An Irish Planning Students Blog » Colin Broderick

Interesting plans afoot in Sudan

Colin Broderick — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:46:01 +0000

My good friend put me onto this post the other night when I got back from holidays. I must say they certainly look pretty but my word this is actually where people will live! It is beyond me as to how someone could believe that structuring a city in the shape of either a rhino or a giraffe is a good idea, especially when both cities are dominated by military use. It’s a crazy world we live in!

Chris Blattman - Misadventures in Urban Planning, Sudan

Kilkenny County Council – Proposed Alterations to the Record of Protected Structures

Colin Broderick — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:33:32 +0000

The announcement can be found at the following link along with the details: Proposed Additions and Deletions from the Record of Protected Structures

Particulars of the proposed additions and deletions may be inspected at the Planning Office, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny and at the Castlecomer, Thomastown, Callan and Newrath Area Offices for a six week period from the 30th July 2010 to the 10th September 2010, inclusive, during office hours 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

During this period any person may make a written submission or observation in writing to the
Planning Authority, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny
or
by email to aine.doyle@kilkennycoco.ie, on or before the 10th September 2010,
with respect to the proposed additions to and deletions from the Record of Protected Structures and such observations will be taken into consideration before the making of these additions.

Sean Dunne gets green light to rebuild Hume House

Colin Broderick — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:35:11 +0000

Writes Fiona Gartland of the Irish Times:

DEVELOPER SEÁN Dunne has been granted planning permission to demolish and rebuild Hume House, a 1960s office block in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

An Bord Pleanála granted permission to Mountbrook Group, a company owned by Mr Dunne, for the development.

Approval was granted with 16 conditions, including that external finishes for the building should be agreed in advance with Dublin City Council.

Financier Dermot Desmond was among the objectors to the proposal, describing the design as “ugly”. He had said the facade treatment and the quality of the design were both “poor” and the materials “seem to be chosen for their cost-effectiveness as opposed to . . . design interest”.

Among the other objectors were An Taisce and the Pembroke Road Residents Association, which claimed the plan represented an attempt to improve the valuation of the site before it was taken over by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

Asked if the development would go ahead, the Mountbrook Group declined to comment.

Hume House, a nine-storey office block on Northumberland Road built in 1966, was named after its UK developers, Hume Holdings. It was one of the high-profile acquisitions made by Mr Dunne in 2005, which included Jurys, The Towers Hotel and the Berkeley Court Hotel in Ballsbridge.

He acquired it from Irish Life when he swapped it for a docklands property. Hume House was valued at the time at about €130 million.

The decision is likely to raise the value of the property, thus reducing the gap between its possible sale price and the value of any development loans taken out to fund its acquisition. Nama is in the process of taking over development loans from the banks.

The planned new building, though also nine storeys at its highest point, will be nine metres taller than the existing building.

It is designed in a “Y” shape, of six, eight and nine storeys high over a three-level basement.

The development includes more than 16,000sq m of office space and more than 3,000sq m of basement space. Finishes include aluminium, sandstone and white stone facades with extensive glazing.

One of the concerns raised by objectors was the possibility of flooding due to the planned three-storey basement and the building’s position in the Dodder flood plain.

But planning inspector Karla O’Brien, who recommended to the planning board that the application be approved, said there were no records of the site or surrounding area, which is 400 metres west of the river Dodder, ever being flooded.

A spokesman for An Bord Pleanála said it considered seeking specialist hydrological advice, but was satisfied that was not necessary.

Mr Dunne has also submitted revised plans for the Jurys/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge. This followed the rejection of plans considered by the planning board last year, which included a 37-storey tower.

His new plans include 12 blocks of chiefly residential development with two 15-storey towers.

IrishTimes

Planning for new children’s hospital set to be lodged

Colin Broderick — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:39:46 +0000

Paul Cullen writes:

A PLANNING application for the new national children’s hospital on the Mater site in central Dublin is to be lodged later this month.

