THE PLANNING inspectors who are holding a hearing by An Bord Pleanála into a proposed N2 bypass of Slane, Co Meath, were among a group of people who stood on top of the Knowth megalithic monument yesterday.
They were looking westwards towards Slane and at two balloons or blimps which Meath County Council had raised up to the height of a bridge to be built over the Boyne 1km east of Slane as part of the bypass.
The balloon test was suggested by heritage expert Dr Douglas Comer, who told the hearing it would help to illustrate the possible visual impact of the bridge on the nearby Brú na Boinne, the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
There are concerns that the visual impact of the bridge could have implications for the status of the site with Unesco.
The balloons were inflated and then allowed rise first to 18m above the valley floor and then they were dropped to 12m.
These are the height options being proposed for the new bridge.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label slane by-pass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slane by-pass. Show all posts
Monday, 14 March 2011
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Slane bypass balloon test details revealed
DETAILS OF the balloon tests to be carried out as part of the public hearing into the proposed new Slane bypass and bridge were given yesterday before the proceedings were adjourned.
The oral hearing has adjourned until March 29th to allow Meath County Council to carry out a balloon test at the site of the proposed new bridge to evaluate the visual impact of the structure on the surrounding area, including Brú na Bóinne.
The council hopes to conduct the test next Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.
Two blimp-type balloons will be positioned on each bank of the Boyne at Fennor, the site of the proposed bridge, about one mile east of the existing Slane bridge.
The balloons will be set at two possible bridge heights – the preferred 18m above ground level and a lower 12m option.
The test for the preferred 18m option will take place between 10am and 1.30pm each day when the balloons will have red banners attached, while the test for the 12m option will take place between 2pm and 5pm each day when the balloons will support blue banners. Each balloon is approximately 6.1m long and 3.7m high while the banners are 3.7m long and 1.2m high.
When the oral hearing resumes at the end of the month supporters and critics of the proposed bridge will have an opportunity to give their reaction to the tests.
The proposed N2 Slane bypass and bridge will see traffic divert from the existing bridge and road because the new dual carriageway will allow vehicles travel faster and safer, design engineer Séamus MacGearailt told An Bord Pleanála’s oral hearing yesterday.
Mr MacGearailt was responding to questions from barrister Colm MacEochaidh, senior counsel for former attorney general John Rogers who is opposed to the new dual carriageway, which includes provision for a new Boyne bridge.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The oral hearing has adjourned until March 29th to allow Meath County Council to carry out a balloon test at the site of the proposed new bridge to evaluate the visual impact of the structure on the surrounding area, including Brú na Bóinne.
The council hopes to conduct the test next Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.
Two blimp-type balloons will be positioned on each bank of the Boyne at Fennor, the site of the proposed bridge, about one mile east of the existing Slane bridge.
The balloons will be set at two possible bridge heights – the preferred 18m above ground level and a lower 12m option.
The test for the preferred 18m option will take place between 10am and 1.30pm each day when the balloons will have red banners attached, while the test for the 12m option will take place between 2pm and 5pm each day when the balloons will support blue banners. Each balloon is approximately 6.1m long and 3.7m high while the banners are 3.7m long and 1.2m high.
When the oral hearing resumes at the end of the month supporters and critics of the proposed bridge will have an opportunity to give their reaction to the tests.
The proposed N2 Slane bypass and bridge will see traffic divert from the existing bridge and road because the new dual carriageway will allow vehicles travel faster and safer, design engineer Séamus MacGearailt told An Bord Pleanála’s oral hearing yesterday.
Mr MacGearailt was responding to questions from barrister Colm MacEochaidh, senior counsel for former attorney general John Rogers who is opposed to the new dual carriageway, which includes provision for a new Boyne bridge.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Council to carry out balloon test at Slane
MEATH COUNTY Council plans to carry out a balloon test this week at the site of a proposed new Slane bridge.
The test, due to take place on Thursday, will see a large balloon raised over the Boyne valley to indicate how visible the new 21m high bridge would be from the surrounding area.
Opponents of the bridge, which is part of the proposed N2 Slane bypass, claim the structure would be visible from parts of the Brú na Bóinne site, which includes the national monuments of Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth.
They say such an intrusion would put the status of the world heritage complex at risk.
The suggestion for a balloon test was made last week by world heritage expert Dr Douglas Comer when he addressed An Bord Pleanála’s public hearing on the planned 3.5km eastern bypass of Slane. The measure has also been included in recommendations made to the hearing yesterday by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
Archaeologist Mark Keegan from the department’s national monuments service said that while the proposed new bridge across the Boyne would be visible from the national monument at Knowth, and as such would have a negative impact, it would not have a significant impact upon the setting and amenity value of the monument.
Gerry Browner, senior architect at the department’s built heritage and architectural policy section, recommended that before any decision on the project was made by An Bord Pleanála a balloon test be conducted, and that the board request further information from the county council on traffic and other studies.
He said if the scheme was approved then agreement on the bridge design should be finalised with those having a direct interest in the matter.
