A 360-degree viewing platform, with panoramic coastal views, will form part of a planned €100 million wind farm.
But construction of the wind farm in west Clare will result in population decline, a depreciation of property values and a net reduction in employment and a drop in tourism revenue, an opposition group has claimed.
Clare Coastal Wind Power Ltd has lodged a planning application directly to An Bord Pleanála to develop a 45-turbine wind farm spanning the three parishes of Doonbeg, Kilrush and Cooraclare.
The plans include the construction of a visitor viewing platform at the northern most turbine as part of the development which would be the first of its kind in Ireland and one of only six worldwide.
It would allow people to take in an extensive view of the Atlantic Ocean to the north and views of the wind farm to the south.
Project promoters believe it would become a major tourist attraction.
The developers also have plans to develop an interpretative centre in Doonbeg on the generation of different forms of energy.
If planning permission and grid connection is secured, it is estimated the project would result in about 250 construction jobs over a two-year period, at least 10 permanent jobs and another four to six jobs associated with the proposed viewing platform and interpretative centre.
The company has finalised rental agreements with 80 land owners. Earlier this year, the company stated 70 local landowners at that stage would be paid €15m in total over a 25-year period.
However, the newly-formed Rural Protection Group, has claimed there is no evidence that people view wind turbines as a tourist attraction. They stated that the majority of independent evidence indicated that areas with large scale wind turbine developments suffer a sharp and permanent drop in tourism and plummeting property values.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
'EXCLUSIVE' ESTATE FACES BULLDOZERS
WEXFORD County Council is expected to get permission soon from the Department of the Environment to call in the 'ghost-busters'.... and bulldoze a ghost estate.
The Department recently blocked a plan by the Council to demolish Coill na Giuise on the Ballytegan Road in Gorey but has had a change of heart, according to an official.
Director of Services Eamonn Hore told last week's Wexford County Council meeting that the Council recommended that the houses should come down but the Department said 'no'. Undeterred, local authority officials went back to the Department and repeated the request.
' They have now re-engaged on that basis. It looks like they will see it the same way we do,' said Mr. Hore. He told Councillors that he would have more definite information soon.
Cllr. Malcolm Byrne criticised an earlier instruction from the Department that estates like Coill na Giuise should be retained and secured. ' The view of Councillors in this area is that they should be knocked,' he said.
Instead, the Council has to spend money making them safe, he said.
'If the best result is to knock it, we should knock it, rather than spending thousands of Euro every year on making it safe.
'If they are never going to be finished, there is no point in leaving them there.'
'No doubt more damage will have been done in 12 months time and they will also have attracted anti-social behaviour,' said Cllr. Byrne. ' The money would be better off spent on bulldozing these estates.'
He said Coill na Giuise could not be saved and in his view, it would make far more sense to demolish it.
Coill na Giuise was branded as 'an exclusive development of three and four bedroom homes', when launched on the market. A planning notice from 2008 showed that 79 houses were planned on site, though an earlier application by a different company was for 65 homes.
Work stopped on site around three years ago when the developer ran into difficulties. The site has lain idle since.
Now, the seven partially completed houses lie derelict, with their windows smashed, and internal walls incomplete. Scaffolding still stands around one of the buildings, while bales of building blocks and other building materials lie amongst the forest of weeds that have sprung up across the development. The site is bounded along the Ballytegan Road by a wall and footpath.
The site is accessible to pedestrians, as the fencing at the entrance to the site has fallen down. Broken bottles and indiscriminate dumping are in evidence on the site.
Cllr. Byrne said this week the site is in an 'appalling state'.
'Visually it looks awful, and it's attracting dumping and anti-social behaviour,' he said. It's completely unfair on the residents living nearby. For anybody who walks by, it's horrendous. The only thing was, we got a bit of extra footpath.'
FINTAN LAMBE
Wexford People
www.bpsplanningconsultants.ie
The Department recently blocked a plan by the Council to demolish Coill na Giuise on the Ballytegan Road in Gorey but has had a change of heart, according to an official.
Director of Services Eamonn Hore told last week's Wexford County Council meeting that the Council recommended that the houses should come down but the Department said 'no'. Undeterred, local authority officials went back to the Department and repeated the request.
