LEGAL actions brought by An Taisce and others over the manner in which consents were granted for the Corrib gas project have been settled and withdrawn at the High Court.
The settlement includes an agreement by the state to properly transpose aspects of the European environmental impact assessment directive by the end of this year.
Afterwards, An Taisce said the manner in which the project was consented to was "a travesty" of European environmental law and its legal case was about "breaking bad precedents".
Chairman Charles Stanley Smith said the terms of settlement represented "a victory for the environment".
In a statement to the court, the state defendants acknowledged An Taisce’s case was properly brought and said in view of the concerns raised, the state would establish an environmental law implementation group to formally engage with An Taisce.
While acknowledging the failures of transposition, the state said it was maintaining its claims the consents challenged in the legal actions, including a foreshore licence, were valid and were granted "only after all necessary environmental assessment under Irish and EU law".
Mr Justice Peter Charelton was told by Anthony Collins SC that the actions by An Taisce, and a separate action by local residents Peter Sweetman and Monica Muller, were being withdrawn.
The cases, brought against various state parties with Shell EP Ireland and Mayo County Council as notice parties, had been at hearing before the judge for 11 days.
All parties welcomed the settlement.
Mr Sweetman and Ms Muller, of Rossport South, Ballina, Co Mayo, own land 500m south of the proposed pipeline and, with An Taisce, challenged An Bord Pleanála’s decision last January granting permission to Shell & Ireland for its third proposed route for the pipeline.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label An Taisce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label An Taisce. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Monday, 3 October 2011
An Taisce welcomes halt to Metro West
HERITAGE body An Taisce has welcomed the decision by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to put a stop to what it described as "the Metro West folly".
Mr Varadkar announced yesterday that he had suspended the planning process as funding to construct the new railway in Dublin would not be available in the foreseeable future.
He said he was acting on the advice of the National Transport Authority when he instructed the Railway Procurement Agency to withdraw its application for a railway order from An Bord Pleanála.
"From this weekend, I have suspended all planning works for Metro West, and the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing which was due to commence will not now proceed," he said.
The Metro West line, funded by a public-private partnership, was due to go from Tallaght through Clondalkin, Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown and link up with the planned Metro North line to end at Dublin Airport.
Charles Stanley-Smith, An Taisce chairman, said the decision was a "welcome act of sanity" and the only responsible approach given the economic constraints facing the country and the lack of funding for the project.
He said the proposal included an unacceptable crossing of the Liffey Valley at one of its most scenic points and in the heart of a special amenity area order.
"We are calling for more of this responsible decision-making and for a transport solution for Dublin that is fit for people’s needs now, and the country’s capacity to deliver it," he said.
A spokesperson for the Railway Procurement Agency said the issue was a matter for the minister and noted that the client process had been suspended, not cancelled.
Mr Varadkar said that until financial credibility was restored, the international debt funding market would be reluctant to lend funds to finance projects in Ireland and the exchequer would not be able to make its contribution to the cost in the foreseeable future.
"Metro West will be examined again at a future stage when the country’s finances have improved," said Mr Varadkar.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Varadkar announced yesterday that he had suspended the planning process as funding to construct the new railway in Dublin would not be available in the foreseeable future.
He said he was acting on the advice of the National Transport Authority when he instructed the Railway Procurement Agency to withdraw its application for a railway order from An Bord Pleanála.
"From this weekend, I have suspended all planning works for Metro West, and the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing which was due to commence will not now proceed," he said.
The Metro West line, funded by a public-private partnership, was due to go from Tallaght through Clondalkin, Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown and link up with the planned Metro North line to end at Dublin Airport.
Charles Stanley-Smith, An Taisce chairman, said the decision was a "welcome act of sanity" and the only responsible approach given the economic constraints facing the country and the lack of funding for the project.
He said the proposal included an unacceptable crossing of the Liffey Valley at one of its most scenic points and in the heart of a special amenity area order.
"We are calling for more of this responsible decision-making and for a transport solution for Dublin that is fit for people’s needs now, and the country’s capacity to deliver it," he said.
A spokesperson for the Railway Procurement Agency said the issue was a matter for the minister and noted that the client process had been suspended, not cancelled.
Mr Varadkar said that until financial credibility was restored, the international debt funding market would be reluctant to lend funds to finance projects in Ireland and the exchequer would not be able to make its contribution to the cost in the foreseeable future.
"Metro West will be examined again at a future stage when the country’s finances have improved," said Mr Varadkar.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 29 August 2011
An Taisce opposes brewery site plan
AN TAISCE has joined heritage campaigners in lodging an appeal against plans for a €150 million redevelopment of the Beamish and Crawford site in Cork.
The proposal, a joint venture by Heineken Ireland and Bam Construction, includes a 6,000-seat event centre, cinemas, retail, offices and student accommodation in seven buildings ranging in height from four to seven storeys, to be built on a four-acre riverside site at South Main Street.
In its appeal to An Bord Pleanála, An Taisce says elements of the design for the Brewery Quarter are “completely inappropriate”.
The conservation group says the proposed use of the iconic Counting House building is inappropriate, as are two design blocks fronting on to South Main Street.
It criticises the scale and design of the event centre as it is located in a “sensitive city centre location”. It also claims the provision of student accommodation in the immediate area is already well catered for.
The building height, which rises to seven storeys, prompts concerns given the precedent it might set for future development of the city centre.
Finally, the group says the plans fail to include a riverside amenity area for public use in the city centre.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The proposal, a joint venture by Heineken Ireland and Bam Construction, includes a 6,000-seat event centre, cinemas, retail, offices and student accommodation in seven buildings ranging in height from four to seven storeys, to be built on a four-acre riverside site at South Main Street.
In its appeal to An Bord Pleanála, An Taisce says elements of the design for the Brewery Quarter are “completely inappropriate”.
The conservation group says the proposed use of the iconic Counting House building is inappropriate, as are two design blocks fronting on to South Main Street.
It criticises the scale and design of the event centre as it is located in a “sensitive city centre location”. It also claims the provision of student accommodation in the immediate area is already well catered for.
The building height, which rises to seven storeys, prompts concerns given the precedent it might set for future development of the city centre.
Finally, the group says the plans fail to include a riverside amenity area for public use in the city centre.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
An Taisce blames urban sprawl on 'delinquent' planning laws
THE GROWING urban sprawl revealed by the latest census figures is a result of "negligent and delinquent" planning regulation, the national heritage trust An Taisce has said.
Spokesman Ian Lumley said the shift in population growth towards the commuter belt counties of the midland and the Border regions was the expected result of bad planning decisions and rezonings made in recent years.
The census found that Laois had the fastest growing population of any county (up 20 per cent), followed by Cavan, Fingal ( both 14 per cent), Longford and Meath (both 13 per cent).
Mr Lumley said spatial planning and transport strategies for the Greater Dublin Area had been " abrogated" by some local authority planners and councillors, creating a "legacy of carbased sprawl".
He said Ireland had invested in one of the largest motorwaybuilding programmes per capita in Europe to improve inter-regional transport for business and encourage economic investment. Instead these had become "commuter arteries".
"The whole objective of the road scheme has been defeated and has created a car-based population, with consequent social, economic and environmental damage - for example, increased carbon emissions, exposure to future oil costs and obesity."
County councils and their councillors had "deliberately ignored" planning guidelines, he said, and had "flung the population about the place".
However, he said they were not motivated by personal gain but by the development levies which could be earned for their counties.
County managers had been completely ineffective in preventing bad planning, and the planners had been "spineless" in their approval of planning applications that were based on bad zoning.
"The planning profession emerges with no credibility here," he said.
New planning legislation, introduced last year was being ignored by county councillors, and was also in danger of being watered down by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan, who had recently decided to abandon an independent investigation into the planning activities of a number of local authorities, Mr Lumley said.
"The level of development that has taken place during the boom is like what happened in other European countries after the second World War.
"We have to ensure that we implement strict enforcement of the planning regulations so that things are not made worse."
The president of the Irish Planning Institute, Brendan Allen, said planners were not responsible for the shift from urban to outer suburban and rural growth as they had no option but to grant permission if land had been zoned for development.
He said an adherence by councillors to the guidelines set down for zoning which require them only to zone as much land as is required for sustainable population growth, and proper resourcing of the planning system would help consolidate future development in existing urban areas and gateway towns.
"The statistics underline the importance of forward planning so that development can be ‘planning-led' rather than ‘market-led'," said Mr Allen.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Spokesman Ian Lumley said the shift in population growth towards the commuter belt counties of the midland and the Border regions was the expected result of bad planning decisions and rezonings made in recent years.
The census found that Laois had the fastest growing population of any county (up 20 per cent), followed by Cavan, Fingal ( both 14 per cent), Longford and Meath (both 13 per cent).
Mr Lumley said spatial planning and transport strategies for the Greater Dublin Area had been " abrogated" by some local authority planners and councillors, creating a "legacy of carbased sprawl".
He said Ireland had invested in one of the largest motorwaybuilding programmes per capita in Europe to improve inter-regional transport for business and encourage economic investment. Instead these had become "commuter arteries".
"The whole objective of the road scheme has been defeated and has created a car-based population, with consequent social, economic and environmental damage - for example, increased carbon emissions, exposure to future oil costs and obesity."
County councils and their councillors had "deliberately ignored" planning guidelines, he said, and had "flung the population about the place".
However, he said they were not motivated by personal gain but by the development levies which could be earned for their counties.
County managers had been completely ineffective in preventing bad planning, and the planners had been "spineless" in their approval of planning applications that were based on bad zoning.
"The planning profession emerges with no credibility here," he said.
New planning legislation, introduced last year was being ignored by county councillors, and was also in danger of being watered down by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan, who had recently decided to abandon an independent investigation into the planning activities of a number of local authorities, Mr Lumley said.
"The level of development that has taken place during the boom is like what happened in other European countries after the second World War.
"We have to ensure that we implement strict enforcement of the planning regulations so that things are not made worse."
The president of the Irish Planning Institute, Brendan Allen, said planners were not responsible for the shift from urban to outer suburban and rural growth as they had no option but to grant permission if land had been zoned for development.
He said an adherence by councillors to the guidelines set down for zoning which require them only to zone as much land as is required for sustainable population growth, and proper resourcing of the planning system would help consolidate future development in existing urban areas and gateway towns.
"The statistics underline the importance of forward planning so that development can be ‘planning-led' rather than ‘market-led'," said Mr Allen.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 26 May 2011
An Taisce labelled secret society by councillor
AN TAISCE was last night labelled a secret society as councillors demanded that the Minister for the Environment delist the organisation under the Planning Acts.
At the adjourned May meeting of Clare County Council, councillors adopted a motion calling on the Minister, Phil Hogan, to delist An Taisce under planning legislation.
Currently, local authorities are required to refer certain planning applications to An Taisce for its observations. However, at last night’s meeting, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) said it was a disgrace the way An Taisce was objecting to and subsequently appealing to An Bord Pleanála over applications for one-off housing in the county.
Cllr Cooney said: “Young people are seeking to build a home for themselves and An Taisce are appealing decisions at the last minute to An Bord Pleanála.”
Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said An Taisce was a secret society and that the organisation should make its membership public, remarking that its members may contain representatives of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Fine Gael councillor, Joe Arkins said An Taisce objects to developments in Co Clare without properly researching planning applications “and as a consequence of that, they have lost credibility”.
Mr Oliver Garry (FG) said that he was supportive of the motion, stating that An Taisce objects to everything.
However, Green Party councillor Brian Meaney said An Taisce had been unfairly vilified with “inflammatory and dangerous language used”. Mr Meaney said councillors would find it beneficial by positively engaging with An Taisce.
The motion to request Mr Hogan to delist An Taisce was carried with Mr Meaney and Patricia McCarthy (Ind) dissenting.
Last night, chairman of An Taisce Charles Stanley-Smith said he was disappointed by the council’s action.
“The councillors fail to understand An Taisce’s role. We are not a decision-making body. We are not anti-rural or anti-development.” Mr Stanley-Smith said An Taisce “is there to protect the common good. We try to make sure that the laws of the country are adhered to”. He also rejected the claim that the organisation is a secret society.“Anyone can join and the members of the governing body of An Taisce are well known.”
He said that on average An Taisce appealed 300 decisions per year to An Bord Pleanála. “We don’t appeal for the sake of appealing.