Mr Browner also said that if the project got the go-ahead the department would pursue Meath County Council to ascertain what planning measures could be put in place to prevent follow-on development in the vicinity of the new road as this was identified by Dr Comer as a potential threat to the outstanding value of the site.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The test, due to take place on Thursday, will see a large balloon raised over the Boyne valley to indicate how visible the new 21m high bridge would be from the surrounding area.
Opponents of the bridge, which is part of the proposed N2 Slane bypass, claim the structure would be visible from parts of the Brú na Bóinne site, which includes the national monuments of Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth.
They say such an intrusion would put the status of the world heritage complex at risk.
The suggestion for a balloon test was made last week by world heritage expert Dr Douglas Comer when he addressed An Bord Pleanála’s public hearing on the planned 3.5km eastern bypass of Slane. The measure has also been included in recommendations made to the hearing yesterday by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
Archaeologist Mark Keegan from the department’s national monuments service said that while the proposed new bridge across the Boyne would be visible from the national monument at Knowth, and as such would have a negative impact, it would not have a significant impact upon the setting and amenity value of the monument.
Gerry Browner, senior architect at the department’s built heritage and architectural policy section, recommended that before any decision on the project was made by An Bord Pleanála a balloon test be conducted, and that the board request further information from the county council on traffic and other studies.
He said if the scheme was approved then agreement on the bridge design should be finalised with those having a direct interest in the matter.
Mr Browner also said that if the project got the go-ahead the department would pursue Meath County Council to ascertain what planning measures could be put in place to prevent follow-on development in the vicinity of the new road as this was identified by Dr Comer as a potential threat to the outstanding value of the site.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Traffic blamed for partial collapse of Slane bridge
CONSTANT HEAVY traffic on Slane bridge appears to have been why it partially collapsed last month, an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála into a proposed bypass of Slane village heard yesterday.
At the time, Meath County Council said the collapse of a stone wall on the western facade of the bridge was due to icy weather.
However, yesterday Seamus Mac Gearailt of Roughan O’Donovan engineers, which oversaw the selection of the bypass route on behalf of the council, said “it appears to have been due to heavy traffic loading over years”.
The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual-carriageway at a cost of €46 million to the east of the village. The route will take it some 500m from the buffer zone to Brú na Bóinne, a Unesco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
Mr Mac Gearailt also told the hearing, chaired by planning inspector Michael Walsh, that it was not just Slane bridge that posed risks to traffic but all of the road layout through the village.
The N2 has steep hills on both approaches to Slane bridge and it also intersects with the main Drogheda to Navan road in the middle of the village.
Mr Mac Gearailt said Slane had the “longest and most severe descent on any national primary route”.
As a result, “vehicles have considerable difficulty in braking safely – overheating can lead to brake failure at a critical point”, he told the hearing.
Between 1996 and last year there were 40 incidents in Slane, of which 35 per cent involved trucks.
The steep gradient is the key factor, the hearing heard.
At the moment, some 17,700 vehicles pass through the village each day; after the bypass, the number of vehicles will drop by a third. The number crossing Slane bridge daily will reduce by 7,700.
Mr Walsh said it was not proposed to build a bypass to the west of Slane, although it had been desirable to “tease out” what a route to the west would look like and this took place last year.
At the start of the hearing it was put to Mr Walsh that the environmental impact statement submitted by the council could be deficient and inadequate.
Mr Walsh said the board “has not decided yet whether it is adequate or not. I haven’t either”.
He was speaking after Colm Mac hEochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers, who lives in the area, said the recommendation by the board to the council to retain an expert on the impact of the scheme on Brú na Bóinne, including Newgrange, implied that the environmental impact statement submitted needed “a fix”.
He said it appeared the statement could be deficient “in that it does not address the impact on the world heritage site”, and if that were the situation then An Bord Pleanála had no jurisdiction to hold the oral hearing.
He put it to Mr Walsh that the first thing the board must do is decide on whether it had a lawful environmental impact statement.
The hearing also heard that the flight paths of bats in the Boyne valley were taken into consideration in selecting the height of the bridge that would carry the road across the Boyne.
It was decided that a three-span, steel-concrete composite 200m bridge that was 21m above the valley floor would be the preferred design.
Mr Mac Gearailt said the bridge design “respects its surroundings” and “we recognise it is an intrusion but leaves no stone unturned in trying to blend into its environment”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
At the time, Meath County Council said the collapse of a stone wall on the western facade of the bridge was due to icy weather.
However, yesterday Seamus Mac Gearailt of Roughan O’Donovan engineers, which oversaw the selection of the bypass route on behalf of the council, said “it appears to have been due to heavy traffic loading over years”.
The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual-carriageway at a cost of €46 million to the east of the village. The route will take it some 500m from the buffer zone to Brú na Bóinne, a Unesco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
Mr Mac Gearailt also told the hearing, chaired by planning inspector Michael Walsh, that it was not just Slane bridge that posed risks to traffic but all of the road layout through the village.
The N2 has steep hills on both approaches to Slane bridge and it also intersects with the main Drogheda to Navan road in the middle of the village.
