Archive for the 'Development Plan' Category

O’Gorman meets Minister Cuffe over concerns about Castleknock development

Published on August 3, 2010 in Castleknock, Community Issues, Development Plan, Planning and Press Releases. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

03/08/10

Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman and a delegation from the Castleknock Residents Action Group (CRAG) met with the Minister for State for Planning, Ciaran Cuffe to discuss concerns about a large scale development in Castleknock Village.

“Last week I took a delegation from the Castleknock Residents Action Group (CRAG) to meet the Minister for State for Planning, Ciaran Cuffe. CRAG had requested this meeting in order to be able to discuss with Minister Cuffe their concerns about the large commercial and residential development in the centre of Castleknock Village behind the old Flower Shop. This development has met with massive resistance from residents of the village, but has been pushed strongly by Fingal County Council”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“Myself and the CRAG representative outlined to the Minister our concerns about how Fingal County Council drew up an Urban Centre Strategy for Castleknock, but never put the draft version out to public consultation and never permitted local councillors to officially vote on it. We also highlighted how the architects firm that drew up the UCS for the Council were also at the same time drawing up the planning application for the developer of the Flower Shop site”.

“While as a Minister in the Department of the Environment, Ciaran Cuffe cannot interfere with the grant of planning permission by a local authority or An Bord Pleanala, he did express his surprise at the manner in which this situation was handled and in particular, the way in which the views of the residents of Castleknock Village have been completely ignored. He asked myself and CRAG to supply him with more details of our concerns surrounding the process followed by Fingal County Council”.  

“Going forward, it is absolutely essential that all references to this flawed Urban Centre Strategy are deleted from the current draft of the Fingal County Development Plan, so that it does not get statutory approval through the back door. Both myself and CRAG will be pressuring local councillors to make this vital amendment”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

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Further Information

Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777

Press Release – Calls for Implementation Strategy for Fingal Development Plan

Published on June 23, 2010 in Development Plan and Planning. 0 Comments Tags: .

21/06/10

Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on Fingal County Council to include an Implementation Strategy as part of the new County Development Plan.

“While we warmly welcome much of the content of the Draft Plan, one area where is falls down significantly is the lack of a clear plan to monitor implementation. Under S. 15 of the Planning & Development Act, 2000 and the related guidelines, there is a duty on the Local Authority to secure the objectives of the Development Plan. It is stated that that policies and objectives must be capable of implementation and it must be possible to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness or otherwise of achieving stated aims”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“Regrettably, the Draft Development Plan does not set out in detail any measures which will allow substantial monitoring of its implementation. This means that it will be extremely difficult to judge the success of Fingal County Council in achieving the goals set out in the Draft Development Plan. What good is a plan if we cannot measure whether it has been put in place or not”?

“In light of this, I have called for the insertion of an Implementation Chapter, setting out clear targets in each of the areas that the Draft Plan covers. This will both allow a proper evaluation of the success or otherwise of the Council in putting the Development Plan into effect, but it will also meet the requirements of the legislation and statutory guidelines”.

“I hope both the councillors and the County Manager take account of this common sense suggestion”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

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Press Release – School and Transport needs of Young People need to be strengthened in Fingal Development Plan – O’Gorman

Published on June 23, 2010 in Cycling, Development Plan, Education, Planning and Transport. 0 Comments Tags: , .

15/06/10

Dublin West Green Party representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on Fingal County Council to introduce policies on safe routes to school and new schools. He was speaking as the Dublin West Green Party made its submission on the Draft County Development Plan.

“The Draft Fingal County Development Plan 2011-17 sets out the goals that Fingal County Council will be seeking to achieve over the next 6 years. I believe that as part of this, it is vital that the Council adopts a Safe Routes to School scheme and a New Schools Strategy”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“In my initial submission on the Development Plan, I suggested that Fingal County Council commit to initiating a Safe-Routes to School scheme across the county. My proposal did not make it into the Draft Plan so I am again calling for this measure to be adopted”.

