Dublin AIrport Authority anounces new "city" to be built on Dublin Airport lands

The Dublin Airport Authority has announced plans for what it describes as a new "city" to be built near the existing Dublin Airport terminal complex.

The DAA wants to build a €4bn development over 140 hectacres to the east of the airport, comprising mainly office space.

The development has yet to get planning permission and it is unclear as to where the funding will come from.

However, the Authority says the plan fits in with the development plans of Fingal County Council.

The DAA says that it will become an economic hub targeting Foreign Direct Investment, (FDI).

It is envisaged that executives based at the new Dublin Airport city would have a high-speed people direct train access with the new Metro North station and would be able to get from their desks to airport check-in in an average of six minutes.

The authority states that the development will have 55,000m2 of office space along with retail and hotel facilities and a third-level aviation college.

Although it could take 20 years to build, the Authority claims this development could add €1bn a year to the Irish economy.

The Key facts and figures -

Cost: €4 billion
Site: 350 acres east of Dublin airport
Size: 600,000sq m of offices; 40,000sq m of retail, hotel and conference facilities
Projected employment: 30,000 (10,000 new jobs to be created)
Time frame: 15 to 20 years, with the first tenants expected in 2012/2013

Sources:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0425/airport.html?rss

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/04/too-early-to-tell-whether-airport-city.html

http://www.dublinairportauthority.com/media-centre/press-releases/092008.html

Port Development Plans for Waterford and Limerick Accelerate

A huge tower twice as tall as Dublin’s Liberty Hall is proposed as part of an urban development in Waterford docklands.

The Water Haven development will incorporate a 156-bedroom hotel, 22 floors of apartments above 10 floors of offices in the central tower and a marina and leisure centre, while the possibility of a light rail system servicing the site has also been flagged by the developers. The plan includes a 119-metre, 32-storey building with apartments and offices.

The project which is currently costed at €380 million is planned for a 13-acre site formerly owned by Waterford Stanley beside the river Suir at Bilberry in Waterford city. A planning application is due to be lodged soon with Waterford City Council by the design team led by CJ Falconer & Associates. The site, a former iron foundry was designated as a potential development site in the 2007-2013 Waterford City Development Plan.

According to the developers, the Bolster Group, the project will also house a “sky view” section “offering unprecedented views of Waterford city, east Co Waterford and south Co Kilkenny”.

The hotel will include a large conference centre with a 500-delegate capacity. A leisure and fitness centre with a gymnasium and spa and swimming pool is included, while the scheme also includes marinas with 80 berths.
The proposal includes a proposed extension of the existing Waterford and Suir Valley Railway, to allow the train run to the site of the former Waterford South railway station at Bilberry. “The railway works will also leave open the possibility of light rail ultimately running along Waterford’s south quays,” a spokesperson for the Bolster Group said.

A total of 395 one, two and three-bedroom apartments is incorporated in the development, along with children’s play areas.

Speaking about the Water Haven project, William Bolster stated that the site provided an opportunity to create a new gateway to Waterford.

“With work continuing at a great rate on the Waterford city bypass, including the second river crossing just upriver from our site, there will be a whole new experience for those approaching Waterford by rail and road within the next couple of years,” he said at the design launch.

“This will help enhance Waterford’s appeal as a genuine riverside city and meets the sustainability objectives of strengthening the city’s core and making the best use of available lands.”

Waterford-based Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Martin Cullen, recently called for large-scale developments to proceed in Waterford City.
Minister Cullen said: "We certainly need to see some major developments commence in Waterford City and indeed, the immediate environs. We now really need to see the cranes appearing over the city and those developments to go ahead. There is a number of developments both within the city centre area and peripheral to the city that I believe are essential now to commence”.

Meanwhile, a report outlining Government proposals for Limerick Docks will be published later this month.

The former director of the Mid-Western Regional Authority Tom Kirby was asked by the Shannon Foynes Port Company, which run the docks, to draw up the report.
It is expected that this report will form the basis for a blueprint for development of Limerick docks.

In 2006, a major plan drawn up by the former chief executive of the port company, Brian Byrne, met with sustainance resistance from Limerick port users and local politicians.

The plan envisaged developments of the docks as a commercial, financial, retail, residential and recreational centre and the abandonment of their original port facilities.

At the time, Mr. Byrne stated that the proposed sale would release vital additional money for the ongoing redevelopment of Foynes Port; one of the premier deepwater multimodal ports in the country. The report stated that a key component of the proposals is the extension of downstream port facilities, which is being planned to coincide with the future needs of the existing port users in Limerick docks. The port users nevertheless voiced their opposition to the plan as they would have to transfer their import and export operations to Foynes, 40km down the Shannon Estuary, and to other ports.