Mr Mac Gearailt said Slane had the “longest and most severe descent on any national primary route”.
As a result, “vehicles have considerable difficulty in braking safely – overheating can lead to brake failure at a critical point”, he told the hearing.
Between 1996 and last year there were 40 incidents in Slane, of which 35 per cent involved trucks.
The steep gradient is the key factor, the hearing heard.
At the moment, some 17,700 vehicles pass through the village each day; after the bypass, the number of vehicles will drop by a third. The number crossing Slane bridge daily will reduce by 7,700.
Mr Walsh said it was not proposed to build a bypass to the west of Slane, although it had been desirable to “tease out” what a route to the west would look like and this took place last year.
At the start of the hearing it was put to Mr Walsh that the environmental impact statement submitted by the council could be deficient and inadequate.
Mr Walsh said the board “has not decided yet whether it is adequate or not. I haven’t either”.
He was speaking after Colm Mac hEochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers, who lives in the area, said the recommendation by the board to the council to retain an expert on the impact of the scheme on Brú na Bóinne, including Newgrange, implied that the environmental impact statement submitted needed “a fix”.
He said it appeared the statement could be deficient “in that it does not address the impact on the world heritage site”, and if that were the situation then An Bord Pleanála had no jurisdiction to hold the oral hearing.
He put it to Mr Walsh that the first thing the board must do is decide on whether it had a lawful environmental impact statement.
The hearing also heard that the flight paths of bats in the Boyne valley were taken into consideration in selecting the height of the bridge that would carry the road across the Boyne.
It was decided that a three-span, steel-concrete composite 200m bridge that was 21m above the valley floor would be the preferred design.
Mr Mac Gearailt said the bridge design “respects its surroundings” and “we recognise it is an intrusion but leaves no stone unturned in trying to blend into its environment”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Labour Senator tells Slane bypass hearing of value for money
A COST-BENEFIT analysis of the proposed Slane bypass found it represents good value for money, according to Meath Labour Senator Dominic Hannigan.
Mr Hannigan was speaking in favour of the proposed 3.5km road at the Bord Pleanála public hearing into the scheme in Drogheda yesterday.
A civil engineer with experience in transport projects, he said the bypass “comes in at three to one, so, for every €3 we spend, we get €1 back, and that’s very good.”
Mr Hannigan compared it to the cost-benefit for Metro North, which he said came in at 1.5 to 1.6 to one. “In terms of bang for your buck, in the Slane bypass you get twice that when compared to Metro North,” he added.
Environmentalist Peter Sweetman, on behalf of groups concerned with natural habitats, said the board could not make a proper decision on the basis of the information before it. He said the information was “flawed” because of what he claimed were inadequacies, including evidence in relation to bats and swans – both of which are protected species.
Maria Meagher of the Bypass Slane Campaign asked: “When will we be given the same level of protection as swans and bats? We feel we are an endangered species.”
The bypass will pass 500m from the perimeter of the buffer zone for the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne which includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. At least 22 people have died in accidents at Slane bridge in living memory. Meath Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee spoke in favour of the bypass and said the bridge – which has been the scene of dozens of deaths – “was built for an ass and cart to bring the queen to see whoever is in the [Slane] castle.”
Planning inspector Michael Walsh was told by Ian Lumley, heritage officer with An Taisce, that “the real question is why Slane remains a national route”, referring to its designation along the N2, the main Dublin to Belfast road.
Mark Clinton, archaeologist for An Taisce, described the present core area of the World Heritage Site as “decidedly minimalist” and the buffer zone consequently as inadequate. “The criteria for the status of World Heritage Site have evolved over the past 20 years. The conditions are now more rigorous . . . it is of paramount importance to the Boyne Valley region, and indeed beyond, that such an invigorated selection process be anticipated and nothing done to impair qualification.”
Mr Clinton said the bypass would create as many problems as it would resolve. It was “a roads authority Trojan horse” and would become another motorway in Meath. “World Heritage Sites are decidedly thin on the ground in Ireland, let us not endanger the status of one of the only two sites we have got.”
Prof George Eoghan, an expert on Knowth who has excavated at the monument since the 1950s, said the full extent of the World Heritage Site was not yet known.
In hindsight, he added, the buffer zone “is too restrictive” and the World Heritage Site has already been impinged on by the M1 motorway. The bypass, which includes a new bridge over the river Boyne, would be a further “infringement on the landscape.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Hannigan was speaking in favour of the proposed 3.5km road at the Bord Pleanála public hearing into the scheme in Drogheda yesterday.
A civil engineer with experience in transport projects, he said the bypass “comes in at three to one, so, for every €3 we spend, we get €1 back, and that’s very good.”
Mr Hannigan compared it to the cost-benefit for Metro North, which he said came in at 1.5 to 1.6 to one. “In terms of bang for your buck, in the Slane bypass you get twice that when compared to Metro North,” he added.
Environmentalist Peter Sweetman, on behalf of groups concerned with natural habitats, said the board could not make a proper decision on the basis of the information before it. He said the information was “flawed” because of what he claimed were inadequacies, including evidence in relation to bats and swans – both of which are protected species.
