An Irish Planning Students Blog

TIM O’BRIEN

THE FIRST tracks of phase one of the reopening of the Dublin-Navan railway line were laid yesterday.

The 7.5-km double-track line begins at Clonsilla where it will branch off from the Maynooth-Dublin line and ends at a park and ride facility at Pace near Dunboyne, Co Meath. The line is due to open next year.

The service will offer through trains from Pace, located beside the M3 motorway, via Clonsilla to the Docklands station in Dublin.

Trains will initially run half-hourly at peak times but this is expected to build to 15-minute intervals as demand increases. Offpeak services are initially to be hourly but this too may increase as demand rises.

Trains will comprise commuter rolling stock.

The reopening of the line will also facilitate the development of the Hansfield Strategic Development zone, which will feature a new railway station.

According to Iarnród Éireann design work has also commenced on phase two of the project, the section from Pace to Navan.

An application for a railway order for phase two is due to to be lodged in mid-2011, following public consultation with residents, landowners and interested parties along the route.

A preferred route that is mostly on the alignment of the old Navan rail line has been chosen.

The Clonsilla to Navan line was closed in 1963 and Dunboyne has not been been served by rail since 1947.

Under phase one a new Dunboyne station is to have a park and ride facility for up to 300 cars.

The re-opening of the line to Navan, as an electric railway, was initially due to have been completed by 2015, but it is expected there will be some slippage with this timing.

Speaking as he inspected the work yesterday, chairman of CIÉ Dr John Lynch said the company was “delighted at how well this key project is progressing and the laying of the first track is a significant milestone to rebuild and reopen the line . . . which will be enormous benefit to commuters in the wider Meath area and west Dublin”.

Separately the Railway Procurement Agency confirmed yesterday that the Luas extension to the Point will open in the first two weeks of December.

The extension from Connolly Station to the point will have stops at George’s Dock, Mayor Square, Spencer Dock and the Point.

CHARLIE TAYLOR

The amount of electricity generated by Ireland’s wind farms broke the 1,000 megawatts (MW) barrier for the first time last weekend, providing enough power to supply the needs of 650,000 homes.

The very windy conditions last weekend resulted in an all-time peak wind output of 1064 MW on Saturday, generating enough power to supply the needs of 650,000 homes, according to EirGrid.

Wind output remained high throughout the day, with renewable energy at some times supplying 33 per cent of demand from electricity customers.

“This recent high level of wind generation shows the significant potential we have in Ireland to utilise this clean, green, indigenous fuel,” said Dermot Byrne, chief executive of EirGrid, the agency that operates the State’s electricity transmission system.

“Ireland has ambitious renewable energy targets and the breaking of the 1,000 MW barrier for the first time is a significant step on the road to meeting them,” he added.

Ireland is reputed to have the best general wind resource in Europe and wind farms here have a higher average output than those on the continent. Currently, there are over 90 wind farms in operation which have the capacity to supply up to a maximum of 1,161 MW at optimum conditions.

In addition, Ireland has 238 MW of capacity from hydro stations in counties Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Clare and a further 58 MW of power capacity from landfill gas.

The Government wants 15 per cent of all electricity used in the Republic to be generated from renewable sources by next year.

Source: IrishTimes

MORE than 400,000 homeowners will be forced to buy a licence for their septic tank under new laws planned for next year.

Yesterday, Environment Minister John Gormley said he would introduce a licensing and inspection system for septic tanks, which will affect 440,000 homes across the country, mostly in rural areas.

The department has not yet decided how much a licence will cost, but in Scotland similar licences cost €82.

And some homeowners could be forced to replace their tanks if the licensing authority decides they are not working properly and pose a risk to public health.

Sources said that tanks located on waterlogged sites or with clay soil may have to be replaced at a cost of up to €4,000 per tank.

The move, which is a commitment in the Renewed Programme for Government, comes after the European Court of Justice ruled yesterday that Ireland had broken EU law for failing to enact legislation to deal with domestic wastewater from septic tanks and other treatment systems.

Pollution

Homeowners currently have a “duty of care” but, under a new licensing system, a public body — such as a local authority — will inspect tanks to ensure they are not causing pollution.

Fines of up to €5,000 or three months’ imprisonment can currently be imposed for not ensuring the wastewater is properly treated. Penalties are likely to be of a similar order under the new system.

Households not served by public sewers usually depend on septic tank systems to treat and dispose of wastewater.

