Application for new €1.2 Billion New Town Outside Dublin: The Death of the Spatial Strategy

Wednesday, 30 January 2008 16:11

A planning application to develop a new town centre outside Dublin has been lodged with South Dublin County Council.

Adamstown Central will cost more than €1.2bn to develop and will be equivalent in size to Dundalk.

In April of last year the Taoiseach opened Adamstown's train station. It is currently used by the 500 or so residents that live there, but in 15 years time 30,000 people will live in the area and today's development is about meeting their needs.

The 20 acre Adamstown Central will include public buildings, healthcare facilities, places of worship, shops and a library which will be called an 'idea store'.

Planning will be "fast tracked" under the new strategic development zone legislation. RTE states that 'in theory' building work could start in about two months time. In 'reality it will be later this year before Castlethorn Construction begins work in Adamstown.

Construction and development will take around three years to complete once permission is granted.

The fact that new towns of this scale are being proposed at this point in time is a sign that the National Spatial Strategy, the Government plan to create balanced regional development, is being abandoned. The Strategy proposed to expand the border town of Dundalk, the town of Sligo, whose population has declined to under 18,000 people, and the "linked gateways" of Letterkenny in the Republic, Derry in Northern Ireland, and the Midland towns of Athlone in the centre of Ireland, Tullamore, the capital town of County Offaly, and Mullingar in County Westmeath.

In addition, the NSS identified nine strategically located medium-sized "hubs" which will support, and be supported by, the gateways and will link out to wider rural areas. The hubs identified are Cavan, Ennis, Kilkenny, Mallow, Monaghan, Tuam and Wexford, along with the linked hubs of Ballina/Castlebar and Tralee/Killarney, "working together to promote regional development in their areas."

The fact that a development on the scale of "Adamstown", which will be another new town located outside Dublin, is now being promoted, means that the National Spatial Strategy has effectively been abandoned. The growth of suburban Dublin, which has blighted both the capital city and the countryside around Dublin, is not being halted, but actively accelerated.

Sources: http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0130/adamstown.html

http://www.irishspatialstrategy.ie/

Shannon LNG Hearing Safety Concerns Dismissed by Hess Corporation

Gas sector safety defended at hearing

On Tuesday, the 22nd of January 2008, the President and Chief Executive of the US corporation Hess LNG told a planning hearing in Tralee yesterday. It was very easy to inflame public opinion about safety issues surrounding liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals, However, Gordon Shearer said the industry had "an impeccable" safety record.

The corporation is the ultimate parent company of Shannon LNG, applicants in the €500 million proposal to build the State's first regassification terminal on the Shannon estuary in north Kerry.

The sheltered Shannon estuary with its deepwater channel was a major shipping route and had been selected over 17 other sites, including Cork Harbour, the applicants disclosed.

Shannon LNG/Hess Corporation pledged "open access" to the gas pipeline for the Kerry region. Mr Shearer, who has co- authored a non-technical guide to LNG, said in the course of almost two and a half hours of testimony that it was easy to stir up public emotion with comparisons to nuclear explosions and terrorist attacks and it was difficult to allay fears because LNG was a complex and very technical issue. However, the industry had "an impeccable" safety record.

The Kilcolgan Residents Association, the townland alongside the proposed terminal, submitted that permission should be denied because Hess LNG's application for a terminal at Weaver's Cove near Boston in the US had been denied because of "disregard for safety" .

Mr Shearer said that proposal stalled because of a "narrow issue" arising from an old bridge blocking the shipping lane and this was being addressed.

The project was found to be safe and secure by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency charged with approving US import terminals, and was expected to be approved in a year or so.

Hess LNG had no operating terminal, Mr Shearer said, but was similar to most major oil and gas companies in this fact. However, Hess staff and Shannon LNG staff had "extensive experience" in the area.

"There is no question that LNG terminals are broadly opposed in most of the United States outside of the Gulf of Mexico.

"That does not mean they are unsafe."

Paddy Power, managing director of Shannon Development, said ports and bays around Ireland had been examined to identify a suitable site for the terminal, which would cater for 125 large ships a year.

He stated that only the Shannon estuary had the required deepwater channel combined with shelter from adverse winds and nearby links to gas infrastructure and high-voltage electricity transmission grids. Shannon estuary was "an ideal site".

Mr Power said one of the primary purposes of the proposal during discussions with Shannon Development, which owns the 280-acre site, was to encourage regional development.

The An Bord Pleanala oral hearing chaired by senior Bord Pleanála inspector Andrew Boyle was scheduled for one week, from the 21st until the 25th January 2008. It is the first to be heard under legislation designed to fast-track planning for projects of designated as being of strategic economic importance.

Sources:

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/12023853?view=Eircomnet&cat=Top%20Stories

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0121/gas.html

High Court Appeal Against Poolbeg Incinerator

The Combined Residents Against Incineration (CRAI) group has taken the first steps in a High Court appeal against the decision to grant planning permission for an incinerator in Poolbeg, in Dublin.