Maria Meagher of the Bypass Slane Campaign asked: “When will we be given the same level of protection as swans and bats? We feel we are an endangered species.”
The bypass will pass 500m from the perimeter of the buffer zone for the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne which includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. At least 22 people have died in accidents at Slane bridge in living memory. Meath Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee spoke in favour of the bypass and said the bridge – which has been the scene of dozens of deaths – “was built for an ass and cart to bring the queen to see whoever is in the [Slane] castle.”
Planning inspector Michael Walsh was told by Ian Lumley, heritage officer with An Taisce, that “the real question is why Slane remains a national route”, referring to its designation along the N2, the main Dublin to Belfast road.
Mark Clinton, archaeologist for An Taisce, described the present core area of the World Heritage Site as “decidedly minimalist” and the buffer zone consequently as inadequate. “The criteria for the status of World Heritage Site have evolved over the past 20 years. The conditions are now more rigorous . . . it is of paramount importance to the Boyne Valley region, and indeed beyond, that such an invigorated selection process be anticipated and nothing done to impair qualification.”
Mr Clinton said the bypass would create as many problems as it would resolve. It was “a roads authority Trojan horse” and would become another motorway in Meath. “World Heritage Sites are decidedly thin on the ground in Ireland, let us not endanger the status of one of the only two sites we have got.”
Prof George Eoghan, an expert on Knowth who has excavated at the monument since the 1950s, said the full extent of the World Heritage Site was not yet known.
In hindsight, he added, the buffer zone “is too restrictive” and the World Heritage Site has already been impinged on by the M1 motorway. The bypass, which includes a new bridge over the river Boyne, would be a further “infringement on the landscape.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Slane bypass may risk Boyne status, says expert
CONSTRUCTION OF the proposed Slane bypass in Co Meath could have implications for the world heritage status of Brú na Bóinne, the site that is home to the megalithic tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, a planning hearing was told yesterday.
An international expert on heritage sites said construction of the bypass was likely to result in Unesco “monitoring” the impact on the world heritage site.
Dr Douglas Comer told the An Bord Pleanála hearing that “failure to maintain the outstanding universal value of a world heritage site can threaten its status as such”.
Meath County Council is seeking permission from the board to build the road and the oral hearing is expected to continue until early next month.
Dr Comer, an archaeologist and international expert on culture sites, said there could be “a very large adverse impact” on the site because of the proposed route of the road. He was asked by the council to prepare a heritage impact assessment of the road plan. He said “one might reasonably expect that the bypass will be seen as a further, incremental intrusion on the landscape”.
Dr Comer’s report said that if assurances are given that the bypass will not stimulate new construction in the vicinity of the heritage site and if it is only visible from the top of Knowth, then it would represent a minor change with a moderate/large adverse effect.
However, without such assurances and if the road can be seen from several locations in the Brú na Bóinne site, then it would have a “large/very large adverse impact”, he concluded.
The 3.5km dual carriageway would bypass Slane to the east of the village at a cost of €46 million and divert traffic from the village and Slane bridge where 22 people have died in traffic accidents in recent years.
Archaeologist Finola O’Carroll, who assessed the scheme for the council, said the new road would be visible from Knowth and Newgrange but the long-term impact of this was “in the visual and landscape assessment deemed respectively to be ‘medium and neutral’ and ‘low and neutral’.”
She said that the design of the bridge and the road seeks to minimise the visual disturbance in accordance with the principles of cultural heritage management.
Landscape architect Declan O’Leary said that to reduce the impact of the 200m long bridge, it is designed to sit within the existing topography. It will be 21m above the valley floor and made from a steel/concrete composite. Its crossing is set at a level to reduce the cutting into the valley sides, “limiting the impact on the Boyne valley”, he added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
An international expert on heritage sites said construction of the bypass was likely to result in Unesco “monitoring” the impact on the world heritage site.
Dr Douglas Comer told the An Bord Pleanála hearing that “failure to maintain the outstanding universal value of a world heritage site can threaten its status as such”.
Meath County Council is seeking permission from the board to build the road and the oral hearing is expected to continue until early next month.
Dr Comer, an archaeologist and international expert on culture sites, said there could be “a very large adverse impact” on the site because of the proposed route of the road. He was asked by the council to prepare a heritage impact assessment of the road plan. He said “one might reasonably expect that the bypass will be seen as a further, incremental intrusion on the landscape”.
Dr Comer’s report said that if assurances are given that the bypass will not stimulate new construction in the vicinity of the heritage site and if it is only visible from the top of Knowth, then it would represent a minor change with a moderate/large adverse effect.
However, without such assurances and if the road can be seen from several locations in the Brú na Bóinne site, then it would have a “large/very large adverse impact”, he concluded.
The 3.5km dual carriageway would bypass Slane to the east of the village at a cost of €46 million and divert traffic from the village and Slane bridge where 22 people have died in traffic accidents in recent years.