“We do tend to win with 80 per cent of decisions going our way as An Bord Pleanála is guided by the planning laws in making its decisions.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
At the adjourned May meeting of Clare County Council, councillors adopted a motion calling on the Minister, Phil Hogan, to delist An Taisce under planning legislation.
Currently, local authorities are required to refer certain planning applications to An Taisce for its observations. However, at last night’s meeting, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) said it was a disgrace the way An Taisce was objecting to and subsequently appealing to An Bord Pleanála over applications for one-off housing in the county.
Cllr Cooney said: “Young people are seeking to build a home for themselves and An Taisce are appealing decisions at the last minute to An Bord Pleanála.”
Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said An Taisce was a secret society and that the organisation should make its membership public, remarking that its members may contain representatives of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Fine Gael councillor, Joe Arkins said An Taisce objects to developments in Co Clare without properly researching planning applications “and as a consequence of that, they have lost credibility”.
Mr Oliver Garry (FG) said that he was supportive of the motion, stating that An Taisce objects to everything.
However, Green Party councillor Brian Meaney said An Taisce had been unfairly vilified with “inflammatory and dangerous language used”. Mr Meaney said councillors would find it beneficial by positively engaging with An Taisce.
The motion to request Mr Hogan to delist An Taisce was carried with Mr Meaney and Patricia McCarthy (Ind) dissenting.
Last night, chairman of An Taisce Charles Stanley-Smith said he was disappointed by the council’s action.
“The councillors fail to understand An Taisce’s role. We are not a decision-making body. We are not anti-rural or anti-development.” Mr Stanley-Smith said An Taisce “is there to protect the common good. We try to make sure that the laws of the country are adhered to”. He also rejected the claim that the organisation is a secret society.“Anyone can join and the members of the governing body of An Taisce are well known.”
He said that on average An Taisce appealed 300 decisions per year to An Bord Pleanála. “We don’t appeal for the sake of appealing.
“We do tend to win with 80 per cent of decisions going our way as An Bord Pleanála is guided by the planning laws in making its decisions.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 16 May 2011
An Taisce appeals against Louth County Council's decision to grant a ski resort
AN TAISCE has appealed against Louth County Council’s decision to approve plans for a ski resort next to Dundalk Racecourse, likening it to the “unsustainable” Tipperary Resort planned for Two-Mile-Borris, Co Tipperary.
The ski slope, enclosed to ensure year-round use, would be 52m (170ft) high – twice the height of the nearby racecourse stand – and forms part of a larger project “likely to include a bid to develop a Las Vegas-type casino”, according to An Taisce.
The Dubai-style Snowflex ski slope would be the largest in Europe, with a main slope 210m long and 60m wide as well as a beginners’ area. The two slopes would have combined capacity for 500 skiers.
With a total floor area of 44,246sq m (476,264sq ft), elements of the resort already approved include the ski slope as well as a bowling alley, cinema, private members gaming, an aquatic leisure centre and a 128-bed “family hostel”. The Altitude Ski Resort, planned by Innovative Leisure Systems Ltd (ILS), would also include sports-related shops, restaurants and bars, parking for 32 coaches and 791 cars and a new roundabout on the N52 Dundalk inner relief road.
“We’re over the moon to have been granted planning permission,” Sam Curran, of ILS, told the Dundalk Democrat. “Getting the go-ahead was the major thing from the point of view of investors, and leisure is one area where there is still investment.
“The appetite worldwide for leisure products is there . . . and our hope is that this resort will create spin-off opportunities for people,” he said, adding that cruise liners attracted by the resort could dock at the deep water port in Greenore, Co Louth.
In its environmental impact statement, ILS forecast that the resort would attract 1.15 million annual visits after its first phase was completed, rising to 6.2 million when the remaining phases (including the casino) were built.
But in its appeal to An Bord Pleanála, An Taisce described the scheme as “the epitome of unsustainable development”, based on a business model of “attracting millions of tourists from around the world to a modestly-sized regional Irish town . . . to go skiing”.
The trust’s heritage officer, Ian Lumley, said: “In the context of the calamitous property collapse which has occurred since 2007, it defies credulity that the local authority, the applicant and the investors could consider this proposal to have merit.”
He said the scheme was “more like a proposal from the past boom-time of Dubai than contemporary Ireland” yet it was coming concurrently with a proposal for a Las Vegas-type casino, multipurpose arena and racecourse in Co Tipperary.
“Both applications reflect the bubble stage of the Irish property boom, which has left an unprecedented debt crisis and legacy of ghost estates, excess capacity in hotel rooms and other categories of land use and the huge Nama loan portfolio,” Mr Lumley wrote.
An Taisce was basing its appeal on a recent statement by John O’Connor, outgoing chairman of An Bord Pleanála, that it was “incumbent on planning authorities” to take account of realities such as climate change, energy costs and minimising heritage loss.
It noted that the 140-acre site is located on inter-tidal grasslands and saltmarsh “immediately adjacent to and encroaching on” the Dundalk Bay Special Protection Area under the EU wildbirds directive, which was one of Ireland’s “most important wintering waterfowl sites”.
An Taisce said it would have an impact on views towards the Cooley Mountains and noted a submission from Dundalk Racecourse raising concern about its flood impact on the racecourse as well as safety, traffic and operational issues.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The ski slope, enclosed to ensure year-round use, would be 52m (170ft) high – twice the height of the nearby racecourse stand – and forms part of a larger project “likely to include a bid to develop a Las Vegas-type casino”, according to An Taisce.
The Dubai-style Snowflex ski slope would be the largest in Europe, with a main slope 210m long and 60m wide as well as a beginners’ area. The two slopes would have combined capacity for 500 skiers.
With a total floor area of 44,246sq m (476,264sq ft), elements of the resort already approved include the ski slope as well as a bowling alley, cinema, private members gaming, an aquatic leisure centre and a 128-bed “family hostel”. The Altitude Ski Resort, planned by Innovative Leisure Systems Ltd (ILS), would also include sports-related shops, restaurants and bars, parking for 32 coaches and 791 cars and a new roundabout on the N52 Dundalk inner relief road.
“We’re over the moon to have been granted planning permission,” Sam Curran, of ILS, told the Dundalk Democrat. “Getting the go-ahead was the major thing from the point of view of investors, and leisure is one area where there is still investment.
“The appetite worldwide for leisure products is there . . . and our hope is that this resort will create spin-off opportunities for people,” he said, adding that cruise liners attracted by the resort could dock at the deep water port in Greenore, Co Louth.
In its environmental impact statement, ILS forecast that the resort would attract 1.15 million annual visits after its first phase was completed, rising to 6.2 million when the remaining phases (including the casino) were built.
But in its appeal to An Bord Pleanála, An Taisce described the scheme as “the epitome of unsustainable development”, based on a business model of “attracting millions of tourists from around the world to a modestly-sized regional Irish town . . . to go skiing”.
The trust’s heritage officer, Ian Lumley, said: “In the context of the calamitous property collapse which has occurred since 2007, it defies credulity that the local authority, the applicant and the investors could consider this proposal to have merit.”
He said the scheme was “more like a proposal from the past boom-time of Dubai than contemporary Ireland” yet it was coming concurrently with a proposal for a Las Vegas-type casino, multipurpose arena and racecourse in Co Tipperary.
“Both applications reflect the bubble stage of the Irish property boom, which has left an unprecedented debt crisis and legacy of ghost estates, excess capacity in hotel rooms and other categories of land use and the huge Nama loan portfolio,” Mr Lumley wrote.
An Taisce was basing its appeal on a recent statement by John O’Connor, outgoing chairman of An Bord Pleanála, that it was “incumbent on planning authorities” to take account of realities such as climate change, energy costs and minimising heritage loss.
It noted that the 140-acre site is located on inter-tidal grasslands and saltmarsh “immediately adjacent to and encroaching on” the Dundalk Bay Special Protection Area under the EU wildbirds directive, which was one of Ireland’s “most important wintering waterfowl sites”.
An Taisce said it would have an impact on views towards the Cooley Mountains and noted a submission from Dundalk Racecourse raising concern about its flood impact on the racecourse as well as safety, traffic and operational issues.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 31 January 2011
Coillte urged to end land deals
AN TAISCE has called on Coillte Teoranta to abandon its “ill-advised” commercial property programme following a second planning refusal for a nursing home on its lands.
The State forestry company was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a 100-bed nursing home and community facilities at Carrowbaun, off the M6 in east Co Galway, following an appeal by An Taisce.
A number of grounds for refusal were given by the appeals board, including its view that the “unsuitable rural location” would contribute to piecemeal isolated development as well as being prejudicial to public health because of the risk of ground water pollution from septic tanks.
Ian Lumley, An Taisce’s heritage officer, said the Co Galway scheme – one of five nursing home applications on forest land – was “part of a wider misplaced commercial agenda by Coillte designed to attract investors if privatisation of the State forestry organisation goes ahead”.
“One in Co Wexford has already been refused along with the Galway development, and the remaining three are still in the planning system,” he said.
“The forestry agency is also currently proposing to enter into a deal with Irish Distillers for a poorly placed storage facility in a State forest 9km from the Irish Distillers plant in Middleton.
“These developments are being led entirely by availability of the land bank without any regard for proper spatial planning.
“The Galway refusal also shows that Coillte is wasting time and resources by entering into development proposals which are against national planning policy.”
Attempts to contact Coillte to comment on An Bord Pleanála’s decision and An Taisce’s claims were unsuccessful.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The State forestry company was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a 100-bed nursing home and community facilities at Carrowbaun, off the M6 in east Co Galway, following an appeal by An Taisce.
A number of grounds for refusal were given by the appeals board, including its view that the “unsuitable rural location” would contribute to piecemeal isolated development as well as being prejudicial to public health because of the risk of ground water pollution from septic tanks.
Ian Lumley, An Taisce’s heritage officer, said the Co Galway scheme – one of five nursing home applications on forest land – was “part of a wider misplaced commercial agenda by Coillte designed to attract investors if privatisation of the State forestry organisation goes ahead”.
“One in Co Wexford has already been refused along with the Galway development, and the remaining three are still in the planning system,” he said.
“The forestry agency is also currently proposing to enter into a deal with Irish Distillers for a poorly placed storage facility in a State forest 9km from the Irish Distillers plant in Middleton.
“These developments are being led entirely by availability of the land bank without any regard for proper spatial planning.
“The Galway refusal also shows that Coillte is wasting time and resources by entering into development proposals which are against national planning policy.”
Attempts to contact Coillte to comment on An Bord Pleanála’s decision and An Taisce’s claims were unsuccessful.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 27 September 2010
N11 / N25 / N30 roads - An Taisce concerns
An Taisce have this week expressed concerns with respect to proposals for the N11 / N25 / N30 roads.
The following bulletin was received from An Taisce:
In June the National Roads Authority (NRA) and Wexford County Council (Wex Co Co) bounced no less than eight supposed “route options” on the population of South East Wexford for a proposed new road from Oylegate just south of Enniscorthy to Rosslare. This manoeuvre has caused consternation and not a little animosity.
Using the classic “divide and rule” technique, the NRA has succeeded in getting most of the animosity deflected into local rivalry. Knowing full well that, once they might determine a “preferred route”, the NRA would be supported by the other threatened populations (in order to keep the road out of their backyard), the NRA has also deflected proper examination of rationale.
At a time when expenditure anywhere has to be carefully scrutinised, the NRA is still coming up with “Tiger” projects that do not stack up.
New roads have to be “obviously necessary” either to circumvent recurrent and increasing bottleneck problems or to accommodate projected increased traffic for an accepted development area or for some other stated or obvious public need.
In the case of N11 / N25 route to Rosslare, the quoted focus for Mr Eddie Breen the Wexford County Manager (and Board member of the NRA) is : the Port of Rosslare. Mr Breen has stated that “...it is vital that the roads serving Rosslare Port should be up to the standard enjoyed by its rivals”.
This statement begs several questions such as : What are the rival ports to Rosslare ? Why are the current roads considered to be inadequate when it has been proven that they serve the port well ? Will building a new road bring more jobs to the port or to the surrounding area ?
Mr. Breen claims that the port is “underutilised” at present and that to be able for the port to “see its full potential”, bigger roads are needed. If this is the case then there should be supporting figures to prove it. There are none. The port got to full capacity in mid 2006 without a new road and without any problem. Since then the port and road traffic volume have slipped steadily backwards.
