Tara Foundation Planning Blog

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2009-09-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

We have changed our name, and the Tara Foundation has become Foras Teamhrach, an unincorporated association under Irish law.

Blog posts will now be made on http://www.tara-foundation.org/blog. There are frequent updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/forasteamhrach.

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Dublin City Council to use CPO's to Facilitate Arnotts "Northern Quarter" Plan

2008-07-30T04:22:00.000-07:00

Dublin City Council (DCC) is planning to use compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) to forcibly acquire properties to facilitate the development of the Northern Quarter retail scheme planned by Arnotts for Henry Street in Dublin city centre.

The council said its is proposing to initiate a CPO to allow Arnotts acquire "some properties not yet acquired by the developer, the perfection of title where required and the extinguishment of rights of way over certain laneways/ roadway. The CPO will have regard to the final decision on the planning application. All costs incurred by DCC will be underwritten by the developer."

The €750m Northern Quarter plan has been given planning permission by An Bord Pleanála, which has told Arnotts to lower the heights of many of the buildings proposed and halve the number of proposed car spaces.

Arnotts had originally proposed developing a new department store, 47 shops, 14 cafes, restaurants and bars, around 175 apartments and a 149-bedroom four-star hotel on the 5.5-acre site it has assembled by buying surrounding properties. It has also bought properties on nearby Liffey Street, including the K2 bar, for about €10m.

Arnotts had planned to relocate to the former Debenhams unit in Jervis Street shopping centre during the redevelopment but it is now looking at moving to another location.

The decision to use a CPO for Northern Quarter will revive memories of the council's decision to CPO the nearby Carlton cinema and adjoining sites which held up development of the area for seven years.

Developer Joe O'Reilly has since bought the site and a large number of surrounding properties and is planning a major rival development to Northern Quarter on the site.

Recently, the developer secured planning permission for a part of the €1.25bn redevelopment when he was granted planning permission to demolish the Royal Dublin Hotel, which he bought for €30m.

He will now be able to develop more than 1,100sq m of shops, a gallery and more than 2,500sq m of office space. His scheme, currently dubbed Dublin Central, will be anchored by Dublin department store John Lewis.

Source:

Sunday Tribune, Neil Callanan July 13, 2008

http://www.tribune.ie/business/article/2008/jul/13/council-to-use-cpos-to-help-arnotts-with-750m-henr/

An Bord Pleanala Effectively Rubber Stamps Massive "Northern Quarter" Development

2008-07-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

An Bord Pleanála has given the go-ahead for a major redevelopment by Arnotts in Dublin city centre.

The company is planning a €750 million redevelopment of a 5.5-acre block, centered at the site of planned for the site of the existing Henryu Street store in Dublin. The development will be bordered by Henry Street, Middle Abbey Street, Liffey Street and O'Connell Street into a new shopping, entertainment and residential zone, called "Northern Quarter".

The Planning Board gave the green light subject to 26 conditions, including the preservation of several protected buildings in the area.

An Post, An Taisce and the Rail Procurement Agency were among the parties that had appealed planning permission for the scheme, which was granted by Dublin City Council last summer.

Among the conditions laid down, an Bord Pleanála has ruled that the developer has to provide for 24-hour public access to all of the proposed new public streets and spaces, including Abbey Square.

The board also said there must also be a year-round festival ticket office at ground-floor level, appropriate childcare facilities, and an archaeological appraisal of the site. An independent road safety audit must be done, and a parking-management plan prepared and agreed with the planning authority, the board stipulated.

Details of shopfront design - including any associated signage, lettering, lighting or security screens - is subject to a further application for planning permission.

In April 2008, an Bord Pleanála had rejected several aspects of the development, including a proposed 16-storey tower. The board told Arnotts to cut the height of the tower by nine storeys and ensure that no other building in the development was higher than seven.

In its letter to Arnotts, the board said then the development would be "unduly obtrusive on the skyline" and would "seriously detract from the balance and architectural coherence of these streets".

An Arnotts spokesman said: “We are delighted with the news. It gives certainty to the very ambitious Northern Quarter project. We will work with the city council to deal with the various conditions An Bord Pleanála has made.”

The retailer refused to comment on a previous announcement that 580 of its 950 staff will be let go when the store moves temporarily to Jervis Street Shopping Centre, which is one-third the size of Henry Street site. Boyers on North Earl Street will also be converted to an Arnotts furniture and home store.

“The news has come a bit faster than expected, so Arnotts will now sit down to assess the detail of what will happen next,” the spokesman added. “Over the next few weeks, management will also work to bring clarity to the workers.”

Linda Tanham, an official with trade union Mandate, which represents most Arnotts’ workers, said staff are still unsure as to what will happen next. “We are expecting to meet with management this week to get an update on a timescale for trading and intended job losses,” she added.

When completed, the Northern Quarter – bordered by the Middle Abbey Street, Henry Street, and Liffey Street - is expected to employ over 5,000 people, with one-fifth of those working in the new Arnotts store.

It is envisaged one of the main features will be the re-creation of Prince’s Street as an urban street and pedestrian thoroughfare with a new public square at its centre.

Welcoming the decision, Jerry Ryan, managing director of HKR Architects, responsible for the overall design, stated: “This is one of the largest and most significant regeneration projects to be undertaken in Dublin’s city centre and is an exciting and challenging project for HKR.“

Gina Quin, chief executive of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, asserted that the Northern Quarter will reinvigorate the heart of Dublin city centre.
“Not only will it have a significant impact on the city’s retail variety and range of offerings, but this development will also help to transform the Henry Street area into a vibrant residential, leisure and entertainment hub,” she said.

“The Northern Quarter will offer residents, shoppers and tourists a wide range of activities in the evenings and will play an important part in the transformation of Dublin’s city centre into that of a world class city with a quality of life that is second to none.”

The Construction Industry Federation likewise, asserted that the scheme will make a huge contribution to the (construction?) sector. “There are a number of large scale projects in the pipeline or which have already begun and the Arnotts redevelopment is a huge construction opportunity, particularly for those in commercial construction, said spokesman.

Source:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0728/breaking51.htm

Quarryvale land rose €60million in value after rezoning process

2008-07-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Cork property developer Owen O'Callaghan admitted to the Mahon Tribunal that land at Quarryvale increased in value by the equivalent of around €60m when rezoned.

Mr. O'Callaghan went on to deny that notes he made on financial records suggested he had paid councillors in exchange for voting in favour of rezoning.

