PLANS TO extend the West Clare railway to the towns of Kilrush and Kilkee have received a major boost.
This follows Clare County Council declaring its intention to confer equal status on the tourist attraction that the Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty Castle currently enjoy in the county development plan.
The fortunes of the West Clare railway were recently buoyed by the return of the restored 117-year old Slieve Callan, which operated on the West Clare rail-line from 1892 to 1952.
The then government closed down the railway in 1961 and 2km of the track has been restored at Moyasta in west Clare as a tourist attraction.
Now, in a report before council members that was discussed on Monday at a meeting behind closed doors, county manager, Tom Coughlan recommended that the new Clare County Development Plan “should contain a specific policy safeguarding the route of the line between Kilrush and Kilkee and the supporting proposals to restore the line to working order.”
West Clare businessman Jackie Whelan, who is behind the project, said that following Mr Coughlan’s recommendation he is “now confident that the line can be extended to Kilrush and Kilkee within the next five years with the co-operation of the people and the council. This is great news.” Describing the West Clare railway as as “icon” of Clare’s history, Mr Coughlan said: “It is hugely important to local people . . . Having reviewed the existing 2005 Clare County Development Plan, I consider that the attention that it pays to the West Clare railway could be improved or given greater emphasis.
“The tourism section of the current 2005 development plan lists the key areas of our tourism resource and the West Clare railway is not mentioned.” Mr Coughlan said that “Jackie Whelan has brought what started out as a small venture, born from sheer enthusiasm and a deep grá for Irish locomotives to getting part of the West Clare railway back on track.”
In his submission to the council, Mr Whelan said that tourism was fighting for its survival in the west of Ireland.
Mr Whelan said the official relaunch of the restored Slieve Callan takes place on August 13th next at Moyasta.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Shatter calls for halt to Dáil lawn plans
The Department of the Environment yesterday said a Fine Gael TD appeared to know little about the workings of the Oireachtas when he issued a statement criticising the restoration of the lawn at Leinster House.
Alan Shatter had called for an immediate stop to plans to restore the lawn, parts of which were removed 10 years ago to provide parking spaces for politicians, public servants and journalists.
Mr Shatter said the project will cost €230,000 plus an additional annual expense for the rental of parking spaces, 68 of which will be lost when the lawn is fully restored.
However, Minister for the Environment John Gormley’s spokesman said the decision to proceed with the project was not his responsibility.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Alan Shatter had called for an immediate stop to plans to restore the lawn, parts of which were removed 10 years ago to provide parking spaces for politicians, public servants and journalists.
Mr Shatter said the project will cost €230,000 plus an additional annual expense for the rental of parking spaces, 68 of which will be lost when the lawn is fully restored.
However, Minister for the Environment John Gormley’s spokesman said the decision to proceed with the project was not his responsibility.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Green housing schemes announced
Details of seven low carbon housing schemes were announced by Minister for the Environment John Gormley today.
The two- and three-bedroom houses are expected to cost residents less than €300 a year to run, according to Sustainable Energy Ireland. The A2 building energy rating of the houses should result in low heating and electricity prices.
The local authority housing schemes are to be funded under a €20 million "towards zero carbon homes" programme.
The costings for the seven projects were "very competitive" and indicate that the "leap to carbon neutral housing" can be made without impacting on the overall cost, Mr Gormley said.
The seven projects are in Tramore, Co Waterford, Clondalkin in South Dublin, Tralee, Co Kerry, Newbridge, Co Kildare, Roscommon Town, Tahmahon, Co Wexford, and Portlaoise,
Mr Gormley made the announcement as he turned the sod on the Emerald Project in Ballymun, which is to be one of the most energy efficient housing projects ever built in Ireland.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The two- and three-bedroom houses are expected to cost residents less than €300 a year to run, according to Sustainable Energy Ireland. The A2 building energy rating of the houses should result in low heating and electricity prices.
The local authority housing schemes are to be funded under a €20 million "towards zero carbon homes" programme.
The costings for the seven projects were "very competitive" and indicate that the "leap to carbon neutral housing" can be made without impacting on the overall cost, Mr Gormley said.
The seven projects are in Tramore, Co Waterford, Clondalkin in South Dublin, Tralee, Co Kerry, Newbridge, Co Kildare, Roscommon Town, Tahmahon, Co Wexford, and Portlaoise,
Mr Gormley made the announcement as he turned the sod on the Emerald Project in Ballymun, which is to be one of the most energy efficient housing projects ever built in Ireland.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Ross abandons Castleknock hotel plan
Developer Séamus Ross looks set to drop plans to convert Mount Hybla House in Castleknock, Dublin, into a boutique hotel and instead plans to turn it into a nursing home. Ross, via Menolly Homes, first sought permission to develop the restored Victorian house as an upmarket hotel in 2003. He is now planning to use the house itself for nursing home-related uses and to develop an additional 58-bed nursing home and crèche.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Square root of dispute row has origins in granting of car-park licence in shopping centre
The dispute at The Square in Tallaght has its origins in the decision by South Dublin County Council to grant the original developers a licence over the 18-acre car park at the shopping centre. This was done so that the council could develop some small areas of the car park, after what was dubbed a call-back, themselves.