A typical tank takes wastewater from a toilet, bath, kitchen and washing machine.

Heavy solids settle to the bottom where bacteria partially decompose them into sludge, and tanks are pumped to prevent overflowing.

Excess wastewater is filtered through the soil where it is absorbed. If tanks overflow or are not maintained, they can cause contamination of groundwater, rivers and streams with potentially dangerous bugs, including e-coli.

Yesterday, Mr Gormley said he would be considering the court’s judgment and introducing a licensing system.

“We know that in far too many instances septic tanks or on-site sewage treatment systems are causing pollution. The absence of a licensing and inspection system is a major weakness in our overall environmental management structures,” he said.

- Paul Melia

SOURCE: Irish Independent

A PLANNING application for what Michael Lowry TD has described as “the most sophisticated and ambitious project that Ireland has ever seen” will be lodged with North Tipperary County Council this morning.

The Independent TD was speaking yesterday in Horse and Jockey at the launch of a €460 million cultural, sporting and leisure development featuring a huge casino and new all-weather racecourse.

The development, called the Tipperary Venue, is proposed for an 800-acre site close to the village of Two-Mile-Borris in the heart of Mr Lowry’s Tipperary North constituency.

The developer, Richard Quirke, did not speak during a one-hour presentation to invited guests. Mr Lowry said he wished “to explain to the media who he is”.

The former Fine Gael minister said: “In these times of economic challenge, our country needs businessmen like Richard Quirke” whom he described as “a local man made good who wanted to give something back”.

He praised his “ambition, vision and innovation” and thanked him for “having the strength and courage to commission this massive development.”

After the event, Mr Quirke, a former garda, told The Irish Times that he had “made a lot of money” from property in Dublin including the sale of the old Carlton cinema. His company, the Dublin Pool and Juke Box Co, runs the Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium arcade on O’Connell Street.

Mr Quirke, who is from Thurles, has bought the land and already spent €30 million on the Tipperary Venue project.

He said he had “considerable monies” and was confident that he could raise financial backing from “foreign investors”. He would not approach Irish banks because “even if they were interested”, he “wouldn’t go near them”.

Mr Lowry said “no State money” would be needed for the project “which will float on its own commercial merit”. He was confident that planning permission would be secured by the end of the year and that construction could start early in 2010.

An estimated 1,000 jobs would be created in building the facility, which would eventually create 2,000 full-time jobs.

Mr Lowry said, however, the project was dependent on the Oireachtas passing proposed new legislation to enable the opening of casinos. The plans had “already been presented to the Taoiseach”, Ministers and other officials and “got a warm response”. He was confident that the necessary legislation would be passed and that there would be no objections to the plans, which have “the full support of the local community”.

Dublin architect Brian O’Connell, who designed the Tipperary Venue, said it would include a 500-bedroom, five-star hotel; a vast 6,000sq m casino; an all-weather racecourse; a greyhound track and a golf course.

It would also include an underground entertainment centre with a retractable roof capable of holding 15,000 people which would be “the rural equivalent of Dublin’s 02 complex”.

Mr O’Connell said Ireland’s gambling laws were “outdated” and that the Department of Justice was broadly in support of the plans” for the casino.

The site, which is located off the M8 Dublin-Cork motorway, would also feature a full-size replica of the White House in Washington as “a memorial to James Hoban”, the 18th-century Irish architect from Co Kilkenny who emigrated to the US and won a competition to design the president’s residence.

The “Tipperary White House” would be used as “a banqueting facility” and also to host wedding receptions. A chapel is to be built in the grounds which will have parking for up to 8,000 cars and “aerial access” via a large heliport.

The existing racecourse at Thurles is to be closed when the new facility is built. The project claims to have the backing of Horse Racing Ireland.

Source: IrishTimes Link

FINGAL’S new County Development Plan must be agreed by April 2011 with the first draft expected to go on public display next March.

Councillors met last week to begin the next phase of the preparation of the Plan following on from the initial round of public consultation during the summer.

Public representatives play an important role at this stage as they provide policy direction to the manager in drawing up the new Plan, which will set out the local authority’s principle objectives from 2011 to 2017.

The next key dates are January, February and early March next year when councillors will meet to consider the Manager’s draft, which will then go on public display.

Submissions will then be made from the public and councillors will meet to consider making amendments to the plan. County Manager David O’Connor said some 553 submissions were received from the public in the initial round of consultation, down from over 1,000 from the previous plan. Almost one in five submissions related to transportation issues, followed by concerns about community, recreation and open space. Mr O’Connor has made four general recommendations in relation to the Plan covering the promotion of sustainable development, minimising climate change, contributing to social inclusion and integrating high quality design to its work.