The developer was shown a valuation report by Hamilton Osbourne King from 1992. The report estimated the 118 hectares or 180 acres of land at Quarryvale in west Dublin to be worth £19m but if rezoned for a town centre this would rise to £31m.

Patricia Dillon SC for the tribunal said this uplift would be equivalent to around €60m in today's terms which is likely to be a conservative estimate.

Mr. O'Callaghan said this valuation was based on 500,000 sq ft of retail space, which was not achieved for a number of years after that.

Mr. O'Callaghan denied that notes he made concerning records of payments to Frank Dunlop meant that money was paid in exchange for rezoning votes.

Beside the payments totaling £80,000 to Mr Dunlop in 1991, Mr O'Callaghan had written 'May 16th' - the date of the rezoning vote - and 'for election', a reference to the local elections in June.

Mr O'Callaghan stated that this was a silly note to ease his mind in regard to the high level of fees charged by reminding himself that Mr Dunlop would be facing requests for donations by councillors who had supported Quarryvale.

Source:

"Quarryvale land rose €60m after rezoning"

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0723/mahon.html

Planning Board Approval for U2's Clarence Hotel plans

2008-07-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

The developers of the proposed Clarance Hotel redevelopment which include U2 members Bono and The Edge have secured planning permission from An Bord Pleanála to redevelop the Clarence Hotel in Dublin.

An Bord Pleanála disregarded the recommendation of the inspector who held the public hearing into the case.

The inspector had recommended that the hotel not be granted planning permission.

Heritage groups had opposed the plan as most of the art deco hotel, and several Georgian quayside buildings, will be extensively remodelled.

In April 2008, U2's guitarist The Edge told a hearing by An Bord Pleanála that the future of the hotel may be in doubt, if the owners' redevelopment proposals were rejected.

Under those plans, developed by Norman Foster, most of the 1930s hotel, four Georgian buildings, and a Victorian building will be remodelled. A huge glass atrium will then be built over the new structure.

However, the scale of the redevelopment led the heritage groups to oppose it, arguing the redevelopment was inappropriate and affects protected buildings.

John Redmill, a committee member of the Irish Georgian Society, said it was a very black day for historic buildings and asserted the historic skyline of the capital would now be destroyed.

However, Damien Cassidy of the National Conservation Group welcomed the decision.

He withdrew an objection to the project after Bono arranged a meeting for him with the architect Norman Foster.

He said Mr Foster explained that the controversial glass atrium was an environmentally-friendly aspect, which would contribute to the heating of the building.

Mr Cassidy said the decision guarantees the Clarence will remain open for business as a landmark hotel, which was welcome in the context of the closure of several traditional Dublin businesses such as Bewleys and Jurys.

Comment:

If this development proceeds, it will complete the almost complete destruction of Dublin's historic quays, which took place from the mid-1980's onwards, to be replaced by junk architecture., a process that was largely funded by tax incentives.
This particular development is completely unacceptable in its quayside context.

Source:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0717/clarence.html

http://www.irish-architecture.com/news/2007/000022.html

Planning Bord's rejections of proposed Ringaskiddy facility hightlights need for development of Rail Freight

2008-07-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Refusal by An Bord Pleanala to approve the Port of Cork Development Plan is a damning indictment of Government‘s lack of a cohesive policy on critical infrastructure, according to the Irish Exporters Association

The planning board said that while it accepted the need to move port activities from Tivoli, it believed that the Ringaskiddy site did not have an adequate road network.

The Port of Cork had applied under the Strategic Infrastructure Act for permission to develop a new €160 million container terminal at Oysterbank in Ringaskiddy, but An Bord Pleanála refused permission last Friday following a 15-day oral hearing into the matter in April.

Ger Downey, Chairman of the IEA Southern Region stated:

“The planned location of the development, far from adding to traffic congestion on the N28 route linking the area to the Cork Ring Road, would have facilitated Ireland’s major Pharmaceutical, Healthcare and high-end Food Product manufacture cluster at Ringaskiddy, giving quick and safe access to shipping services for imports of raw materials and exports of finished products. The IEA calls on the NRA to proceed with the upgrade of the N28 as a high priority”.

The Association expressed surprise that and An Bord Pleanala placed so much emphasis on the need for a Port development to be rail connected, given the effective abandonment of rail freight by Iarnrod Eireann and the Department of Transport.

The IEA has campaigned to have rail freight restored, particularly to the Ports of Dublin and Foynes and supports the recent statement by Minister Micheal Martin TD, highlighting the need for a return to rail as a means of transporting freight in order to reduce CO2 emissions. Irish Rail has purchased, under Transport 21, a fleet of suitable rail wagons for the carriage of all container sizes, as a resultthe Association sees no impediment to a rapid move of container traffic from road to rail. These new wagons are currently lying idle.

The IEA calls on the Port of Cork to move with the utmost speed to re-apply for planning permission that will meet the needs of exporters in the Munster region to operate in an efficient and competitive manner. The IEA also calls on the Governments Critical Infrastructure Review body, set up to streamline critical infrastructure and chaired by the Taoiseach, to become involved and show they have real powers to progress the Port of Cork’s much needed Development Plan.
The IEA stated that more than 95% of manufactured exports leave Ireland by sea and as ship sizes grow, existing facilities at Cork will become quite inadequate for efficient shipping.

In a related development, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has urged the Port of Cork to consult more widely with local groups in Cork harbour when preparing any alternative plan for the transfer of its container terminal from Tivoli to another location in the harbour.

Mr Martin said the board's decision clearly highlighted the need for a return to rail in the years to come as a means of transporting freight in order to reduce CO2 emission.

Comment: This laudable and rather sudden concern for the development of rail freight services in Ireland, is interesting in the context of the proposed Bremore Port development. If this port proceeds, it will have to have road and and any possible rail connections provided for it where none exist. Cork and the Shannon Region ports, for example, have adjacent rail facilities., all that is needed are the resources.
"There were a lot of concerns among local residents and environmental groups in terms of the specific plans by the port.

"I think the port will have to take those concerns on board and they will have to consult more with people in the harbour before they come back again."

Sources:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0630/1214764285530.html

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/06/minister-urges-port-of-cork-to-think.html

http://www.portofcork.ie/news-events.aspx?id=154

Minsterial Taskforce to Examine Relocation of Dublin Port

2008-06-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

Minister for the Environment John Gormley recently announced the establishment of a taskforce to advise on the future of Dublin Bay with a mandate that will include the removal of Dublin Port and seeking "sustainable redevelopment" of its 650-acre land bank.

