Read the article @ The Irish Times
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
EPA seeks facts on Meath waste plant
Dáil motion seeks to protect 1916 Rising site
CALLS FOR the national monument in Dublin’s Moore Street to be
recognised as a “historic battlefield” and preserved as a historic cultural
quarter is a “completely and entirely separate” issue from the application
currently before the Minister for Heritage. Jimmy Deenihan told the Dáil it was
“not clear how a battlefield site project could be developed” at the site given
the existing planning permission for the site where the leaders of the 1916
Rising signed their surrender.
Read the article @ The Irish Times
Home extensions represent majority of housing construction projects
House extensions now account for the majority of active
housing construction projects underway across the country, new figures show.
Data from the first National Housing Construction Index shows that more people are opting to stay in their homes and extend, rather than move to new homes.
The figures from link2plans.com — a website that tracks every planning application in the country — were released last night. It analyses planning applications, a measure of sentiment and potential future activity, and commencement notices, a real time barometer of actual housing construction activity.
The figures show that for the first two months of the year planning applications have plummeted by 23%, from 2,245 to 1,718, and commencement notices are down 14%, from 806 to 691, on last year.
The index shows:
* Kilkenny experienced the largest fall in planning applications, down 58%, with Kildare, Mayo and Clare all down 43%;
* Counties Longford, Sligo and Leitrim showed slight increases;
* Monaghan experienced the largest fall in commencement notices where figures are down 73%, followed by Tipperary, down 48%, and Limerick, down 47%;
* Counties Cavan, Longford, Meath and Waterford showed the largest increases in commencement notices, with Dublin and Cork showing increases.
“For the first time, house extensions now make up the majority of projects commencing, which is very probably a reflection on the housing market where people are staying in their homes and modifying them, rather than seeking to move to a bigger house,” Link2Plans managing director Danny O’Shea said.
“The fact that housing extensions for the first time now make up the majority of planning applications and commencement notices is reflective of the collapse of multi-unit residential developments.”
He said the national variations in housing construction activity are significant.
“While the figures in Dublin and Cork are most likely indications of a larger population, other variations are not so easily explained,” he said.
The link2plans.com index will be released every two months.
Home data
* Breakdown of project types for Jan/Feb 2012
* Planning applications:
839 one-off houses.
822 house extensions.
57 residential development.
* Commencement notices:
330 one-off houses.
346 house extensions.
15 residential developments.
www.link2plans.com
Data from the first National Housing Construction Index shows that more people are opting to stay in their homes and extend, rather than move to new homes.
The figures from link2plans.com — a website that tracks every planning application in the country — were released last night. It analyses planning applications, a measure of sentiment and potential future activity, and commencement notices, a real time barometer of actual housing construction activity.
The figures show that for the first two months of the year planning applications have plummeted by 23%, from 2,245 to 1,718, and commencement notices are down 14%, from 806 to 691, on last year.
The index shows:
* Kilkenny experienced the largest fall in planning applications, down 58%, with Kildare, Mayo and Clare all down 43%;
* Counties Longford, Sligo and Leitrim showed slight increases;
* Monaghan experienced the largest fall in commencement notices where figures are down 73%, followed by Tipperary, down 48%, and Limerick, down 47%;
* Counties Cavan, Longford, Meath and Waterford showed the largest increases in commencement notices, with Dublin and Cork showing increases.
“For the first time, house extensions now make up the majority of projects commencing, which is very probably a reflection on the housing market where people are staying in their homes and modifying them, rather than seeking to move to a bigger house,” Link2Plans managing director Danny O’Shea said.
“The fact that housing extensions for the first time now make up the majority of planning applications and commencement notices is reflective of the collapse of multi-unit residential developments.”
He said the national variations in housing construction activity are significant.
“While the figures in Dublin and Cork are most likely indications of a larger population, other variations are not so easily explained,” he said.
The link2plans.com index will be released every two months.
Home data
* Breakdown of project types for Jan/Feb 2012
* Planning applications:
839 one-off houses.
822 house extensions.
57 residential development.
* Commencement notices:
330 one-off houses.