Archaeologist Finola O’Carroll, who assessed the scheme for the council, said the new road would be visible from Knowth and Newgrange but the long-term impact of this was “in the visual and landscape assessment deemed respectively to be ‘medium and neutral’ and ‘low and neutral’.”
She said that the design of the bridge and the road seeks to minimise the visual disturbance in accordance with the principles of cultural heritage management.
Landscape architect Declan O’Leary said that to reduce the impact of the 200m long bridge, it is designed to sit within the existing topography. It will be 21m above the valley floor and made from a steel/concrete composite. Its crossing is set at a level to reduce the cutting into the valley sides, “limiting the impact on the Boyne valley”, he added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Heritage findings at Slane being 'ignored'
MEATH COUNTY Council has been accused of ignoring the magnitude of the findings of an international expert who says the Slane bypass could threaten the status of Brú na Bóinne as a Unesco world heritage site.
Dr Douglas Comer had also said the proposed road breaches the council’s own development plan, which says development must protect the amenity, views and landscape of the monuments in the world heritage site which includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
At the public hearing into the plans for the Slane bypass, Colm Mac Eochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers who lives near the buffer zone for the world heritage site, asked whether they would be told if Dr Comer’s report constituted “significant further information” and as such it should be advertised to the public.
Dr Comer said the landscape’s heritage value was “as high as it gets” and the building of a road at or near a world heritage site was “the most problematic of all possible developments”. Of the effects of the proposed bypass, “none can be viewed as non-significant”.
The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual carriageway at a cost of €46 million.
It retained Dr Comer on advice from An Bord Pleanála to assess independently the heritage impact on the site of the proposed road. He had advised the hearing that “almost certainly,” there would be a visit by experts from Unesco asking about gaps in information on the proposed road.
The three likely outcomes of that process included being de-listed as a world heritage site. He said “nowhere else in the world” had the monuments and continuity of settlement that was found at Brú na Bóinne.
Dr Comer also said he could not find any study on the implications of simply banning heavy goods vehicles from the village – proposed nearly two years ago – or a study on other alternatives to building the bypass.
He added that the Boyne bridge on the M1 motorway was “without a doubt incompatible” with the landscape that led to Brú na Bóinne being inscribed by Unesco.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dr Douglas Comer had also said the proposed road breaches the council’s own development plan, which says development must protect the amenity, views and landscape of the monuments in the world heritage site which includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
At the public hearing into the plans for the Slane bypass, Colm Mac Eochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers who lives near the buffer zone for the world heritage site, asked whether they would be told if Dr Comer’s report constituted “significant further information” and as such it should be advertised to the public.
Dr Comer said the landscape’s heritage value was “as high as it gets” and the building of a road at or near a world heritage site was “the most problematic of all possible developments”. Of the effects of the proposed bypass, “none can be viewed as non-significant”.
The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual carriageway at a cost of €46 million.
It retained Dr Comer on advice from An Bord Pleanála to assess independently the heritage impact on the site of the proposed road. He had advised the hearing that “almost certainly,” there would be a visit by experts from Unesco asking about gaps in information on the proposed road.
The three likely outcomes of that process included being de-listed as a world heritage site. He said “nowhere else in the world” had the monuments and continuity of settlement that was found at Brú na Bóinne.
Dr Comer also said he could not find any study on the implications of simply banning heavy goods vehicles from the village – proposed nearly two years ago – or a study on other alternatives to building the bypass.
He added that the Boyne bridge on the M1 motorway was “without a doubt incompatible” with the landscape that led to Brú na Bóinne being inscribed by Unesco.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Slane plans pose 'no immediate danger'
THERE IS no immediate danger posed to the Brú na Bóinne site in Co Meath by plans to build a bypass of Slane village, according to a world heritage expert.
However, Dr Douglas Comer warned the project would be another intrusion on the site and if there were others in the future, they could undermine its designation as a world heritage site of outstanding universal value.
Dr Comer was replying to questions from Gerry Browner, senior architect with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, on the seventh day of an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála into plans by Meath County Council for the bypass.
The proposed 3.5km dual carriageway, including a new bridge over the Boyne east of the village, would pass within 500 metres of a buffer zone around Brú na Bóinne which includes the ancient burial sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
Supporters of the project claim the bypass and bridge are urgently needed to improve safety for locals in Slane, which has been the scene of at least 22 fatal road crashes.
Opponents say the new road and bridge would have a detrimental effect on the local landscape, especially the archaeological sites. Dr Comer said some features already intruded into the site, such as the M1 motorway and Boyne bridge, the cement factory chimneys at Platin and the new Indaver incinerator at Carranstown, Duleek.
He said if the bypass got the go-ahead, Unesco’s world heritage committee would likely send a fact-finding reactive monitoring mission to assess its impact on the Brú na Bóinne site. The committee might then decide there had been no deterioration to the site, place it on a list of endangered sites, or delist it.
Mr Browner added that the department had already received a yellow card from Unesco over the incinerator.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
However, Dr Douglas Comer warned the project would be another intrusion on the site and if there were others in the future, they could undermine its designation as a world heritage site of outstanding universal value.