Comment: This measure is obviously designed to lend weight to the proposal to create a new port at Bremore, in the process closing down Dublin Port and perhaps others around the country.

In 2005, Meath County Council rezoned 240 acres of land at Gormanston, Co Meath for Industrial and logistics development in the East Meath Development Plan. The lands are adjacent to Bremore, the proposed location of the new port.

Sources:

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/05/taskforce-to-look-at-port-relocation.html

http://www.droghedaport.ie/cms/publish/article_231.shtml

http://www.droghedachamber.com/cms/publish/article_339.php

http://www.droghedaport.ie/cms/publish/newport.shtml

Huge "Floating Pontoon" planned for Lower Ormond Quay

2008-06-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Three parties are appealing planning permission for a floating pontoon at Lower Ormond Quay to An Bord Pleanála because of the impact it would have on the view of the Ha’penny Bridge from the River Liffey.

In April 2008, Dublin City Council granted Irish Ship and Barge Fabrication Co Ltd planning permission for the venture. The pontoon, a 120-metre - long “floating street”, would be cobbled and positioned off the Liffey Boardwalk.
The proposal is that visitors will be able to sit at tables on the pontoon, and order coffee from two former Guinness barges refurbished as a café and restaurant. The pontoon will be part of a €9 million plan to restore four 80ft former Guinness barges from the sea off the coast of Northern Ireland. Some of the barges will operate cruises on the Liffey, while a separate fleet of ferries will collect and drop off passengers at 12 points on the river.

Sources:

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/05/ormond-quay-pontoon-appealed.html

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/images/2008/0529/1211830527358_1.html

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/property/2008/0529/1211830527358.html

http://dublin.iwai.ie/images/proposals/slides/%60Guinness-barge_pontoon_3.html

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/01/return-of-barges-to-liffey-planned.html

440 Homes given planning permission in Baldoyle

2008-06-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for 440 homes on former racecourse lands at Baldoyle, Co Dublin to Helsingor Ltd.

The Board overruled its own inspector’s recommendation to refuse planning permission and disagreed with the inspector’s appraisal that there was a disproportionate split between the number of houses and apartments which would have a negative impact on achieving the overall objections of the Local Area Action Plan.

As well as over 440 units – made up of apartments, duplexes and houses in seven blocks, and a small number of semi-detached and detached houses – the developer, Sean Mulryan got planning permission for a civic park and a crèche.

In March 2007, the company received permission from An Bord Pleanála for a development of around 400 new homes, as the third phase of the development.

On that occasion the development proposed was sizably reduced following discussions with Fingal County Council and planning conditions imposed by An Bord Pleanála.

Elements of the scheme that were rejected in March include 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) of offices, a leisure centre and department store while the number of apartments was reduced from 482.

The development will include a medical centre, supermarket, shops, restaurants and a pub.

Around 4,000 homes are planned for the former Baldoyle racecourse and an adjoining 100-acre site in Portmarnock.

Mulryan sold a 50 per cent stake in the Baldoyle and Portmarnock lands to Séamus Ross of Menolly Homes for € 95 million in 2004.

Mulryan, whose main development company is Ballymore Properties, acquired the racecourse in 1999 for about £30 million from developer John Byrne.

Comment:

In 2006, the Census held by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), found that at least 220,000 houses and apartments across Ireland were vacant. In 2008, 40,000 apartments lie vacant in Dublin City alone.

Sources:

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/property-plus/baldoyle-site-gets-go-ahead-for-453-homes-1391871.html

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2008/05/bord-says-yes-to-sean-mulryans-plans.html

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/property/2008/0529/1211830527347.html

New "City" for Swords while 40,000 apartments lie vacant in Dublin City

2008-05-26T13:10:00.001-07:00

New Plans revealed to develop a new 'city of Swords'
26th May 2008

Fingal County Council has unveiled plans to build a new city of over 120,000 people in Swords. Planners want a third-level university campus, a private hospital and a bus service.

Fingal County Manager David O'Connor said he is not concerned about the impact of present economic difficulties on the development as the plans are projected more than 20 years into the future.

The Manager states that Fingal has a booming population, and is set to benefit from Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, the proposed new port at Bremore and the Ballymun IKEA development, as well as the proposed new "Metro North" railway line. If built as planned, it will have nine stops in the Fingal area.

Mr O'Connor stated that Swords will merge into Drumcondra in the same way that Dundrum has merged into Ranelagh.

Fingal Co. Council intends to double the region's employment to over 66,000 jobs to ensure that the new city of Swords does not become a commuter town, how this is to be achieved is apparently left unspecified.

The council is planning a (private) hospital development and it is understood it is in talks with two third-level institutions to site a campus near Swords.

Comment:
The proposals are to merge Swords and Drumcronda into a gigantic sprawl, eliminating the remaining green belt and by so doing, further extend the suburbs of Dublin into Meath and Kildare. Plans to merge the suburbs of Lucan and Clondalkin have proved disastrous in planning terms. The proposed new port at Bremore, advertised as relieving the congestion at Dublin Port, will simply accelerate the suburbisation of Co.Meath in particular, with Meath County Council rezoning 240 acres of agricultural land for "industrial and logistics development" in Gormanstown, Co. Meath. The solution for Dublin's planning difficulties is not more of the same, but the recognition that the time has some for a halt to the continued development of the agricultural land of Dublin and Meath counties. 2006 Census figures reveal that 220,000 houses and apartments lie vacant, while auctioneers figures for early show 40,000 apartments vacant in Dublin City. Who will occupy these proposed new houses?

Sources:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0526/metro.html

http://www.droghedaport.ie/cms/publish/article_231.shtml

http://www.irishauction.info/2008/01/21/40000-apartments-vacant-in-dublin-iavi/

http://tara-foundation.org/blog/?p=92

http://dublinopinion.com/2007/08/18/irish-housing-watching-a-fat-man-dance/

New Housing Developments Proposed for Meath when at least 220,000 Houses and Apartments lie vacant across Ireland

2008-05-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

Central Statistics Office (CSO) statistics reveal that at least 220,000 houses and apartments are lying vacant across Ireland. The figures were published in 2007 and were available last year but only recently mentioned in the national press. With an increase in rent of up to 20% in the last 12 months, 41,600 apartments and 174,900 houses remain unoccupied. These figures do not include the 50,000 vacant holiday homes around Ireland, or the 30,000 other temporarily vacant properties around the country. The 2006 CSO Report states that: “Approximately 266,000 residences were vacant at the time of the census while in a further 30,000 cases the household was either enumerated elsewhere or temporarily absent from the State.”