The development team behind the new hospital confirmed yesterday that it was pushing forward with the project, despite renewed criticism in recent weeks from retired heart surgeon Maurice Neligan and other leading doctors.

A spokesman for the National Paediatric Hospital Board said a detailed planning application for the project would be lodged in the week beginning August 16th, at which time detailed information on the plans would be provided.

The Department of Health said the project was “advancing to schedule” under the direction of the hospital board.

A detailed design brief had been finalised and the board was preparing to submit planning documents.

He declined to comment on the criticism by Dr Neligan, who last month announced he had changed his mind about the project and now opposes the development on the Mater site or at any of the existing children’s hospitals.

Writing in his regular column in The Irish Times ’s HEALTHplus magazine he admitted he had been wrong to support the plan when it was first unveiled: “I feel that neither the Mater nor the joint children’s hospitals may be best served by this proposed development on a geographically constrained site.”

Dr Neligan suggested a greenfield site with plenty of space and easy access be found as an alternative to current plans.

His stance has been supported by 25 leading medical specialists who say the placing of a national paediatric hospital in Dublin’s city centre is not in the best interest of the sick children of Ireland.

Last week, the Government included the proposed hospital in a list of priority projects that will go ahead, but dropped other healthcare projects.

Construction is due to begin next year and the completion date is 2014. The original budget for the hospital was €750 million but it is now expected to cost less.

IrishTimes

Transport plan would transform green

Colin Broderick — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:31:27 +0000

I can’t say I’m a major fan of the look of the new green with the lovely mature trees removed. But I suppose it is a necessary evil in order to get these much need projects off the ground. Maybe some new trees can be planted and it will look as fantastic as it does now in like 20 years. My major concern is what is going to happen to the lake, its the best feature and it will be a huge loss to the amenity of the park! Assuming it gets through planning successfully! My two cents at least.

Frank McDonald of the The Irish Times writes:

ST STEPHEN’S Green will be the principal casualty of the Government’s plans to go ahead with Metro North and Dart Underground, it is now clear from the environmental impact statement (EIS) on each of these costly projects.

The current construction cost estimate for Dart Underground, which is planned as the central spine of Dublin’s commuter rail services, is €2.5 billion. No figures are officially available for Metro North, but in 2005 it was estimated to cost €4.58 billion.

The Dart Underground EIS says construction of a shared station below ground at St Stephen’s Green as well as ventilation/intervention structures “will introduce major changes to the landscape and visual character and setting of the park”.

Describing these as the “most significant townscape and visual impacts” of the two projects, it says changes would include the temporary removal of some sections of boundary railings and park features as well as the felling of dozens of mature trees.

“The construction phase will result in significant impact on the landscape and visual amenity of the park, particularly from within the park, where the existing sense of ‘escape from the city’ will be lost” – at least until new semi-mature trees re-establish it.

DART Underground Route Schematic

The “ventilation/intervention” structure, to be built immediately behind the railings on the north side of the green, would be up to 4.2m high and 23.7m long; it would be impossible to provide screening for this building.

As the EIS on Metro North makes clear, most of the northwestern quadrant of St Stephen’s Green would be directly affected by the excavations for the two linked underground stations – including the lake populated by ducks, swans and waterhens.

It is understood that an earlier proposal by the Railway Procurement Agency to remove the Fusiliers’ Arch, facing the top of Grafton Street, has been reconsidered; instead, it would be retained in situ while the area around it is excavated to a considerable depth.

Hundreds of trucks would be needed to remove the spoil from the excavations for underground stations at St Stephen’s Green as well as O’Connell Bridge, Parnell Square East, the Mater hospital and other locations along the route of Metro North.

In the case of Dart Underground, the existing open-air amphitheatre at the Civic Offices on Wood Quay would be replaced by a “new urban civic space” that would include the entrance to an underground station north of Christ Church Cathedral.

This “will change the visual character and function of the space”, as the EIS says. “Nearby, a new ventilation structure will be introduced to the south side of the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Cook Street” – commonly known as Merchant’s Quay Church.