Dr Comer was replying to questions from Gerry Browner, senior architect with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, on the seventh day of an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála into plans by Meath County Council for the bypass.
The proposed 3.5km dual carriageway, including a new bridge over the Boyne east of the village, would pass within 500 metres of a buffer zone around Brú na Bóinne which includes the ancient burial sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
Supporters of the project claim the bypass and bridge are urgently needed to improve safety for locals in Slane, which has been the scene of at least 22 fatal road crashes.
Opponents say the new road and bridge would have a detrimental effect on the local landscape, especially the archaeological sites. Dr Comer said some features already intruded into the site, such as the M1 motorway and Boyne bridge, the cement factory chimneys at Platin and the new Indaver incinerator at Carranstown, Duleek.
He said if the bypass got the go-ahead, Unesco’s world heritage committee would likely send a fact-finding reactive monitoring mission to assess its impact on the Brú na Bóinne site. The committee might then decide there had been no deterioration to the site, place it on a list of endangered sites, or delist it.
Mr Browner added that the department had already received a yellow card from Unesco over the incinerator.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Traffic blamed for partial collapse of Slane bridge
CONSTANT HEAVY traffic on Slane bridge appears to have been why it partially collapsed last month, an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála into a proposed bypass of Slane village heard yesterday.
At the time, Meath County Council said the collapse of a stone wall on the western facade of the bridge was due to icy weather.
However, yesterday Seamus Mac Gearailt of Roughan O’Donovan engineers, which oversaw the selection of the bypass route on behalf of the council, said “it appears to have been due to heavy traffic loading over years”.
The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual-carriageway at a cost of €46 million to the east of the village. The route will take it some 500m from the buffer zone to Brú na Bóinne, a Unesco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
Mr Mac Gearailt also told the hearing, chaired by planning inspector Michael Walsh, that it was not just Slane bridge that posed risks to traffic but all of the road layout through the village.
The N2 has steep hills on both approaches to Slane bridge and it also intersects with the main Drogheda to Navan road in the middle of the village.
Mr Mac Gearailt said Slane had the “longest and most severe descent on any national primary route”.
As a result, “vehicles have considerable difficulty in braking safely – overheating can lead to brake failure at a critical point”, he told the hearing.
Between 1996 and last year there were 40 incidents in Slane, of which 35 per cent involved trucks.
The steep gradient is the key factor, the hearing heard.
At the moment, some 17,700 vehicles pass through the village each day; after the bypass, the number of vehicles will drop by a third. The number crossing Slane bridge daily will reduce by 7,700.
Mr Walsh said it was not proposed to build a bypass to the west of Slane, although it had been desirable to “tease out” what a route to the west would look like and this took place last year.
At the start of the hearing it was put to Mr Walsh that the environmental impact statement submitted by the council could be deficient and inadequate.
Mr Walsh said the board “has not decided yet whether it is adequate or not. I haven’t either”.
He was speaking after Colm Mac hEochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers, who lives in the area, said the recommendation by the board to the council to retain an expert on the impact of the scheme on Brú na Bóinne, including Newgrange, implied that the environmental impact statement submitted needed “a fix”.
He said it appeared the statement could be deficient “in that it does not address the impact on the world heritage site”, and if that were the situation then An Bord Pleanála had no jurisdiction to hold the oral hearing.
He put it to Mr Walsh that the first thing the board must do is decide on whether it had a lawful environmental impact statement.
The hearing also heard that the flight paths of bats in the Boyne valley were taken into consideration in selecting the height of the bridge that would carry the road across the Boyne.
It was decided that a three-span, steel-concrete composite 200m bridge that was 21m above the valley floor would be the preferred design.
Mr Mac Gearailt said the bridge design “respects its surroundings” and “we recognise it is an intrusion but leaves no stone unturned in trying to blend into its environment”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
At the time, Meath County Council said the collapse of a stone wall on the western facade of the bridge was due to icy weather.
However, yesterday Seamus Mac Gearailt of Roughan O’Donovan engineers, which oversaw the selection of the bypass route on behalf of the council, said “it appears to have been due to heavy traffic loading over years”.
The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual-carriageway at a cost of €46 million to the east of the village. The route will take it some 500m from the buffer zone to Brú na Bóinne, a Unesco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
Mr Mac Gearailt also told the hearing, chaired by planning inspector Michael Walsh, that it was not just Slane bridge that posed risks to traffic but all of the road layout through the village.
The N2 has steep hills on both approaches to Slane bridge and it also intersects with the main Drogheda to Navan road in the middle of the village.
Mr Mac Gearailt said Slane had the “longest and most severe descent on any national primary route”.
As a result, “vehicles have considerable difficulty in braking safely – overheating can lead to brake failure at a critical point”, he told the hearing.
Between 1996 and last year there were 40 incidents in Slane, of which 35 per cent involved trucks.
The steep gradient is the key factor, the hearing heard.
