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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

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

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

Decentralisation ‘a failed strategy’

Colin Broderick — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:00:16 +0000

A LEADING academic has denounced decentralisation as a failed strategy which has undermined the institutional fabric of the state and become a charter for mileage claims, writes Anita Guidera.

Professor Brigid Laffin, principal of the college of humanities at UCD, told the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, yesterday that failures of accountability went beyond unethical behaviour to the performance of public institutions and those holding positions of responsibility.

Citing the example of the 2003 decentralisation project, she said there was not a single developed country in the world that would have treated its public institutions the way they were treated in the decentralisation process.

“It wasn’t decentralisation. Decentralisation is a very good thing. This was a dispersal of public jobs throughout the country in the most extraordinary fashion and it went completely against the government’s own spatial strategy,” she said.

“Decentralisation was costly. It increased the fragmentation of our public institutions. It is a charter for mileage claims and a high cost to the Irish public.”

She added that it had also failed politically. “Fianna Fail had its worst performance in the subsequent 2004 local elections,” she said.

Her call echoed criticisms of decentralisation by two other academics in Glenties this week. On Monday, Ed Walsh, founder of the University of Limerick, described the policy as daft and called for its reversal.

Management consultant Eddie Molloy, meanwhile, called it the most scandalous political stroke of all time.

Irish Independent

Cowen urged to ‘show his hand’ on Dublin incinerator

Colin Broderick — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:53:39 +0000

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.

He claimed that Mr Cowen was “sitting on the fence” despite Fianna Fáil TDs from Dublin, notably the Dublin North deputy Michael Kennedy, supporting the project.

“The Taoiseach has remained silent on one of the major issues of the day and one in which a Minister of his Government has become personally involved in,” said Mr Hogan.

Mr Hogan asserted that Mr Gormley was not in a position to adjudicate on the foreshore licence for Poolbeg as he has a clear conflict of interest.

“Ministers for the environment in the bad old days adjudicated on planning decisions which was wrong. The Minister has to be seen to be above that.

“There is the potential liability of hundreds of millions of euro in the event of a proven case of breach of contract if this does not go ahead,” said Mr Hogan.

The planned facility at Poolbeg has a capacity of 600,000 tonnes. A “put-or-pay” clause requires the four Dublin local authorities to supply a minimum of 320,000 tonnes per annum.

Under the Minister’s proposals, the volume of waste going to incineration would be far less than that.

Dublin City Council yesterday warned that any variation on the contract to build a Dublin regional waste incinerator at Poolbeg could have serious financial repercussions, raising the possibility of a compensation claim.

However, that contention was rejected by Mr Gormley as “scaremongering”.

An authorised officer was commissioned by Mr Gormley’s department last March to examine various issues surrounding Poolbeg, including compensation.

The officer, John Hennessy, is due to report to Mr Gormley this week.

The City Council said it would examined the draft waste policy over the coming weeks but emphasised it was in a contractual situation for the construction of the plant.

Scott Whitney of Covanta, the developers of the incinerator, said there will be more than enough residual waste for Poolbeg, even when Dublin achieves its recycling target of 59 per cent.

IrishTimes

President urged by lobby groups to intervene as late change to planning Act sparks fears

Colin Broderick — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:10:15 +0000

From todays Irish Times:

THE LOBBY group Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) has written to President Mary McAleese urging her to convene the Council of State with a view to referring the planning Act to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality.

A last-minute amendment to the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act means members of the public “will find it impossible to obtain legal representation if their costs will not be met, even when they win against the State”, it warned.

In its letter to the President, the group claims this amending legislation, which was guillotined through the Dáil and Seanad last week, will prevent citizens taking cases to the courts – contrary to the Constitution as well as to EU directives.

Under section 50(b) of the Act, each party “shall bear its own costs” and a court would only be entitled to award costs “in a matter of exceptional public importance and where [in] the special circumstances of the case it is in the interests of justice to so do”.

The group said that “this will act as an absolute bar to anybody actually having an award of costs made in their favour, leaving even successful challengers to pay the enormous cost of the Irish legal system” – €120,000 to €140,000 for even a “simple case”.

Backing its call for the President to intervene, An Taisce’s national chairman, Charles Stanley-Smith, said: “The inclusion of this amendment to the Act will have devastating consequences for justice in Ireland, and not just limited to environmental law.”

Barrister Oisín Collins said it was “difficult to see how a blanket removal of an entitlement to recover costs, except in the exceptional cases . . . could do anything other than create a clear impediment to those seeking justice having access to the courts”.

In his review of section 50(b) for the group, he suggested several solicitors and barristers who were prepared to take cases on a contingency (“no foal, no fee”) basis would now be reluctant to do so, as their clients would have to bear their own costs.

The “exceptional public importance” provision was “an extremely high and difficult bar to reach”, he said, adding: “I simply could not see any lawyers . . . engaging in litigation on a contingency basis having regard to this exceptionally high threshold.

“The public concerned will be forced, regardless of the strengths or otherwise of their case, to fund the litigation in its entirety themselves. This is likely to present a very significant deterrent to many.”