The Kirby report is due to be given to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and members of the SFPC board within three weeks.


http://www.examiner.ie/story/ireland/gbausnmhoj/rss2/

http://www.waterford-today.ie/

http://www.independent.ie/business/commercial-property/iconic-tower-to-lead-8364380m-waterford-urban-quarter-1355876.html

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/04/waterford-tower-to-be-twice-as-tall-as.html

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/04/docks-plan-due-this-month.html

http://www.bolstergroup.com/bolster-properties/latest-news/plans-unveiled-for-380m-iconic-riverside-development-in-waterford.html

http://www.bolstergroup.com/bolster-construction/latest-news.html

http://www.sfpc.ie/news058.htm

An Bord Pleanala rejects proposed Arnotts development

According to news reports, An Bord Pleanala has rejected plans for a major new shopping development on the site of the Arnotts department store in Dublin city centre.

Arnotts is planning to construct the "Northern Quarter" and the company's proposals were approved by Dublin City Council last year.

However, reports this morning say An Bord Pleanala has rejected several significant aspects of the €750m development, including the proposed 16-storey tower.

The planning appeals body has reportedly told Arnotts that no element of the proposed scheme can be taller than seven storeys and has rejected a plan to redesign of the facade of the Penneys building beside the GPO.

In February Arnotts announced that it was to lay-off 600 staff as part of its relocation programme for the new development.

Sources:

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/planning-body-rejects-proposed-arnotts-development-1340476.html

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/02/around-600-jobs-to-go-at-arnotts-and.html

Shannon Estuary gas terminal go-ahead

An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for the construction of a natural gas terminal between Tarbert and Ballylongford on the Shannon Estuary.

The board's decision in favour of the €500m project follows an eight-day hearing involving the promoters and objectors to the project.

Shannon LNG plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal and four giant storage tanks on a site located on 280 acres of state land owned by the Irish semi-state company Shannon Development.

Millions of gallons of natural gas will be stored at the facility before being pumped into the national grid, via a pipeline 30km long. The company states that 650 jobs will be created during the four-year construction phase, with a further 50 jobs long-term.

Shannon LNG says this development will be one of the biggest construction projects ever undertaken in the area and that its benefits will be felt nationally, as well as in North Kerry. The company anticipates that the building can start next year and that the plant will be operational by 2012.

The company says the terminal would offer Ireland diversity and security of supply.

It also says the plant would not prejudice health and safety or significantly affect the environment.

But residents living close to the proposed terminal said they feared explosions and leaks, and that they might be forced to leave their homes if an exclusion zone were created around the facility.


Source:

http://www.rte.ie/business/2008/0401/gas.html?rss

Boyne Valley to be buried in concrete: 745 Houses for Historic Battle of the Boyne Site

Plan for 745 houses for Battle of the Boyne site is appealed to An Bord Pleanala

A proposed housing estate in Drogheda, Co Meath will have a "drastic impact" on key historic sites, including a crossing point on the River Boyne used by William of Orange during the Battle of the Boyne.

Plans to build 745 houses on 27 hectares on the southern shore of the battlefield site at Oldbridge have been criticised by local residents who argue that the site includes the point of the final fording of the River Boyne and the spot where King William of Orange crossed the Boyne in 1690 with 3,500 mounted troops.

The decision by Meath County Council to grant permission to developers Niall Mellon and Pat O'Reilly last July was criticised at the time by Northern Ireland Assembly member Billy Armstrong. "There is much talk these days of a shared future, but the Battle of the Boyne is part of a shared past," he said at the time.

The grant of planning permission is now under appeal to An Bord Pleanála by the Highlands Residents' Association. "This was the last crossing of the Boyne and was the pivotal turning point of the battle. From here the mounted troops charged the Jacobite forces who retreated to the close-by Hill of Donore," says Peter Ryan, secretary of the association.

The density of the proposed scheme has also been criticised by the association. Located 3kms from the town centre with limited public transport, and no facilities, as would be natural in a largely rural area, such a large housing estate is "totally unjustified", according to the association.

Other issues raised include 1. the impact of traffic on the adjacent Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage site, 2. the protected willow woodland islands in the River Boyne and 3. the other - as yet unexcavated - archeological sites. The application is due to be decided next month.


Source:


http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/03/745-houses-for-battle-of-boyne-site.html

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/property/2008/0320/1205706708275.html