An Irish Planning Students Blog

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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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AN BORD Pleanála has scuppered plans for the development of a historic demesne near Celbridge, Co Kildare, on the basis that it would compromise the setting of Castletown House – now maintained by the Office of Public Works (OPW).

Overturning a decision by Kildare County Council to approve plans by developers Devondale Ltd for 108 detached houses at Donaghcumper Demesne, the board said it “would seriously injure the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity”.

In its ruling, the board noted that both Donaghcumper House and Castletown are protected structures and that it is an objective of the Kildare county plan to prohibit development in gardens or landscapes associated with such structures.

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Today the 30th of June 2010 is the day that the Luas Line BXD, Stephens green to Broomsbridge website goes live. All the documents pertaining to the railway order are available freely at: www.dublinluasbroombridge.ie It is also the day that CIE have lodged their plans for the Dublin DART interconnector to link the Kildare Line and with Docklands opening up northern rail service to the south. Document’s for this railway order can be viewed at: www.dartundergroundrailwayorder.ie/ (more…)

I was reading the MetroHearald today on the bus and i noticed a public notice on page 11. I have scanned in a copy of the notice below for your viewing pleasure. (Click for full size) I hope the process is a speedy one. Public consultation starts on the 30th of June (next Wednesday). It will be great to see trams on O’Connell Street once again!

LONG-RUNNING plans for a new town centre which straddles the border of counties Dublin and Wicklow have been approved by An Bord Pleanála.

The €2 billion development incorporates more then 900 new homes – including some 600 apartments, a hotel, leisure facilities, offices, a cinema, bars and more than 100 new shops.

Also envisaged is a greatly improved road link to the M11, and a major Office of Public Works flood protection scheme for the river Dargle.

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An Bord Pleanála has today refused the Dublin Port Company permission to implement an expansion plan for the port.

The company had applied to develop additional facilities with access to deepwater berths at the north eastern part of Dublin Port, off Alexandra Road through infilling some 95 acres.

The controversial plans had attracted more than 100 objections, including one from Dublin City Council calling them “premature”.

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EIRGRID HAS defended its proposal to build an interconnector in the northeast which would link electricity grids in the North and South.

Residents of the northeast, led by groups including the North East Pylon Pressure Group, have argued that large pylons and high-voltage overhead lines are not appropriate in the area.

More than 900 submissions have been made to An Bord Pleanála relating to the plan for some 140km of 400 kilovolt overhead line on lattice towers from Meath to Tyrone.
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