Families clinch victory over noisy port cranes

Dublin 4 residents are celebrating a "huge victory" after Dublin Port Company was found in breach of planning regulations.

The Pigeon House Road neighbours have been fighting for years about constant deafening late-night noise from cranes outside their homes. They claim one elderly woman was forced to leave her home, another's hearing deteriorated significantly, children endured sleepless nights and some were racking up medical bills with stress.

However, now Dublin City Council has decided on a 'Section 5' against Dublin Port Company. This means the council has decided that the erection of the cranes was not exempt from planning permission.

The terminal, controlled by Marine Terminals Ltd (MTL), has three gantry cranes which handle container vessels. The company had previously claimed that the site qualified for an exemption from planning permission.

Residents' spokesperson Adrienne O'Sullivan said that they were relieved that they were making some progress after first objecting in 2002. Their requests are that the work stops at a reasonable hour or they are moved to a more peaceful location.

"It's a huge victory," Adrienne said. "Now we have to go for the next step, but we're tired." She said that during the previous weekend they had a "really bad night" where they had to endure the noise at 11.50pm. "We can't sleep, we can't continue to live like this," she said. "Our stress levels are off the map.

"I think the only option now is that we will have to leave our homes. We need a home we can sleep in, that is not shaking, that we are not afraid will come down on us."

Adrienne said that documenting the ongoing struggle had turned into a full-time job for her. "Why do we have to spend so much time and money?" she said. "We put forward a very detailed report to Dublin City Council, which led to this ruling. "But, if they think we are just the little people, we are not going away."

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Incentives clear way for relocation of Dublin Port

The government has cleared the way in the budget for the relocation of Dublin Port by announcing that it plans to introduce tax incentives to "facilitate the removal and relocation of Seveso-listed industrial facilities which hinder the residential and commercial regeneration of docklands in urban brownfield areas".

Subject to approval by the European Commission, the tax incentives will allow the removal of storage facilities for fuel and chemicals in the port, freeing up the land for development. This in turn will fund the relocation of the port away from the city centre.

Senior sources said that Irish Continental Group (ICG), which is at the centre of a takeover battle between One51 and Liam Carroll, would also benefit despite the fact that its 33-acre site is outside the Seveso area.

A source said that when the petrol tanks are relocated it will allow sequential development along the port and eventually as far as the ICG site. The Irish Takeover Panel is currently inquiring into an alleged link between the One51-led investment vehicle Moonduster and the British-based Arkaga fund regarding share buying in ICG last year.

CIE is also set to be a beneficiary, as the Health & Safety Authority raised concerns about the proximity of its proposed €1bn development of 14 acres at the CIE station in Galway to the Topaz oil storage facility and the Cold Chon tarmac facility. Their removal would free up development of that site and a Bus Eireann maintenance garage site.

In Cork, there are three Seveso sites in the docklands which are owned by Topaz, the National Oil Reserves Agency and Gouldings Fertiliser which is owned by Origin Enterprises. That means those lands can be developed by their owners while also freeing up other land in the area for development.

Sunday Tribune

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Campaigners tag Dublin Port Co land transfer plan 'bizarre'

CAMPAIGNERS opposing Dublin Port Company’s 21-hectare expansion into Dublin Bay have described a company proposal to give up its lands on Bull Island, if it gets planning permission for expansion, as desperate and “bizarre”.

The company earlier this week wrote to Dublin city councillors, residents in the bay area, and community and environmental groups, to outline their plans to transfer their 10.75 hectare holding on Bull Island to the city council and provide more than €1 million for its upkeep and development.

The offer is conditional on the company securing permission from An Bord Pleanála to fill in 21 hectares of Dublin Bay to expand port facilities. The expansion project was last year accepted for consideration under the new “fast-track” planning process, which allows applications for major infrastructural projects to be made directly to the board, bypassing the normal local authority planning stage.

Under this process An Bord Pleanála can order applicants to fund community gain projects as a condition to granting permission. Dublin Port Company is advancing the land transfer as a community gain project in its application. However, it could be ordered by the board to provide additional or alternative funds.

Labour councillor and chairman of Dublin Bay Watch Gerry Breen said the recent announcement by Minister for Environment John Gormley that the expansion site was to be included in a special protection area for wild birds made the company’s plans untenable.

Green Party councillor Bronwen Maher dismissed the company’s offer as a “last-ditch attempt” to get public support for the project and said a council-commissioned study had shown there would be much greater financial gain if the port were to move out of the city. The company has said it needs the expansion to create deep berthage for larger ships.

Irish Times

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