The “Port Lobby” at one time was calling for the port to be expanded but that dream flies in the face of reality. The port is silting up. It only stays open thanks to occasional maintenance dredging of the berths. The port “declares” a depth of 7.5m to a solid rock bottom but at times it struggles to get 6.5m and the narrow fairway only stays clear thanks to the daily passage of the ferries with their big mud-churning propellers.
The ferry skippers know that, if for any reason the ferries stopped running for a week or more, they might not be able to access the port if any volume of silt drifted into the fairway. Capital dredging of the port and the fairway would cost many millions of Euro and would not increase port capacity. The Port Lobby may have deliberately falsified the expectancies to get a “chicken and egg scenario” going to try to build the roads first and then to try to justify rebuilding the port.
The Annual Average Daily Traffic figures from the NRA's own counters for the N25 into Rosslare showed 6230 in 2002, 7076 in 2006 (peak year), 6603 in 2009 and an estimated 6115 for 2010. The peak figures for August (the busiest month for the port) were already below 2002 levels in 2009.
Who in their right minds would want to use these figures to justify building a new road ?
The answer is certainly not Mr. Breen: when challenged with these figures he stated that the new road was for traffic in 20 to 30 year's time (a projection for which nobody has any figures at all).
In other words the road is proposed because the NRA guesses it might be needed.
Add this charade to that we witnessed for the New Ross Bypass. This route chosen by the NRA flouts the National Development Plan by trying to create a bypass for the N30 when only the N25 is supposed to be provided with a bypass in the NDP. The NRA chose the most expensive route option costed by them at €315 million (for that read €400 million). The alternative route was never properly evaluated and was costed privately at €40 million but was dismissed with a kiddie's comparison chart by the consultant in a woefully inadequate and biased Environmental Impact Statement.
The suspicion that there are hidden agendas here is reinforced by checking on potential re-zoning consequent on the routes chosen and on the land owners that could benefit. That aside, the mere fact that the NRA is unaccountable and seemingly cannot be stopped from spending money that we clearly need elsewhere is enough to sound alarm bells but when that money is about to be wasted on unnecessary projects, there should be brakes applied. Since we appear to have a Government of wasters – applying the brakes would appear to be unlikely.
When asked about whether he could control the NRA, the Transport Minister replied that he “simply provides the funding”.
In terms of sustainable road development : What Wexford really needs are its existing roads repaired and upgraded and some genuine provisions for public transport for a system that will at last serve the people and not the operators.
Programmes for building new roads in Ireland's current circumstances simply represent the dreams of NRA planners who should have been made redundant before now and the schemes of some questionably professional consultants.
An Taisce
www.buckplanning.ie
The following bulletin was received from An Taisce:
In June the National Roads Authority (NRA) and Wexford County Council (Wex Co Co) bounced no less than eight supposed “route options” on the population of South East Wexford for a proposed new road from Oylegate just south of Enniscorthy to Rosslare. This manoeuvre has caused consternation and not a little animosity.
Using the classic “divide and rule” technique, the NRA has succeeded in getting most of the animosity deflected into local rivalry. Knowing full well that, once they might determine a “preferred route”, the NRA would be supported by the other threatened populations (in order to keep the road out of their backyard), the NRA has also deflected proper examination of rationale.
At a time when expenditure anywhere has to be carefully scrutinised, the NRA is still coming up with “Tiger” projects that do not stack up.
New roads have to be “obviously necessary” either to circumvent recurrent and increasing bottleneck problems or to accommodate projected increased traffic for an accepted development area or for some other stated or obvious public need.
In the case of N11 / N25 route to Rosslare, the quoted focus for Mr Eddie Breen the Wexford County Manager (and Board member of the NRA) is : the Port of Rosslare. Mr Breen has stated that “...it is vital that the roads serving Rosslare Port should be up to the standard enjoyed by its rivals”.
This statement begs several questions such as : What are the rival ports to Rosslare ? Why are the current roads considered to be inadequate when it has been proven that they serve the port well ? Will building a new road bring more jobs to the port or to the surrounding area ?
Mr. Breen claims that the port is “underutilised” at present and that to be able for the port to “see its full potential”, bigger roads are needed. If this is the case then there should be supporting figures to prove it. There are none. The port got to full capacity in mid 2006 without a new road and without any problem. Since then the port and road traffic volume have slipped steadily backwards.
The “Port Lobby” at one time was calling for the port to be expanded but that dream flies in the face of reality. The port is silting up. It only stays open thanks to occasional maintenance dredging of the berths. The port “declares” a depth of 7.5m to a solid rock bottom but at times it struggles to get 6.5m and the narrow fairway only stays clear thanks to the daily passage of the ferries with their big mud-churning propellers.
The ferry skippers know that, if for any reason the ferries stopped running for a week or more, they might not be able to access the port if any volume of silt drifted into the fairway. Capital dredging of the port and the fairway would cost many millions of Euro and would not increase port capacity. The Port Lobby may have deliberately falsified the expectancies to get a “chicken and egg scenario” going to try to build the roads first and then to try to justify rebuilding the port.
The Annual Average Daily Traffic figures from the NRA's own counters for the N25 into Rosslare showed 6230 in 2002, 7076 in 2006 (peak year), 6603 in 2009 and an estimated 6115 for 2010. The peak figures for August (the busiest month for the port) were already below 2002 levels in 2009.
Who in their right minds would want to use these figures to justify building a new road ?
The answer is certainly not Mr. Breen: when challenged with these figures he stated that the new road was for traffic in 20 to 30 year's time (a projection for which nobody has any figures at all).
In other words the road is proposed because the NRA guesses it might be needed.
Add this charade to that we witnessed for the New Ross Bypass. This route chosen by the NRA flouts the National Development Plan by trying to create a bypass for the N30 when only the N25 is supposed to be provided with a bypass in the NDP. The NRA chose the most expensive route option costed by them at €315 million (for that read €400 million). The alternative route was never properly evaluated and was costed privately at €40 million but was dismissed with a kiddie's comparison chart by the consultant in a woefully inadequate and biased Environmental Impact Statement.
The suspicion that there are hidden agendas here is reinforced by checking on potential re-zoning consequent on the routes chosen and on the land owners that could benefit. That aside, the mere fact that the NRA is unaccountable and seemingly cannot be stopped from spending money that we clearly need elsewhere is enough to sound alarm bells but when that money is about to be wasted on unnecessary projects, there should be brakes applied. Since we appear to have a Government of wasters – applying the brakes would appear to be unlikely.
When asked about whether he could control the NRA, the Transport Minister replied that he “simply provides the funding”.
In terms of sustainable road development : What Wexford really needs are its existing roads repaired and upgraded and some genuine provisions for public transport for a system that will at last serve the people and not the operators.
Programmes for building new roads in Ireland's current circumstances simply represent the dreams of NRA planners who should have been made redundant before now and the schemes of some questionably professional consultants.
An Taisce
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Roads authority criticises 'ghost' motorway claims
THE National Roads Authority (NRA) has hit out at accusations it is building "ghost" motorways.
Heritage body An Taisce claimed there had been "chronic misspending" on motorways at a time when there were 22,000 fewer drivers on Irish roads.
It said the NRA was using seven-year-old data predicting traffic growth of up to 3pc annually, even though traffic had fallen by 7pc in the past two years.
In a statement, An Taisce claimed the new network of motorways would become "ghost roads" as oil prices rose and traffic fell even further.
"The NRA's proposals for 850km of additional motorway is a charter for gross misspending," it said. "What Ireland needs is a proper national public transport plan, not legacy projects left over from a boom time."
However, NRA director of corporate affairs Michael Egan dismissed the criticism and said the authority was building a roads network for 20 years ahead.
"Take the old Dublin Cork road. If that upgrade had not happened there would have been chaos," he said.
"And the M50 was regarded as the biggest car park in Europe as it had reached saturation point."
Mr Egan dismissed claims the NRA was using out-of-date projections for traffic. He said traffic figures were on the NRA website and there for anyone to see.
"We are completely open about this data," he added.
Treacy Hogan
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Heritage body An Taisce claimed there had been "chronic misspending" on motorways at a time when there were 22,000 fewer drivers on Irish roads.
It said the NRA was using seven-year-old data predicting traffic growth of up to 3pc annually, even though traffic had fallen by 7pc in the past two years.
In a statement, An Taisce claimed the new network of motorways would become "ghost roads" as oil prices rose and traffic fell even further.
"The NRA's proposals for 850km of additional motorway is a charter for gross misspending," it said. "What Ireland needs is a proper national public transport plan, not legacy projects left over from a boom time."
However, NRA director of corporate affairs Michael Egan dismissed the criticism and said the authority was building a roads network for 20 years ahead.
"Take the old Dublin Cork road. If that upgrade had not happened there would have been chaos," he said.
"And the M50 was regarded as the biggest car park in Europe as it had reached saturation point."
Mr Egan dismissed claims the NRA was using out-of-date projections for traffic. He said traffic figures were on the NRA website and there for anyone to see.
"We are completely open about this data," he added.
Treacy Hogan
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
NRA uses 'false data' to justify new roads, says An Taisce
AN TAISCE has called on the National Roads Authority (NRA) to stop using “false data” showing continual traffic growth to justify its major roads programme when its own figures show that traffic levels are actually falling.
The figures for 90 stretches of motorway and other national roads were abstracted by An Taisce from the authority’s traffic counts, which are publicly available on the authority’s website (www.nra.ie), and cover the period 2007 to 2010.
“The NRA’s own network of automatic roadside counters shows that traffic has fallen 7 per cent over the last two years,” An Taisce said. “This downward trend is accelerating, with a 4.3 per cent drop in the last 12 months compounding a 2.6 per cent fall the previous year.”
Yet the authority was still using a “wildly inaccurate” traffic growth multiplier dating back to August 2003, which assumed that traffic would continue to grow by 2 to 3 per cent annually “year after year” to defend its plans for some 850km of new roads.
An NRA spokesman conceded that traffic “has declined since the recession began”, but said the roads in its programme were “designed for a 20- to 30-year economic benefit . . . with the best available data”.
An Taisce said Bord Pleanála had refused planning permission for an “over-scaled” scheme in Co Mayo for 19km of dual-carriageway between Bohola and Ballina and called for a “more modest” proposal “because the NRA failed to justify the project on traffic grounds”.
It said over the past year 22,000 households had shed at least one car, based on the number of vehicles taxed at the end of 2009.
“As oil becomes a comparatively greater cost burden, more people will be looking to buses, trains and shared cars.
“Not alone is the NRA ignoring the data showing falling traffic, it also seems to have cocked a determined blind eye to reports . . . that the era of cheap oil is over and that unprecedented economic, social, and political costs are likely to accompany future oil price increases.”
The volume of traffic on Irish roads was likely to fall even further, according to An Taisce, which warned that the prospect of building “ghost roads” based on erroneous NRA projections “is very real as time nears to sign contracts on a number of routes”.
These motorway/dual-carriageway schemes include a south Wexford motorway and new routes from Blarney in Cork to Patrickswell, Co Limerick; Gort to Tuam, Co Galway; Clontibret, Co Monaghan, to Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone; and Ashbourne, Co Meath, to Ardee, Co Louth.
“When will the NRA stop using false projections to make it appear more motorways are needed?” An Taisce asked, saying 850km of new roads were “a charter for gross misspending” when what Ireland needed was a national public transport plan, “not legacy projects . . . from a boom time”.
It claimed the NRA was proposing to borrow “close to €9 billion” for its roads programme.
“This would place a further mountain of debt upon already crippled taxpayers, compounding stress already faced by those that continue to have work.”
It said projections from the US “show that total vehicle distance travelled may contract sharply in coming years, up to 41 per cent by 2030 according to one assessment” (by Bomford this year).
“We cannot easily predict whether or to what extent this may be mirrored in Ireland.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The figures for 90 stretches of motorway and other national roads were abstracted by An Taisce from the authority’s traffic counts, which are publicly available on the authority’s website (www.nra.ie), and cover the period 2007 to 2010.
“The NRA’s own network of automatic roadside counters shows that traffic has fallen 7 per cent over the last two years,” An Taisce said. “This downward trend is accelerating, with a 4.3 per cent drop in the last 12 months compounding a 2.6 per cent fall the previous year.”