15% of Ireland's available housing is now vacant. Developers in Ireland are currently building houses and apartments at a rate of 20 units per 1,000/population. This is almost ten times the average European rate, at between two and four housing units per 1,000 people.

The 2006 figures indicate that 11,000 housing units are vacant in the Fingal Co. Council region of Dublin, 10,000 in the Dublin City Council region, 3,000 in South Dublin and nearly 2,400 in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. In Cork City, 4,000 properties are vacant. Limerick has over 3,000 empty houses and apartments, Galway around 1,300 and Waterford over 1,200 vacant properties.

In total, 174,900 houses, 41,600 apartments and flats, and 50,000 holiday homes: 266,500 properties.

The 2002 census found 104,000 properties vacant, already a substantial number. Comparing the rise in vacancy rates between 2002 and 2006, a spokesman for the CSO told the Sunday Tribune, "In the case of these vacant homes, the (census) enumerator would have gone back to the houses repeatedly to ensure they were actually vacant. . . The vacancy rate has doubled in a four year period. There is evidence that there are a lot of houses out there vacant."

In a related development, house prices in Dublin have now fallen by 10 per cent on average in 2007 compared with 2006, according to a report by the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers’ Institute (IAVI).

There seems to be evidence that vacancies are steadily climbing since 2006, since second-hand apartments are more difficult to sell than second-hand houses, with falls of up to 17 per cent, and that up to 40,000 apartments are vacant in the capital.

Sources:

(Irish Auction Info):

http://www.irishauction.info/2008/01/21/40000-apartments-vacant-in-dublin-iavi/

(Vacant Housing Doubled in Ireland, Una Mullally, Sunday Tribune, 24th May 2008): http://www.tribune.ie/article.tvt?_scope=TribuneFTF&id=109701&SUBCAT=&SUBCATNAME=&DT=13/01/2008%2000:00:00&keywords=galway&FC=

(Irish Census 2006):

http://www.cso.ie/census/Census2006_Volume6.htm

(Irish Housing: Watching a Fat Man Dance, August 18th 2007, Conor McCabe). Dublin Opinion Blog http://dublinopinion.com/2007/08/18/irish-housing-watching-a-fat-man-dance/

Diageo to sell half of St. James Brewery Killenny and Dundalk to Close

2008-05-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

On the 9th May 2008, Diageo announced that it is to close its breweries at Kilkenny and Dundalk, significantly reduce its brewing capacity at St James's Gate and build a new brewery on the outskirts of Dublin under a plan announced today.

The company said it would invest €650 million (£520 million) between 2009 and 2013 in the restructuring.

The renovation of the St James's Gate brewing operations is expected to cost around €70 million and will see the volume of Guinness brewed there fall from around one billion pints a year, to just over 500 million. The drinks giant was considering closing the Guinness brewery at St James's Gate, on the banks of the Liffey in Dublin and moving production to a new site outside the city.

The future of the plant, once the biggest brewery in the world, is tied up with a review of Diageo's total operations in Ireland, where it has four breweries and employs 2,200.

Guinness and St James's have been synonymous since 1759 but with the plant showing its age and the surrounding area reserved for development, Diageo sees the opportunity to finance the construction of a modern plant on a greenfield site, possibly close to the planned new planned new Dublin port at Bremore.

The St. James Brewery site has a potential price tag of around €3bn (£2bn), if it were sold on the open market.

Diageo is wrestling with falling Guinness business - down 7pc in Europe in the six months to the end of December.

Diageo said the project’s cost could be minimized by selling land at the Dundalk, Kilkenny and Dublin sites valued at an estimated 500 million euros ($775 million).

This plant will serve the Irish and British markets and will be based on the Thomas St side of the site. The company said this would ensure that every pint of Guinness sold in Ireland would be brewed here. Approximately half of the 55 acre site will then be sold if and when the five-year project is complete.

Around 65 staff will remain in brewing operations at St James's Gate with about 100 others due to transfer to the new Dublin plant. The Great Northern Brewery in Dundalk mainly produces Guinness’ sister beers — Harp lager and Smithwick ale — as well as continental European lagers under license, including Denmark’s Carlsberg and Germany’s Warsteiner.

The St. Francis Abbey Brewery in Kilkenny produces Irish-brand ales and U.S. brand Budweiser for the Irish market, where lighter beers, ciders, wines and vodka-based drinks have made steady inroads versus Guinness over the past decade.

The new suburban Dublin brewery could take over the workload of both closing plants. It also would produce Guinness for continental European and global export, as well as the secret-recipe "essence" extract that Guinness ships to its nearly 50 breweries worldwide.

Although the company has yet to announce the exact location of its new brewery, the company says it will have a capacity of around nine million hectolitres, or around three times that of the refurbished St James's Gate site. This new brewery will produce Guinness for export and ales and lagers for the Irish market.

Diageo said when the two Dublin breweries are fully operational in five years time it will transfer brewing out of the Kilkenny and Dundalk breweries and close these plants. This move will result in “a net reduction in staff of around 250”, the company said.

The company employs 800 people in its brewing operation and a total of 2,500 in the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Diageo’s smallest beer-related facility in Ireland, in the city of Waterford, will continue to produce the "essence" extract. But supply director O’Hagan said staff there would be cut to 18 from 27.

Operations at its Waterford brewery will be "streamlined" as part of the re-organisation leading to "some reduction in output". the current workforce of 27 in Waterford would be reduced to “around 18” but Diageo was unable to confirm the extent of the output reduction.

The company says the St James's Gate site it proposes to sell and the Kilkenny and Dundalk sites have an estimated value of €510 million.

Diageo shares rose 1.3 percent to 1,041 pence ($20.27) on Friday in London.

Sources:

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1092912&format=&page=2&listingType=biz

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/06/19/cnguinness119.xml

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0509/breaking2.html?via=mr

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

2008-04-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

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

GPO to face major alteration by Office of Public Works

2008-03-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

Plans being drawn up by architects in the Office of Public Works (OPW) envisage demolishing part of the building to create a glazed courtyard to the rear, two-thirds the size of the Upper Yard of Dublin Castle.

The two existing courtyards within the GPO are "rather mean", according to a spokesman, so the plan is to demolish the cross-block between them and create a much more impressive civic space.

Beneath this courtyard, there would be a vast concourse - "something like the Louvre rather than Clery's basement" - which would be accessible from the front and sides of the building.