At the moment, some 17,700 vehicles pass through the village each day; after the bypass, the number of vehicles will drop by a third. The number crossing Slane bridge daily will reduce by 7,700.
Mr Walsh said it was not proposed to build a bypass to the west of Slane, although it had been desirable to “tease out” what a route to the west would look like and this took place last year.
At the start of the hearing it was put to Mr Walsh that the environmental impact statement submitted by the council could be deficient and inadequate.
Mr Walsh said the board “has not decided yet whether it is adequate or not. I haven’t either”.
He was speaking after Colm Mac hEochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers, who lives in the area, said the recommendation by the board to the council to retain an expert on the impact of the scheme on Brú na Bóinne, including Newgrange, implied that the environmental impact statement submitted needed “a fix”.
He said it appeared the statement could be deficient “in that it does not address the impact on the world heritage site”, and if that were the situation then An Bord Pleanála had no jurisdiction to hold the oral hearing.
He put it to Mr Walsh that the first thing the board must do is decide on whether it had a lawful environmental impact statement.
The hearing also heard that the flight paths of bats in the Boyne valley were taken into consideration in selecting the height of the bridge that would carry the road across the Boyne.
It was decided that a three-span, steel-concrete composite 200m bridge that was 21m above the valley floor would be the preferred design.
Mr Mac Gearailt said the bridge design “respects its surroundings” and “we recognise it is an intrusion but leaves no stone unturned in trying to blend into its environment”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 20 September 2010
New round of public consultations ordered for proposed Slane bypass
A NEW round of public consultations on controversial plans for a dual-carriageway bypass of Slane, Co Meath, has been ordered by An Bord Pleanála, with October 15th set as the closing date.
A public notice advertising the new round of consultations was published recently in national newspapers.
The original consultation period closed on February 25th last.
An Bord Pleanála had sought additional information from Meath County Council on the road scheme, including whether an alternative route running to the west of Slane had been examined.
The current proposal, which is being advanced on behalf of the National Roads Authority (NRA), would run to the east of Slane, some 500 metres from the boundary of Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site.
The appeals board also sought alternative designs for a new bridge over the river Boyne, noting that the cable-stayed bridge originally proposed would be visible from the World Heritage Site.
It also wanted the council to produce more detailed archaeological and geophysical reports on investigations of 44 archaeological sites that would be affected by the original scheme.
The information was sought “in order to clarify certain points in the environmental impact statement [EIS] and assist the board’s assessment of the likely effects on the environment” of the road.
This followed complaints to An Bord Pleanála by the Save Newgrange group, former attorney general John Rogers SC and leading archaeologist Prof George Eogan that the EIS was flawed.
Save Newgrange spokesman Vincent Salafia said: “We will be waging an international campaign over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland, to get as many objections as possible filed with An Bord Pleanála.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
A public notice advertising the new round of consultations was published recently in national newspapers.
The original consultation period closed on February 25th last.
An Bord Pleanála had sought additional information from Meath County Council on the road scheme, including whether an alternative route running to the west of Slane had been examined.
The current proposal, which is being advanced on behalf of the National Roads Authority (NRA), would run to the east of Slane, some 500 metres from the boundary of Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site.
The appeals board also sought alternative designs for a new bridge over the river Boyne, noting that the cable-stayed bridge originally proposed would be visible from the World Heritage Site.
It also wanted the council to produce more detailed archaeological and geophysical reports on investigations of 44 archaeological sites that would be affected by the original scheme.
The information was sought “in order to clarify certain points in the environmental impact statement [EIS] and assist the board’s assessment of the likely effects on the environment” of the road.
This followed complaints to An Bord Pleanála by the Save Newgrange group, former attorney general John Rogers SC and leading archaeologist Prof George Eogan that the EIS was flawed.
Save Newgrange spokesman Vincent Salafia said: “We will be waging an international campaign over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland, to get as many objections as possible filed with An Bord Pleanála.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 30 August 2010
'Powerful forces' trying to stop Slane bypass - TD
FIANNA FÁIL TD Thomas Byrne has claimed that “powerful forces” from outside Co Meath were attempting to stop the Slane bypass going ahead.
Mr Byrne, who represents Meath East, was joined by Slane FF councillor Wayne Harding in rejecting criticism of the project earlier this week by Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Dr Morgenroth described the proposed bypass as “idiotic” and warned he would make a formal complaint to the Comptroller and Auditor General if An Bord Pleanála approved the current proposal.
The board, which is considering the matter, has asked Meath County Council to supply detailed additional information on the bypass, including whether any alternative route west of the village had been examined.
Mr Byrne said Dr Morgenroth’s opinion “smack[ed] of unwarranted interference” in the board’s independence and was highly inappropriate.
Mr Byrne said the N2 through Slane village had caused huge concern among the community for years and many people had lost their lives on a relatively short stretch of road.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Byrne, who represents Meath East, was joined by Slane FF councillor Wayne Harding in rejecting criticism of the project earlier this week by Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Dr Morgenroth described the proposed bypass as “idiotic” and warned he would make a formal complaint to the Comptroller and Auditor General if An Bord Pleanála approved the current proposal.