' They have now re-engaged on that basis. It looks like they will see it the same way we do,' said Mr. Hore. He told Councillors that he would have more definite information soon.
Cllr. Malcolm Byrne criticised an earlier instruction from the Department that estates like Coill na Giuise should be retained and secured. ' The view of Councillors in this area is that they should be knocked,' he said.
Instead, the Council has to spend money making them safe, he said.
'If the best result is to knock it, we should knock it, rather than spending thousands of Euro every year on making it safe.
'If they are never going to be finished, there is no point in leaving them there.'
'No doubt more damage will have been done in 12 months time and they will also have attracted anti-social behaviour,' said Cllr. Byrne. ' The money would be better off spent on bulldozing these estates.'
He said Coill na Giuise could not be saved and in his view, it would make far more sense to demolish it.
Coill na Giuise was branded as 'an exclusive development of three and four bedroom homes', when launched on the market. A planning notice from 2008 showed that 79 houses were planned on site, though an earlier application by a different company was for 65 homes.
Work stopped on site around three years ago when the developer ran into difficulties. The site has lain idle since.
Now, the seven partially completed houses lie derelict, with their windows smashed, and internal walls incomplete. Scaffolding still stands around one of the buildings, while bales of building blocks and other building materials lie amongst the forest of weeds that have sprung up across the development. The site is bounded along the Ballytegan Road by a wall and footpath.
The site is accessible to pedestrians, as the fencing at the entrance to the site has fallen down. Broken bottles and indiscriminate dumping are in evidence on the site.
Cllr. Byrne said this week the site is in an 'appalling state'.
'Visually it looks awful, and it's attracting dumping and anti-social behaviour,' he said. It's completely unfair on the residents living nearby. For anybody who walks by, it's horrendous. The only thing was, we got a bit of extra footpath.'
FINTAN LAMBE
Wexford People
www.bpsplanningconsultants.ie
Majority of councillors in favour of motorway
THE VAST MAJORITY of Wexford county councillors are openly in favour of the controversial Oylegate to Rosslare Harbour motorway plan, despite objections from the public.
A survey carried out by the JCC (Joint Committee of Communities) opposed to the road, reveals that 17 out of 21 councillors want the project to go ahead.
The committee which is holding a public meeting on the preferred route today ( Wednesday), August 3 at 8 p.m. in the Riverbank House Hotel, contacted all County Council members and asked them three questions - 1. Are you in favour of the Oylegate to Rosslare motorway?. 2. Are you in favour of including the preferred route in the County Development Plan?. Are you in favour of spending taxpayers' money on the project?.
Most councillors answered 'yes' to all three questions with Cllr. Anna Fenlon of Fine Gael being the only member who gave a 'no' response to each of the queries.
Cllr. Declan McPartlin (Ind) indicated that he was not in favour of the motorway 'at this time'.
Two Fianna Fail councillors, Michael Sheehan, New Ross and Keith Doyle, Enniscorthy refused to answer the questions, according to the JCC. Cllr. Michael Kinsella of Gorey said he supported the motorway but feels more discussion is needed on its inclusion in theCounty Development Plan.
Cllr. Tony Dempsey said he doesn't believe the preferred route should go into the development plan.
Of those who are in favour of the road, only Cllr. John Hegarty, the Gorey Fine Gael member said he doesn't think taxpayers' money should be spent on it.
Otherwise, 17 out of the Council's 21 members, across all parties, indicated that they believe the motorway should be built, and 16 of them think it should be done with taxpayers' money.
The public campaign against the project is continuing however.
An information meeting for people in the Killinick which will by-passed by the preferred route, is being held in the Danby Lodge Hotel at 8.30 p.m. this Friday night.
ELAINE FURLONG
New Ross Standard
www.buckplanning.ie
A survey carried out by the JCC (Joint Committee of Communities) opposed to the road, reveals that 17 out of 21 councillors want the project to go ahead.
The committee which is holding a public meeting on the preferred route today ( Wednesday), August 3 at 8 p.m. in the Riverbank House Hotel, contacted all County Council members and asked them three questions - 1. Are you in favour of the Oylegate to Rosslare motorway?. 2. Are you in favour of including the preferred route in the County Development Plan?. Are you in favour of spending taxpayers' money on the project?.