The concept being worked on is to retain the existing post office, but reconfigure it to create a processional route from the neoclassical portico on O'Connell Street to the courtyard and concourse.

"This could become the 'front room of the nation' within a building that's central to the foundation of the State," the OPW spokesman said. "It could even be used for presidential inaugurations."

Traditionally, presidents have been inaugurated in St Patrick's Hall at Dublin Castle, "with 500 people crammed in, so it would be lovely to have these ceremonies in a space that could accommodate 2,000".

The proposed concourse beneath the courtyard would be a large, column-free exhibition space similar to the central concourse of the Louvre museum, with roof lights above to flood it with natural light.

Apart from a 1916 museum, it would contain a philately museum and possibly also a museum of Dublin. A working group headed by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism is examining the options.

The National Museum is advising on the content of the 1916 museum, which is likely to be broader than the Rising itself and its aftermath, but it is likely that professional exhibition designers will also be involved.

It is envisaged that shops would be installed at ground level, along the Prince's Street frontage of the building, to complement plans by Arnott's for a major redevelopment of this "back street" area.

The proposal to demolish the cross-block, which is located halfway between the front of the building and the GPO arcade, means that many of An Post's 1,000 staff will have to relocate to other offices.

However, the OPW spokesman emphasised that the GPO would continue to house the "headquarters function" of An Post as well as the post office, which dates from 1814 and was rebuilt in the 1920s.

The OPW's in-house design team is headed by assistant principal architect Michael Haugh, with Charles Moore as project architect, and overseen by commissioner David Byers, who is also an architect.

The sketch scheme they are preparing is expected to be presented to the Cabinet in May, with a view to getting approval to proceed to planning application stage and finish the building work by 2013.

Comment: This proposal, designed to "complement" plans by Arnotts for the creation of a huge Henry Street / Mary Street / Princes Street store, will involve a fundamental alteration of the GPO, one of Dublin's most famous and historic monuments.
In 2006, Arnotts unveiled its plans to "transform" the area of Dublin City Centre bounded by Henry Street, O’Connell Street, Abbey Street and Liffey Street. The area, branded as the "Northern Quarter," will be redeveloped into a new shopping and entertainment area complete with 47 new shops, 17 new cafes, restaurants and bars, 189 apartments and a 152 bed four star hotel.
The question is, why is the proposal to alter the GPO, being made at this point? Planning permission was granted for the Arnotts development, but was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by a number of parties, including An Post and An Taisce. The planning board has not yet announced its decision, but Arnotts seem to be confident that the proposals will be upheld.

In terms of the OPW's proposals for the GPO, the concept of a so-called 'processional way' through the existing structure into a new Dublin square, which will be carved out of the GPO's two existing courtyards should simply not be permitted. Historic buildings are protected structures and this type of invasive development should not be permitted.

Source:

© 2008 The Irish Times
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/frontpage/2008/0324/1206144654457.html

Mayo County Councillors voted for Shell road on the 10th March, 2008

2008-03-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

At a Mayo County Council (MCC) meeting on the 10th March 2008, councillors voted against the wishes of a considerable number of the local residents of the area to allow the widening of a road specifically for the use of Shell Oil.

The motion was carried by 17 votes to 3 to allow the council to accept €3m from Shell, Statoil & Marathon to widen and strengthen a road from the Corrib refinery gates directly to the proposed landfall site.

The first to speak in support of the motion was Cllr Johnny Mee (Labour) who spoke of the need to facilitate job creation in Mayo and said that the road should go ahead in the quickest possible time. He stated that “it must be hard on the industrialists” given all the objections that seem to be going in about everything. He proposed the motion that the road be given council planning permission.

MCC Director of Services Peter Hynes then gave a brief rundown on the 32 submissions (involving over 140 people) that had been received regarding the road expansion. He stated that 3 of the submissions were for the road, and of the remaining submissions, half were over individual property concerns and the other half were environmental or safety concerns. It should be noted that among the submissions was one that was signed by 111 people from the area, which raised questions on the purpose, lack of consultation, safety and environmental impact of the road.

Mr Hynes stated that the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Fisheries Board had addressed the environmental issues raised, while the individual property concerns could be dealt with as the project was going on. He also stated that this road was not “absolutely essential” to the Corrib Gas project and that the project could go ahead without the road upgrade. He stated that it was the council who convinced Shell that it would be preferable to upgrade the road rather than repair it.

The next councillor to speak was Cllr McGuinness (FG) who seconded Cllr Mees’ proposal “with gusto”. McGuinness spoke about how SEPIL (Shell Ireland) had initially handled the whole process badly by abusing people, trespassing on land and putting people into jail. However he said that "we [were] a Christian society", that the “perpetrators” had said they were wrong, and that "we should accept their act of contrition" as these things were in the past. He also stated that the Corrib Partners were now putting right these past wrongs.

Next to speak was Cllr Gerry Coyle (FG) from Belmullet, who spoke broadly in favour of the road but wanted it extended as far as Barr na Tra as at present “the road is totally for Shell”. He also stated that the pipeline or landfall facility had not yet received planning permission and so the road was pre-emptive. However he still subsequently voted for the road expansion. Three other councillors (including Cllrs McNamara & Holmes) spoke in favour of the road.

In the only speech in opposition to the motion Cllr Gerry Murray (SF) stated that he thought it very strange indeed to see “the Norwegian government funding roads in North West Mayo”. He also stated that, in order for Local Agenda 21 to be fully complied with, there should be proper consultation with the local people of the area. He said that while the people of Erris are pro-gas and pro-development, that the Shell spin is incorrectly characterising the concerns of the local people. He also stated that An Bord Pleanala Senior Planning Inspector Kevin Moore, who nobody could claim was anti-development, had initially found against the proposed Corrib Gas project. However it was only with the intervention of Bertie Ahern in favour of the resubmitted planning application that the project had been approved. Cllr Murray then called for the deal to be renegotiated, stating that while the “Norwegian government are stakeholders, our government are servant boys”.

Cllr Tim Quinn (FF) from Belmullet also spoke and stated that the number of submissions amazed him. He then put forward a motion to have the council delay its decision for a month in order for more consultation to be held with the local community as an act of good will and compromise. Cllr Chambers (FF) also spoke in favour of Cllr Quinn's motion saying that he didn’t think it was unfair to give another 4 weeks for consultation.