One of those call-back areas is where the Tuansgate office scheme was built by property adviser Sean Davin's company, Lowe Taverns Tallaght. The council granted him a licence to park cars in The Square's car park as part of the deal.
When the owners of The Square tried to progress an expansion of the centre, Lowe Taverns objected because its licence was not just for spaces in front of Tuansgate – it allowed the cars be parked anywhere within the car park. Litigation followed and in 2002 Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan deemed that the Lowe licence applied to the whole of the car park. As a result, the holder of the licence could block development of the shopping centre until they received appropriate compensation.
Eventually, McFeely and O'Mahony paid €55m for Lowe Taverns Tallaght, and with it the licence, through a company called Aifca, which is now majority owned by Liam Carroll.
Later, UCI cinemas came on the market. Smyth bought the cinema and its car-park licence for €52.75m even though Liam Carroll then issued proceedings in the Commercial Court against the Butlers, who were the vendors, but those proceedings were discontinued.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
One of those call-back areas is where the Tuansgate office scheme was built by property adviser Sean Davin's company, Lowe Taverns Tallaght. The council granted him a licence to park cars in The Square's car park as part of the deal.
When the owners of The Square tried to progress an expansion of the centre, Lowe Taverns objected because its licence was not just for spaces in front of Tuansgate – it allowed the cars be parked anywhere within the car park. Litigation followed and in 2002 Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan deemed that the Lowe licence applied to the whole of the car park. As a result, the holder of the licence could block development of the shopping centre until they received appropriate compensation.
Eventually, McFeely and O'Mahony paid €55m for Lowe Taverns Tallaght, and with it the licence, through a company called Aifca, which is now majority owned by Liam Carroll.
Later, UCI cinemas came on the market. Smyth bought the cinema and its car-park licence for €52.75m even though Liam Carroll then issued proceedings in the Commercial Court against the Butlers, who were the vendors, but those proceedings were discontinued.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
New planning guidelines may put end to legal disputes
Long-running disputes about shopping centres could become a thing of the past if the recommendations of the new retail planning guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area are implemented.
"In planning for growth in town centres, planning authorities should allocate sufficient sites and expansion areas to meet the identified need; and where necessary use compulsory purchase [CPO] powers to bring forward important sites. Large town-centre schemes may require a longer period of time to assemble and this should be reflected both in the development plans and the development management process, allowing for longer planning permissions and greater floor areas, reflecting that they will be catering for demand beyond 2016," the retail strategy document for 2008-2016 states.
Legal disputes have delayed the development of several major shopping centre sites in Dublin, notably The Square, which Mr Justice Peter Kelly has previously said in the High Court seems "to give rise to more litigation than any other piece of real estate".
A long-running case taken by Noel Smyth's Redfern for €140m in damages against Tom McFeely, Larry O'Mahony, Liam Carroll and related companies began hearings in the High Court last week.
Senior counsel Paul Sreenan, for Smyth and Redfern, said that Smyth tried to get South Dublin County Council to CPO the licence and "made submissions to the local authority to try to get them to do that, but they did not move on that". In May 2004, he had offered property adviser Sean Davin a total payment of €12m for his car-park licence (see panel), €5m of which was to be paid upfront, together with one-third of the profits of the development if he came into a joint venture for the further development of The Square.
Davin declined, the court was told, saying that he felt the licence was worth €40m but later dropped the asking price to €36m. Agreement could not be reached however and Davin later sold the Tuansgate development and the car park licence to McFeely and O'Mahony for €55m. Sreenan suggested to the court "that it would probably be reasonable to estimate" that the Tuansgate scheme was worth up to €30m, suggesting the licence value was about €25m.
Sreenan said later that Smyth "will still try to do something with The Square but if he is to do any development in the car park, the only opportunity he will ever have of doing that is that if the Lowe licence is CPO'd. He will certainly try to get it CPO'd but there is no guarantee it ever will be. But even if the Lowe licence was CPO'd and some development could be carried out, at best it would be a break-even development now."
The Square is not the only shopping centre redevelopment to have been delayed by legal disputes.
The site of what is now to be called Dublin Central on O'Connell Street has been subject to numerous legal disputes while a redevelopment of the main centre in Finglas village was also delayed due to a legal dispute.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
"In planning for growth in town centres, planning authorities should allocate sufficient sites and expansion areas to meet the identified need; and where necessary use compulsory purchase [CPO] powers to bring forward important sites. Large town-centre schemes may require a longer period of time to assemble and this should be reflected both in the development plans and the development management process, allowing for longer planning permissions and greater floor areas, reflecting that they will be catering for demand beyond 2016," the retail strategy document for 2008-2016 states.