Yet the authority was still using a “wildly inaccurate” traffic growth multiplier dating back to August 2003, which assumed that traffic would continue to grow by 2 to 3 per cent annually “year after year” to defend its plans for some 850km of new roads.
An NRA spokesman conceded that traffic “has declined since the recession began”, but said the roads in its programme were “designed for a 20- to 30-year economic benefit . . . with the best available data”.
An Taisce said Bord Pleanála had refused planning permission for an “over-scaled” scheme in Co Mayo for 19km of dual-carriageway between Bohola and Ballina and called for a “more modest” proposal “because the NRA failed to justify the project on traffic grounds”.
It said over the past year 22,000 households had shed at least one car, based on the number of vehicles taxed at the end of 2009.
“As oil becomes a comparatively greater cost burden, more people will be looking to buses, trains and shared cars.
“Not alone is the NRA ignoring the data showing falling traffic, it also seems to have cocked a determined blind eye to reports . . . that the era of cheap oil is over and that unprecedented economic, social, and political costs are likely to accompany future oil price increases.”
The volume of traffic on Irish roads was likely to fall even further, according to An Taisce, which warned that the prospect of building “ghost roads” based on erroneous NRA projections “is very real as time nears to sign contracts on a number of routes”.
These motorway/dual-carriageway schemes include a south Wexford motorway and new routes from Blarney in Cork to Patrickswell, Co Limerick; Gort to Tuam, Co Galway; Clontibret, Co Monaghan, to Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone; and Ashbourne, Co Meath, to Ardee, Co Louth.
“When will the NRA stop using false projections to make it appear more motorways are needed?” An Taisce asked, saying 850km of new roads were “a charter for gross misspending” when what Ireland needed was a national public transport plan, “not legacy projects . . . from a boom time”.
It claimed the NRA was proposing to borrow “close to €9 billion” for its roads programme.
“This would place a further mountain of debt upon already crippled taxpayers, compounding stress already faced by those that continue to have work.”
It said projections from the US “show that total vehicle distance travelled may contract sharply in coming years, up to 41 per cent by 2030 according to one assessment” (by Bomford this year).
“We cannot easily predict whether or to what extent this may be mirrored in Ireland.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
An Taisce accused of slur against council staff
DUBLIN CITY manager John Tierney has accused An Taisce of “gross misinterpretation” of facts and slurs against the integrity of council officials in its claims which prompted a planning investigation by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
Mr Gormley last month ordered a review of the planning systems of six local authorities which he said were the subject of “substantial complaints” in how they implemented planning laws and policies. Dublin and Cork city councils and Galway, Cork, Meath and Carlow county councils were chosen for review.
The Dublin City Council review was based on a complaint from An Taisce that it had given permission for developments which were in breach of the city development plan in relation to height, scale zoning and conservation issues.
An Taisce complained to Mr Gormley that the council “acted systematically in disregarding” the plan, contravened ministerial planning guidelines and showed “serious impropriety in the conduct of its functions”.
It also claimed unnamed senior officials were “encouraging landowners and developers to lodge planning applications in breach of the Dublin City Development Plan and ministerial guidelines”.
An Taisce made specific complaints in relation to the council’s handling of 23 planning cases including the high-rise complex for Seán Dunne’s Jurys/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge and the Carlton and Arnotts sites in the city centre.
In his strongly-worded response, Mr Tierney said he would not comment on each case because of the “legislative position” where the Minister does not involve himself in individual planning applications.
Mr Tierney said he would only refer to specific cases where it was necessary to correct inaccuracies in the submissions. He said in all cases, the council had full regard to the development plan and national and regional policies and guidelines where relevant.
He said An Taisce’s submissions contained “substantial inaccuracies, misrepresentations and unsubstantiated allegations against this planning authority and its executives in the carrying out of our statutory duties”.
Statements by An Taisce that a number of senior personnel were not fit or competent to hold their positions were a “slur against the integrity [and] professionalism” of these officials and should be withdrawn. Mr Tierney said this particular matter was receiving “further consideration”.
An Taisce had misrepresented the facts in blaming the council for the property bubble, which showed its less than balanced approach to the council, he said. An Taisce yesterday said it was considering Mr Tierney’s submission to the review and would respond.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Gormley last month ordered a review of the planning systems of six local authorities which he said were the subject of “substantial complaints” in how they implemented planning laws and policies. Dublin and Cork city councils and Galway, Cork, Meath and Carlow county councils were chosen for review.
The Dublin City Council review was based on a complaint from An Taisce that it had given permission for developments which were in breach of the city development plan in relation to height, scale zoning and conservation issues.
An Taisce complained to Mr Gormley that the council “acted systematically in disregarding” the plan, contravened ministerial planning guidelines and showed “serious impropriety in the conduct of its functions”.
It also claimed unnamed senior officials were “encouraging landowners and developers to lodge planning applications in breach of the Dublin City Development Plan and ministerial guidelines”.
An Taisce made specific complaints in relation to the council’s handling of 23 planning cases including the high-rise complex for Seán Dunne’s Jurys/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge and the Carlton and Arnotts sites in the city centre.
In his strongly-worded response, Mr Tierney said he would not comment on each case because of the “legislative position” where the Minister does not involve himself in individual planning applications.
Mr Tierney said he would only refer to specific cases where it was necessary to correct inaccuracies in the submissions. He said in all cases, the council had full regard to the development plan and national and regional policies and guidelines where relevant.
He said An Taisce’s submissions contained “substantial inaccuracies, misrepresentations and unsubstantiated allegations against this planning authority and its executives in the carrying out of our statutory duties”.
Statements by An Taisce that a number of senior personnel were not fit or competent to hold their positions were a “slur against the integrity [and] professionalism” of these officials and should be withdrawn. Mr Tierney said this particular matter was receiving “further consideration”.
An Taisce had misrepresented the facts in blaming the council for the property bubble, which showed its less than balanced approach to the council, he said. An Taisce yesterday said it was considering Mr Tierney’s submission to the review and would respond.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
An Taisce claims council 'disingenuous'
AN TAISCE has accused Dublin City Council of being “disingenuous in the extreme” in its response to a planning investigation ordered by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
The council was selected for investigation following complaints from An Taisce to Mr Gormley that permission was given for developments which were in breach of the city development plan in relation to height, scale zoning and conservation issues.
Five other local authorities were selected for investigation based on separate complaints in relation to their planning practices.
In his response to the investigation Dublin city manager John Tierney accused An Taisce of “gross misinterpretation” of facts, substantial inaccuracies, and slurs against the integrity of council officials in the claims submitted to Mr Gormley.
An Taisce yesterday said the claims it made were backed up in its submission by references to the planning decisions which the council had made, while the council had failed to make a detailed response.
The council’s response to the planning investigation was a “systematic evasion of the facts” it said.
Attempting to play down the significance of the 23 planning cases identified by An Taisce by stating that 18,000 applications had been determined by the city council in the same period was disingenuous in the extreme, An Taisce said. Those cases that were highlighted were of major significance such as the Carlton cinema site, the Arnotts site and the Jurys/ Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge, it said.
Dublin City Council’s response also evaded the questions that were raised by An Taisce in relation to the council’s role in creating the property bubble through its planning decisions, An Taisce said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The council was selected for investigation following complaints from An Taisce to Mr Gormley that permission was given for developments which were in breach of the city development plan in relation to height, scale zoning and conservation issues.
Five other local authorities were selected for investigation based on separate complaints in relation to their planning practices.
In his response to the investigation Dublin city manager John Tierney accused An Taisce of “gross misinterpretation” of facts, substantial inaccuracies, and slurs against the integrity of council officials in the claims submitted to Mr Gormley.
An Taisce yesterday said the claims it made were backed up in its submission by references to the planning decisions which the council had made, while the council had failed to make a detailed response.
The council’s response to the planning investigation was a “systematic evasion of the facts” it said.
Attempting to play down the significance of the 23 planning cases identified by An Taisce by stating that 18,000 applications had been determined by the city council in the same period was disingenuous in the extreme, An Taisce said. Those cases that were highlighted were of major significance such as the Carlton cinema site, the Arnotts site and the Jurys/ Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge, it said.
Dublin City Council’s response also evaded the questions that were raised by An Taisce in relation to the council’s role in creating the property bubble through its planning decisions, An Taisce said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sustainable planning is cure for growth delusion
Gerry Crilly, a member of An Taisces national council, has been opposing suburban-style development in Dunleer, Co Louth, for the past 10 years. This article, published in the Irish Times reflects on this work.
OPINION: To move forward we need to honestly confront behaviour that is crippling us but gradually being exposed in reports and tribunals, writes GERRY CRILLY
THE BUILDING boom of the Celtic Tiger years has resulted in the dispersal and displacement of our people throughout the island to inappropriately located and badly designed housing estates
More than 600 nationally of these are identified as “ghost estates”. If we are to recover from this, we needs to recognise what went wrong.
Misguided ideologies – “more is good” and “bigger is better” – have led to an unsustainable existence, globally, nationally and locally. When we examine where we are now, we see clearly what these misguided ideologies have created. The only way we can progress from here sustainably is to honestly appraise and understand what happened.
A very narrow programme of “progress, growth and development” was pursued over the boom years by developers and their political hacks. Now, in recession, the inevitable has happened, yet we are led to believe that we are in recovery. We are not. The delusion continues. We remain firmly focused solely on the economic, to the detriment of the environment.
It is not enough to blame politicians, bankers and developers for the scars and sores we have inflicted on our landscape. We are all culpable. We have participated in a monocultural, developer-led, expedient exploitation of land that unfolded right across the country, with little regard for social consequences. The diversity of our island habitat was completely ignored, with passive consent from the general public and active promotion by county councils.
The ideology of development at any cost was not only encouraged but led from the very top. Many individuals felt entitled to profit, irrespective of the cost to their fellow citizens. Opposition was considered unacceptable and “anti-progress” and was oftentimes dangerous for those who dared to do so.
Dunleer, a rural village in Co Louth, was subject to the same all-pervasive greed and to the potential negative consequences of unacceptable development on the quality of life of a coherent community.
Realising the disastrous path to which we appeared to be set, I sought to promote sustainable development. I familiarised myself with how the planning process worked and became eager to play an honest and positive role in support of the community.
In 1998, I approached the school of architecture in UCD to compile an urban design strategy for the village, which then had a population of 985. I was supported in the work initially by Louth County Council, the Heritage Council, An Taisce and the goodwill of the community. In May 1999, I established and chaired a steering committee that identified the need for a local area plan.
In June 2000, we employed the services of planning consultants New Ground/Talamh Nua to compile a proposal. The objective was to promote a planned approach, based on consensus and shared interests, which would avoid confrontation and retain good relationships within the village, in the context of an incremental population increase.
Following a village “think in”, a proposal was submitted to the county council, but ignored. Instead, architects and planning consultancy Murray O’Laoire was commissioned by the councillors to prepare a draft local area plan, with a view to a population increase to around 3,000.
Immediately after presentation of the draft plan, five local councillors, unhappy with this plan, drew up their own, which largely consisted of a line drawn on a map showing the land they wanted zoned for development, with a suggested village population increase of 40,000-50,000.
This was deemed inappropriate and, on the advice of the county manager, the group of five engaged a local consultancy to draw up a third plan, which was subsequently modified and adopted as the local area plan in 2003 (projected population increase of 4,000). The current population of Dunleer is 1,830.
In order to promote sustainable development, I resigned from the steering committee and the community development board and actively involved myself in appealing unsuitable developments to An Bord Pleanála on behalf of An Taisce.
I strongly resisted the attempts being made to develop the area around the former railway station in advance of any coherent plan to reopen the station. A landowner in this case also happened to be chairman of the community development board.
The appeals board was consistent in refusing proposed developments that were clearly inappropriate to this rural settlement and that would interfere with the reopening of the railway station. These refusals included a 155-unit housing development, 167 apartments, 350 underground car parking spaces, more than 21,300sq m (229,272 sq ft) of residential and retail development and a number of smaller schemes.
In appealing over an 11-year period the county council’s decisions to grant planning permission, I simply reiterated both local and nationally accepted policies. The fact that An Bord Pleanála upheld all my appeals illustrates the unacceptability of the developments that were being permitted by the council during this period.
The consequences of my individual actions have saved the village of Dunleer from a great deal of the ravages of the Celtic Tiger era. If such steps had been replicated nationally, our island would not now be suffering in its aftermath from inappropriately sited, poorly designed, overpriced and, in many cases, unfinished housing developments.