The organisation lodged papers with the High Court initiating an appeal against the Minister for the Environment, the Attorney General, Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála.

In the summons, the organisation cites a number of claims including that Ireland has failed to transpose its obligations under European Council directives, in particular the Arhaus Directive, into Irish law.

CRAI also says it is entitled to have access to a review proceedure to challenge the legality of an Bord Pleanála's decision to grant permission for the incinerator.

The defendants in the case have 21 days to respond.

Reference:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0123/incinerator.html?rss

LNG Terminal for Shannon Estuary: Planning Hearing this week

In late September 2007, Shannon LNG Ltd displayed detailed plans for a €500 million terminal to convert highly pressurised liquid gas for use on the national grid.

The plan is to open the terminal in 2012.

If granted planning permission, the north Kerry facility has the potential to provide 40% of the country’s natural gas requirements.

The plans were first sent to An Bord Pleanala as part of their planning application for the facility and were then made public on September 28 2007.

The submission of this application is the culmination of months of research, he said.

According to LNG's managing director: “The EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) is a very comprehensive document addressing all aspects of the project including environmental impacts, construction and traffic issues, safety requirements and the strict standards to be employed during both construction and operation,” he said.

The cost of the project has risen by €100 million since last year when the company began a site investigation.

Yesterday it said €500m was a more accurate reflection of the cost.

Once An Board Pleanála has received the application a seven-week window will open for the public to register objections.

The proposed complex will be built on the Kerry side of the estuary in the townlands of Ralappane and Kilcolgan Lower, situated between Ballylongford and Tarbert.

This is a land-bank owned by Shannon Development — earmarked to harness the economic potential of its deep-water access.

The terminal will involve a network of jetties, four giant gas storage tanks and buildings where the liquid gas will be converted from minus 160°.

It will require a number of fire safety measures and the establishment of an emergency plan in case of a major accident on the site.

As the terminal is considered a strategic piece of infrastructure, the planning application goes directly to An Bord Pleanála.

Kerry County Council has already approved the rezoning required to allow the complex to be built.

Chairman of Shannon Development John Brassil said the gas terminal will be a big employment boost for the north Kerry area.

From September 28 the public can view the plans at An Bord Pleanála in Dublin, in Shannon LNG’s offices in Listowel, at Kerry County Council in Tralee and at www.shannonlngplanning.ie

Thursday, 20 September 2007, (Irish Town Planners Blog): http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2007/09/500m-gas-terminal-seeks-planning.html

"Residents fear Kerry LNG gas terminal will threaten their homes"
Up to 50 people living directly adjacent to the landbank between Tarbert and Ballylongford came together at a public meeting in Tarbert on Thursday night, where they presented their issues to two representatives of the Shannon LNG company, which is behind the proposed gas terminal.

It is expected that a residents group in Tarbert, Count Kerry, will lodge a detailed objection to An Bord Pleanála outlining their fears over the proposed LNG terminal. If their objections are upheld and plannning permisison is refused, it could sound the death knell for the multi-million euro project that is expected to create 650 jobs during construction and 50 jobs when the plant is up and running

At a public meeting in Tarbert on Thursday, members of the Kilcolgan Residents Association comprised of people living directly on the landbank said they are worried their homes would be within the immediate fall-out zone in the event of an accident. We have very legitimate concerns over the gas terminal, not least the threat it would pose to our homes, group member Adam Kearney, told The Kerryman. Weve done a lot of research and can see the many dangers worldwide associated with plants of this nature.

While Shannon LNG insist that the terminal would be extremely safe with gas being piped in at low pressure, residents on the landbank are not placated.It seems that an exclusion zone of at least 2kms should be placed on it but where are the plans for this. Within 2 kms of the site there are upwards of 30 homes, Mr Kearney said. The tanks will also be a huge presence on the landscape and were not happy with how the company are proposing to heat their plant because of the environmental effect it would have.

Friday, 2 November 2007 (Irish town planners blog): http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2007/11/residents-fear-kerry-lng-gas-terminal.html

An oral hearing into a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal between Tarbert and Ballylongford on the Shannon Estuary has opened in Tralee, Co Kerry.The hearing is being conducted by An Bord Pleanála and is the first to be heard under legislation designed to fast-track planning for projects of strategic economic importance.
Shannon LNG proposes to build a liquefied natural gas terminal and four giant storage tanks on a 280-acre site.

Millions of gallons of natural gas would be stored at the facility before being pumped into the national grid, via a pipeline 30km long.

The oral hearing is scheduled to last a week, with An Bord Pleanála promising a decision by the end of March.

(RTE News): Monday, 21 January 2008 http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0121/gas.html?rss

A copy of the Friends of the Irish Environment's submission to An Bord Pleanala outlining their concerns can be found at: http://friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/?do=friendswork&action=view&id=645