DART Underground Railway Order

During excavation works for each underground station, spoil would be removed by a fleet of trucks; in the case of St Stephen’s Green, there would be 198 truck movements per day in each direction – and this traffic would continue for 20 months.

It is also clear from the EIS that passengers seeking to connect with the existing Dart line at Pearse Station, Westland Row, would face a long walk as the new underground station is proposed to be built at the junction of Boyne Street and Sandwith Street.

The twin tunnels for Dart Underground, from Inchicore to Docklands, would be be excavated by a tunnel boring machine similar to that used in excavating the Dublin Port Tunnel. Additional excavation work would be required for the five underground stations.

“Significant works” are proposed within the historic Inchicore railway yards, “with the demolition of many existing buildings and the provision of a new station facility that will open up the site to greater public access”. This is being opposed by a local group.

August 18th is the deadline for making submissions to An Bord Pleanála on CIÉ’s application for a Railway Order. The four-volume EIS is available for public inspection at An Bord Pleanála, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1; Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8; Heuston Station; Pearse Station; and Inchicore Works, Dublin 8. It may also be viewed on dart undergroundrailwayorder.ie

IrishTimes

Developers to face high-rise curbs as council agrees plan

Colin Broderick — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:00:34 +0000

DEVELOPERS ARE facing severe restrictions on the construction of high-rise buildings in Dublin city following the introduction of the new Dublin City Development Plan next year.

City councillors last night agreed to ban the construction of buildings above 28m (92ft) – about half the height of Liberty Hall – unless a statutory plan called a Local Area Plan (Lap) was drafted for the area in question. Such a plan could take several years to develop.

This would block the construction of any further high-rise or even medium-rise buildings in areas previously earmarked by the council for tall buildings such as the Docklands, Heuston and Connolly stations and George’s Quay.

The Lap, which functions as a development plan specific to a particular area, would have to specify maximum building heights allowed. Until a local area plan was approved all developments would have to remain low rise. Councillors last night agreed to define low rise as up to six storeys in relation to residential buildings and seven storeys for office buildings or a maximum height of less than 28m.

The development of Laps has been a fraught process within the council. Attempts were made over several years to introduce a LAP for Ballsbridge but the plan fell apart when agreement could not be reached on whether to allow a “landmark” tall building.

The amendment to the draft development plan in relation to the development of Laps was agreed last night as a compromise motion. Several councillors had wanted caps on height, and some motions would have seen high rise defined as under 30m.

However the agreed amendment, by effectively deferring any decision on maximum heights, makes the city development plan worthless as a guide to developers as to where applications for tall building would be considered.

The draft plan will be released for a further round of consultation before being formally agreed by councillors later this year.

City manager John Tierney in his report to councillors on the plan had warned putting restrictive caps on heights would have “severe repercussions for the city’s competitiveness”.

IrishTimes

Dublin height focus of planning debate

Colin Broderick — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:30:41 +0000

Decisions made this week by Dublin city councillors will determine the height and scale of future developments, writes FRANK MACDONALD

WHETHER NEW buildings in Dublin should be relatively high or low has become the most contentious issue confronting councillors as they begin a series of special meetings today to deal with the draft Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017.

On the one hand, An Taisce maintains the current draft prepared by city planners “will fuel a future splurge of land speculation and undermine decades of the planning control that has maintained Dublin as a historic low-rise major European city”.

On the other, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has warned that attempts by councillors to cap building heights “would result in the relocation of office and other commercial development outside Dublin . . . and act as a serious deterrent to urban regeneration”.

Maybe not what they are aiming for but it could happen!

At issue is what constitutes a “high-rise” building. According to the planners, it would be 16 storeys or more, with “medium-rise” defined as eight to 16 storeys and “low-rise” as up to eight storeys – roughly double the prevailing building height in the core of the city.

Several councillors are seeking to reinstate a key paragraph in the current city plan that is omitted from the draft.

This states that the council “acknowledges the intrinsic quality of Dublin as a low- to medium-rise city and considers that it should predominantly remain so.