Legal disputes have delayed the development of several major shopping centre sites in Dublin, notably The Square, which Mr Justice Peter Kelly has previously said in the High Court seems "to give rise to more litigation than any other piece of real estate".
A long-running case taken by Noel Smyth's Redfern for €140m in damages against Tom McFeely, Larry O'Mahony, Liam Carroll and related companies began hearings in the High Court last week.
Senior counsel Paul Sreenan, for Smyth and Redfern, said that Smyth tried to get South Dublin County Council to CPO the licence and "made submissions to the local authority to try to get them to do that, but they did not move on that". In May 2004, he had offered property adviser Sean Davin a total payment of €12m for his car-park licence (see panel), €5m of which was to be paid upfront, together with one-third of the profits of the development if he came into a joint venture for the further development of The Square.
Davin declined, the court was told, saying that he felt the licence was worth €40m but later dropped the asking price to €36m. Agreement could not be reached however and Davin later sold the Tuansgate development and the car park licence to McFeely and O'Mahony for €55m. Sreenan suggested to the court "that it would probably be reasonable to estimate" that the Tuansgate scheme was worth up to €30m, suggesting the licence value was about €25m.
Sreenan said later that Smyth "will still try to do something with The Square but if he is to do any development in the car park, the only opportunity he will ever have of doing that is that if the Lowe licence is CPO'd. He will certainly try to get it CPO'd but there is no guarantee it ever will be. But even if the Lowe licence was CPO'd and some development could be carried out, at best it would be a break-even development now."
The Square is not the only shopping centre redevelopment to have been delayed by legal disputes.
The site of what is now to be called Dublin Central on O'Connell Street has been subject to numerous legal disputes while a redevelopment of the main centre in Finglas village was also delayed due to a legal dispute.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Abolition of town councils proposed
A SINGLE tier of local government consisting of no more than 22 county councils as well as the abolition of all regional authorities and town councils and a cut of €100 million in the Local Government Fund is recommended.
The report proposes that all households be charged for water, initially at a flat rate pending installation of meters, saying this would “open up a new and sustainable source of revenue”.
A single national authority for delivery of water services is recommended to replace county councils, with an ability to plan and manage supplies on the basis of river catchments – in line with the EU Water Framework Directive.
The group recommends a freeze on commercial rates for at least three years “to alleviate pressure on business in the current economic climate”. This would reduce returns from the only independent source of revenue available to local authorities. Without mentioning a return of domestic rates, the report says alternative sources of income “should be explored”.
It notes that local authorities spent more than €12 billion (current and capital) in 2008, or 6.3 per cent of GDP. “Given the scale of the spending and the current challenging budgetary situation, there is scope to reduce current expenditure by at least 10 per cent.”
There “should be rationalisation of the number of local authority structures, including regional, county and town structures, and local authority agencies, to take account of modern circumstances”.
It recommends a move to a single tier of local government through abolition of regional authorities and town councils, and proposes a reduction in the 34 local county or city authorities, in the remaining single tier of local government, to a maximum of 22.
It notes that housing is the largest item of expenditure in the Department of the Environment’s budget, and endorses the move away from construction of social housing in favour of leasing or buying already-built new homes.
It calls for a review of selling existing local authority housing stock, saying “discounts for tenant purchase should be withdrawn”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The report proposes that all households be charged for water, initially at a flat rate pending installation of meters, saying this would “open up a new and sustainable source of revenue”.
A single national authority for delivery of water services is recommended to replace county councils, with an ability to plan and manage supplies on the basis of river catchments – in line with the EU Water Framework Directive.
The group recommends a freeze on commercial rates for at least three years “to alleviate pressure on business in the current economic climate”. This would reduce returns from the only independent source of revenue available to local authorities. Without mentioning a return of domestic rates, the report says alternative sources of income “should be explored”.
It notes that local authorities spent more than €12 billion (current and capital) in 2008, or 6.3 per cent of GDP. “Given the scale of the spending and the current challenging budgetary situation, there is scope to reduce current expenditure by at least 10 per cent.”
There “should be rationalisation of the number of local authority structures, including regional, county and town structures, and local authority agencies, to take account of modern circumstances”.
It recommends a move to a single tier of local government through abolition of regional authorities and town councils, and proposes a reduction in the 34 local county or city authorities, in the remaining single tier of local government, to a maximum of 22.
It notes that housing is the largest item of expenditure in the Department of the Environment’s budget, and endorses the move away from construction of social housing in favour of leasing or buying already-built new homes.
It calls for a review of selling existing local authority housing stock, saying “discounts for tenant purchase should be withdrawn”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
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