of crisis” should be used to set out a vision for the renewal and well-being of Irish society . . . “to openly interrogate our mistakes and system failures [and] articulate the economic and social dividends of good governance, planning and design”.

It was a cliche for politicians to talk about developing a smart economy when they didn’t have “a skeleton to put flesh on”. Instead, Ireland should focus on becoming a smart society, based on being collectively rather than merely individually creative.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Major Leopardstown apartment scheme rejected on appeal

PLANS FOR a major apartment development in Central Park at Leopardstown Road, Dublin 18, have been turned down by An Bord Pleanála.

Clyde Road Partnership, a consortium headed by the financier Derek Quinlan, had appealed against the refusal of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to grant permission for 273 apartments, three retail units, a crèche and leisure centre on the land at Rocklands.

The homes were to be in six blocks ranging from eight to 22 storeys plus two podium levels for retail use. Two basement levels were to provide parking for 343 cars.

The board said that the development – by reason of its design, height, scale and the abrupt transition between the buildings, the M50 and the adjoining lands of Leopardstown Park Hospital – would be visually obstructive and seriously injure the visual amenities of residential areas to the south-west.

It would also be visually obtrusive and overbearing when viewed from the grounds of the school and would result in overshadowing of the school grounds and buildings.

The board also complained that because of the proposed project’s height, excessive density and layout, the development would cause overshadowing and adverse wind impacts, and it would also result in a poor quality and inadequate provision of private and public space.

It would, therefore, fail to provide an acceptable residential environment for future occupiers and be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

Another reason advanced by the board was that the extra road traffic likely to result from the development and other prospective developments could not be facilitated on the road network.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Oral hearing set for planned €54m Cork incinerators

AN oral hearing is to be held by An Bord Pleanála next month into the controversial €54m incinerators planned for Cork Harbour.

It will be the second oral hearing into the planned incineration scheme at Ringaskiddy with local residents, opposed to the development, faced with forking out about e80,000.

The first An Bord Pleanála hearing took place in 2003. However, the board disregarded the recommendations of their senior inspector and, instead, granted planning permission to developers, Indaver.

Cork Harbour for a Safe Environment (CHASE), in the meantime, sought a judicial review of the decision. By the time the court action was finished, the initial planning had expired.

This time, however, Indaver lodged planning permission with the board under the Strategic Infrastructure Act. Amendments to the planning act were aimed at fast-tracking vital national infrastructure and sidestepping local authorities.

It is reported An Bord Pleanála received 284 submissions in relation to the proposed new incinerators. The hearing will take place from April 27.

The Department of the Environment is among the objectors, on the grounds of potential risks to human, plant and animal life.

Objections were also received from the IFA, the Irish Midwives Association, Cobh Doctors Association, East Cork Tourism, local primary and secondary schools and their boards of management.

CHASE spokeswoman Linda Fitzpatrick yesterday said the new hearing will cost the local community e80,000 to outline their case as they will have to bring in experts from all over the world. However, locals are delighted, she said, that health issues will be discussed, this time, unlike the previous hearing.

"We’re glad that we can state our case again but the financial cost is quite high. Last time, the inspector was not allowed to hear, and had to ignore, any health-based evidence. New EU planning rules means that these issues will be under the microscope," she said.

A spokeswoman for Indaver said the company was looking forward to dealing with arguments raised in submissions at the oral hearing. "We have always placed a high value on engaging with the people of the localities in which we operate. ... We are confident that the facts, not hearsay, will determine the merits of the proposal," she said.

Irish Times

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Council takes action against TK Maxx store over planning contravention

WATERFORD County Council has commenced enforcement proceedings against a TK Maxx outlet in Waterford after An Bord Pleanála found it had contravened planning laws.

The board, in a ruling issued last week, found that TK Maxx at the Butlerstown Retail Park did not have permission to sell items such as clothes, toys and shoes because they do not meet a "bulky goods" classification.

Sixty jobs at the store are now under threat, it is feared.