“Such a Safe Routes to School strategy would involve bringing together parents, teachers, the Gardai and Council officials to plan a safe route to school strategy for each school. This would involve improving pedestrian crossings, cycle lanes and footpaths in the vicinity of schools as well as reducing speed limits and introducing a ban on heavy goods vehicles around school districts. A further element would be to ensure the provision of bike sheds in schools so students have a safe place to park their bicycles”.

“It is important to note that the Renewed Programme for Government commits to the rolling out of a ‘Safe Routes to School’ strategy across the whole country by 2012. As such, Fingal should act now to be in the position to benefit from central funding to facilitate the roll out of the project”.

“Another key area where the current Draft Plan does not go far enough is in relation to new schools. Fingal has suffered severely from the failure to adequately zone land for schools at primary and secondary level over the last 10 years. The Strategic Overview of the Draft Plan notes the very high percentage of young children in the county. This will have a significant impact on the need for new and larger schools over the period of the Draft Plan”.

“I have argued that the provisions within the Urban Fingal Chapter on providing new schools are too vague and run the risk of the same delays in obtaining sites for schools that have been experienced in the last five years. I am proposing that a New Schools Strategy needs to be devised, which will allow for enhanced communications between the Council, the Forward Planning Section of the Department of the Environment, patron bodies and local communities. This New Schools Strategy should be given specific recognition in the Development Plan”.

“The first priority of the New Schools Strategy would be to identify if there is existing and planned capacity for the number of classrooms that the Forward Planning Section of the Department estimate will be needed across Fingal. In areas where there is a shortfall, measures must be taken immediately to remedy this situation”.

“As part of the New Schools Strategy, there needs to be consistency as to the zoning that is given to a site that is intended to be used as a school. All such sites should be zoned as Objective CI – ‘Community Infrastructure”.

“These two measures are part of a number that I and the Dublin West Green Party included in our submission on the Draft Development Plan. They come as a result of going door to door and discussing these issues with residents of Dublin 15, a public meeting that we held and our interaction with planners and relevant community groups. While I will not be in a position to vote on the Development Plan, I would strongly urge local councillors to adopt these common sense measures”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

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Dublin West Green Party Submission on Draft Development Plan

Published on June 23, 2010 in Development Plan and Planning. 0 Comments Tags: .

To whom it may concern,

Please find below the submission from the Dublin West Green Party on the Draft Fingal County Council Development Plan 2011-2017. This document follows our initial submission to the first round of public consultation last year.

Yours sincerely,

Roderic O’Gorman

Green Party Representative, Dublin West

Summary of Key Points:

-       Remove all references to the Castleknock Urban Centre Strategy

-       Include a section on a Safe Routes to School Strategy

-       Include a New Schools Strategy. This would set out a new means of identifying and securing sites for schools in areas where these are needed.

-       Leave the zoning of the land along the N3 as it currently is – Green Belt.

-       Amend Local Area Objective 537 to allow for a ¾ length 1 storey car park and associated landscaping works.

-          Include a new Local Area Objective of a double pedestrian crossing at the Castleknock Road – Roselawn Road junction.

-       Include a new Local Area Objective for Castleknock Village, stating that future development in Castleknock Village would be limited to three storeys.

-       Include a new Local Area Objective for Hartstown Park, making provision for a scout den for Huntstown Scouts to be located there.

-        Include a new Implementation Chapter, setting out clear targets in each of the areas that the Draft Plan covers. This will both allow a proper evaluation of the success or otherwise of the Council in putting the Development Plan into effect, but it will also meet the requirements of the legislation and statutory guidelines.

Detailed Points

Strategic Overview

Castleknock ‘Objectives’: There has been widespread dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Urban Centre Strategy or Castleknock Village was adopted, both as regards containing recommendations totally at varience with what residents suggested and the failure to allow a vote of elected councillors on the plan. In light of this, we call for the removal of all references to the Urban Centre Strategy from the Development Plan.