The development proposals for Dunleer reflect a mindset that has brought us to where we are nationally, to the detriment of community, society and sustainable development. What was proposed for Dunleer was mirrored exactly at the national level.
Both during and after the Celtic Tiger, we were and still are being let down by all pillars of society – political, religious and financial. Present and past leaders have admitted to pressure from vested interests. I am familiar with such pressure at a local scale. If I can withstand it as an individual, why can’t they?
We live on a beautiful, though scarred island. We have a landscape that should determine our development strategies. We have a diversity of character from county to county and distinctive local traditions that need to be incorporated into our recovery as communities and as a nation.
Global climate change is going to significantly influence much in our lives in the future. Car-dependent, commuter-based housing developments cannot be the rationale for future planning of our towns and villages. To position Ireland to cope with climate change, we need a quality of leadership and open debate that we have not had in the past.
To recover and move forward, we need to shake off the shackles of silence and honestly confront behaviour that is crippling us but gradually being exposed in various reports and tribunals. We, in our communities, must take ownership of our landscape, our heritage and our settlements and sustainably plan for the future.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
OPINION: To move forward we need to honestly confront behaviour that is crippling us but gradually being exposed in reports and tribunals, writes GERRY CRILLY
THE BUILDING boom of the Celtic Tiger years has resulted in the dispersal and displacement of our people throughout the island to inappropriately located and badly designed housing estates
More than 600 nationally of these are identified as “ghost estates”. If we are to recover from this, we needs to recognise what went wrong.
Misguided ideologies – “more is good” and “bigger is better” – have led to an unsustainable existence, globally, nationally and locally. When we examine where we are now, we see clearly what these misguided ideologies have created. The only way we can progress from here sustainably is to honestly appraise and understand what happened.
A very narrow programme of “progress, growth and development” was pursued over the boom years by developers and their political hacks. Now, in recession, the inevitable has happened, yet we are led to believe that we are in recovery. We are not. The delusion continues. We remain firmly focused solely on the economic, to the detriment of the environment.
It is not enough to blame politicians, bankers and developers for the scars and sores we have inflicted on our landscape. We are all culpable. We have participated in a monocultural, developer-led, expedient exploitation of land that unfolded right across the country, with little regard for social consequences. The diversity of our island habitat was completely ignored, with passive consent from the general public and active promotion by county councils.
The ideology of development at any cost was not only encouraged but led from the very top. Many individuals felt entitled to profit, irrespective of the cost to their fellow citizens. Opposition was considered unacceptable and “anti-progress” and was oftentimes dangerous for those who dared to do so.
Dunleer, a rural village in Co Louth, was subject to the same all-pervasive greed and to the potential negative consequences of unacceptable development on the quality of life of a coherent community.
Realising the disastrous path to which we appeared to be set, I sought to promote sustainable development. I familiarised myself with how the planning process worked and became eager to play an honest and positive role in support of the community.
In 1998, I approached the school of architecture in UCD to compile an urban design strategy for the village, which then had a population of 985. I was supported in the work initially by Louth County Council, the Heritage Council, An Taisce and the goodwill of the community. In May 1999, I established and chaired a steering committee that identified the need for a local area plan.
In June 2000, we employed the services of planning consultants New Ground/Talamh Nua to compile a proposal. The objective was to promote a planned approach, based on consensus and shared interests, which would avoid confrontation and retain good relationships within the village, in the context of an incremental population increase.
Following a village “think in”, a proposal was submitted to the county council, but ignored. Instead, architects and planning consultancy Murray O’Laoire was commissioned by the councillors to prepare a draft local area plan, with a view to a population increase to around 3,000.
Immediately after presentation of the draft plan, five local councillors, unhappy with this plan, drew up their own, which largely consisted of a line drawn on a map showing the land they wanted zoned for development, with a suggested village population increase of 40,000-50,000.
This was deemed inappropriate and, on the advice of the county manager, the group of five engaged a local consultancy to draw up a third plan, which was subsequently modified and adopted as the local area plan in 2003 (projected population increase of 4,000). The current population of Dunleer is 1,830.
In order to promote sustainable development, I resigned from the steering committee and the community development board and actively involved myself in appealing unsuitable developments to An Bord Pleanála on behalf of An Taisce.
I strongly resisted the attempts being made to develop the area around the former railway station in advance of any coherent plan to reopen the station. A landowner in this case also happened to be chairman of the community development board.
The appeals board was consistent in refusing proposed developments that were clearly inappropriate to this rural settlement and that would interfere with the reopening of the railway station. These refusals included a 155-unit housing development, 167 apartments, 350 underground car parking spaces, more than 21,300sq m (229,272 sq ft) of residential and retail development and a number of smaller schemes.
In appealing over an 11-year period the county council’s decisions to grant planning permission, I simply reiterated both local and nationally accepted policies. The fact that An Bord Pleanála upheld all my appeals illustrates the unacceptability of the developments that were being permitted by the council during this period.
The consequences of my individual actions have saved the village of Dunleer from a great deal of the ravages of the Celtic Tiger era. If such steps had been replicated nationally, our island would not now be suffering in its aftermath from inappropriately sited, poorly designed, overpriced and, in many cases, unfinished housing developments.
The development proposals for Dunleer reflect a mindset that has brought us to where we are nationally, to the detriment of community, society and sustainable development. What was proposed for Dunleer was mirrored exactly at the national level.
Both during and after the Celtic Tiger, we were and still are being let down by all pillars of society – political, religious and financial. Present and past leaders have admitted to pressure from vested interests. I am familiar with such pressure at a local scale. If I can withstand it as an individual, why can’t they?
We live on a beautiful, though scarred island. We have a landscape that should determine our development strategies. We have a diversity of character from county to county and distinctive local traditions that need to be incorporated into our recovery as communities and as a nation.
Global climate change is going to significantly influence much in our lives in the future. Car-dependent, commuter-based housing developments cannot be the rationale for future planning of our towns and villages. To position Ireland to cope with climate change, we need a quality of leadership and open debate that we have not had in the past.
To recover and move forward, we need to shake off the shackles of silence and honestly confront behaviour that is crippling us but gradually being exposed in various reports and tribunals. We, in our communities, must take ownership of our landscape, our heritage and our settlements and sustainably plan for the future.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
An Taisce dossier led Gormley to seek review of council's planning record
MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley appointed an inspector to review Dublin City Council’s planning performance on foot of a “dossier” compiled by An Taisce, which claimed that it was operating in breach of the city development plan.
In a letter to Mr Gormley last October, Ian Lumley and Kevin Duff of An Taisce alleged the council had “acted systematically in disregarding” the plan, contravened ministerial planning guidelines and shown “serious impropriety in the conduct of its functions”.
Assistant city manager Michael Stubbs, who is in charge of planning and economic development, said the council would be responding to the dossier by July 16th. A Fine Gael councillor Rory McGinley said the An Taisce dossier was “over the top”.
They claimed unnamed senior officials had been “encouraging landowners and developers to lodge planning applications [for high-rise buildings] in breach of the Dublin City Development Plan and ministerial guidelines”.
In a follow-up letter to the Minister on February 1st last, Mr Lumley said: “We believe that these actions were key to the enormous sums loaned by banks which fuelled the inflation of the property bubble and the downfall of the entire economy . . .”
He cited a comment by developer Seán Dunne on March 15th, 2008, hailing the council’s management and planners as “the unsung heroes of Ireland”, in the wake of their decision to approve the bulk of his scheme for the Jurys/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge.
Mr Lumley said this was “reflective, not of work done to ensure proper planning for the city . . . but rather the extraordinary lengths officials went to in drawing up and promoting variations to the development plan in order that they could grant permission . . .”
The council’s handling of the Jurys/Berkeley Court site was one of 19 cases cited by An Taisce in its complaint to the Minister, which noted Mr Gormley was already investigating an “extensive submission” made by residents of Ballsbridge against the scheme.
“This case, and the extensive documentation provided, showed an absolute disregard by senior management and personnel in the planning section of Dublin City Council to the provision of the Dublin City Development Plan and ministerial guidelines,” it claimed.
In another case, involving the former Carlton Cinema site and adjacent properties on O’Connell Street, An Taisce said the council’s planners had “actively encouraged the applicant [Chartered Land] to include an ‘iconic high-rise feature’ in the central portion of the site”. An Bord Pleanála did not share this view and called for the scheme to be redesigned, omitting the proposed 13-storey high- rise element as well as reassessing the scale of the opening on O’Connell Street and the extent of demolition there and in Moore Street.
In the Ballsbridge case, An Bord Pleanála overturned the council’s decision to grant a partial permission to Mr Dunne, saying the dense high-rise scheme would constitute “gross over-development” of the seven-acre site, “at odds with the established character” of the area.
Another case cited by An Taisce involves the plan by Arnotts for a new city quarter bounded by Henry Street, Upper Liffey Street and Middle Abbey Street. Its 16-storey tower, approved by the council, was rejected by the appeals board as “unduly obtrusive on the skyline”.
Its decision had “set down a very clear marker of the appropriate scale of development in a location in proximity to the GPO and O’Connell Street”, An Taisce said. “Dublin City Council entirely disregarded this in its consideration of the . . . development.” What was “particularly striking” in several other cases, An Taisce said, was “the manner in which the city council has deliberately ignored the implications of An Bord Pleanála decisions” in dealing with subsequent planning applications for the same site, or adjoining sites.
Mr Lumley claimed the draft development plan for the period 2011-2017, which is being finalised, “contains provisions designed to open the floodgates for grossly over-scaled developments . . . thus, in one fell swoop, destroying the character of the city ...”
An Taisce argued there were now “overwhelming grounds to prorogue the planning function of Dublin City Council and to appoint a commissioner under Section 255(4), Planning and Development Act 2000, in order to restore public confidence” in the process.
CRITICISM REJECTED VIEWS ON OFFICIALS' PERFORMANCE 'OVER THE TOP':
MICHAEL STUBBS, assistant city manager in charge of planning and economic development, said it was intended to respond to the issues raised in An Taisce’s “dossier” by July 16th, as requested.An Taisce’s criticism of the competence of Dublin City Council’s planning officials was “over the top”, according to Cllr Ruairí McGinley (FG), who said he saw no reason to “prorogue” the council’s planning functions.
“There have been very few complaints about planning function in Dublin city, with exception of the Ballsbridge site,” he said.
This was a reference to a number of controversies, notably over the Jurys/Berkeley Court site.
By calling in an inspector to review the council’s planning performance, he said Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who represents Dublin South East, “seems to be confused as to which hat he’s wearing” – private citizen, TD or Government Minister.
Cllr McGinley said the Department of the Environment had “expressed satisfaction” with the council’s approach to the draft Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017 and its land use strategy.“Maybe they should advise the Minister,” he suggested.
He said An Taisce’s claim that Dublin City Council’s planning decisions had been a factor in fuelling the property bubble was “wildly inaccurate”, as responsibility for the bubble “lies with the Government of which John Gormley is a member”.
“The comments in relation to the competence of city officials are similarly over the top,” he said.
FRANK McDONALD
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In a letter to Mr Gormley last October, Ian Lumley and Kevin Duff of An Taisce alleged the council had “acted systematically in disregarding” the plan, contravened ministerial planning guidelines and shown “serious impropriety in the conduct of its functions”.
Assistant city manager Michael Stubbs, who is in charge of planning and economic development, said the council would be responding to the dossier by July 16th. A Fine Gael councillor Rory McGinley said the An Taisce dossier was “over the top”.
They claimed unnamed senior officials had been “encouraging landowners and developers to lodge planning applications [for high-rise buildings] in breach of the Dublin City Development Plan and ministerial guidelines”.
In a follow-up letter to the Minister on February 1st last, Mr Lumley said: “We believe that these actions were key to the enormous sums loaned by banks which fuelled the inflation of the property bubble and the downfall of the entire economy . . .”
He cited a comment by developer Seán Dunne on March 15th, 2008, hailing the council’s management and planners as “the unsung heroes of Ireland”, in the wake of their decision to approve the bulk of his scheme for the Jurys/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge.
Mr Lumley said this was “reflective, not of work done to ensure proper planning for the city . . . but rather the extraordinary lengths officials went to in drawing up and promoting variations to the development plan in order that they could grant permission . . .”