Most councillors answered 'yes' to all three questions with Cllr. Anna Fenlon of Fine Gael being the only member who gave a 'no' response to each of the queries.
Cllr. Declan McPartlin (Ind) indicated that he was not in favour of the motorway 'at this time'.
Two Fianna Fail councillors, Michael Sheehan, New Ross and Keith Doyle, Enniscorthy refused to answer the questions, according to the JCC. Cllr. Michael Kinsella of Gorey said he supported the motorway but feels more discussion is needed on its inclusion in theCounty Development Plan.
Cllr. Tony Dempsey said he doesn't believe the preferred route should go into the development plan.
Of those who are in favour of the road, only Cllr. John Hegarty, the Gorey Fine Gael member said he doesn't think taxpayers' money should be spent on it.
Otherwise, 17 out of the Council's 21 members, across all parties, indicated that they believe the motorway should be built, and 16 of them think it should be done with taxpayers' money.
The public campaign against the project is continuing however.
An information meeting for people in the Killinick which will by-passed by the preferred route, is being held in the Danby Lodge Hotel at 8.30 p.m. this Friday night.
ELAINE FURLONG
New Ross Standard
www.buckplanning.ie
Height of children's hospital plan defended
THE DEVELOPERS of the proposed national children’s hospital have rejected suggestions that the 16-storey development could scupper Dublin’s chances of securing Unesco World Heritage Site designation.
Architects representing the hospital development board have told a Bord Pleanála hearing on the proposed facility that such claims were “scare stories” and the site of the development on the grounds of the Mater hospital, Dublin may not even be included in the application for world heritage status.
Shane O’Toole, an architect and architectural critic, told the hearing that having a tall building affecting views in the city did not preclude Dublin having world heritage status.
Mary Gallagher, representing a number of local residents who have concerns about loss of daylight if the 16-storey building goes ahead, said the development was so hemmed in by other structures that its “iconic landmark” aspect would be lost. “It’s like trying to put a two-pint bottle into a pint bottle,” she said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Architects representing the hospital development board have told a Bord Pleanála hearing on the proposed facility that such claims were “scare stories” and the site of the development on the grounds of the Mater hospital, Dublin may not even be included in the application for world heritage status.
Shane O’Toole, an architect and architectural critic, told the hearing that having a tall building affecting views in the city did not preclude Dublin having world heritage status.
Mary Gallagher, representing a number of local residents who have concerns about loss of daylight if the 16-storey building goes ahead, said the development was so hemmed in by other structures that its “iconic landmark” aspect would be lost. “It’s like trying to put a two-pint bottle into a pint bottle,” she said.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
'Once-in-a-century' events have become distressingly familiar
OUR CONCEPT of “once-in-a-century” storms needs to be redefined following the latest flash floods in Dublin and the surrounding region, according to Ireland’s leading expert on climate change, Prof John Sweeney of NUI Maynooth.
After Dublin City Council categorised the latest floods as a “once-in-a century” event, he said this was now “a meaningless concept” based on standard trends, and we “no longer have such trends” because storms were becoming much more frequent.
“We can’t say this event is due to climate change, but the increase in frequency of intense rainfall events is on an upward curve – so we’re seeing nothing that contradicts the models [on climate change].
“It just so happened it was in Dublin this time, and not in Ballinasloe.”
Prof Sweeney said “much more statistical analysis” of rainfall patterns in Ireland was needed as a guide to future planning for events such as Monday evening’s rain, which led to the new record of 82.2mm for the greatest daily total for October at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, since records began there in 1954.
Gerald Fleming, head of Met Éireann’s general forecasting division, said calculating “return periods” for such heavy rainfall was merely “playing with decimal points” and there was “certainly a question mark over whether they’re appropriate for the next 20 to 30 years”.
Dublin director of traffic Michael Phillips said it was not enough to be told by Met Éireann there would be heavy rain in Dublin.
“We need to develop a micro-system that will tell us if it’s going to be in Drumcondra or Ballsbridge so we know where to send out workforces.”
The last intense rainfall event in the Dublin area was on August 9th, 2008, when amounts in excess of 70mm were recorded in Celbridge, Lucan and Leixlip. Just three years earlier, on June 29th, 2005, 45mm fell in the Phoenix Park in less than an hour.