On this point Peter Hynes stated that he didn’t think a month's postponement would make any difference. He also said that his “understanding was that it [the funding for the road] might not be there” if there was a months delay, and that the delay could put the road project at risk. Mr Hynes also stated that he was offended with the assertion in some of the submissions that MCC would damage the environment and castigated what he called the “self appointed gurus” for their interference.

The vote then took place and was easily passed with only Cllrs Quinn, Murray and Chambers voting against.

Speaking after the meeting, local hostel owner Betty Schult stated that she "resented the previously public road being basically handed over to Shell for their personal use and using council workers as Shell subcontractors."
Mayo County Council's position now is that the funding for the road is coming from Shell and associates. However, this was not clearly stated at the outset. The source of the funding was not stated in any of MCC’s initial planning applications. The first place this was stated, was in Shell’s response to some of the submissions.

In response to one of the submissions Mayo County Council state “the regulations do not require the notice to state the source of the funding for a project”.

Peter Hynes also stated that they have been discussing the road expansion for nearly 12 months with Shell. The fact that the pipeline options were only publicly revealed in June 2007 indicates that council were discussing a road upgrade with Shell for a pipeline that not only had not gone through planning permission but for which the options had not been revealed to the public. The fact that not all of the pipeline route options in June went through Glengadserious questions about advance knowledge of the preferred pipeline route on behalf of Mayo Co. Council and Shell Oil.

The council also stated with regard to this application that they have “complied fully with the Aarhus Convention”. It appears that this may not be correct, as there is apparently little evidence of any dialogue with concerned people regarding this road.

It should be noted that last week over 100 people were let go from the Bellanaboy site. It seems that since Shell had their PR blitz about 2 weeks ago we are now into the decline phase of employment of Bellanaboy. Also according to a local councilor who made enquires, of the 25 long-term technical staff that are currently being trained only 2 are from the Erris region.

A gas explosion occurred recently at the Shell operated Bacton gas refinery in Norfolk, England. 46 workers were safely evacuated. This is one of the largest gas refineries in the UK, yet there were still only 46 workers on the refinery at the time of the explosion. The idea that has been put about by Shell and its advocates, that the Bellinaboy refinery will create substantial employment in the region, is a complete PR fabrication.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86638

Source (With thanks): by Rudiger

Hundreds protest against Second Planned Co Meath incinerator

2008-03-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday, 7 March 2008, at least 400 people marched through the village of Nobber in Co Meath this afternoon to protest over plans by a local rendering company to build an incinerator in the factory.

College Proteins says the biomass combined heat and power plant would burn animal waste, which currently has to be exported.

It would generate enough electricity for around 4,000 and they say it would be safe and environmentally beneficial as it could replace oil created electricity.

However, residents in the area are opposed to the plans. They say it will damage their health as well as the environment.

The project has been deemed nationally important and the company can apply directly to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission.

College Proteins expect to apply to An Bord Pleanala next month with a final decision due later this year.

In fact, there has been growing concern in Nobber since An Bord Pleanála`s ruling that an incinerator proposed by local rendering plant College Proteins qualifies as a Special Infrastructural Developments Scheme (SIDS) project, placing it outside the rulings of Meath County Council planners.

The combined heat and power (CHP) plant proposal is the second attempt by the firm to operate an incinerator there, where there is currently a workforce of over 70. The firm`s detailed plan will bypass Meath County Council`s planning department and will be lodged directly with An Bord Pleanala, whose inspectors will scrutinise any objections lodged.

The Bord Pleanála ruling was made on 18th January and signed by board member Brian Hunt, endorsing its inspector`s recommendation. The animal products rendering plant made its submission for inclusion in the new SIDS scheme on 23rd August last for “pre-application consultation”.
SIDS is aimed at “fast-tracking” major infrastructural schemes and the firm`s prospective application sought the go-ahead to burn 105,000 tonnes annually of raw material - half of it bone meal and the remainder organic liquid material. It proposes to source this material from existing animal rendering plants and the agri-food sector in general.

Councillor Eugene Cassidy described An Bord Pleanála`s ruling as a disappointment. He said local householders had made clear their opposition to the firm`s proposal three years ago to burn meat and bone meal at a well-attended public meeting. Nobber householders remained opposed to the incinerator proposal and were now likely to draft submissions to An Bord Pleanála setting out their objections, added Colr Cassidy. There were some locals working in the plant but most staff were from outside the area, he added. He expected that locals would now examine their options as to how best to challenge the application.

Nobber TD Shane McEntee said about the Nobber incinerator: “We cannot have two incinerators in Meath.”
This is a reference to the Carrenstown incinerator in the Boyne Valley and on the edge of the designated Boyne Valley World Heritage Site, which has already been grangted planning permission by the planning board and which will burn up to 200,000 tonnes of material a year.

Mr. McEntee said he would be contacting Environment Minister John Gormley to clarify statements he made earlier about the number of incinerators he would allow. Licences were already in place for incinerating similar waste materials in Edenderry and Kinnegad, the Nobber deputy said. The College Proteins proposal was “a big project and one that the minister will have to address”.

Posters have been appearing around Nobber this week and a public meeting will be held next week in the village hall as organisers examine the papers exchanged by College Proteins and Bord Pleanála during the SIDS determination.
The company`s previous attempt to secure planning permission for a combined meat and bone meal incinerator resulted in a packed meeting in the same hall where resident after resident made clear their opposition, citing health grounds in particular.

The firm has been in operation at its College Road site since 1989 and has received an award for its energy efficient practices there. However, residents in the locality and on the Kingscourt Road have complained of odours from the plant and the spreading of offal on lands in the district, which strengthened local opposition to any expansion of its operations.

Sources:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0307/nobber.html?rss

€4bn Cork Docklands scheme to replace existing port

2008-03-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Plans for a new quarter on 400 acres in Cork's Docklands are gathering pace with some developers expecting to be on-site in 2010.

With a resident population of 20,000 - as well as 650,321sq m (7 million sq ft) of non-residential development and the provision of up to 25,000 jobs - the new Cork Docklands will be, as City Manager Joe Gavin puts it, the size of "a sizeable Irish town".

The Docklands comprises 400 acres of land extending down to Páirc Uí Chaoimh with 4kms of waterfront all within a 20-minute walk from City Hall. The massive regeneration programme - which will cost in the region of €4 billion to €5 billion according to Gavin, and will take about 15 years to fully complete - proposes a vibrant mixed-use quarter which will be an easterly extension of the city centre.

Since the Docklands Strategic Study was launched in 2002, there has been significant interest generated in the Docklands which has seen property values in the area rise significantly in the past five years.