The council’s handling of the Jurys/Berkeley Court site was one of 19 cases cited by An Taisce in its complaint to the Minister, which noted Mr Gormley was already investigating an “extensive submission” made by residents of Ballsbridge against the scheme.
“This case, and the extensive documentation provided, showed an absolute disregard by senior management and personnel in the planning section of Dublin City Council to the provision of the Dublin City Development Plan and ministerial guidelines,” it claimed.
In another case, involving the former Carlton Cinema site and adjacent properties on O’Connell Street, An Taisce said the council’s planners had “actively encouraged the applicant [Chartered Land] to include an ‘iconic high-rise feature’ in the central portion of the site”. An Bord Pleanála did not share this view and called for the scheme to be redesigned, omitting the proposed 13-storey high- rise element as well as reassessing the scale of the opening on O’Connell Street and the extent of demolition there and in Moore Street.
In the Ballsbridge case, An Bord Pleanála overturned the council’s decision to grant a partial permission to Mr Dunne, saying the dense high-rise scheme would constitute “gross over-development” of the seven-acre site, “at odds with the established character” of the area.
Another case cited by An Taisce involves the plan by Arnotts for a new city quarter bounded by Henry Street, Upper Liffey Street and Middle Abbey Street. Its 16-storey tower, approved by the council, was rejected by the appeals board as “unduly obtrusive on the skyline”.
Its decision had “set down a very clear marker of the appropriate scale of development in a location in proximity to the GPO and O’Connell Street”, An Taisce said. “Dublin City Council entirely disregarded this in its consideration of the . . . development.” What was “particularly striking” in several other cases, An Taisce said, was “the manner in which the city council has deliberately ignored the implications of An Bord Pleanála decisions” in dealing with subsequent planning applications for the same site, or adjoining sites.
Mr Lumley claimed the draft development plan for the period 2011-2017, which is being finalised, “contains provisions designed to open the floodgates for grossly over-scaled developments . . . thus, in one fell swoop, destroying the character of the city ...”
An Taisce argued there were now “overwhelming grounds to prorogue the planning function of Dublin City Council and to appoint a commissioner under Section 255(4), Planning and Development Act 2000, in order to restore public confidence” in the process.
CRITICISM REJECTED VIEWS ON OFFICIALS' PERFORMANCE 'OVER THE TOP':
MICHAEL STUBBS, assistant city manager in charge of planning and economic development, said it was intended to respond to the issues raised in An Taisce’s “dossier” by July 16th, as requested.An Taisce’s criticism of the competence of Dublin City Council’s planning officials was “over the top”, according to Cllr Ruairí McGinley (FG), who said he saw no reason to “prorogue” the council’s planning functions.
“There have been very few complaints about planning function in Dublin city, with exception of the Ballsbridge site,” he said.
This was a reference to a number of controversies, notably over the Jurys/Berkeley Court site.
By calling in an inspector to review the council’s planning performance, he said Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who represents Dublin South East, “seems to be confused as to which hat he’s wearing” – private citizen, TD or Government Minister.
Cllr McGinley said the Department of the Environment had “expressed satisfaction” with the council’s approach to the draft Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017 and its land use strategy.“Maybe they should advise the Minister,” he suggested.
He said An Taisce’s claim that Dublin City Council’s planning decisions had been a factor in fuelling the property bubble was “wildly inaccurate”, as responsibility for the bubble “lies with the Government of which John Gormley is a member”.
“The comments in relation to the competence of city officials are similarly over the top,” he said.
FRANK McDONALD
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 30 May 2010
At war with the blots on our landscape
Local authorities are entirely at the mercy of vested backyard interests, says Ian Lumley, An Taisce’s heritage officer
WHEN THE singular visionary Robert Lloyd Praeger (1865-1953) founded An Taisce, Ireland’s National Trust, with like-minded environmentalists such as Frank Mitchell (1912-1997), in 1948, the intention had been to celebrate, to sustain and “to safeguard” Ireland’s heritage, protecting it from various hazards, including the ribbon development Praeger feared.
The situation has worsened over the decades. Long before the bogus boom era of greedy developers and corrupt politicians thriving on mindless building projects, the Irish landscape had been in peril. Country villages, towns and the major cities of Ireland would, from the 1980s onwards, become distorted by the addition of ring roads, further complicating an already confused transport network.
Long established as one of Ireland’s most courageous guardians of the built and natural environment, Ian Lumley has been An Taisce’s heritage officer for 10 years, and he was a dedicated volunteer before that. His interest in protecting the environment began when he was a schoolboy, through working on a project about the medieval centre of Waterford city. But Ireland’s heritage is more than a passion; it is his life’s vocation.
To be committed to the environment in Ireland, where even archaeology has been compromised, excavation reports are merely part of development plans and many EU environmental and wildlife directives have been ignored, would appear a hopeless battle.
Wood Quay, Tara and now the massive bridge planned for the Boyne, which will have a devastating impact on the ancient landscape, show that heritage suffers at the hands of vested interests. Many of the planning decisions taken during the past 20 to 30 years defy intelligent discussion, never mind aesthetics. But Lumley sounds surprisingly positive: “I put the effort into clear-cut cases where there is a breach of European law, as well as national and local policy.”
He has a slight physical resemblance to the novelist Henry James and sounds very like the writer Colm Tóibín – “so I’ve been told,” he concedes with polite detachment. Lumley sits in his office in An Taisce’s headquarters, a wonderful building, the Tailors’ Hall, off Dublin’s High Street, across from Christ Church. Dating from 1706, it is contemporaneous with Marsh’s Library. Lumley’s room, with its three beautiful windows, is alive with muted sunlight and towers of bound files. Lumley spends his days examining applications, dealing with phone calls – “even now there are still calls coming in from developers and politicians as regards planning applications” – and attending hearings.
Cynics regard An Taisce as an independent but powerless organisation run by do-gooders and funded by its 5,000 members, yet Lumley knows otherwise. “The present generation of county managers and politicians have left an appalling legacy of badly planned sprawl. An Taisce tends to get most publicity for its involvement in the planning system, when in reality most of our resources are directed towards schools and education projects for the future.”
Many Irish country towns have been left with half-built houses standing in abandoned, uncompleted suburban housing estates. The people who have moved in spend exasperated hours attempting to contact county managers about the need for basic footpaths and street lighting, never mind the promised green area that still resembles the Western Front. But then large tracts of the Irish landscape could easily provide locations for war movies.
Lumley, who was born in Waterford city in 1958, grew up admiring the achievement of the distinguished 18th-century architect John Roberts (1712-1796), “but I had relatives in the countryside as well, so I have a feeling for both the rural and the urban”. The crude suburbanisation of the Irish landscape not only obliterated a way of life – and, with it, chapters of Irish social history – but also imposed a short-sighted car-based pattern of development that is now failing to deal with the emerging crisis in carbon emissions and fast-approaching oil-supply peak.
Lumley, an idealist with a grasp of the practical realities, is calm. His command of the facts is devastating and controlled. There is no rhetoric, only specific examples of bad decisions. Ireland’s infrastructure has been based on, he says, “unsustainable resource and fossil-fuel consumption”, while vital services such as water supply and the treatment of waste have been inadequate. Planning ran riot as planners were pressurised to meet the demands of private interests and, as Lumley says, “schools and social services were neglected”. It is ironic that a government committed to bailing out bankers is now interested in culture not because it wants to save the heritage but merely because it wants to use it to support the economy. “On a positive note, though,” says Lumley, “one of the core objectives of the National Trust movement is the appreciation of culture at its most integrated.” He is not interested in scoring cheap points; the fiasco is obvious to all. Instead Lumley is concerned with assessing the damage. He refers to An Taisce’s latest annual report, which was being sent to members this week. “All of the various aspects of policy are addressed in the report,” he says. It reads as an informed assessment of mismanagement at both national and local levels. It looks at specific issues and scrutinises them precisely.
An Taisce, through its watchdog role in planning, has had a ringside seat in watching An Bord Pleanála at work. “Local authorities in Ireland,” he says, “are entirely at the mercy of vested backyard interests and systemically disregard EU law, national policy and, most dramatically of all, their own development plans in making planning decisions.”
He believes An Bord Pleanála does provide a safety net and overturns “some of the more outrageous decisions”. However, it has consistently granted permissions to roads and waste projects. There is also a direct link between road building and one of the major environmental threats in Ireland: the operation of unauthorised quarries to supply construction materials. “Galway county has emerged as the most problematic Irish local authority in disregarding its own development plan,” he says, adding that Meath also has an appalling record in planning, in areas such as the Carton estate business park, as well as on heritage and environmental issues.
He is disappointed by the limited scope of the amendment to the 2009 Planning and Development Bill. Why? “Because from experience it will have very little impact at local level,” he says. The Bill contains a clause extending the lifetimes of undeveloped expired planning permissions, including a hard-luck clause enabling developers to extend permissions delayed due to economic shortfalls.
If a single issue dominates An Taisce’s concerns, it is the impact of road building on society. It is imposing car dependency and urban sprawl, “replicating what happened in the US in the 1950s during the post-war Eisenhower administration”. Between now and 2015 an additional 850km of road is planned, as well as a Dublin-Derry dual carriageway. Environmental concerns are already being raised in Northern Ireland. An Taisce is now working with the Department of Transport in a nationwide schools programme promoting cycling as sustainable travel.
Railways are another viable alternative to car travel, and Lumley is pleased with the success of the reopened Limerick-Galway service. “Passenger numbers have exceeded expectations. We are promoting a low-carbon, high-speed express ferry and rail service between Ireland and Britain.”
On the other hand there is our unsustainable air travel. “The continuation of current levels of global air traffic is untenable because of the high level of emissions per flight.” Airports too create major problems: there is a proposal to extend Sligo Airport into the sea to accommodate the longer runway requirement of international jet aircraft. A further application for increasing the capacity of Ireland West Airport, in Knock, is also pending. “This would further worsen Irish per-capita aviation emission,” he says.
How aware are the Irish of their heritage? “The treatment of the Irish landscape, particularly as regards dumping, confirms poor practical concern. Awareness is one thing; performance is quite another.”
As we stand outside the Tailors’ Hall, admiring the beauty of Georgian design, it seems appropriate to ask if Georgian architecture is his particular interest. “Georgian Dublin was a battle won, but 95 per cent of what I do is about planning and environmental issues throughout the country. I believe in Ireland; it is as Praeger said in his 1948 radio address on the founding of An Taisce, when he referred to the heritage as needing ‘protection against dilapidation, against injury, whether caused by carelessness, ignorance or ruthlessness, against sequestration for private ends, and in recent times often against the action of public bodies’.” Lumley adds: “Look at the record of the National Roads Authority.”
The threats have been evident since Praeger’s day, those risks persist and the situation has worsened.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
WHEN THE singular visionary Robert Lloyd Praeger (1865-1953) founded An Taisce, Ireland’s National Trust, with like-minded environmentalists such as Frank Mitchell (1912-1997), in 1948, the intention had been to celebrate, to sustain and “to safeguard” Ireland’s heritage, protecting it from various hazards, including the ribbon development Praeger feared.
The situation has worsened over the decades. Long before the bogus boom era of greedy developers and corrupt politicians thriving on mindless building projects, the Irish landscape had been in peril. Country villages, towns and the major cities of Ireland would, from the 1980s onwards, become distorted by the addition of ring roads, further complicating an already confused transport network.
Long established as one of Ireland’s most courageous guardians of the built and natural environment, Ian Lumley has been An Taisce’s heritage officer for 10 years, and he was a dedicated volunteer before that. His interest in protecting the environment began when he was a schoolboy, through working on a project about the medieval centre of Waterford city. But Ireland’s heritage is more than a passion; it is his life’s vocation.
To be committed to the environment in Ireland, where even archaeology has been compromised, excavation reports are merely part of development plans and many EU environmental and wildlife directives have been ignored, would appear a hopeless battle.
Wood Quay, Tara and now the massive bridge planned for the Boyne, which will have a devastating impact on the ancient landscape, show that heritage suffers at the hands of vested interests. Many of the planning decisions taken during the past 20 to 30 years defy intelligent discussion, never mind aesthetics. But Lumley sounds surprisingly positive: “I put the effort into clear-cut cases where there is a breach of European law, as well as national and local policy.”