Coping with the consequences has presented real problems for the authorities.
After floods hit Drumcondra in November 2002 and then taoiseach Bertie Ahern was pictured standing up to his knees in water, priority was given to improving flood defences along the river Tolka.
There was, and still is, a risk that building up walls along one section of a river could result in it overflowing elsewhere.
Natural floodplains were also affected by urban and suburban development during the boom, simply by the spread of concrete and tarmacadam that allows water to gather in great quantities.
The controversial flood defences proposed for Clontarf would have been of no help on this occasion; they were designed to protect the area from inundation by the sea. Monday night’s flooding was caused by intense heavy rainfall over a period of several hours.
Some motorways and other major roads became impassable on Monday due to flooding, notably the M7 on the outskirts of Dublin, the N11 at the UCD Belfield underpass and the M50 between the Ballinteer and Firhouse junctions, triggering a six-hour closure.
Sean O’Neill, spokesman for the National Roads Authority, said the latter was due to a culvert backing up and flooding out onto the motorway. Six pumps were brought in by the operating company, M50 Concessions, to clear the water, which reached a depth of 300mm.
He explained all roads are designed to allow water to drain off their surface.
However, if the surrounding land and drainage is at or beyond capacity, the road is directly affected because “a domino effect takes place and the road becomes flooded”.
After the Dublin area emergency plan was activated, O’Neill said the authority lifted tolls on the port tunnel, allowing it to be used freely by motorists seeking to avoid flooded roads elsewhere. “The tunnel was fine and was used as a pressure reliever and exit route from the city.”
As for what happened in Dundrum shopping centre, where the entire ground floor was flooded, engineers have noted that the Dundrum Slang stream “is currently protected from a major flooding event which has a 2 per cent [1-in-50 year] probability of occurring in any given year”.
However, results from the river catchment flood risk assessment and management programme being carried out by the Office of Public Works (OPW) have shown that “there is no viable flood risk management option available for the entire Dundrum Slang”.
The programme derives from the 2007 EU “floods” directive, which requires all member states to undertake a preliminary flood risk assessment, based on available information, such as the OPW’s extensive flood mapping database.
This is available online at www.floodmaps.ie
Irish Times
www.bpsplanningconsultants.ie
After Dublin City Council categorised the latest floods as a “once-in-a century” event, he said this was now “a meaningless concept” based on standard trends, and we “no longer have such trends” because storms were becoming much more frequent.
“We can’t say this event is due to climate change, but the increase in frequency of intense rainfall events is on an upward curve – so we’re seeing nothing that contradicts the models [on climate change].
“It just so happened it was in Dublin this time, and not in Ballinasloe.”
Prof Sweeney said “much more statistical analysis” of rainfall patterns in Ireland was needed as a guide to future planning for events such as Monday evening’s rain, which led to the new record of 82.2mm for the greatest daily total for October at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, since records began there in 1954.
Gerald Fleming, head of Met Éireann’s general forecasting division, said calculating “return periods” for such heavy rainfall was merely “playing with decimal points” and there was “certainly a question mark over whether they’re appropriate for the next 20 to 30 years”.
Dublin director of traffic Michael Phillips said it was not enough to be told by Met Éireann there would be heavy rain in Dublin.
“We need to develop a micro-system that will tell us if it’s going to be in Drumcondra or Ballsbridge so we know where to send out workforces.”
The last intense rainfall event in the Dublin area was on August 9th, 2008, when amounts in excess of 70mm were recorded in Celbridge, Lucan and Leixlip. Just three years earlier, on June 29th, 2005, 45mm fell in the Phoenix Park in less than an hour.
Coping with the consequences has presented real problems for the authorities.
After floods hit Drumcondra in November 2002 and then taoiseach Bertie Ahern was pictured standing up to his knees in water, priority was given to improving flood defences along the river Tolka.
There was, and still is, a risk that building up walls along one section of a river could result in it overflowing elsewhere.
Natural floodplains were also affected by urban and suburban development during the boom, simply by the spread of concrete and tarmacadam that allows water to gather in great quantities.
The controversial flood defences proposed for Clontarf would have been of no help on this occasion; they were designed to protect the area from inundation by the sea. Monday night’s flooding was caused by intense heavy rainfall over a period of several hours.