Gavin, who has been a major force in the city's revival over the past seven years since he took up the reins as city manager, says that the Docklands development will necessitate the building of new infrastructure, including two new bridges in Cork;(one at Water Street and the other at the Skew Bridge connecting the Docklands to the Lower Glanmire Road).

According to the City Manager:

"We have taken a policy decision that these bridges will be opening bridges so that the maritime traffic to the heart of the city continues into the future. There are plans to move the main port to Ringaskiddy in the future so there will not be as much commercial and quayside activity in the Docklands as there is at the moment."

The city council has purchased through CPO the 22-acre Cork Showground site on the east end of the Docklands for the development of a large amenity park called Marina Park for the city, which should also greatly facilitate the development, providing the prospective residents with a new state - funded park.

"We are hoping to see a mixture of retail, residential, leisure and educational use in the Docklands over the coming years. The area is privately owned by less than a dozen people who we have been working with closely over the last couple of years," according to the City Manager.

He has set up a special Docklands development team headed up by director of services, Pat Ledwidge, who has been working closely with all of these interested parties to prepare a master plan for the area.

Due to the scale of the development, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also recently announced the establishment of a Cork Docklands National Forum to co-ordinate responses at Government level and support Cork City Council in the implementation of its plans.

A planning application is due to be lodged in July for the first stage of this project at the Docklands on a 30-acre site near Páirc Uí Chaoimh - the single largest development ever in the city.

The joint venture involving Howard Holdings and Tedcastles Oil will see the development of some 213,677sq m (2.3 million sq ft) of office, residential and retail space along with a 200-bedroom hotel in Cork Docklands.

Howard Holdings has already built the Clarion Hotel and office development at Lapp's Quay, one of the first new developments on the edge of the Docklands, as well as the Web Works at Albert Quay beside City Hall in conjunction with the Cork City Council and Enterprise Ireland.

The chief executive of Howard Holdings, Greg Coughlan, who are undertaking the development, says he hopes that the project will have started this time next year, with the first phase of the seven-year €2 billion project completed in 2011. He is proposing to build two 20-storey towers and a number of lower rise buildings as part of the high density development that he says is going to be "like a mini city".

"We have been working very closely with the council on this over the last five years, it hasn't just come out of the woodwork. It involves colossal infrastructure. There's a new local area plan for the south Docklands coming out at the end of May and I believe this will incorporate a lot of our own vision for the area," he comments.

Mr. Gavin stated that the council will need a lot of support from Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, as well as the private sector, in securing the target of 25,000 jobs for the area.

He adds the relevant factor: "We would really like to attract the third-level educational institutions into the area and, towards that end, we will be recommending to the Government that they allow tax breaks or direct funding for such new developments."

Speaking of the buildings themselves: "Generally speaking, the buildings will be six to seven storeys high with room for occasional taller buildings. The Elysian building beside City Hall is currently the tallest building in Ireland at 17 storeys.

"We are currently looking at preparing guidelines for tall buildings in Cork so whether or not there will be more this high remains to be seen," he says.

Greg Coughlan said his firm has engaged London-based architecture firm, Foster and Partners - which is involved in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site in New York - to work on the project. Work is to begin at the end of next year.

Coughlan said the biggest objection to the development of the docklands was the relocation of the Port of Cork and the vacation of the two Seveso sites - the Topaz and Gouldings' sites in Centre Park Road.

The Port of Cork is demanding a €60-€65 million relocation package to leave the city centre quays, but Mr Coughlan said it needed to vacate quickly for the docklands project to move forward. He said that all parties involved needed to sit down together and work out a solution. He did not rule out Howard Holdings contributing to the relocation costs for the port.

Meanwhile, the council has made a submission to government seeking the designation of the docklands for "targeted" tax incentives in the December budget.

The incentives sought include tax breaks for relocating the Seveso sites, incentives for dealing with contaminated land, incentives for attracting foreign investment, the provision of public infrastructure by the private sector, grant aid for owner occupiers and tax breaks to provide premises for biopharma, IT, financial services and third and fourth level R&D interests.

Comment:

There are many questions that could be asked concerning a development of this scale: whether Cork is able to support a development of this size; the height of the proposed buildings; the use of public land for the benefit of private corporations and the use of taxpayers' money to subsidise this vast proposal; and perhaps the most important of all, the future of Cork Port itself, which it is blandly proposed should simply move to Ringaskiddy.

The principal question is whether this will actually happen, in a time when cutbacks are already starting to be made in Government services, or whether Cork Port itself will simply be closed or downsized in the event of the redevelopment of Cork Docklands.

Sources:

http://www.corkdocklands.ie/?reloaded

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2007/0509/1178623486371.html

http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=5039

http://www.howardpropertyplc.com/hh/index2.htm

http://buckplanning.blogspot.com/2007/10/plans-ready-for-2bn-cork-docklands.html

Arnotts sheds jobs in order to facilitate "Northern Quarter" development

2008-02-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

Arnotts has confirmed that 580 jobs are to be lost at its department store on Henry Street in Dublin, in order to facilitate the so-called “Northern Quarter” redevelopment.

The department store currently employs 950, but it states that its staff numbers will rise to 1,200 when the new development is completed.

Arnotts said it told staff of its plans at a meeting. and it is hoped most of the lay-offs will be voluntary. But the Mandate union said it expected that most would be compulsory.

Mandate says that workers were shocked at the number of job losses which Arnotts wants implemented by September.

The union said this was a sad day for Arnotts and Boyers staff, and that the projected Northern Quarter was coming at a huge cost.

Arnotts will re-locate from its current Henry Street store to the Debenhams store in the Jervis Centre later this summer.

The current Boyers store on North Earl Street will be converted to an Arnotts furniture and home store to open in August.

Construction of the €1 billion Northern Quarter - which will include shops, 175 apartments, restaurants, bars and a hotel - is expected to start later this year.

Arnotts recently unveiled its plans to "transform" the area of Dublin City Centre bounded by Henry Street, O’Connell Street, Abbey Street and Liffey Street. This city area, which will be re-branded as the Northern Quarter, will be redeveloped into a new shopping and entertainment area complete with 47 new shops, 17 new cafes, restaurants and bars, 189 apartments and a 152 bed four star hotel.

The Northern Quarter Development Proposal represents a €1 billion investment in the heart of the city. The project is currently being examined by An Bord Pleanala, having being appealed by several parties, including An Post, and the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), however the company seems to be confident that the project will be given the green light, as layoffs have been announced at this stage.