But Ciarán Cuffe, Minister of State with responsibility for planning, claimed that section 50(b) improved the current situation as, until now, litigants seeking judicial review could be liable for all costs.

“Once the Bill becomes law they will only be responsible for their own costs.

“Looking ahead, we envisage further changes in order to incorporate the [EU] public participation directive across all Government departments, and to ensure that any outstanding changes required for compliance with the Aarhus convention are completed.”

Last year, the European Court of Justice found Ireland to be in breach of its obligations under the environmental impact assessment and public participation directives by failing to ensure that applicants for judicial review were not exposed to “prohibitive costs”.

Friends of the Irish Environment spokesman Tony Lowes insisted that section 50(b) “purports to implement the European legislation encouraging access to justice, but does the opposite” and was among the “hundred pages of amendments” made to the Bill with no explanatory memorandum. “We were told that if they did not get this Bill through now, as opposed to after the [summer] recess, they would be hit with daily fines from the EU,” he said.

Senator Ivana Bacik (Labour) said the amendments deserved more scrutiny, particularly amendments that could have the effect of limiting access to the courts, and warned that section 50(b) would have a chilling effect on litigation in the environmental field.

In response, Mr Cuffe said: “We do not want to see the courts being clogged by judicial review proceedings. How can we strike the right balance? This brings us back to the definition of pro bono publico, which means one is acting for the public interest.

“We must wait and see how this works in practice. I hope it will represent a suitable transposition of the [EU environmental impact assessment] directive, which the Green Party wants to be implemented in a consistent, robust and democratic fashion.”

Irish Times – Frank McDonald

Planning Amendments Bill finally passed

Colin Broderick — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:31:40 +0000

And so came to pass that the planning amendments bill of 2009 passed on the balmy humid day that was the last day of term for the seanad.

The planning amendments bill of 2009 has finally got through the houses, thank you green party folk! However will some of the new procedures particularly related to the preparation of Development Plans, will it help or hinder the public in our participation? In a press release the Irish Planning Institute seem to think so: PLANNING BILL AMENDMENTS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY SAY PLANNERS

If you feel up to reading the actually wording of the Bill you can view them here on this page: Oireachtas.ie – Planning Amendments Bill 2009

Land zoned for housing to fall by 70%, says Minister

THE 40,000 hectares of land zoned for residential development across the country will be reduced to 12,000 hectares over six years, Minister of State for planning Ciarán Cuffe said.

Mr Cuffe was speaking after the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill passed its final stage in the Seanad yesterday by 27 votes to 20.

He said the enactment of new planning laws would ensure that the right types of development were built in the right places at the right time.

“While there are around 40,000 hectares of land currently zoned for residential development across the country, the actual needs, even allowing for generous head room, over the next six years is for about 12,000 hectares,” he said

“The provisions in the new legislation are designed to address this excess to deliver more compact, walkable and integrated communities with the necessary infrastructure and services.”

Under the legislation, local authorities will be required to review development plans and ensure correct levels of land are available for residential development. Staff at the Department of the Environment will begin work this summer on implementing the new measures.

“At the heart of these new planning laws is a simple idea and that is to put the interests of our citizens ahead of any one interest group, be they property developers or landowners,” said Mr Cuffe.

He said over-zoning and bad planning had played a large role in creating the so-called property bubble, adding: “This legislation aims to ensure that these practices become a thing of the past.”

In a tweet, Mr Cuffe’s party colleague Senator Dan Boyle described the legislation as the “most significant piece of Green legislation in this session”.

Earlier this year, some Fianna Fáil backbenchers expressed concerns about elements of the legislation, but Carlow-Kilkenny TD Bobby Aylward last night said he had received assurances it would “have no adverse effect”.

Fianna Fáil Senator Brian O’Domhnaill said he welcomed a provision in the legislation “that allows for a further extension of five years to live planning permission applications”.

He said this would provide “breathing space” for people who had achieved planning permission but, perhaps for financial reasons, were not yet in a position to start building their homes.

IrishTimes

Spike Island the next Alcatraz?

Colin Broderick — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:34:02 +0000

Only time will tell!

SPIKE ISLAND was officially handed over to Cork County Council yesterday for use as a tourist amenity amid efforts to develop it into an attraction comparable to Alcatraz in the US.

Alcatraz in San Francisco, which was only a prison for 20 years, attracts about 1.4 million visitors each year while Fort McHenry, off Baltimore, which served as a transit prison during the American Civil War, receives about 700,000 visitors annually.

Spike was first a prison in the mid-19th century, often the last place in Ireland prisoners saw before being transported overseas. At the time it held as many as 2,500 prisoners.

Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív officially handed the site over to the council yesterday on behalf of the Department of Justice and Law Reform.

Over the centuries the island has seen monastic settlements, penal colonies and military bases established on its shores.

Council officials are seeking proposals to develop tourism on the island and plan to secure a ferry service in the coming weeks.

The first visitors will be given walking tours of the island.