It is the aim of the council to realise the long-term Swords Strategic vision and to consolidate the growth of Balbriggan and Blanchardstown.

It is also the manager’s aim to consolidate growth and protect the identity of the other town’s around the region, as well as safeguarding the development of Dublin Airport. Mr O’Connor said it was estimated that the population was now tipping the quarter of a million mark.

Source: Fingal-Independent

Before the end of the week i hope to have a post written on the development plan process for those who are unsure how it works and also the time limits involved in the action of preparing a new development plan.

A LONG-awaited local area plan for Rivermeade in St Margaret’s will be completed by the middle of next year, according to Fingal County Council.

Cllr Tom Kelleher (Lab) put a motion to a meeting of the Balbriggan/Swords Area Committee last week asking for an update on the RV1 or rural village plan. The council’s planning department said that a number of issues identified in December of last year have delayed the plan.

Some of those issues relate to the need to examine the ecological impacts of development in the area on the Broadmeadows Estuary through the river Ward which traverses Rivermeade.

The limited capacity

of Swords Wastewater Treatment Plant which services the area is also an issue and the possibility of increasing flooding of the Ward River.

The location of the proposed Swords Western Ring Road also had to be looked at as part of the plan.

The council says to progress the local area plan for Rivermeade fully, the results of the Fingal East Meath Flood Risk Assessment Management Study FRAM), is required.

Interim results from the study have been delayed, but are now due in November 2009.

The planning department hope that, pending those results and of its own ‘appropriate assessment’ of the risk to Broadmeadows Estuary, the plan will be completed by early to mid 2010.

Source: Fingal Independent

BUS journey times through Dublin city centre have fallen by half since the controversial bus gGate started operating last July.

City traders claim the ban on cars using College Green in the morning and evening peak is killing business.

But up to 90 million Dublin Bus passengers a year will experience a marked reduction in their commuting times if the system is allowed remain in place.

New figures from Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann show journey times on all routes through the city centre have fallen since the bus gate opened.

Before the bus gate it took an average of 20 minutes to travel from O’Connell Street to Nassau Street, with journey times of 35 minutes not uncommon. Now, it takes just 11 minutes — or 18 minutes in very heavy traffic.

Dublin Bus also said that in September 2008, journeys through O’Connell Street, College Green and Dame Street in the morning peak took between three and 18 minutes to complete, with the average time almost 10 minutes.

With the College Green Quality Bus Corridor — or bus gate — in place, journeys are now taking between two and ten minutes, with an average of five minutes.

“We have ten routes which all show the same thing,” a Dublin Bus spokesman said. “For bus passengers, it’s all about knowing the journey times. It’s an extremely important priority for us. The bus gate is not a high capital project, but it has had a major impact.

“It’s of huge strategic benefit. It has calmed the whole city centre and taken out the congestion that affects all road users. We carry 140 million passengers a year, and up to 90 million would be affected by this, and 40pc of all buses travel along that route.”

Bus Eireann also said it had seen a number of benefits for commuters including reduced journey times, more consistent operating times and improved reliability of the services in terms of arrival and departure times.

“Feedback from customers on these services has been very positive about these benefits, which carry a large number of commuters in and out of the city every day to key population centres such as Ashbourne, Kells, Navan, Trim, Mullingar and Drogheda,” a spokesman for Dublin Bus said.

Improvements

“In general, there have been improvements in running times of peak-time services of between five and 10 minutes on each departure, which has been greatly welcomed by customers,” he added.

Cars are banned from using College Green from 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday.

Retailers have threatened to take a High Court case against the ban, claiming it is responsible for a loss of trade.

Brown Thomas and Brown Thomas car park, Louis Copeland, Weirs, Q Park, Park Rite and Trinity Street car park have all threatened legal action, while the Dublin City Business Association claims that business is down 30pc because of the ban.

It wants the ban lifted until next year, when a new bridge opens across the River Liffey which will be able to accommodate car traffic.

- Paul Melia

Irish Independent

THE FINAL stage of work to replace one of Iarnród Éireann’s three railway crossings of the Shannon, a bridge near Lough Tap, between Dromod and Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim, gets under way today.

Over the next 12 days the line will be closed as the new steel bridge and concrete deck is lifted into place in four sections by the largest crane ever used in Ireland.

