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”.

Explaining the decision, An Bord Pleanála said the proposed development is partly within the South Dublin Bay and River Tolka Estuary proposed Special Protection Area (pSPA) designated under the Birds Directive.

Refusing the proposal on four grounds, the planning authority said it was not satisfied the proposed development would not adversely affect the integrity of the South Dublin Bay and River Tolka Estuary proposed special protection area and “was not satisfied it would not adversely affect the natural heritage of Dublin Bay, contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Welcoming the decision, Dublin Bay Watch chairman Cllr Gerry Breen said: “Hopefully this decision will see the end of the 40 year old folly of the Port Company of attempting to infill the bay. Now we can turn to shape a vision for the bay which accords with the hopes and ambitions of the people of Dublin.”

Labour Dublin North Central Cllr Aodhán Ó Ríordáin also welcomed the decision to reject the application to infill and develop over 95 acres of the inner bay of Dublin.

“I am delighted that An Bord Pleanála have made this decision and finally put to bed the decades old controversy over the proposed infill of Dublin Bay. Myself and my Labour colleagues Bronwen Maher and Tommy Broughan have fought long and hard against the Port Company’s proposals over many years.”

However, the board did not accept the Inspector’s recommendation to refuse permission on the grounds of the unacceptable risk of flooding of the Clontarf area due to wave conditions. In its decision, the board said the Clontarf area is already at risk of flooding and that a flood relief scheme by the City Council has been approved.

An Bord Pleanála said the Dublin Port Company had planning fees of €155,456 in relation to the application.

In a brief statement, the Dublin Port Company said it was reviewing the decision before making any further comment.

Addressing an oral hearing into the proposals last year Dublin Port Company chief executive Enda Connellan said capacity was a crucial factor and the port needed deeper berths to accommodate bigger ships. He said the expansion would allow for an increase of up to 50 per cent in capacity for unitised containers which was crucial to the national economy.

IrishTimes

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AN EXISTING risk of flooding in Clontarf, Sandymount and Ringsend would be exacerbated by Dublin Port’s plans to infill 52 acres of Dublin Bay, a Bord Pleanála hearing heard yesterday.

Citing a range of expert opinions, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2003 report entitled Climate Change, Scenarios and Impacts for Ireland , the campaign group Dublin Bay Watch said the planting of 52 acres of “hard material” in Dublin Bay represented a “considerable flooding risk” in addition to that posed by rising sea levels.

At the resumed hearing yesterday, An Bord Pleanála senior inspector Brendan Wyse was told by Liam O’Dwyer that the range of expertise arrayed against the port company’s plan was extensive.

He cited from research by the EPA, UCC in collaboration with the Hydraulics and Marine Research Centre, as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to emphasise the risk of more intense storms occurring more frequently.

Dublin, he said, was cited in a number of studies as being a low-lying coastal area which was “very seriously at risk” from flooding.

Fellow Dublin Bay Watch member Peter Bailey said the EPA report had concluded the impacts of “sea level rise will be most apparent in the major cities of Cork, Limerick, Dublin and Galway” and this was a serious problem where strategic infrastructure was located.

In a legal submission on behalf of Dublin Bay Watch and the Clontarf Residents’ Association, barrister Dónall Ó’Laoire said the infill was contrary to the EU birds directive, the EU habitats directive, the directive on environmental impact assessments, and proper planning and development.

Dublin Port Company has told the inquiry the increase in port capacity provided by the infill is a matter of strategic economic importance to the State.

IrishTimes

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TIM O’BRIEN

Bord Pleanála is to reopen its oral hearing into plans by Dublin Port Company to infill 52 acres of Dublin Bay.

The hearing was adjourned last September after it was revealed that the Bord’s advisor on hydrogeology, HR Wallingford Ltd, had previously worked for Drogheda Port Company.

Drogheda Port Company is seeking to develop a rival port to Dublin Port, at Bremore near Balbriggan in north County Dublin. Drogheda Port Company is also a party to the Oral Hearing on the infill project.

Last month Bord Pleanála rejected any suggestion of bias on the part of HR Wallingford but announced it would change its advisor.

The new advisor is to be Anthony Cawley of Hydro Environmental Limited. He will act as the specialist consultant to assist the Inspector Brendan Wyse and advise the board.

The board said Mr Cawley was being given time to read himself into the brief and the oral hearing would resume on November 30th in All Hallows College, Drumcondra.

News of the reopening of the hearing was welcomed by opponents of the plan, Dublin Bay Watch, which said it looks forward to having its objections heard.

IrishTimes

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AN BORD PLEANÁLA is to reopen a planning hearing into Dublin port proposals to infill 52 acres of Dublin bay.

The hearing was suspended last month after it emerged the board’s advisers HR Wallingford, had undertaken work on plans for Bremore port which is a potential rival for Dublin’s port’s expansion plans.

In a letter received by the parties to the hearing yesterday, the board said it did not accept there was a conflict of interest.

However, the board said it would be changing its advisers and dispensing with the services of HR Wallingford.

The hearing will reopen when new advisers read themselves into the brief.

The issue of conflict arose after it emerged during the inquiry that HR Wallingford had provided advice in 2004 to Drogheda Port Company which is planning a deep water port at Bremore, in north Co Dublin.

In deciding there was no conflict of interest the board noted the HR Wallingford adviser assigned to the case commenced employment with the company only in 2007. It also noted that in recent years HR Wallingford had also worked directly or indirectly for both Dublin Port Company and Dublin City Council.

The board said it will now appoint a new expert to replace the adviser but will reconvene the oral hearing under inspector Brendan Wyse as soon as feasible.

Welcoming the news, chairman of Dublin Bay Watch, Gerry Breen, said it was ‘‘keen to put our side of the argument to the hearing”.

Source:  IrishTimes – www.irishtimes.com

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