An Bord Pleanála investigated the sale of items at TK Maxx, following a complaint by local developer Noel Frisby, a director of Noel Frisby Construction Ltd who has interests in the Lisduggan Shopping Centre.

The board ruled that TK Maxx, along with a Mothercare outlet that was due to open at the park, contravened planning laws, as outlets at the park can only sell items that are deemed to be "bulky".

A spokeswoman for TK Maxx yesterday said: "We are extremely disappointed by this ruling. It is a very complex situation and we are currently working to find a resolution that will be in the very best interests of our store associates and our customers in Waterford."

Director of services at Waterford County Council, Brian White, said that the council had deemed Mothercare to be within the bulky goods classification.

"We are certainly working out the options with them and are trying to reach some conclusion that will save [those] jobs."

Mr White said the options that are there for TK Maxx were to "defend the case against them in court, to apply for planning permission for retention, or to look for some alternative solution".

However, Waterford’s county councillors expressed anger at the monthly meeting of the local authority on Monday evening and passed a motion of no confidence in An Bord Pleanála.

Waterford county councillor Pat Daly said: "One job is a lot to lose at the moment, but if we can protect, in any way, sixty jobs, it is the duty of all of us here to do it."

The Mayor of Co Waterford Tom Higgins criticised Mr Frisby at the meeting. He asked Mr White: "It is a bit rich, a Kilkenny man coming in, telling us what to do, isn’t it?"

Mr White replied: "Mayor, with respect, any member of the public has a right to insist that the planning regulations are enforced."

Proposals to rezone the land were considered unlikely to succeed.

Cllr John Carey added: "I have the utmost respect for Waterford planning and I think it is high time now that we called for disbanding of An Bord Pleanála because they’re certainly not doing us any favours."

In response Cllr Damian Geoghan said: "If we go along with the proposals [for a vote of no confidence] today, what we are saying is that there should be no appeals process in this country in relation to planning."

A spokesman with An Bord Pleanála yesterday confirmed that it "ruled that TK Maxx does not have the correct planning permission for what it is proposing".

Irish Examiner

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Green light for €125m shopping development in Carlow

Developer Eamon Duignan and his business partners have been given the go-ahead for a €125m shopping centre in Carlow that is expected to create 400 jobs during the construction phase. The scheme will involve the redevelopment of the Penneys site in the town, and the low-cost clothing retailer is to operate a shop at the redeveloped centre.

Planning was granted for the development despite the fact that An Bord Pleanala's inspector recommended it be refused on the basis that it would "be prejudicial to public health".

However, the board overruled that recommendation, stating that the site was zoned own-centre and therefore it was an appropriate form of development.

"In deciding not to accept the inspector's recommendation to refuse permission, the board considered
that the proposed development was in line with the policies set out in the current Carlow Town Development Plan, that it would
not be appropriate to
refuse permission for reasons of prematurity and that it would have a positive impact overall on the environment of Hanover Park," it stated.

Duignan will now be able to construct more than 62,000 square metres of shops, offices and apartments on the site of nearly seven acres. DTZ Sherry FitzGerald will let the new centre on behalf of the developer who has numerous retail interests.

Sunday Tribune

www.buckplanning.ie

Council planners face grilling on Dunne plan

DUBLIN City councillors will tonight demand an explanation from city bosses as to why most of Sean Dunne's controversial €1.5bn development in Dublin 4 was approved by planners last year, only to be thrown out by An Bord Pleanala.

Fine Gael will table an emergency motion at the monthly council meeting where officials will be asked to justify why it felt the project was appropriate for Ballsbridge and why it ignored planning guidelines in the city development plan.

Last Friday the planning appeals board held that the 10-block development on the former Jury's Berkeley Court site would amount to "gross overdevelopment".

Ballsbridge residents called for the council to be investigated over its handling of the proposal as it refused permission for the 37-storey tower and one office block, but did approve most of the €1.5bn project.