The crane, imported from Texas, has a lift capacity of 1,350 tonnes. The work was to have taken place from October 5th to 16th, but it was delayed. The replacement of the existing bridge,which dates from 1862, is expected to allow for considerable improvement in the speed of trains across the bridge, which had slowed to about walking pace in recent years.

In addition to the work on the bridge, the approach routes and embankments have been realigned and the entire structure is being raised by one metre to allow for larger vessels on the Shannon to pass underneath.

Iarnród Éireann said bus transfers will be in operation between Sligo town and all stations to Dromod. Passengers should note that buses will depart from Sligo and Collooney 30 minutes in advance of the scheduled train times to Dublin.

Costing €5.5 million, the bridge replacement brings to €150 million the total investment in the Dublin to Sligo line since 1999.

According to Iarnród Éireann, improvements have included renewal of track, resignalling and the upgrading of level crossings, platform lengthening and safety enhancements. The Sligo-Dublin route was the first to benefit from the new intercity railcars fleet. There will be eight daily services in each direction compared to three in 2003.

Iarnród Éireann said the increase in services has resulted in the Sligo-Dublin line becoming the network’s fastest growing route, with more than 1.34 million passenger journeys in 2008 – representing a jump of more than 30 per cent in three years.

Rail services to Sligo opened on December 3rd, 1862. The town was later connected by rail to Enniskillen, by the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway in 1879, and to Limerick in 1895.

The line to Enniskillen closed in 1957 and passenger services to Limerick closed in 1963. The Sligo to Limerick route is known as the Western Rail Corridor, part of which – the Ennis, Co Clare to Athenry Co Galway section – is due to reopen later this year.

Iarnród Éireann’s other rail crossings of the Shannon are at Athlone and between Limerick and Ennis.

Source: IrishTimes Link

AN BORD Pleanála has deferred a key decision due to be have been delivered yesterday on the controversial Corrib gas onshore pipeline in north Mayo.

The appeals board told The Irish Times that Shell EP Ireland’s application to modify the gas onshore pipeline route was under “active consideration” during board meetings that took place from Wednesday to Friday of this week.

“There was no outcome,” a board spokesman said. “Further meetings will be held next week, and there will be an outcome in the week starting November 2nd,” he said.

The deferral is the second by the appeals board since the oral hearing earlier this year into the application for a new route and for compulsory acquisition orders to private land. A spokesman said this was due to the “complex nature of the case”.

The 19-day oral hearing chaired by inspector Martin Nolan considered the application under the Strategic Infrastructure Act.

The new route runs through special areas of conservation designated under the EU habitats directive and includes two river crossings.

The offshore pipeline was laid by the developers during the summer, and construction of the onshore gas terminal at Bellanaboy is nearing completion.

The previous pipeline route was not subject to planning, and consent to compulsory acquisition of private land by a private company was signed by former marine minister Frank Fahey under amended gas Acts.

Opposition to this on health and safety grounds resulted in the jailing of five Erris residents, known as the Rossport Five, for 94 days in 2005.

The Health and Safety Authority informed the appeals board at the outset of the oral hearing last May that it had no remit, as off-site gas pipelines are not controlled by the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 2006.

AN BORD Pleanalá’s handsome looking annual report for 2008 contained no great surprises. The workload was down 16 per cent on the previous bumper year; there was a 20 per cent drop in the number of appeals dealt with in relation to one-off houses in rural areas and the percentage of local authority planning decisions appealed to the board showed an increase of 8.1 per cent compared to 6.7 per cent in 2007.

The rate of reversal of local planning authority decisions appealed showed a slight increase, 33 per cent in 2008 compared to 32 per cent in 2007.

The board met its statutory objective in dealing with appeals within 18 weeks in less than 50 per cent of cases – that doesn’t sound like something to boast about but the report sees it as a positive in that the previous year it only met the 18-week target in less than a quarter of the cases.

It says that “excessive and unsustainable zoning of land has been a contributor to the property bubble and its aftermath” and that “some of this land will have to be rezoned”.

Presenting the report, the chairperson of the board, John O’Connor, said that “it would be extremely short-sighted if there was a tendency to relax good planning standards in response to our current economic difficulties”. A reader from Mars might deduce from that that planning standards during the loadsamoney boom were fantastic. The number of ghost estates dotted around the country, the ugly holiday villages and empty apartment blocks tell a different story.

Source:  IrishTimes Article Link