Green Infrastructure

We welcome this detailed section as innovative and a positive outcome from measures adopted by Fingal County Council, such as its ‘Green Infrastructure Conference’ to promote this aspect of planning.

Physical Intrastructure

Safe Routes to School

In our initial submission, we called for the Development Plan to commit Fingal County Council to initiating the introduction of a Safe-Routes to School scheme across the county. This has not made it into the Draft Plan and we would again recommend that this should form part of the Plan. We note that the Renewed Programme for Government of commits to the rolling out of a ‘Safe Routes to School’ strategy across the country by 2012. As such, Fingal should act now to be in the position to benefit from central funding to facilitate the roll out of the project.

In Fingal, such a Safe Routes to School strategy would involve bringing together parents, teachers, the Gardai and Council officials to plan a safe route to school strategy for each school. This would involve improving pedestrian crossings, cycle lanes and footpaths in the vicinity of schools as well as reducing speed limits and introducing a ban on heavy goods vehicles around school districts. A further element would be to ensure the provision of bike sheds in schools so students have a safe place to park their bicycles.

Urban Fingal

Schools

Fingal has suffered severely from the failure to adequately zone land for schools at primary and secondary level over the last 10 years. The Strategic Overview of the Draft Plan notes the very high percentage of young children in the county. This will have a significant impact on the need for new and larger schools over the period of the Draft Plan

Selecting School Sites – ‘New Schools Strategy’

Section 1.3 of the Strategic Policy Chapter emphasises at Point 17 the need for “timely provision of schools”. Similar sentiments are expressed in the Urban Fingal Chapter at Objective Cl18 which states “Reserve individual sites for primary & secondary schools in consultation with the Dept. Education …”.

We argue that as these provisions currently stand, they are too vague and run the risk of the same delays in obtaining sites for schools that have been experienced in the last five years. We would suggest that a New Schools Strategy needs to be devised, which will allow for enhanced communications between the Council, the Forward Planning Section of the Department of the Environment, Patron bodies and local communities. This New Schools Strategy should be given specific recognition in the Development Plan.

The first priority of the New Schools Strategy would be to identify if there is existing and planned capacity for the number of classrooms that the Forward Planning Section of the Department estimate will be needed across Fingal. In areas where there is a shortfall, measures must be taken immediately to remedy this situation.

As part of the New Schools Strategy, there needs to be consistency as to the zoning that is given to a site that is intended to be used as a school. All such sites should be zoned as Objective CI ‘Community Infrastructure’.

Zoning

We welcome the de-zoning of land out of the Residential Area category at the Castleknock College playing pitches and also the land between Mulhuddart and Tyrrelstown.

Zoning of land beside N3 between Ashtown and Little Chef

The zoning of this site has been at issue over a number of years. An effort was made to rezone it during the previous Development Plan process and there was an unsuccessful attempt to initiate a draft variation of the land in 2008. The current plan proposes changing the land from Green Space to High Technology.

We argue that at this time, the land in question should not be rezoned, but retained at its current zoning. We are concerned about the flooding implications that developing this piece of land could have for the N3, particularly in light of the fact it holds large amounts of rain water after heavy showers. Lack of similar absorbency zones resulted in the flooding of the N3 close to the Quinn Building last year.

We also believe that the site forms an important green break between the city at Ashtown and Castleknock/Blanchardstown. It also forms part of the wider Abbotstown greenbelt that Fingal County Council intend to develop over the next few years. Dublin 15 already has significant amounts of land zoned at High Technology and as such, it is not essential that this site be zoned similarly.

Local Area Objectives

Changes to Current LAO’s

-       LAO 537 – “provide car park for the train station with not more than two levels of parking”. At this site, there is a need to balance the requirement for more car parking close to the train station, with the residential amenity of those currently living in Cherry Estate and Rosehaven. We would suggest amending the current LAO to permitting a 1 storey over ground level carpark, stretching back from the road three quarters of the way towards the border with Cherry Estate. The LAO should specify that landscaping measures should be undertaken between the car park and Cherry/Rosehaven and further, that no other commercial development should be permitted on the site.