He has a slight physical resemblance to the novelist Henry James and sounds very like the writer Colm Tóibín – “so I’ve been told,” he concedes with polite detachment. Lumley sits in his office in An Taisce’s headquarters, a wonderful building, the Tailors’ Hall, off Dublin’s High Street, across from Christ Church. Dating from 1706, it is contemporaneous with Marsh’s Library. Lumley’s room, with its three beautiful windows, is alive with muted sunlight and towers of bound files. Lumley spends his days examining applications, dealing with phone calls – “even now there are still calls coming in from developers and politicians as regards planning applications” – and attending hearings.
Cynics regard An Taisce as an independent but powerless organisation run by do-gooders and funded by its 5,000 members, yet Lumley knows otherwise. “The present generation of county managers and politicians have left an appalling legacy of badly planned sprawl. An Taisce tends to get most publicity for its involvement in the planning system, when in reality most of our resources are directed towards schools and education projects for the future.”
Many Irish country towns have been left with half-built houses standing in abandoned, uncompleted suburban housing estates. The people who have moved in spend exasperated hours attempting to contact county managers about the need for basic footpaths and street lighting, never mind the promised green area that still resembles the Western Front. But then large tracts of the Irish landscape could easily provide locations for war movies.
Lumley, who was born in Waterford city in 1958, grew up admiring the achievement of the distinguished 18th-century architect John Roberts (1712-1796), “but I had relatives in the countryside as well, so I have a feeling for both the rural and the urban”. The crude suburbanisation of the Irish landscape not only obliterated a way of life – and, with it, chapters of Irish social history – but also imposed a short-sighted car-based pattern of development that is now failing to deal with the emerging crisis in carbon emissions and fast-approaching oil-supply peak.
Lumley, an idealist with a grasp of the practical realities, is calm. His command of the facts is devastating and controlled. There is no rhetoric, only specific examples of bad decisions. Ireland’s infrastructure has been based on, he says, “unsustainable resource and fossil-fuel consumption”, while vital services such as water supply and the treatment of waste have been inadequate. Planning ran riot as planners were pressurised to meet the demands of private interests and, as Lumley says, “schools and social services were neglected”. It is ironic that a government committed to bailing out bankers is now interested in culture not because it wants to save the heritage but merely because it wants to use it to support the economy. “On a positive note, though,” says Lumley, “one of the core objectives of the National Trust movement is the appreciation of culture at its most integrated.” He is not interested in scoring cheap points; the fiasco is obvious to all. Instead Lumley is concerned with assessing the damage. He refers to An Taisce’s latest annual report, which was being sent to members this week. “All of the various aspects of policy are addressed in the report,” he says. It reads as an informed assessment of mismanagement at both national and local levels. It looks at specific issues and scrutinises them precisely.
An Taisce, through its watchdog role in planning, has had a ringside seat in watching An Bord Pleanála at work. “Local authorities in Ireland,” he says, “are entirely at the mercy of vested backyard interests and systemically disregard EU law, national policy and, most dramatically of all, their own development plans in making planning decisions.”
He believes An Bord Pleanála does provide a safety net and overturns “some of the more outrageous decisions”. However, it has consistently granted permissions to roads and waste projects. There is also a direct link between road building and one of the major environmental threats in Ireland: the operation of unauthorised quarries to supply construction materials. “Galway county has emerged as the most problematic Irish local authority in disregarding its own development plan,” he says, adding that Meath also has an appalling record in planning, in areas such as the Carton estate business park, as well as on heritage and environmental issues.
He is disappointed by the limited scope of the amendment to the 2009 Planning and Development Bill. Why? “Because from experience it will have very little impact at local level,” he says. The Bill contains a clause extending the lifetimes of undeveloped expired planning permissions, including a hard-luck clause enabling developers to extend permissions delayed due to economic shortfalls.
If a single issue dominates An Taisce’s concerns, it is the impact of road building on society. It is imposing car dependency and urban sprawl, “replicating what happened in the US in the 1950s during the post-war Eisenhower administration”. Between now and 2015 an additional 850km of road is planned, as well as a Dublin-Derry dual carriageway. Environmental concerns are already being raised in Northern Ireland. An Taisce is now working with the Department of Transport in a nationwide schools programme promoting cycling as sustainable travel.
Railways are another viable alternative to car travel, and Lumley is pleased with the success of the reopened Limerick-Galway service. “Passenger numbers have exceeded expectations. We are promoting a low-carbon, high-speed express ferry and rail service between Ireland and Britain.”
On the other hand there is our unsustainable air travel. “The continuation of current levels of global air traffic is untenable because of the high level of emissions per flight.” Airports too create major problems: there is a proposal to extend Sligo Airport into the sea to accommodate the longer runway requirement of international jet aircraft. A further application for increasing the capacity of Ireland West Airport, in Knock, is also pending. “This would further worsen Irish per-capita aviation emission,” he says.
How aware are the Irish of their heritage? “The treatment of the Irish landscape, particularly as regards dumping, confirms poor practical concern. Awareness is one thing; performance is quite another.”
As we stand outside the Tailors’ Hall, admiring the beauty of Georgian design, it seems appropriate to ask if Georgian architecture is his particular interest. “Georgian Dublin was a battle won, but 95 per cent of what I do is about planning and environmental issues throughout the country. I believe in Ireland; it is as Praeger said in his 1948 radio address on the founding of An Taisce, when he referred to the heritage as needing ‘protection against dilapidation, against injury, whether caused by carelessness, ignorance or ruthlessness, against sequestration for private ends, and in recent times often against the action of public bodies’.” Lumley adds: “Look at the record of the National Roads Authority.”
The threats have been evident since Praeger’s day, those risks persist and the situation has worsened.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 15 April 2010
An Taisce complains to European Commission over road projects
AN TAISCE has made a formal complaint to the European Commission that plans for a highway between Dublin and Derry involve a “transboundary breach” of the EU’s directive requiring strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of major projects.
It also claims that the directive is being breached by the National Roads Authority (NRA) in pursuing plans for more motorways and dual-carriageways and seeks “compliance action” on an alleged breach of the Habitats Directive by the planned New Ross bypass in Co Wexford.
Describing this bypass as “the largest single intervention in an area of sensitive ecology and landscape”, the complaint notes that it would include a high-level bridge 4km south of New Ross in place of an original, more modest route immediately adjacent to the town.
The bridge “cuts through the hill at Camlin on the Co Wexford side and passes over the river Barrow, candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC), to the Pink Rock in Co Kilkenny within sight of the area around the President John F Kennedy family farmstead at Dunganstown”.
It notes that a legal challenge to An Bord Pleanála’s approval of this scheme failed in the High Court on March 2nd and says the judgment of Mr Justice Hedigan failed to have regard to the review terms of the EU directive on environmental impact assessment.
An Taisce claims the NRA “has been given virtually autonomous legal status by the Irish Government to plan, seek consents for and funding for motorway/dual-carriageway schemes, both contained in the National Development Plan and even not”.
These included the Atlantic motorway/dual-carriageway from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, running via Sligo, Knock airport, Tuam, Ennis, Limerick, Mallow, Cork and Waterford, connecting with the New Ross bypass, with a new N30 link to the N11 bypassing Clonroche, Co Wexford.
Further sections of the N11 and N2 were to be upgraded to motorway standard. “As in the case of New Ross, a genuinely needed bypass is being used as the pretext for constructing massive inter-regional motorways or dual-carriageways”, An Taisce says.
In a letter to EU environment commissioner Janez Potocnik, it notes that Co Meath alone would have four motorways running through it.
“The Irish Government is also already committed to making extensive contribution to a new dual-carriageway running through Northern Ireland from the Monaghan border to Derry and the upgrading of the Belfast-Larne link,” An Taisce writes.
“The NRA is at advanced contract negotiation for the 80km Tuam to Crusheen sections of the Atlantic Corridor, and the New Ross bypass” it says, adding that plans for the M20 Limerick-Mallow-Cork section had been lodged with Bord Pleanála along with the Cork to Killarney N21.
Rather than scaling down schemes to reflect the lack of exchequer funding, the NRA and Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey were “actively working on a mechanism to subvert Government borrowing limits in finding a means to proceed with the road programme”.
This was to be achieved through either public-private partnerships (PPPs), “the plundering of the National Pension Reserve Fund or some sort of special dispensation from the European Central Bank through the European Investment Bank . . . The energy and resources being devoted to proceeding and securing funding for these road schemes and the secrecy with which it is being conducted and the lack of media or public awareness of the issues is astonishing”, it says.
Proceeding would “create a debt mountain for the next generation on top of that already incurred through the Irish banking and property collapse . . . at a time when the decarbonisation of power generation and transport ought to be the greatest priority”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
It also claims that the directive is being breached by the National Roads Authority (NRA) in pursuing plans for more motorways and dual-carriageways and seeks “compliance action” on an alleged breach of the Habitats Directive by the planned New Ross bypass in Co Wexford.
Describing this bypass as “the largest single intervention in an area of sensitive ecology and landscape”, the complaint notes that it would include a high-level bridge 4km south of New Ross in place of an original, more modest route immediately adjacent to the town.
The bridge “cuts through the hill at Camlin on the Co Wexford side and passes over the river Barrow, candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC), to the Pink Rock in Co Kilkenny within sight of the area around the President John F Kennedy family farmstead at Dunganstown”.
It notes that a legal challenge to An Bord Pleanála’s approval of this scheme failed in the High Court on March 2nd and says the judgment of Mr Justice Hedigan failed to have regard to the review terms of the EU directive on environmental impact assessment.
An Taisce claims the NRA “has been given virtually autonomous legal status by the Irish Government to plan, seek consents for and funding for motorway/dual-carriageway schemes, both contained in the National Development Plan and even not”.
These included the Atlantic motorway/dual-carriageway from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, running via Sligo, Knock airport, Tuam, Ennis, Limerick, Mallow, Cork and Waterford, connecting with the New Ross bypass, with a new N30 link to the N11 bypassing Clonroche, Co Wexford.
Further sections of the N11 and N2 were to be upgraded to motorway standard. “As in the case of New Ross, a genuinely needed bypass is being used as the pretext for constructing massive inter-regional motorways or dual-carriageways”, An Taisce says.
In a letter to EU environment commissioner Janez Potocnik, it notes that Co Meath alone would have four motorways running through it.
“The Irish Government is also already committed to making extensive contribution to a new dual-carriageway running through Northern Ireland from the Monaghan border to Derry and the upgrading of the Belfast-Larne link,” An Taisce writes.
“The NRA is at advanced contract negotiation for the 80km Tuam to Crusheen sections of the Atlantic Corridor, and the New Ross bypass” it says, adding that plans for the M20 Limerick-Mallow-Cork section had been lodged with Bord Pleanála along with the Cork to Killarney N21.
Rather than scaling down schemes to reflect the lack of exchequer funding, the NRA and Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey were “actively working on a mechanism to subvert Government borrowing limits in finding a means to proceed with the road programme”.
This was to be achieved through either public-private partnerships (PPPs), “the plundering of the National Pension Reserve Fund or some sort of special dispensation from the European Central Bank through the European Investment Bank . . . The energy and resources being devoted to proceeding and securing funding for these road schemes and the secrecy with which it is being conducted and the lack of media or public awareness of the issues is astonishing”, it says.
Proceeding would “create a debt mountain for the next generation on top of that already incurred through the Irish banking and property collapse . . . at a time when the decarbonisation of power generation and transport ought to be the greatest priority”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Tailor's Hall functions permit for An Taisce appealed
A CO LOUTH developer, whose plans for Dunleer have been thwarted three times by An Taisce appeals, is now appealing against a decision by Dublin City Council permitting the heritage body to continue holding functions at its Tailor’s Hall headquarters.
Tony Mallon, who is also chairman of the Dunleer community development board, made his appeal to An Bord Pleanála, claiming that the use of its basement for dancing and concerts would be “contrary to the proper planning and development of the area”.
Tailor’s Hall, on Back Lane off High Street, dates from 1706 and is the only surviving guild hall in the city. It has been the headquarters of An Taisce since the mid- 1980s and is regularly rented for functions, including weddings, parties and theatrical events.
However, it transpired that An Taisce had no planning permission for these uses of the stone-vaulted basement and had to seek retrospective approval to retain them “in order to regularise the status of the current community use of the building”.
Urging the council’s planners to refuse retention permission, Mr Mallon wrote: “The applicant has not adhered to the relevant procedures seeking variations to the building as set out under the Planning and Development Act 2000.”