Cllr Jim Daly, mayor of Co Cork, said the official handover of the island represented the culmination of a long campaign by the people of Cork.

“We have campaigned for a number of years to have the island handed over to Cork County Council and today marks the culmination of the work of so many local politicians and residents,” he said.

Mr Ó Cuív said the handover was a special day for Cork and for him personally.

“Seventy-two years ago to the day, my grandfather Éamon de Valera stood here as the national flag, the Irish Tricolour, was raised for the first time over the island, when the Treaty ports were handed back to the Irish State.”

Martin Riordan, Cork county manager, said a master plan for the island would be published next spring.

“We hope to have made considerable progress in the planning process before the end of the year,” he said.

A website has been set up inviting the public to make suggestions as to how Spike Island should be developed as a tourist attraction: www.spikeislandcork.com

IrishTimes

Key road and rail projects axed as money runs out says the Independent

Colin Broderick — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:34:13 +0000

Only time will tell as to whether this is true or not…

FORTY major road projects and key rail and Luas projects have been scrapped because there is no money to build them.

Nine new motorway rest areas planned for the M7 (Limerick), M8 (Cork), M9 (Waterford), M3 (Cavan) and N11 (Wexford) have also been mothballed by the Government, an Irish Independent investigation has found. The National Roads Authority (NRA) has run out of money to build the 40 roads, which include bypasses and dual carriageways.

It has been “directed” by the Government not to build the remaining rest areas along motorways, sources revealed.

The axed projects will be confirmed in a government mid-term review of the National Development Plan (NDP), which is expected to be completed within weeks.

The investigation also found:

The Government has almost halved funding for infrastructure between now and 2013, from €39.6bn to €22.9bn.

The NRA will begin just three projects next year, and all are in partnership with the private sector, with monies to be paid back over 30 years.

A series of projects under the NDP also face the axe, including several of the capital’s Luas links.

The only projects considered “safe” under the NDP are Metro North, the Atlantic Corridor Road project linking Letterkenny to Waterford, and the underground DART.

Government sources confirmed vulnerable projects included four Metro/Luas schemes — Metro West, Luas lines from Cherrywood to Bray, Lucan to the city centre and St Stephen’s Green to Liffey Junction.

Question marks also hang over the N3 Belturbet bypass inCo Cavan, the N5 Longford bypass, the N22 Tralee bypass and N25 Cork southern ring road junction upgrade.

These are due to go ahead next year “subject to funding being available”. Phase two and three of the Western Rail Corridor are also in doubt as the Government undertakes its review of the NDP.

A spokesman for Transport Minister Noel Dempsey last night admitted that “because of the changed economic circumstances, it was now likely that not all of the projects originally identified in Transport 21 will be completed by 2015″.

He added: “No projects have been cancelled and Transport 21 continues to provide the strategic framework for capital spending on transport infrastructure into the future.”

It is estimated there are 70,000 people employed in big capital projects around the country. There are now concerns that government spending cuts will add to the lengthening dole queues.

The most recent live register figures showed there were more than 450,000 people seeking unemployment benefits — the highest in three years.

Economic experts argue that good infrastructure is essential to ensure Ireland can create jobs and capitalise when the global economy turns a corner.

This is because Ireland does not have a jobs stimulus package, which is the norm in many European countries.

The Government’s own growth forecasts of more than 3.3pc in 2011 and more than 4pc for the following three years are based on capital expenditure of €5.5bn every year until 2014.

But the latest Exchequer figures show that while tax returns are roughly in line with expectations, capital expenditure is already running 25pc, or €600m, below target.

Employers group IBEC described the trend as “worrying”. IBEC economist Fergal O’Brien added: “The Government is telling us it is spending money, but we are not seeing it on the ground.

“The capital expenditure programme is our equivalent of a job stimulus.

“It certainly seems like the Government is cutting spending and the big question is what happens when big programmes like the already completed Aviva Stadium finish up. Where will the growth be for the next two years and where will the jobs come from?”

He added that, with tender prices down 30pc, the Government would get good value if it was spending money on capital projects that were needed, like roads, schools and hospitals.

Irish Independent – Treacy Hogan and Ailish O’Hora

Cork to get localised flood defences

Colin Broderick — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:22:52 +0000

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.

Details of the proposal were set out in the Draft Lee Catchment Flood-Risk Management Plan which was drawn up by the OPW following the November 2009 flood and which was presented by Mr Gavin to members of Cork City Council this week.

Mr Gavin said under the localised proposal consultants would be appointed by the OPW to identify areas upstream of the city where work needed to be carried out to enable the ESB to release water at higher volumes without causing flooding.

He said the project would also examine quay walls and bridges in the city where flood waters from the Lee could spill into the city centre.

“This scheme is less costly than the other option and can also be introduced more quickly – consultants are going to be appointed and I believe that it could be in place within 18 months because much of the work relates to management procedures at the ESB dams.”

An ESB spokeswoman confirmed that the company had been working with the OPW on the Lee flood-risk and management study.

IrishTimes