Suggested new LAO’s

-          We suggest the inclusion of a new LAO of a double pedestrian crossing at the Castleknock Road – Roselawn Road junction.

-          We suggest the inclusion of a new LAO for Castleknock Village, similar to LAO 479 for Blanchardstown Village, stating that future development in Castleknock Village would be limited to three storeys.

-          We suggest a new Local Area Objective for Hartstown Park, making provision for a scout den for Huntstown Scouts to be located there.

Requirement for an Implementation Chapter

While we warmly welcome much of the content of the Draft Plan, one area where is falls down is the lack of a clear plan to monitor implementation. Under S. 15 of the Planning & Development Act, 2000, there is a duty on the Local Authority to secure the objectives of the Development Plan. Further detail is set out tine S.6 of the Development Plan Guidelines 1997. These state that that policies and objectives must be capable of implementation and it must be possible to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness or otherwise of achieving stated aims. Monitoring involves the collation and analysis of performance data which must be linked to an evaluation process so that effectiveness can be measured against stated criteria.

Regrettably, the Draft Development Plan does not set out in detail any measures which will allow substantial monitoring of its implementation. This means that it will be extremely difficult to judge the success of Fingal County Council in achieving the goals set out in the Draft Development Plan.

In light of this, we request the creation of an Implementation Chapter, setting out clear targets in each of the areas that the Draft Plan covers. This will both allow a proper evaluation of the success or otherwise of the Council in putting the Development Plan into effect, but it will also meet the requirements of the legislation and statutory guidelines.

Press Release – O’Gorman calls for new local objectives in draft Fingal Development Plan

Published on May 10, 2010 in Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Development Plan and Press Releases. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

 

10/05/10

 Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on a number of new local objectives for Blanchardstown and Castleknock to be included in the new Fingal Development Plan. He was speaking at a public meeting organised by the Dublin West Green Party.

“I’m calling on Fingal County Council to include two local area objectives within the new Development Plan, addressing important issues in Blanchardstown and Castleknock villages”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“There is a major need for a pedestrian crossing to be put in place at the junction of the Castleknock Road and Roselawn Road. For too long, pedestrians and commuters going to and from Castleknock Train Station have had to take their lives in their hands as they cross the road here. The new County Development Plan is an ideal opportunity for this issue to be finally addressed”.

“In my original submission, I called for a height restriction of no more than 3 stories to be put in place on any future buildings in Blanchardstown, Clonsilla and Castleknock. I was delighted that this was adopted for Blanchardstown, but the same needs to be achieved for Castleknock. This is particularly important as residents of the village are concerned that the decision to grant planning permission for a major development in the centre of village will act as a precedent to allow other multi-storey developments. There needs to be a height restriction on future development in Castleknock, written into the Development Plan”.

The public meeting in Diswellstown Community Centre heard from Gavin Daly, a planning consultant, on how the planning process works and how to make an effective submission. Damien Carbury, Chairperson of the Dublin 15 Community Council, also addressed the meeting on the key priorities for the Dublin 15 area.

“I organised this meeting in order to encourage public participation in the round of the Development Plan. If we want to see good planning decisions in Dublin 15, its essential we use the development plan process to achieve these”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

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Greens to hold public meeting on Fingal Development Plan

Published on April 25, 2010 in Development Plan and Planning. 0 Comments Tags: .

25/04/10

The Dublin West Green Party holding a public meeting entitled “How to make an Effective Submission to the Development Plan”, on Wednesday, May 5th in the Diswellstown Community Centre, St Patricks National School.

The meeting will feature Mr. Gavin Daly, a planning consultant, who will give a presentation on the development plan process and give suggestions on how to make an effective submission.

The meeting will then feature contributions from Dublin 15 Community Council Chairperson, Damien Carbury and Dublin West Green Party representative Roderic O’Gorman on what are the key issues for Dublin 15 that need to be addressed in the new development plan, followed by a general discussion.

