The RPA are holding a public meeting on the proposed Metro West.
Date: Tuesday, 15th June
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: Castleknock Hotel & Country Club
Archive for the 'Blanchardstown' Category
Roderic O'Gorman and the Dublin West Greens at the 2010 Annual Royal Canal Clean Up
17/05/10
The Dublin West Green Party held their second annual Royal Canal Clean Up on Saturday 17th May.
“We are delighted to have had a very successful second annual Royal Canal Clean Up. Our group met at Castleknock Train Station and worked along the canal bank towards the 12th Lock and then some of the way towards Coolmine Station”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.
“The level of litter was significantly less than last year, which was encouraging. We still gathered 10 bags of glass bottles, cans, plastic cartons and general waste”.
“There were one or two real black spots. In particular, there is an area off the bridge over the canal at Castleknock Station just beside the canal which is clearly being used regularly as a drinking haunt. There we found hundreds of bottles and cans. I will be contacting Fingal County Council to advise them of ways to block up this particular location”.
“I’d like to thank everyone who came out and also to Fingal County Council for picking up the litter we collected”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.
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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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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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01/02/10
Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on Dublin Bus to clarify the situation with a bus stop in Blanchardstown village, after local residents suffered late night anti-social behaviour.
“I was recently contacted by residents of Blanchardstown Village regarding their concerns about the inbound bus stop in Blanchardstown Village on the Old Navan Road, opposite the Bell Pub. The residents outlined to me extensive disturbances that they have been suffering at night as a result of drunk people congregating at the bus stop. This includes late night noise, rubbish and people urinating on gates. In one case, a class bottle was thrown at a house, shattering beside a child’s bedroom window”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.
“The residents have been contact with both Dublin Bus and the Gardai about the possibility of moving the bus stop to a nearby site, closer to the village, at the old taxi rank beside Abrakebabra. However, no definitive decision has been taken at this point”.
“I am calling on Dublin Bus to quickly clarify whether they are in a position to move the bus lane in question. It’s not right that local families should be disturbed to this extent in their own homes”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.
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Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777
10/01/10
Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on Fingal County Council to pay more attention to Castleknock Train Station in its Urban Design Plan for Blanchardstown Village.
“I’m calling on called on Fingal County Council to pay more attention to Castleknock Train Station in its Urban Design Plan for Blanchardstown Village. I’m concerned that the current Draft Plan is quite dismissive of the role that Castleknock Train Station plays for the village. The Draft Plan states that the station is “somewhat detached from the village”. It also points out at it is only 1 km from the Village centre”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.
“The Draft Plan also spends a considerable amount of time discussing the positive impact that Metro West will have on the village. While obviously a station at the west end of the Village would be fantastic, I think the Council should be putting at least as much importance on the station we currently have, rather than a station that is some years in the future. This is particularly the case as the number of trains serving Castleknock will increase over the course of this year, with the opening of the Dunboyne line”.
“A large number of commuters from Blanchardstown use the Castleknock Station everyday, and there are a number of measures the Council should look at to make it even more popular. One relatively simple measure would be a pedestrian crossing at the junction of Roselawn Road and the Castleknock Road. Currently, pedestrians take their lives in their hands as the cross between cars”.
“Fingal County Council should also examine widening the path from Blanchardstown up the hump-back bridge (Granard Bridge) over the canal. The path is extremely narrow – in places only one person can walk on it safely. It is particularly dangerous on dark nights when there is a large volume of traffic on the road beside it, or indeed, on icy days like we have experienced over the last two weeks”.
“In my submission on the Blanchardstown Urban Design Plan, I’ve called on Fingal County Council to take measures to better link Castleknock Station with Blanchardstown Village. I hope we see such measures included in the final draft”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.
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Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777
04/01/10
Green Party Dublin West representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on Fingal County Council to remove plans for high rise buildings from the Blanchardstown Village Draft Urban Design Framework Plan.
“Just before Christmas I submitted the response of the Dublin West Green Party to the Blanchardstown Village Draft Urban Design Framework Plan that Fingal County Council had put on public display. While I welcomed many aspects of the plan, I am deeply concerned by proposals to allow tall buildings be constructed in a number of locations within the village”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.
“The Draft Plan identifies 13 ‘Opportunity Sites’ throughout the village and makes proposals for their redevelopment. In nearly all cases, I agree with the need for some degree of redevelopment of these sites. However, in certain situations I feel that the density of what is being proposed, and in particular the height, is grossly unsuitable in light of the objective of protecting the village character”.
“This is particularly the case at the Bell Pub site, where a so called ‘signature building’ of up to 6 stories is suggested, and on the Superquinn site, where the Council are proposing a large 5 storey residential and commercial building”.
“Early in December I leaflet areas of Blanchardstown Village to let residents know what has been proposed and I have received a lot of contact from residents concerned over certain aspects of the plans. In order to address these concerns, I am calling on Fingal County Council to insert a new local objective into the Development Plan regarding the height of buildings permitted within the village. This should clearly state that buildings will not go beyond 4 stories other than possibly the area around the Garda Station at the north-west end of the village”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.
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Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777
RE: Blanchardstown Village Draft Urban Design Framework Plan
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please find below the submission on behalf of the Dublin West Green Party regarding the Blanchardstown Village Draft Urban Design Framework Plan.