The main aim of the plan is to recreate Prince’s Street as a shopping street, connecting the centre of O’Connell Street, through to Henry Street, with a new public square at the centre of the development. 189 apartments will be included as part of the development.

The proposal includes the provision of 47 new shops and 17 cafes, restaurants and bars. Williams Lane, connecting to Middle Abbey Street,will be re-positioned with shopping and leisure frontage and a second lane will be added from the square to create new north-south pedestrian routes from Henry Street, through the existing GPO Arcade and the northern extension of Princes’ Street, to middle Abbey Street and beyond.

A 152 bed hotel will be located in Abbey Street, and new retail and café units. Another proposal is to include the flagship Arnotts store with a new entrance onto the new public square.

Arnotts were advised by Ronan Faherty Project Director, HKR Architects, planning consultants Magill Associates and RPS Mc Hugh and has also been assisted throughout the process by Niall McFadden of Boundary Capital. Arnotts was taken private in 2003 in a management buyout by Nesbitt Acquisitions, headed by Richard Nesbitt.

First of all, the O'Connor family, which had been a stakeholder in Arnotts for 70 years, sold its share of the business for over €40m. Then, Boundary Capital, a recently listed investment company led by financier Niall McFadden, took a major stake in Arnotts. Finally, along came Anglo Irish Bank, whose property fund committed €25m for an 18 per cent stake in Arnotts. The bank has now teamed up with Boundary Capital to make a joint €65m investment in Arnotts, in return for a 46 per cent stake in the retailer. Property developer Paddy Kelly and financier Niall McFadden are also involved in the redevelopment plan.

The plan is that a holding company, Arnotts Holdings Ltd, will acquire 100 per cent of Arnotts and this will give the private clients of Anglo Irish a stake in both the retail and property sides of the Northern Quarter project. The remaining stakeholders in Arnotts Holdings Ltd will be Boundary Capital and the Nesbitt family, led by Arnotts' chairman, Richard Nesbitt. The Northern Quarter development will mean huge bank borrowings and Anglo Irish has committed itself to bankrolling the development costs of the scheme.

When the financial dispositions of the Northern Quarter scheme are completed, the stakeholders, led by the Nesbitt family, will own 80 per cent of the project. The remaining 20 per cent will be allocated to the British urban regeneration specialist Centros Miller. A source close to the project revealed that it is "more or less decided" that Centros Miller will take charge of the project's fulfilment. It's expected that a formal announcement will be made before the end of this year.

Arnotts has been steadily buying up properties around its core department store in recent years. It has bought the former Independent Newspapers offices and the Chapters bookshop on Abbey Street.

It has also bought a number of shops on Henry Street and part of the GPO Arcade which links Henry Street to Princes Street.

Sources: http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10007258.shtml

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0215/jobs.html?rss

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2006/07/16/story15759.asp

http://www.shopping-centre.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/2215/Look_north.html

Planning sought for 20-storey apartment Block in Santry

2008-02-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Planning permission has been requested for a massive apartment development, which includes a 20 storey high skyscraper, in Santry.
A number of objections have already been lodged against the controversial plans, which were lodged just before Christmas on December 21.
Planning permission has been sought for the demolition of a number of buildings including a pub and off-license, housing units, etc.
It is proposed that apartments and retail units will be built in their place. The development would be contained in four blocks ranging in size from three to 20 storeys in height.
According to Local Councillor Julie Carmichael, (FF), a number of residents’ associations have lodged objections.
“The Santry Environment Group and the Santry Community Group have also lodged objections to the planning application.” Cllr Carmichael stated that the plans were recently brought for pre-planning consultation with a council planning official.
The official stated that it was unlikely that the plans would be approved in their current form.
Overall, the application will contain 94 apartments in total: three one-bedroom units, 75 two-bedroom units and 16 three-bedroom units. If approved, the development will also include two restaurants, an off-license, a crèche and a pub.
It is believed that a decision on the application will be made before the end of February.

Source: http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/122/57/

Opponents of Rock of Cashel hotel project to appeal planning ruling

2008-02-10T13:47:00.000-08:00

A controversial proposal to build a five-storey, 83-bedroom hotel with an underground car park beside the Rock of Cashel in Co Tipperary, is to be appealed to An Bord Pleanála following a decision by the town council to grant planning permission.

Richard O'Brien, a spokesman for the Save Our Town Park committee - a group of community activists opposed to the scheme - described the proposal as a "fiasco". He said the car park will not be able to accommodate tourist coaches, which is "incredible for a hotel proposal in a major heritage town like Cashel".

Mr O'Brien said his committee, which has attracted widespread public support, will hold a public meeting in the town later this month and appeal the decision to An Bord Pleanála. He said "there are far more suitable sites for such a hotel on the periphery of the town where a lot of suitable development land is lying idle".

The council bought the 2.8-acre plot in the centre of the south Tipperary town from the Presentation Order of nuns in Cashel, in 2001 for a price equivalent to €418,000 and then sold it on five years later for €1.9 million to CMS Developments Ltd of Clonmel, subject to planning permission for a hotel on the site.

Councillor Martin Browne (Independent) said town council "officials can only see the profit and the nuns who served Cashel very well for 200 years were short-changed and didn't get the right price for the property". He said the Presentation Order, which was leaving the town, only agreed to the sale because it was sent a letter "threatening a compulsory purchase order" and believed that the land would be used to create a town park.

Councillor Browne said "the whole thing leaves a bad taste" and hopes that An Bord Pleanála will hold an oral hearing into the matter.

Cashel Town Council has denied allegations of wrongdoing and defended the development as necessary because existing "hotels in the town can't cope with tourist numbers".

Sources:

www.buckplanning.ie

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

2008-01-30T13:57:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-29T16:33:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-23T16:07:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

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

Clarence Hotel Planning Decision

2007-12-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

Dublin City Council approved the development plan for the Clarence Hotel in Dublin, owned by members of the band U2.

However, the council's own city conservation architect, Clare Hogan, had advised a refusal in her report -- stating that the planned development did not meet legal requirements.
She expressed concern that the band was unable to provide "exceptional circumstances" to demolish four neighbouring listed buildings -- as required under the Planning and Development Act 2000.

(Source)

Pictures of Clarence Hotel redevelopment released (Village Magazine, 19 January 2007)

Former CIÉ lands in Cabra to be developed

2007-11-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

Planning permission was given today to a development plan on former state (CIÉ) lands on the New Cabra Road, in spite of local opposition.