“Taller building clusters . . . are only likely to be achieved in the Docklands, at Heuston and in the larger predominantly non-residential key developing areas, where there is good public transport links and sites of sufficient size to create their own character.”

According to the planners, continuing with this policy “would seriously undermine the strategic approach to developing areas” such as Grangegorman and the zones around Connolly Station and Tara Street station, where further high-rise development is envisaged.

The planners say they have “no objection” to a more specific definition of low-rise “provided it does not result in a policy cap of 18m (six-storey residential or four-storey office) over the city, as several of the amendments tabled by councillors are now seeking to do.

“The essential proposition in these motions is that . . . the definition of high should be reduced from 50m to 30m with mid-rise defined as 18m to 30m; and all the remaining areas of the city to be retained at a maximum height of 18m”, the manager’s report says.

This “would have severe repercussions for the city in relation to economic renewal and competitiveness”, it warns, adding that the “inevitable result would be a flight of office development” to surrounding local authority areas and “less rates income”.

The planners also maintain that a 30m-cap on medium-rise buildings would “inevitably result in bulky ‘groundscapers’ rather than more elegant buildings such as Liberty Hall” (now planned to be demolished), saying this would “undermine the character of the city”. They say a six-storey cap on residential development would also “undermine the promotion of vibrant new, mixed-use neighbourhoods”, such as Herberton (built on the site of Fatima Mansions), where the height ranges from three to eight storeys.

An amendment by some councillors seeking an “urban design statement” on all proposals two storeys higher than existing buildings in the vicinity is “considered unduly onerous” by the planners, given the “numerous safeguards” incorporated in the draft plan.

Their drive for more height and density in the city is strongly endorsed by the CIF.

Its director of planning, Hubert Fitzpatrick, said if proposed caps were imposed in certain areas, “investment . . . will go elsewhere, representing a significant opportunity cost for the entire economy”.

Limits on the height of apartment buildings would “push developments away from areas that have seen substantial investment in public transportation and related physical and social infrastructure”, resulting in “further urban sprawl and continued underdevelopment”.

But An Taisce’s heritage officer, Ian Lumley, said it was clear that the city council’s management was “pushing through” a new Draft Development Plan for adoption by elected councillors, intended to fuel a future property boom by “scrapping” existing controls on height.

“Amid the general fiasco that has characterised Irish planning over the last 60 years, there was at least one achievement of maintaining Dublin as one of Europe’s low-rise major historic cities”, he said.

For whatever reason, this was to be “disregarded” by the draft plan.

“Rather that providing clarity, the plan is going to create years of planning rows and appeals to An Bord Pleanála if a new boom is generated,” he said.

“It would only take a few badly sited out-of-scale buildings to irrevocably damage the city’s irreplaceable character.”

Irish Times

Review of decision on Fingal Landfill sought

Colin Broderick — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:00:15 +0000

AN APPLICATION is to be made to the High Court seeking a judicial review of the decision to grant a licence to Fingal County Council for a landfill site at Nevitt near Lusk in north Co Dublin.

Gemma Larkin of Walshtown, Lusk, Co Dublin, a member of the Nevitt Lusk Action Group (NLAG), is seeking a review of the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May this year to grant a licence for the landfill site.

The 300,000-tonne capacity landfill site, in which an estimated one-sixth of the State’s waste is to be dumped, is subject to more than 250 conditions relating to environment management operation, control and monitoring.

It was one of the most contested developments in Irish planning history, and the EPA held two public hearings about the site. The action group has already referred the agency’s decision to the European Commission and the European Petitions committee.

Papers are to be lodged today with the High Court, while the EPA, Fingal County Council and the Department of Environment, as notice parties to the case, have been informed of the application, being made on four grounds.

Ms Larkin said the licence granted contravenes the EU ground-water directive and would destroy ground-water in the area, a major horticulture location.

The applicant also says “bottom ash” – the residue after incineration from the Poolbeg incinerator complex at Ringsend – will be exported to Fingal. Ms Larkin claimed the original intention was to temporarily store bottom ash at Lusk and treat it to make it safe.

