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

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/

Planning Board Approval for U2's Clarence Hotel plans

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

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

440 Homes given planning permission in Baldoyle

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

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