Noting that Tailor’s Hall is in an archaeologically sensitive area, he said: “I would ask that the enforcement section of the council review this unauthorised development of a protected structure and deal [with it] accordingly.”
Under the terms of the council’s decision, An Taisce would have to pay more than €56,000 in development levies, an onerous imposition for a charitable trust which has been strapped for cash in recent years. This is being appealed.
In 2007 and 2008, Mr Mallon was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála to develop a major residential scheme at Barn Road, Dunleer, on foot of appeals made by local An Taisce activist Gerry Crilly, a member of its national council.
Overturning favourable decisions by Louth County Council, the board ruled that the proposed schemes would “result in over-development of this land”, saying it was not satisfied that they would facilitate the reopening of Dunleer railway station.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tony Mallon, who is also chairman of the Dunleer community development board, made his appeal to An Bord Pleanála, claiming that the use of its basement for dancing and concerts would be “contrary to the proper planning and development of the area”.
Tailor’s Hall, on Back Lane off High Street, dates from 1706 and is the only surviving guild hall in the city. It has been the headquarters of An Taisce since the mid- 1980s and is regularly rented for functions, including weddings, parties and theatrical events.
However, it transpired that An Taisce had no planning permission for these uses of the stone-vaulted basement and had to seek retrospective approval to retain them “in order to regularise the status of the current community use of the building”.
Urging the council’s planners to refuse retention permission, Mr Mallon wrote: “The applicant has not adhered to the relevant procedures seeking variations to the building as set out under the Planning and Development Act 2000.”
Noting that Tailor’s Hall is in an archaeologically sensitive area, he said: “I would ask that the enforcement section of the council review this unauthorised development of a protected structure and deal [with it] accordingly.”
Under the terms of the council’s decision, An Taisce would have to pay more than €56,000 in development levies, an onerous imposition for a charitable trust which has been strapped for cash in recent years. This is being appealed.
In 2007 and 2008, Mr Mallon was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála to develop a major residential scheme at Barn Road, Dunleer, on foot of appeals made by local An Taisce activist Gerry Crilly, a member of its national council.
Overturning favourable decisions by Louth County Council, the board ruled that the proposed schemes would “result in over-development of this land”, saying it was not satisfied that they would facilitate the reopening of Dunleer railway station.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 14 August 2009
Reprimand of council over high-rise Carlton site plan urged by An Taisce
AN TAISCE has called on Minister for the Environment John Gormley to reprimand Dublin City Council for granting permission for the high-rise Carlton development in contravention of statutory plans.
This follows a decision by An Bord Pleanála earlier this week to reject a large number of elements of Chartered Land’s scheme for the 5.5-acre site centred on the old Carlton cinema on O’Connell Street.
The development was approved by the council last December but was appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The board has yet to make its final decision on the project but wrote to Chartered Land last Monday advising that a number of elements were unacceptable.
Chief among these was a 13-storey building topped by a “park in the sky” which the board has told the developers to “omit”. It has also advised them to reduce demolition, reduce heights and use more traditional materials.
The board noted the scheme did not comply with the council’s planning guidelines for the area, which have statutory force. These include the Architectural Conservation Area and Area of Special Planning Control designations.
An Taisce’s heritage officer, Ian Lumley, said this called into question the credibility and competence of the council’s planners who gave permission for the scheme: “The planners and senior management have breached plans which have gone through public consultation and have been voted on by the elected councillors and it’s hard to see how their positions remain tenable.”
The Carlton scheme was just one of a number of “overscaled developments” the council had allowed which were then refused by An Bord Pleanála, he said.
An Taisce was calling on Mr Gormley to use his powers under the planning act to launch an inquiry into the actions of the council and to consider appointing a commissioner to take over the council’s planning functions.
A spokesman for the council said it did not comment on An Bord Pleanála decisions. A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said if Mr Lumley made a submission it would be given consideration.
Other opponents of Chartered Land’s scheme, including the National Heritage and Conservation Group, have welcomed the board’s rejection of the park in the sky.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
This follows a decision by An Bord Pleanála earlier this week to reject a large number of elements of Chartered Land’s scheme for the 5.5-acre site centred on the old Carlton cinema on O’Connell Street.
The development was approved by the council last December but was appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The board has yet to make its final decision on the project but wrote to Chartered Land last Monday advising that a number of elements were unacceptable.
Chief among these was a 13-storey building topped by a “park in the sky” which the board has told the developers to “omit”. It has also advised them to reduce demolition, reduce heights and use more traditional materials.
The board noted the scheme did not comply with the council’s planning guidelines for the area, which have statutory force. These include the Architectural Conservation Area and Area of Special Planning Control designations.
An Taisce’s heritage officer, Ian Lumley, said this called into question the credibility and competence of the council’s planners who gave permission for the scheme: “The planners and senior management have breached plans which have gone through public consultation and have been voted on by the elected councillors and it’s hard to see how their positions remain tenable.”
The Carlton scheme was just one of a number of “overscaled developments” the council had allowed which were then refused by An Bord Pleanála, he said.
An Taisce was calling on Mr Gormley to use his powers under the planning act to launch an inquiry into the actions of the council and to consider appointing a commissioner to take over the council’s planning functions.
A spokesman for the council said it did not comment on An Bord Pleanála decisions. A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said if Mr Lumley made a submission it would be given consideration.
Other opponents of Chartered Land’s scheme, including the National Heritage and Conservation Group, have welcomed the board’s rejection of the park in the sky.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
AIB plan opposed by An Taisce
AN TAISCE has warned of “irreparable damage” to one of Galway’s most historic quarters, following a decision to grant Allied Irish Banks (AIB) permission to redevelop part of Lynch’s Castle.
An Taisce’s Galway branch is to appeal the plan, which involves demolition of later additions to the medieval building on the corner of Abbeygate Street and construction of a new three-storey building from the castle’s northwest wall.
The new building will include a “glazed facade”, and the planning application includes removing existing buttresses and altering and repairing the castle, which is a protected structure.
The concept has been opposed by Galway City Council’s heritage officer, Jim Higgins, who points out tourists would never be able to photo the detail of Lynch’s Castle, due to the reflection of so much glass on the adjoining building.
Lynch’s Castle was recorded on the 1651 pictorial map of Galway and is the only surviving building of its type among mansions owned by the city’s 14 “tribes”. Its carved facade bears the arms of King Henry VIII, and it has been described as an excellent example of Irish Gothic architecture.
Mr Higgins has argued any new structure should not impinge on the castle, and the frontage should be in keeping with the quarter, which includes Century Buildings.
He compares AIB’s approach to that taken by the Revenue Commissioners in Druid’s Lane, where the Red Earl’s Hall owned by Richard de Burgo was excavated and a modern building “designed around” the rich archaeology.
“Shoebox excavations of the castle site, which the AIB is proposing, are not sufficient. This is a sensitive area, which may include remnants of the Lynch family mansion, and it needs to be resolved archaeologically first,” he says.
An Taisce’s Galway branch chair, Derrick Hambleton, says an appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála. An Taisce believes the design is “not sufficiently well-thought out, given the proximity of such an iconic medieval building”, he says. “The balance between the preservation of the old, against the development of the new is a delicate one and, while we would not wish to see a row of pastiche, replica shopfronts which might be thought to match the buildings on the opposite side of Abbeygate Street, we are concerned about the overuse of glass,” he said in his objection.
An Taisce “believes that insufficient weight has been given to the advice of the city’s own heritage officer”, Mr Hambleton said, and he supports Mr Higgins’s call for a complete archaeological licensed dig of the whole site.
Some 55 per cent of overseas visitors stated “historic towns and cities” were a primary motivating factor in choosing Ireland as a holiday destination in a 2006 survey of visitor attitudes by Fáilte Ireland, Mr Hambleton pointed out.
AIB declined to comment and said it was a matter for the planning authorities.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
An Taisce’s Galway branch is to appeal the plan, which involves demolition of later additions to the medieval building on the corner of Abbeygate Street and construction of a new three-storey building from the castle’s northwest wall.
The new building will include a “glazed facade”, and the planning application includes removing existing buttresses and altering and repairing the castle, which is a protected structure.
The concept has been opposed by Galway City Council’s heritage officer, Jim Higgins, who points out tourists would never be able to photo the detail of Lynch’s Castle, due to the reflection of so much glass on the adjoining building.
Lynch’s Castle was recorded on the 1651 pictorial map of Galway and is the only surviving building of its type among mansions owned by the city’s 14 “tribes”. Its carved facade bears the arms of King Henry VIII, and it has been described as an excellent example of Irish Gothic architecture.
Mr Higgins has argued any new structure should not impinge on the castle, and the frontage should be in keeping with the quarter, which includes Century Buildings.
He compares AIB’s approach to that taken by the Revenue Commissioners in Druid’s Lane, where the Red Earl’s Hall owned by Richard de Burgo was excavated and a modern building “designed around” the rich archaeology.
“Shoebox excavations of the castle site, which the AIB is proposing, are not sufficient. This is a sensitive area, which may include remnants of the Lynch family mansion, and it needs to be resolved archaeologically first,” he says.
An Taisce’s Galway branch chair, Derrick Hambleton, says an appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála. An Taisce believes the design is “not sufficiently well-thought out, given the proximity of such an iconic medieval building”, he says. “The balance between the preservation of the old, against the development of the new is a delicate one and, while we would not wish to see a row of pastiche, replica shopfronts which might be thought to match the buildings on the opposite side of Abbeygate Street, we are concerned about the overuse of glass,” he said in his objection.
An Taisce “believes that insufficient weight has been given to the advice of the city’s own heritage officer”, Mr Hambleton said, and he supports Mr Higgins’s call for a complete archaeological licensed dig of the whole site.
Some 55 per cent of overseas visitors stated “historic towns and cities” were a primary motivating factor in choosing Ireland as a holiday destination in a 2006 survey of visitor attitudes by Fáilte Ireland, Mr Hambleton pointed out.
AIB declined to comment and said it was a matter for the planning authorities.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Bono's extension appealed by An Taisce
Just when Bono may have thought his planning application to expand his house - Temple Hill, Vico Road, Killiney - further skyward had no opposition, An Taisce submitted its objection to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council at the 11th hour.
The U2 frontman applied last month for a 130sq m (1,400sq ft) roof extension and a conservatory saying his current 595sq m (6,400sq ft) of living space no longer meets the family's needs. The extension would house a main bedroom (bringing the number of bedrooms to five), a study, two en suites, two dressingrooms and storage. Apparently it would be a lightweight prefab structure placed over the pitched roof which, says Bono's architect Colin Jennings, could be removed at short notice. A ground floor conservatory with a terrace above is also part of the plan.
But An Taisce says the house is within a conservation area and it doesn't approve of the lead roof finish, the metal frame windows of the extension and decorative panels which it says are out of keeping with the architectural integrity of the building. It also says the extension would "distract" from two protected structures, singer Enya's Ayesha Castle and Killiney Hill Obelisk.
Saying that it is "disappointed" that the council hasn't listed Temple Hill, An Taisce points to the substantial size of the home which is made up of the main house, mews, coach-house, folly, gardener's shelter, changing facilities, and recreation building.
It suggests "a more sympathetic extension with a similar design and finish to the original house should be considered".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The U2 frontman applied last month for a 130sq m (1,400sq ft) roof extension and a conservatory saying his current 595sq m (6,400sq ft) of living space no longer meets the family's needs. The extension would house a main bedroom (bringing the number of bedrooms to five), a study, two en suites, two dressingrooms and storage. Apparently it would be a lightweight prefab structure placed over the pitched roof which, says Bono's architect Colin Jennings, could be removed at short notice. A ground floor conservatory with a terrace above is also part of the plan.
But An Taisce says the house is within a conservation area and it doesn't approve of the lead roof finish, the metal frame windows of the extension and decorative panels which it says are out of keeping with the architectural integrity of the building. It also says the extension would "distract" from two protected structures, singer Enya's Ayesha Castle and Killiney Hill Obelisk.
Saying that it is "disappointed" that the council hasn't listed Temple Hill, An Taisce points to the substantial size of the home which is made up of the main house, mews, coach-house, folly, gardener's shelter, changing facilities, and recreation building.
It suggests "a more sympathetic extension with a similar design and finish to the original house should be considered".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)