Nuns avoid vacant site levy, saying field used for prayer

A community of nuns in Dublin has avoided having to pay a vacant site levy by claiming a meadow was used as a location for exercise and prayer. The Carmelite order has successfully challenged a decision of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to place an overgrown field they own near Stillorgan on the vacant site register in December 2018. The nuns claimed a circular path surrounding the site at the Carmelite Monastery of St Joseph on Kilmacud Road Upper was in regular use for exercise and prayer. The local authority believed the 1.64 hectare site should be registered as vacant as it was not in use and situated in an area where there was a need for housing as well as being zoned for residential development.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

An Bord Pleanála uphold planning refusal for Cork Educate Together Secondary School

An Bord Pleanála (ABP) has upheld the decision to refuse planning for a permanent building for Cork Educate Together Secondary School, mainly due to concerns about traffic. The proposed 600-student development in Douglas would “give rise to traffic hazard”, and could obstruct road users and endanger pedestrians, the national planning authority agreed. "Having regard to the internal road layout of the proposed development, the Board considered that it would give rise to serious pedestrian and vehicular conflict," ABP said in its decision.

Read the full article @ The Irish Examiner

Apartments drive planning permissions surge in second quarter

A new report by Goodybody Stockbrokers has found that a surge in planning permissions for apartments was behind a 42% year on year (yoy) in increase in residential permissions in Ireland in the second quarter of the year. The number of apartment units given planning permission in the second quarter amounted to 4,675, up 156% on the same period last year, and takes the total for the year to date to 7,267. To put this into context, only 2,745 apartments have been completed in total over the last twelve months. The surge comes on the back of a change building height standards at the end of 2018 and amid very significant interest from the Build-to-Rent sector.

Read the full article @ www.businessworld.ie

New app for planning application information

Esri Ireland has announced that the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is launching a new open data web service on its digital mapping platform. The two websites (the second the map based option) can be found at: 

http://data-housinggovie.opendata.arcgis.com/

https://housinggovie.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9cf2a09799d74d8e9316a3d3a4d3a8de

The service will enable members of the public to access and review information about planned developments in their local areas going back as far as 2010.

As planning information is presented in map form, it will be easier for people to visualise where developments are taking place.

The new database was designed and implemented using Esri’s ArcGIS, and is being made available for viewing and analysis via the ArcGIS Open Data platform, the world’s fastest growing open data platform.

Currently 31 local authorities are responsible for the provision of a planning authority function in Ireland, and these authorities create and collect planning applications and assign coordinates to each application.

However, prior to Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government’s implementation of the database there was no standard mechanism in place to manage the storage of planning application data.

The development of the National Planning Application Database marks a further step towards the creation of a data infrastructure for geography and statistics that will ultimately facilitate evidence-based decision making across the public sector, a statement from Esri Ireland said.

"For the first time, stakeholders and other interested parties will have access to a visual representation of planned development throughout Ireland, enabling them to track development and contributing to more efficient national infrastructure planning in the future," Eamonn Doyle, CTO, Esri Ireland, said.

From press release. 

‘Cultural change’ needed for communities to accept high density housing

Communities need to undergo a “cultural change” to accept sustainable high density housing developments, Minister of State for Housing Damien English has told an Irish Planning Institute conference. Planners must build trust with people to help them see “what’s best for them” rather than “what they think they actually want”, Mr English said, if the goals of compact growth and the sustainable regeneration of towns and cities are to be achieved. 

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

Locals appeal plan to fell 1930s trees over wheelchair access

Residents of Glasnevin in north Dublin have appealed to Dublin City Council not to fell 90-year-old trees that the local authority said are living in a “hostile environment”.The council plans to fell the mature lime trees on St Canice’s Road following complaints from a wheelchair user in relation to the condition of the footpath surrounding the trees and the difficulties in access which the trees cause. However, residents said the trees could be retained if the council repaired and properly maintained the footpaths.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

Plans for new ESB power station at Poolbeg in doubt

 

Plans for a new ESB power station at Poolbeg are in doubt as planning authorities have raised concerns about the choice of location for the new facility. The ESB is seeking planning permission from Dublin City Council to build a new 75 megawatt flexible thermal generation plant at the Ringsend site. However, council planners have questioned the location of the development and why alternative sites on other ESB lands were not considered.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times