An Irish Planning Students Blog

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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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”.

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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.

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It looks as if the Poolbeg Incinerator row is going to turn into a major political quagmire in the not so distant future!

THE DEVELOPERS of the €350 million incinerator proposed for Poolbeg in Dublin, which is opposed by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, have requested a meeting with Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Scott Whitney, president of Covanta Europe, told a press conference in Dublin yesterday the company had been in touch with Mr Cowen’s office. “We’ve suggested that at some point a meeting with the Taoiseach might be useful,” Mr Whitney said.

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Tim O’Brien from the IrishTimes:

A 500-ACRE bog in Co Offaly has been chosen as the proposed site for an “eco water park and reservoir” as part of Dublin City Council’s plan to pump water from the river Shannon.

The council is proposing a €540 million, Government-funded project which would supply 350 million litres of water a day to the Dublin region.

In a move likely to meet strong opposition from west of Ireland interests, the council is seeking to source water from the Shannon to serve the capital’s drinking water needs for the next 70 years.

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TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has been challenged to “show his hand” over the Poolbeg incinerator and declare whether it is Government policy to allow it proceed or to be scrapped.

Fine Gael environment spokesman Phil Hogan said that it was now incumbent on Mr Cowen to state his position on the planned Dublin regional waste incinerator.

Last week Mr Gormley published a draft waste policy plan which strongly favours mechanical and biological treatment of waste over incineration.

If implemented, it would have the effect of making a large incinerator like Poolbeg unviable.

Mr Hogan said yesterday that Mr Cowen had merely welcomed the consultation process that will now take place in relation to the draft policy.

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Minister for the Environment John Gormley has rejected as “scaremongering” and “absolute nonsense” claims that the State will face massive EU fines for landfill waste if the controversial Poolbeg incinerator does not go ahead.

The Minister also said he would this week receive the report of the “authorised officer” he appointed in March to examine the contract between Dublin City Council and a consortium to build the €350 million incinerator.

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NEW MEASURES to reduce the risk of flooding in Cork city could be in place within 18 months, according to Cork city manager Joe Gavin, following confirmation that the OPW is to appoint consultants to oversee the project.

Mr Gavin confirmed the OPW had opted for localised flood defences on the Lee upstream of Cork city which would allow the ESB to discharge higher volumes of water from Inniscarra dam without causing flooding in the city centre.

He said the proposal, which involves localised work and changes to the ESB operating regime, was less costly and more easily implemented than another proposal which involved building tidal barriers and raising quay walls which would cost €145 million and take several years.

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FARMERS ARE to receive Government payments of up to €15,000 annually for producing wild, rare flowers such as the Mountain Aven and the Spring Gentian.

Described as a “unique” scheme yesterday by Burren Irish Farmers’ Association chairman Michael Davoren, the plan is part of a joint €4 million Department of Agriculture and Department of the Environment initiative aimed at conserving the biodiversity of the Burren, Co Clare.

The model has been developed over the past five years in a pilot programme by BurrenLife across 20 farms in the area and is now to be rolled out across 100 Burren farms over the next three years.

Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith has confirmed that €3 million will be made in direct payments to farmers over three years. Moreover, Minister for the Environment John Gormley has said his department is to spend €1 million overseeing the work.

The project director with BurrenLife, Dr Brendan Dunford, said that “one of the pioneering aspects to the programme is that farmers are going to be paid for producing species-rich grassland and that will determine the level of payment to them”.

Dr Dunford cited Mountain Avens, Spring Gentians and orchids as examples of flowers that make up species-rich grassland in the Burren.

Mr Davoren said Burren farmers were responding to the market where there is now a demand for “species-rich grassland and a pristine environment”.

“The only way we can earn a living is by looking after the environment. It is a totally new concept and we will embrace it,” he said. “There will be a plan for every field and for every farm.”

Dr Dunford said the programme would have a “tremendous impact” on the Burren landscape.

In the scheme, farmers are to be graded on a zero to 10 basis with only fields having a score more than four becoming eligible for payments. Farmers who score 10 can expect to receive a payment of €100 per hectare per annum for the first 40 hectares. Farmers will also receive payments for carrying out capital works and for protection of EU protected designated lands. Closing date for applications to participate in the scheme is May 17th.

IrishTimes

Ireland needs to reach a stage where everybody in society feels responsible for the management of the water on their property rather than thinking it is solely a local authority issue, a conference in Cork heard today.

©*KarenT*'s (www.flickr.com)

Kevin Murray, who has worked as a consultant engineer for 20 years, told the Engineers Ireland annual conference the challenges facing the installation of water meters were considerable but achievable if old models which have not served us well were abandoned.

Earlier this week, Minister for the Environment John Gormley announced plans to install water meters in homes next year ahead of the introduction of water charges.

“The industry is suggesting that the meter installation could be done in three years with 300 to 350 two-person crews. We don’t have that many experienced crews,” Mr Murray said. “I would like to see Fás working with industry to develop training courses so that we can create more metering crews from our unemployed construction sector. Otherwise we will be importing resources for this metering programme.”

Mr Murray said the real argument for metering over fixed water charges lies in the control of leakage. He insists there is plenty of evidence to suggest that a high proportion of unaccounted for water is on the private customer’s side of the stop tap. Water meters are of far greater benefit and of greater cost saving value than simply changing customer water usage behaviour, he said.

Mr Gormley told the conference that it was unacceptable that the level of unaccounted for water in some water services authorities exceeds 50 per cent of the amount produced. “It does not make sense from an economic or environmental perspective to invest in expanding water treatment capacity if there is a significant loss of treated water in ageing or damaged networks. I am determined to address this matter.”

Mr Gormley said in previous years, water conservation had now been fully integrated into the State’s main investment programme in infrastructure.

“This ensures that the efficacy of network rehabilitation in meeting water supply capacity demand is more fully integrated into the planning of water supply schemes. The Programme provides for the commencement of contracts involving network rehabilitation with a value of some €320 million over the next three years on works,” he said.

“This is more than double the expenditure on water conservation works over the past seven years and I expect this investment to improve considerably our ability to reduce rates of unaccounted for water which are, in general, exceptionally high.”

Principal Officer  at  the Department of the Environment Ivan Grimes told the conference the one positive aspect that could be drawn from water shortages in Dublin last winter was the raised awareness amongst members of the public of the importance of supplies.

IrishTimes