346 house extensions.
15 residential developments.
www.link2plans.com
Read the article @ The Irish Examiner
Revised plan puts Mater in pole position for children's hospital
THE Mater Hospital is now back in pole position to be selected
as the location of the new national children's hospital after backers submitted
a radical new proposal which would shave almost €70m off the original cost.
A plan to build a 17-storey children's hospital at the site --
at a cost of €650m -- was shot down earlier this year by An Bord Pleanala.
However, new costing proposals submitted to a government review
group in the past week propose the building of an 11-storey version of the
children's hospital and an adjoining maternity hospital for a combined bill of
€582m.
The backers were able to get more competitive quotes for the new
plan due to increased competition in the construction sector, the Irish Independent understands.
The new plan would see the Rotunda maternity hospital closing
and its operations moving to the Mater.
Insiders say the new bid has catapulted the Mater back to the
leading option being considered by the review group.
The group, headed by former HSE chairman Frank Dolphin, is due
to make recommendations to Health Minister James Reillyearly next month.
Up to 50 separate sites in the greater Dublin area have been
offered for consideration by the review group but the list has been rapidly
whittled down.
The stiffest opposition to the Mater site is coming from bids
involving St James's, Tallaght and Blanchardstown hospitals -- all of which
involve free land and adjoining adult facilities.
Earlier this month, the backers of the Mater site -- which is
being championed by the Mater, Temple Street and the Rotunda -- put forward a
revised plan, but were unable say how much it would cost.
Although it was claimed it would be cheaper than the previous
plan, no figures were produced to show how the original construction cost
estimate of €650m could be improved on.
However, new costings, knocking €68m off the overall cost of
construction, were finally submitted to the review group last week.
The Mater plan involves the new tri-located hospital complex
being completed by 2016.
The proposed cost is still €72m higher than the €510m estimate
put forward by another leading contender, St James's Hospital.
That hospital said it could build children's and maternity
hospitals on its site and claims the children's facility could be completed by
2015, a year sooner than the Mater.
There is already planning permission granted on the St James's
site for a co-located private adult hospital, a plan which was abandoned last
year.
However, despite being more expensive, insiders say the Mater
site is still viewed as being the one to beat.
Design
One of the arguments put forward by its backers is that more
than €29m has already been spent on pre-planning at the Mater site, including
design work, since it was chosen by the last government in 2006.
This would give it an advantage over rival sites and would speed
up the timescale for the submission of a new planning application.
The review group was due to submit its report to Health Minister
James Reilly tomorrow but was granted an extension because of the workload
involved.
It is now not due to report until June 7.
Following this, Dr Reilly will bring the proposals to Cabinet.
Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
Read the article @ The Irish Independent
Friday, 18 May 2012
Bends on Dingle road 'rare geomorphological features'
Notorious bends on the road into Dingle were “not just
impediments on the way” but were rare geomorphological features, a Bord
Pleanála hearing into plans to straighten the N86 secondary road heard. Sarah
Dolan, representing a group of local residents, said the scale of the planned
new Dingle-Camp road was “three times the size of the current road”, which the
hearing was told dated to the 18th century.
Read the article @ The Irish Times
Revised plan sent to Bord Pleanála
The group charged with building the new national children’s
hospital held talks last week with An Bord Pleanála regarding revised proposals
to develop the facility at the campus of the Mater hospital. The planning
authority rejected an original application for planning permission for the
Mater site several weeks ago. However, the Sisters of Mercy, who own the Mater
campus, have decided to donate an 1861 Mater hospital building to the project,
which will allow for the development over a wider footprint.
Read the article @ The Irish Times
DIT site 'close to ideal' for hospital
A PROPOSAL to locate the national children’s hospital on the
extensive Grangegorman site in Dublin 7 is being backed by the city council’s
former chief planning officer, Pat McDonnell. Yesterday An Bord Pleanála
approved a planning scheme for the 73-acre site under which most of it would be
developed as a new campus for Dublin Institute of Technology to replace its
existing colleges in the inner city.
Read the article @ The Irish Times
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