She claimed bottom ash from incineration has never been landfilled before and requires a strategic environmental assessment, but that there had been no investigations or examinations, and no review had been made of how it would be transported or what environmental effect that transportation would have.

Ms Larkin also claims the existing landfill site at Lusk is unauthorised and has not been properly remediated for use as landfill.

The applicant also alleges that the Aarhaus Convention, which obliges member states to allow citizens access to justice at reasonable cost, has not been implemented through legislation by the State. Ms Larkin said the convention allows concerned citizens to take legal action at reasonable cost, but such cases in Ireland can take years and cost millions.

Provision is being made to allow citizens to bring proceedings on issues of public interest where they would not face paying the State’s charges if they lost, but would still have to pay their own costs.

IrishTimes

Metro, Dart link included in €39bn revised capital plan

Colin Broderick — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:40:20 +0000

Of course lets not forget that DIT Grangegorman is approved under the plan! Well the first phase of Grangegorman at least. Woo as an alumni some day i will be able to visit DIT as a proper college with a campus. Pretty cool.

Big pity to see the Navan Rail line and the western rail corridor axed though. Not a great day for the west or the extended commuter belt in term of near term infrastructure.

Now this is not strictly planning related but i do have a problem with this plan. Its all about the building of the hard stuff, they are rejoicing on the news with the prospect of job creation and they are bandying around words like ‘sustainable jobs’, this presents jobs for a number of years and a very small portion after the projects have been built and where are we left then? Back to square one with all the construction workers with no big projects to build!

Still though I am so happy to see metro north given the go ahead, as i stand to benefit from it the most if i’m still living here when its finished that is.

The Government has announced a new €39 billion capital investment plan until 2016 that prioritises major projects such as Metro North, the Dart interconnector and the new DIT campus in Grangegorman but will result in delays for other promised infrastructure projects.

The new seven-year plan was unveiled at a press conference this afternoon by the Taoiseach Brian Cowen, the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and Green Party leader, the Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

Leaflet - Capital Expenditure Review

The overall budget for the programme of €39 billion compares to €75 billion for capital spending announced in the National Development Plan 2007 to 2013

Admitting that the economic downturn had led to a significant trimming of the sails as regards spending on capital projects, Mr Cowen pointed out that the Government was getting at least 30 per cent more value for money on capital projects.

He also said that in light of the recession and the changed political landscapes, a different programme was now needed. “We are identifying the priorities that will contribute to economic recovery,” he said, adding that the Government no longer had the money to do the all the work envisaged in the National Development Plan.

However, a number of major projects will go ahead as planned, if not quite to the timetable originally envisaged. They include the Metro North underground railway as well as the new underground Dublin interconnector that will link all the different rail systems in Dublin city centre.

The major plan to bring all the colleges of the Dublin Institute of Technology together in once campus at Grangegorman will still go ahead.

However, a number of other major projects will be long-fingered or modified. They include the Western Rail Corridor, the new prison at Thornton Hall in North Dublin and some of the medium-term road projects.

Mr Cowen said that all the major motorway routes will be completed this year on time and on budget and thereafter, the emphasis will be towards improving public transport, in Dublin and other urban centres.

The programme envisages that some 270,000 jobs will be created directly or indirectly from the investment. Mr Lenihan said this would constitute Ireland’s stimulus programme.

Investment in the programme amounts to 5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product as compared to a 2.9 per cent average in OECD countries.

The Taoiseach said he was not going to attempt to specify exactly how many jobs might be created under the programme.

“We are not running a Stalinist economy here. We do not set it out in those terms,” he said. Mr Lenihan said the programme was “a hard-headed and realistic look at what should be our priorities”.

“This has been considered in great detail in a number of Government meetings since Spring,” he said. He also confirmed that €1 billion of the €3 billion cuts in next December’s Budget would come from the capital Budget.