The meeting is taking place midway through the current second stage of the public consultation process on the Fingal County Development Plan 2011-2017, which ends on 14th May.

“Planning is something that is hugely important to many people in Dublin 15. Considering how many terrible decisions have been made over the last 10 years in our area, it is absolutely essential that we get this new county development plan right. I am holding this meeting to allow people come together and discuss what are the top priorities for the area, but also to give them the chance to talk with planning experts and learn how to make genuinely effective submissions”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

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Further Information

Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777

Lessons must be learnt from Castleknock Planning Decision – O’Gorman

Published on February 6, 2010 in Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Development Plan, Planning and Press Releases. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

 

 

06/02/10

 

 

Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has demanded that villages in Dublin 15 get protection from inappropriate development and that this be written into the new Fingal County Development Plan. He was speaking after the decision of An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission for a large development in Castleknock village.

 

“Like everyone else in the area, I am hugely disappointed to see the decision of An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission for a large development in Castleknock village. Along with local residents, I objected to the development and made a submission to the appeal to the Board. In light of the decision, I’m calling on our local councillors to ensure that villages such as Blanchardstown and Clonsilla are given specific protection from high rise buildings and that this is written into the new Fingal County Development Plan.”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

 

“What has happened in Castleknock should be a lesson to us all. Where there is undeveloped land close to the centre of a village, there needs to be specific local area objectives put into the new County Development, stating that buildings cannot be constructed over a certain height. Planning bodies like An Bord Pleanala will be bound by these and this will stop them granting permission for inappropriate developments”.

 

“I think our councillors let us down in the last Development Plan by not having the foresight to realise that open space, like the one in Castleknock, was clearly a magnet for big property developers, looking to squeeze as many buildings onto it as they could”.

 

“In Blanchardstown village, we already know there are proposals to allow high rise buildings of five or even six stories on sites like Superquinn and on the Bell pub. These were contained in a recent Draft Urban Strategy for the village. It is essential that our local councillors act to have local objectives inserted into the new Development Plan, stating that high rise will not be permitted here”.

 

“I’ll be keeping up pressure on our local representatives, to make sure that the same mistake that was made in Castleknock isn’t made again”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

 

 

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O’Gorman calls for the rejection of Castleknock development

Published on August 4, 2009 in Castleknock, Development Plan, Planning and Press Releases. 0 Comments Tags: , .

04/08/09

 

 

 Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on Fingal County Council to refuse a new planning application for a site in the centre of Castleknock village.

 

“I’m calling on Fingal County Council to reject a new planning application for a site in the centre of Castleknock village behind the ‘Flower Shop’. The proposal includes a new 5 storey commercial premises, which I believe would be completely outs of place in the village”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

 

“The primary ground for my objection is that the development as proposed does not comply with the Fingal County Development Plan. One of the current objectives set out for Castleknock Village in the Development Plan is “To improve the physical and environmental character of Castleknock through sensitive infill development that enhances village facilities and amenities”. I argue that the proposed plans, particularly the 5 storey nature of the main building, cannot in any way be described as a ‘sensitive infill development’. As such, I believe that the proposal does not with the specific objectives for Castleknock Village in the current Development Plan and should be rejected on this basis”.

 

“Further, the proposed development provides for 346 car parking spaces in a double basement car park. Provision for such a large number of cars is obviously going to have a significant impact on traffic in the centre of Castleknock village, which already suffers from severe congestion. As the proposed development will make the traffic situation in the village worse, I believe this is another reason to reject this plan”.

 

“During the local election campaign, the issue of what would happen to this site was one that came up regularly on the doors in Castleknock. While most people accept that eventually some development will occur on the site, locals want to know that any building will be in keeping with the village characteristics of Castleknock. I believe that this development is completely unsuited to Castleknock, and I am calling for the Council to reject it and allow the future use of this site to be considered as part of the new development plan process”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

 

 

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