Some motorways and other major roads became impassable on Monday due to flooding, notably the M7 on the outskirts of Dublin, the N11 at the UCD Belfield underpass and the M50 between the Ballinteer and Firhouse junctions, triggering a six-hour closure.
Sean O’Neill, spokesman for the National Roads Authority, said the latter was due to a culvert backing up and flooding out onto the motorway. Six pumps were brought in by the operating company, M50 Concessions, to clear the water, which reached a depth of 300mm.
He explained all roads are designed to allow water to drain off their surface.
However, if the surrounding land and drainage is at or beyond capacity, the road is directly affected because “a domino effect takes place and the road becomes flooded”.
After the Dublin area emergency plan was activated, O’Neill said the authority lifted tolls on the port tunnel, allowing it to be used freely by motorists seeking to avoid flooded roads elsewhere. “The tunnel was fine and was used as a pressure reliever and exit route from the city.”
As for what happened in Dundrum shopping centre, where the entire ground floor was flooded, engineers have noted that the Dundrum Slang stream “is currently protected from a major flooding event which has a 2 per cent [1-in-50 year] probability of occurring in any given year”.
However, results from the river catchment flood risk assessment and management programme being carried out by the Office of Public Works (OPW) have shown that “there is no viable flood risk management option available for the entire Dundrum Slang”.
The programme derives from the 2007 EU “floods” directive, which requires all member states to undertake a preliminary flood risk assessment, based on available information, such as the OPW’s extensive flood mapping database.
This is available online at www.floodmaps.ie
Irish Times
www.bpsplanningconsultants.ie
Three acres in Donabate for €300,000
A RESIDENTIAL SITE of 1.2 hectares (three acres) at Donabate village in north Dublin, offered for sale in 2009 at a guide price of €1.5 million, is back on the market with an advised minimum value of €300,000.
Savills plans to auction the plot in Buswells Hotel in Dublin city centre on December 1st.
The 80 per cent cut in the guide price underlines the sharp fall in land values, even in a popular north Dublin coastal village, because most developers have either taken a major hit on existing landbanks or are unable to secure bank funding.
The €100,000 per acre valuation is likely to alarm some developers who bought sites at the top of the market.
Though there is no existing planning permission for the Donabate land, the site is zoned “to provide for residential development and to protect and improve residential amenity”.
Jonathan Preston of Savills says that, in keeping with the surrounding character of the area, the site is very well suited to low density, high quality housing – perhaps six or seven homes.
The site adjoins Newbridge House and demesne which extends to 370 acres of parkland and woods. It has 44 metres of frontage on to Hearse Road and adjoins the Campus petrol station. It is also close to Donabate railway station which offers a regular commuter service to the city centre.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Savills plans to auction the plot in Buswells Hotel in Dublin city centre on December 1st.
The 80 per cent cut in the guide price underlines the sharp fall in land values, even in a popular north Dublin coastal village, because most developers have either taken a major hit on existing landbanks or are unable to secure bank funding.
The €100,000 per acre valuation is likely to alarm some developers who bought sites at the top of the market.
Though there is no existing planning permission for the Donabate land, the site is zoned “to provide for residential development and to protect and improve residential amenity”.
Jonathan Preston of Savills says that, in keeping with the surrounding character of the area, the site is very well suited to low density, high quality housing – perhaps six or seven homes.
The site adjoins Newbridge House and demesne which extends to 370 acres of parkland and woods. It has 44 metres of frontage on to Hearse Road and adjoins the Campus petrol station. It is also close to Donabate railway station which offers a regular commuter service to the city centre.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Priory Hall debacle shows need for decisive action
Ireland needs to abandon ‘light touch’ regulation of the building industry and follow best practice
THE EVACUATION of residents of Priory Hall in Donaghmede, Dublin, following the discovery of serious building deficiencies causing a fire hazard, has brought into sharp focus major inadequacies in Ireland’s building regulatory environment.
While the evacuation is traumatic and will cause significant financial problems for residents, shortcomings in the building control enforcement system are so serious that they could have been exposed to an even greater tragedy involving loss of life.