Last night Fine Gael group leader Cllr Gerry Breen said the decision questioned the professionalism of the council and management team.

Irish Independent

www.buckplanning.ie

Tycoon incensed with 'game of roulette' after €1.5bn project rejected

MILLIONAIRE businessman Sean Dunne came out fighting last night, after planners refused permission for his €1.5bn development in Ireland's most expensive suburb.

An Bord Pleanala refused permission for the high-rise development -- including a 37-storey tower -- in Ballsbridge in Dublin 4, sending a shockwave through the Irish banking sector.

Last night, Mr Dunne criticised the planning process as "a game of roulette" and said he would go back to the drawing board to submit a new plan for the site which cost him a record €380m four years ago, but could now take years to develop.

The decision to refuse permission in affluent Dublin 4 sent a shockwave through the banking sector as Ulster Bank -- the main backer of the scheme -- looks to revalue the land which was bought at the height of the boom.

Since then, the value of development land has fallen by up to 50pc, new office developments have plunged in price and office rents have dropped up to 10pc in the capital.

And although Mr Dunne has pledged to submit a new plan for the seven-acre site, the results of the auditors' assessment will lead to a ripple effect across the sector as lenders are forced to start slashing the value of land they hold as collateral.

Mr Dunne, who paid €380m for the seven-acre site containing Jurys and the Berkeley Court hotels in 2005, had hoped to build 536 apartments, retail and office space, shops, pubs, restaurants and a 232-bedroom hotel in Dublin 4, describing his ambitious plans as the 'Knightsbridge of Dublin'.

The development included 10 buildings ranging from 10 to 18 storeys in height, with plans to include a 37-storey 136-metre-tall tower at the centre of the scheme attracting the ire of local residents.

The Carlow-born developer last night said he had spent €15m on the scheme to date and that 970 construction jobs had been lost.

Unworkable

"The current system is lengthy, expensive, confusing and unworkable," he charged. "As the system stands, applying for planning permission has become a game of roulette. Local authorities, politicians, residents, planning inspectors, Bord inspectors and An Bord Pleanala are regularly at odds with each other as to what constitutes proper planning and development on any given site."

And he said he was "very disappointed" for local residents who would lose a community centre and sports hall because of the refusal.

He added that business was "thriving" at D4hotels.com -- the former Jury's and Berkeley Court -- and that the hotels would remain open for business "for the foreseeable future".

An Bord Pleanala refused permission for the scheme, saying it would constitute "gross overdevelopment" of the site.

Local residents last night demanded an investigation into why Dublin City Council granted partial permission for the scheme, saying Environment Minister John Gormley should investigate why city planners "forged ahead" with and actively encouraged the developer to pursue permissions which had no justification on planning grounds.

Mr Dunne recently told the 'New York Times' that he believed his ambitious plans could still succeed, despite the recession and property market crash.

He has the option of appealing the An Bord Pleanala decision to the High Court on a point of law, but last night indicated he would submit a revised scheme which would meet the zoning of the site, which is residential.

Mr Dunne has been involved in a series of high-profile court cases in recent weeks.

Earlier this week, a legal battle with prominent hotelier John Brennan over the ownership of an Internet domain name was settled out of court.

The pair were contesting ownership of the name D4hotels.com -- the name of the former Jury's Doyle hotel in Ballsbridge.

Also last week, it emerged that Mr Dunne was being sued by a firm of estate agents in a row over an allegation that he owed €1.5m in unpaid fees. He claims the money is owed by his company, Mountbrook Homes, and not him personally.

Late last year, the High Court found -- after a challenge by Mr Dunne -- that an €83m eight-storey office block development on Dublin's north quays should not have been built because the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) had accepted land from the developer as part of a confidential deal which led to the building's go-ahead.

But developer Liam Carroll was granted permission by Dublin City Council to retain the building. It is unclear if Mr Dunne will take further action.

Paul Melia, Joe Brennan and Fergus Black
Irish Independent

www.buckplanning.ie