He said that there had been a lot of speculation in recent days about taxes and new charges being imposed in the Budget. He said that the Government’s main focus was controlling its spending and that no decisions on taxes would be taken until well into the autumn.

“Public debate on tax is entirely premature,” he said. In terms of departmental allocations, the departments that will lose funding compared to the NDP are: Transport (for roads’ budgets); Environment (for housing), Health; and Education.

Both Mr Cowen and Mr Lenihan accepted that about 5 to 7 per cent of school buildings would be of a temporary nature.

But Mr Lenihan also pointed out that the ‘modular-type’ structures being used for schools were a vast improvement and could not be compared with traditional pre-fabricated structures.

The reduction in the budget for social housing in the programme is significant. It also reflects a change of emphasis from the State purchasing housing stock, to leasing houses and apartments, as well as initiating rental accommodation schemes.

Mr Gormley said the budget would be €4.3 billion. Department officials later confirmed that the State would look at vacant housing stock and estates with a view to leasing property for tenants.

Asked why the houses would not be purchased, a Department of Finance spokesman said the State did not have the money to buy houses upfront and to pay the borrowing costs.

Irish Times

No water reserves in Dublin – report

Colin Broderick — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:17:12 +0000

WATER SUPPLY in the greater Dublin area is on a knife-edge, with demand likely to outstrip available reserves within a few years, according to a report prepared by consultants for seven local authorities.

The capital has no strategic reserves of water when it should have 10-20 per cent reserves at a minimum, while existing sources are operating near sustainable limits, the report by consultants RPS-Veolia JV states.

Dublin city councillors this week approved the consultants’ main proposal to bring excess water from the basin of the Shannon river to meet needs in the east and midlands.

The decision was taken by the council’s environment and engineering strategic policy committee (SPC) following a presentation by the consultants working for the Dublin Supply Project.

It is expected to be confirmed by the entire council later this year and will then go to An Bord Pleanála following a six-month consultation period.

The plan, the first major water supply project since the Liffey was dammed at Poulaphouca and Leixlip in the 1940s, will cost €470 million to construct over 10 years, with annual operational costs ranging from €8-15 million.

The report says the Dublin region is again approaching the stage where new long-term, secure and sustainable supplies of water are critical to its development and to the performance of the State.

“It has to be done; there is no other way,” said Fine Gael councillor Naoise Ó Muirí, who chairs the environment and engineering SPC.

The cost of operating desalination plants was too high, while international experience showed it was very difficult to reduce leakage below 20 per cent, he added.

There are currently four main water treatment plants in the greater Dublin region, which includes Kildare, north Wicklow and parts of Co Meath in addition to the capital. Their maximum output is between 540 and 550 million litres per day, while under normal circumstances demand is between 530 and 540 million litres per day.

The lack of space capacity in the Dublin system contrasts with Paris, where three treatment plants operate at just 60 per cent capacity.

The report says the fragility of the situation was starkly illustrated when increased leakages caused by last January’s cold snap led to restrictions in supply.

Leakage from the system has been reduced from 42 per cent in 1996 to 28 per cent in 2002, but the report says that the maximum supply levels will be reached in the 2020s despite further efforts to reduce leakage.

The report also points out that customer leakage losses average 65 litres per property per day, broadly comparable to the UK. It says this figure could be halved following the introduction of water metering.

“If a new source is not provided, the consequences would be supply restrictions of increasing frequency with impacts on social and economic interests combined with constraints on new development including employment generation in the region,” it warns.

A number of multinationals with plants in the region, such as Diageo, Intel and Wyeth, have expressed concern about the security and/or quality of water supplies, it is understood.

The report considered 10 different supply options, seven of them with the Shannon as the source, as well as a number of sites for desalination.

The preferred option, which involves taking the water from a point north of Lough Derg and piping it to a reservoir at a cutaway bog at Garryhinch, close to Portarlington, Co Laois, where it would be treated and distributed, involved the minimum cost, according to the consultants.

The Shannon proposal has met strong opposition from communities in the region, and local and national politicians.

IrishTimes