Recently at the Society of Chartered Surveyors annual conference, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said: “The fact that Dublin City Council did their job properly and brought this particular individual to court is a clear indication that the Building Control Act is robust”. The irony of this Orwellian double-speak will not be lost on the Priory Hall residents. If we had a robust building control system, the defects uncovered would have been detected during the construction phase and it would not now be necessary for them to leave their homes.
Following the 1981 Stardust disaster, the 1991 Building Control Act which introduced the Building Regulations was hailed as a significant piece of reforming legislation. But while the new regulations reflected international best practice, there was a flaw: they did not provide adequately for enforcement.
The 1991 Act gave the Minister power to introduce regulations for a series of measures relating to enforcement, but these have still not been introduced 20 years later. Two factors have contributed: (1) the determination of the Department of the Environment not to permit State officials to take responsibility, and potential future liability, for building enforcement inspections, and: (2) the unwillingness of the building industry to have statutory inspections imposed, on “efficiency” grounds.
In the absence of statutory legislation, the Law Society needed to provide some safeguards for clients purchasing new homes and so the joint Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI)/Law Society “opinions on compliance” with the Building Regulations were devised.
As the majority of house-builders did not see a need for regular site inspections, it became the norm that a single “visual inspection” – with all the limitations this implies in terms of work covered up – was adequate to permit conveyancing of houses or apartments.
Representations to the Department of the Environment by professional institutes pointed out these shortcomings and proposed reforms. But while officials responded positively, there has been little evidence of reform being given political priority.
Although the majority of house-builders are well-intentioned, serial offenders have brought the building industry into disrepute. Their resistance to regular statutory building inspections is also at variance with historic and international best practice.
Building regulation and enforcement systems have been a feature of civilised societies for hundreds of years, going back to the Romans. In medieval Italy, city republics took pride in the unique urban identities of their cities resulting from their building regulations.
In London, building regulation and enforcement were introduced after the Great Fire of 1666. In Ireland, we introduced building by-laws, backed up by enforcement, as long ago as 1898. We have regressed in adopting a system of “light regulation” since the 1991 Building Control Act.
It is particularly relevant that in the US, heartland of free enterprise, building regulation enforcement involves not just statutory inspections but also registration of building contractors, sub-contractors, architects and engineers.
The problems at Priory Hall have endangered and caused severe hardship for residents who had every right to expect that the building industry, built environment professionals, solicitors, banks, local authorities and State would have measures to prevent this debacle.
The protection of consumers through an effective statutory inspection system is not one on which there is an ideological divide. Labour, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have all had an input to the Building Control Act in its present form. But successive ministers have succumbed to the prevailing conventional wisdom as articulated by the Construction Industry Federation and department mandarins, that Ireland was somehow “different”.
There is a direct parallel between this philosophy and that which held sway in the Department of Finance, banking and commerce, and ultimately caused our economic collapse. This conventional wisdom is flawed and will ultimately cause future Priory Halls and even fatalities.
Phil Hogan came to the department with a reputation for cutting through bureaucracy and getting things done. He now has an opportunity to establish himself as a reforming Minister by addressing this issue effectively. He should direct his officials to look again at international best practice and introduce a building control and enforcement system that recognises the complexities involved in the building process and includes registration of main contractors, services and fire safety equipment sub-contractors.
This would involve: Registration of key building construction personnel including foremen, electricians, mechanical systems and fire safety engineers; lodgement of design documentation, prepared by qualified professionals, on local authority registers prior to commencement of construction of all building and refurbishment work; mandatory statutory inspections and tests at defined stages in the building process by qualified professionals; mandatory lodgement on completion of compliance documents by all key parties involved in the construction process prior to issuing a certificate of occupation by the relevant local authority, and reallocation of suitably qualified public servants to form a national inspectorate tasked with carrying out audits of a minimum of 25 per cent of all design documentation and building sites to ensure a culture of compliance.
If Phil Hogan has the courage to ignore the flawed conventional wisdom and vested interests which have characterised the past three decades of building control and enforcement policy, he will win his place in history as a champion of the Irish consumer.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
THE EVACUATION of residents of Priory Hall in Donaghmede, Dublin, following the discovery of serious building deficiencies causing a fire hazard, has brought into sharp focus major inadequacies in Ireland’s building regulatory environment.