Kind regards
Roderic O’Gorman
General Comments
We welcome the detailed nature of the Draft Plan. However, we reiterate the point we made in our first submission that the subject area is excessively narrow. In particular, the failure to include the Roselawn Road and surround estates, the Roselawn Shopping Centre and Castleknock Train Station means that significant commercial, transportation and educational infrastructure is omitted, along with surrounding residential areas.
Movement
Rail & Metro
We submit that the discussion of Rail at 4.1.1. is quite dismissive. Castleknock train station provides a quality services to residents of the east side of the village, and this service is set to improve in 2010 with the opening of the Dunboyne line.
We would suggest that greater consideration should be given to increasing the accessibility of the Castleknock station to the rest of the village through signage, implementing a proper pedestrian crossing over the Roselawn Road and widening the footpath over the Granard Bridge. This would address the current “detached” nature of the train station. The focus should be on the train line that is up and running, rather than one whose future looks dubious in light of budget cuts.
Pedestrian
We argue that increased reference to pedestrian facilities should be made. In particular, there should be a greater emphasis placed on using the Tolka Valley and the Royal Canal as priority pedestrian routes. We would also suggest that pedestrian access to Castleknock Train Station be improved through the creation of a pedestrian crossing on the Roselawn Road and a widening of the footpath over the Granard Bridge, as referred to above.
Bus and Cycle lane Provision
We welcome proposals to create a bus and a cycle lane through the village. There will be a further need to consult with local cyclists to look at specific black spots that they face in the village, particularly on the outbound route which will not receive the benefit of the cycle lane.
The proposed bus lane will result in the elimination of some on street parking in the village. An examination the impact of reduced car parking on surrounding residential estates needs to be undertaken. Some degree of permit parking may be necessary to ensure residents of these areas are not disadvantaged as a result of this.
Closing Main Street
Page 31 of the Draft Plan refers to provision for the closure of Main Street for major events which would attract large crowds. While this would undoubtedly enable more community events to occur, the impact of traffic diversions on surrounding roads, particularly the Roselawn Road, would have to be accessed.
Noise Pollution
As with our initial submission, we believe that the Draft Plan should make a reference to the need for measures to reduce noise pollution suffered by residents living close to the N3, in particular on Herbert Road and Millstead. Residents of these estates have suffered over the years and the National Roads Authority has made little effort to address the situation. We argue that specific reference to the needs of residents of these estates should be included.
Planning & Rezoning
Building height
The Draft Plan identifies 13 ‘Opportunity Sites’ throughout the village and makes proposals for their redevelopment. In nearly all cases, we agree with the need for some degree of redevelopment of these sites. However, in certain situations we feel that the density of what is being proposed, and in particular the height, is grossly unsuitable in light of the objective of protecting the village character.
Site 1
We welcome the idea of providing a public space as a focal point for activities within the village such as markets or public events. However, we have concerns about the proposal for a 5 storey development on the site. This area is surrounded by established residential estates and we feel such a high development would impose on these properties.
Site 2
We welcome the proposal to develop this site as it is currently the focus of anti-social activity and causes problems for surrounding residential areas, such as Mary Brennan Park.
Site 7
The Draft Pan contains an extremely ambitious proposal for the Bell Pub site, including a 6 storey ‘signature building’ at the corner of the Castleknock Road and Navan Road at the east end of the village. We would argue that this is totally out of proportion with the rest of the village and the surrounding houses. If one of the goals of the redevelopment of Blanchardstown is to maintain the character of the village, then we argue that a building of this height in such a prominent position is completely unsuitable.
Site 10
We would welcome the proposal to have increased linkage from the village to the Tolka Valley and possibly further to the Waterville estate through this site. It should be born in mind that as this site includes some of the floodplain of the Tolka. We would have a concern that the proposed new buildings are significantly further within the flood plane and thus that they have an increased risk of being flooded.
Site 11
We would have a concern that the proposed 5 storey building at the junction of Main Street and the Clonsilla Road is excessively high, regarding being had to the surrounding area.
Site 12
The Draft Plan again proposes relatively high buildings of 5/6 storeys at this point. We feel that the height is not such an issue as this is not the traditional heart of the village, and the buildings would be in the setting of other modern buildings such as the Garda Station and the Women’s Refuge.
Rezoning
7.14 A new local objective should be inserted regarding the height of buildings permitted within the village. This should clearly state that buildings will not go beyond 4 stories other that the area around the Garda Station at the north-west end of the village.
Tolka Valley
We would be broadly supportive of the proposals regarding the Tolka Valley. Any changes need to bear in mind the need to ensure that disturbances are not cause for those houses currently backing onto the village. New pedestrian and cycle links to Waterville, in particular the construction of new bridge are a welcome development.
Linking Blanchardstown Village with the Town Centre
We welcome proposals to improve the linkage between the Town Centre and the village. However, it is important that design features ensure that there remains a distinction between these two different areas with two distinct and different characters.
A possible connection through Springlawn to Town Centre would have both advantages and disadvantages. It would create a shortcut for those on the Clonsilla Road and surrounding estates to the Town Centre. This short cut is already unofficially used with many people jumping the wall at Springlawn. However, increased pedestrian traffic may bring anti-social, litter etc. along with concern about people loitering at the entrance. Any decision on this issue would require consultation and participation of the residents of the estate.