The board, which is considering the matter, has asked Meath County Council to supply detailed additional information on the bypass, including whether any alternative route west of the village had been examined.
Mr Byrne said Dr Morgenroth’s opinion “smack[ed] of unwarranted interference” in the board’s independence and was highly inappropriate.
Mr Byrne said the N2 through Slane village had caused huge concern among the community for years and many people had lost their lives on a relatively short stretch of road.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Planned Slane bypass 'idiotic', says transport expert
PLANS FOR a dual-carriageway to bypass the village of Slane, Co Meath, have been described as “idiotic” by Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Dr Morgenroth, who is the institute’s programme co-ordinator for research on transport and infrastructure, said he would be making a formal complaint to the Comptroller and Auditor General if An Bord Pleanála approved the current proposal.
He also said plans by the National Roads Authority for a 27- kilometre dual-carriageway between Clontibret, Co Monaghan, and the Border at Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, amounted to “total overkill, especially since Monaghan has already been bypassed”.
In a blog posted yesterday on the irisheconomy.ie website, Dr Morgenroth said a wide, two-lane road bypassing the village of Emyvale, Co Monaghan, as had been done already in the case of Carrickmacross, would be “perfectly sufficient”.
“I am not against motorways but I am against the sort of gold-plating that has been going on – building a motorway where something more appropriate would have served the purpose,” he said.
Dr Morgenroth added that he was “sceptical” about the cost-benefit analysis being used by the the authority.
Referring to claims in such analyses that reductions in road fatalities were entirely due to road improvements, Dr Morgenroth said this was not correct.
“There are many factors including road improvements, the points system, road safety campaigns, safer cars, etc.
“We keep making the same mistake of comparing a project with a ‘do nothing’ benchmark. It is hardly surprising that ‘do something’ is better than ‘do nothing’.
“We need to include the ‘do something else’ scenarios into the analysis including the ‘no investment but appropriate pricing’ scenario.”
Dr Morgenroth cited Dublin City Council’s “grand plan” to pipe water to the city from the river Shannon, at the cost of €540 million, as an example.
He said that the introduction of metered water charges for all households “would make that project redundant”.
“While the project website refers to a number of alternatives, all of them involve construction, including the hair-brained idea to build a desalination plant”, he said, adding that this was probably due to a fascination for, or “addiction”, to construction in Ireland.
Dealing with the proposed Slane bypass, he said it was “totally irrelevant” for access from Co Donegal to Dublin.
“You only have to use the excellent and uncongested N33 [Ardee link road] to get on to the excellent and uncongested M1 to get to Dublin.
“Facilitating toll dodgers by building a dual-carriageway parallel to the M1 is about the most stupid thing that the Government could do – worse still if those toll dodgers are ‘free-riding’ on the improved roads in the first place”, Dr Morgenroth added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dr Morgenroth, who is the institute’s programme co-ordinator for research on transport and infrastructure, said he would be making a formal complaint to the Comptroller and Auditor General if An Bord Pleanála approved the current proposal.
He also said plans by the National Roads Authority for a 27- kilometre dual-carriageway between Clontibret, Co Monaghan, and the Border at Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, amounted to “total overkill, especially since Monaghan has already been bypassed”.
In a blog posted yesterday on the irisheconomy.ie website, Dr Morgenroth said a wide, two-lane road bypassing the village of Emyvale, Co Monaghan, as had been done already in the case of Carrickmacross, would be “perfectly sufficient”.
“I am not against motorways but I am against the sort of gold-plating that has been going on – building a motorway where something more appropriate would have served the purpose,” he said.
Dr Morgenroth added that he was “sceptical” about the cost-benefit analysis being used by the the authority.
Referring to claims in such analyses that reductions in road fatalities were entirely due to road improvements, Dr Morgenroth said this was not correct.
“There are many factors including road improvements, the points system, road safety campaigns, safer cars, etc.
“We keep making the same mistake of comparing a project with a ‘do nothing’ benchmark. It is hardly surprising that ‘do something’ is better than ‘do nothing’.
“We need to include the ‘do something else’ scenarios into the analysis including the ‘no investment but appropriate pricing’ scenario.”
Dr Morgenroth cited Dublin City Council’s “grand plan” to pipe water to the city from the river Shannon, at the cost of €540 million, as an example.
He said that the introduction of metered water charges for all households “would make that project redundant”.
“While the project website refers to a number of alternatives, all of them involve construction, including the hair-brained idea to build a desalination plant”, he said, adding that this was probably due to a fascination for, or “addiction”, to construction in Ireland.
Dealing with the proposed Slane bypass, he said it was “totally irrelevant” for access from Co Donegal to Dublin.
“You only have to use the excellent and uncongested N33 [Ardee link road] to get on to the excellent and uncongested M1 to get to Dublin.
“Facilitating toll dodgers by building a dual-carriageway parallel to the M1 is about the most stupid thing that the Government could do – worse still if those toll dodgers are ‘free-riding’ on the improved roads in the first place”, Dr Morgenroth added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)