While the evacuation is traumatic and will cause significant financial problems for residents, shortcomings in the building control enforcement system are so serious that they could have been exposed to an even greater tragedy involving loss of life.
Recently at the Society of Chartered Surveyors annual conference, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said: “The fact that Dublin City Council did their job properly and brought this particular individual to court is a clear indication that the Building Control Act is robust”. The irony of this Orwellian double-speak will not be lost on the Priory Hall residents. If we had a robust building control system, the defects uncovered would have been detected during the construction phase and it would not now be necessary for them to leave their homes.
Following the 1981 Stardust disaster, the 1991 Building Control Act which introduced the Building Regulations was hailed as a significant piece of reforming legislation. But while the new regulations reflected international best practice, there was a flaw: they did not provide adequately for enforcement.
The 1991 Act gave the Minister power to introduce regulations for a series of measures relating to enforcement, but these have still not been introduced 20 years later. Two factors have contributed: (1) the determination of the Department of the Environment not to permit State officials to take responsibility, and potential future liability, for building enforcement inspections, and: (2) the unwillingness of the building industry to have statutory inspections imposed, on “efficiency” grounds.
In the absence of statutory legislation, the Law Society needed to provide some safeguards for clients purchasing new homes and so the joint Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI)/Law Society “opinions on compliance” with the Building Regulations were devised.
As the majority of house-builders did not see a need for regular site inspections, it became the norm that a single “visual inspection” – with all the limitations this implies in terms of work covered up – was adequate to permit conveyancing of houses or apartments.
Representations to the Department of the Environment by professional institutes pointed out these shortcomings and proposed reforms. But while officials responded positively, there has been little evidence of reform being given political priority.
Although the majority of house-builders are well-intentioned, serial offenders have brought the building industry into disrepute. Their resistance to regular statutory building inspections is also at variance with historic and international best practice.
Building regulation and enforcement systems have been a feature of civilised societies for hundreds of years, going back to the Romans. In medieval Italy, city republics took pride in the unique urban identities of their cities resulting from their building regulations.
In London, building regulation and enforcement were introduced after the Great Fire of 1666. In Ireland, we introduced building by-laws, backed up by enforcement, as long ago as 1898. We have regressed in adopting a system of “light regulation” since the 1991 Building Control Act.
It is particularly relevant that in the US, heartland of free enterprise, building regulation enforcement involves not just statutory inspections but also registration of building contractors, sub-contractors, architects and engineers.
The problems at Priory Hall have endangered and caused severe hardship for residents who had every right to expect that the building industry, built environment professionals, solicitors, banks, local authorities and State would have measures to prevent this debacle.
The protection of consumers through an effective statutory inspection system is not one on which there is an ideological divide. Labour, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have all had an input to the Building Control Act in its present form. But successive ministers have succumbed to the prevailing conventional wisdom as articulated by the Construction Industry Federation and department mandarins, that Ireland was somehow “different”.
There is a direct parallel between this philosophy and that which held sway in the Department of Finance, banking and commerce, and ultimately caused our economic collapse. This conventional wisdom is flawed and will ultimately cause future Priory Halls and even fatalities.
Phil Hogan came to the department with a reputation for cutting through bureaucracy and getting things done. He now has an opportunity to establish himself as a reforming Minister by addressing this issue effectively. He should direct his officials to look again at international best practice and introduce a building control and enforcement system that recognises the complexities involved in the building process and includes registration of main contractors, services and fire safety equipment sub-contractors.
This would involve: Registration of key building construction personnel including foremen, electricians, mechanical systems and fire safety engineers; lodgement of design documentation, prepared by qualified professionals, on local authority registers prior to commencement of construction of all building and refurbishment work; mandatory statutory inspections and tests at defined stages in the building process by qualified professionals; mandatory lodgement on completion of compliance documents by all key parties involved in the construction process prior to issuing a certificate of occupation by the relevant local authority, and reallocation of suitably qualified public servants to form a national inspectorate tasked with carrying out audits of a minimum of 25 per cent of all design documentation and building sites to ensure a culture of compliance.
If Phil Hogan has the courage to ignore the flawed conventional wisdom and vested interests which have characterised the past three decades of building control and enforcement policy, he will win his place in history as a champion of the Irish consumer.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
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