I think the proposed development of up to 7 storeys at the Techrete site Howth is excessive for Howth. While regeneration at this site would be very positive for our community I think it is essential that we get it right and don’t allow planning permission for an excessive development.
Please see below the submission that I made together with Sean Kenny T.D. to Fingal County Council regarding the planning application for several apartment blocks up to a maximum height of 7 storeys.
The Planning Counter
Fingal Couty Council
Main Street,
Swords,
Co. Dublin
Submission re: F11A/0028
Dear Sir/ Madam,
We are writing to object to the proposed development at the former Techrete site, Howth and adjoining lands including Baltray Park. Please find the fee of 20 euro enclosed.
We contend that the planning authority should refuse permission on the following grounds:
1) The proposed heights are in excess of what has been agreed by Fingal County Council as appropriate for the area in the formation of our Draft Development Plan 2011-2017 which will come into effect shortly. This will have a negative impact on the visual character of Howth and these proposed heights are in excess of all precedents on the Howth peninsula.
2) The development will contravene the protected view in both the current and draft Development Plans from the gates of Howth Castle towards the sea and the photo visualisation provided regarding this objective is flawed.
3) The proposed development will limit visibility and access to Baltray Park from the Howth Road in contravention of good planning practice.
4) The proposal to build residential units on lands zoned open space in the current development plan and the draft development plan 2011-2017 is a material contravention of the development plan.
5) The EIS statement provided contains a number of factual errors and inaccuracies and does not therefore provide a reliable basis for a planning decision to be made.
6) There is a sufficient quantum of apartments in the area – what is needed is more family homes.
The proposed heights are in excess of what has been agreed by Fingal County Council as appropriate for the area in the formation of our Draft Development Plan 2011-2017 which will come into effect shortly. This will have a negative impact on the visual character of Howth and these proposed heights are in excess of any precedents on the Howth peninsula.
The Draft Fingal Development Plan 2011-2017 which will come into effect in early April states the following in relation to this site:
“Development shall be between three and five storeys to include a landmark building at the eastern end of the site to enhance design quality. The three storey aspect of the development shall be on the western side of the site and a maximum of 30% of the overall development shall be five storeys.”
After a lengthy process of discussion, debate and public consultation Fingal County Council has taken the view that in the interests of protecting the special character of Howth that these height restrictions should apply. Howth is a unique area with a rich heritage and it is essential that future development respects and enhances this special character. The subject site at the entrance to Howth harbour and Howth Castle will dominate and detract from the existing architecture and built heritage due to the heights proposed. There is no precedent for any development on the Howth peninsula in excess of 4 storeys. On these grounds alone planning permission should be refused.
The development will contravene the protected view in the current and draft Development Plans from the gates of Howth Castle towards the sea and objective and the photo visualisation provided regarding this objective is flawed
The view from the Howth Castle domain gates towards the Sea is marked on the maps of both the current and draft development plans. The view is protected and is also listed in the Howth Castle ACA (p.19). The green circled point on the development plan maps is clearly located at the entrance gates and it is from this point that the protected sea views must be considered.
The photo visualisation from the Howth Castle Domain gates is seriously flawed. The photo visualisation is not taken from a photo from the gates but is actually taken from a location several metres behind the gates. This means that the gates and walls themselves obscure significantly the protected view from this point. A photo visualisation from the actual location of the gates which is the location of the protected view is needed. This would show that the proposed development would seriously impact on this protected view.
Permission should be refused for this proposed development because it would negatively impact on this protected view and because the photo visualisations provided are flawed.
The proposed development will limit visibility and access to Baltray Park from the Howth Road in contravention of good planning practice
The EIS (p.4.22) inaccurately states that: “Baltray Park (which is an existing public park) will be enhanced as part of this development proposal and made more accessible to the public via a new movement network. It is intended that this park will become more integrated the (sic) existing village via the proposed new scheme. The Park will be highly visible from the Howth Road and will be accessed from that Road, as well as internally within the development.”
In fact this is not the case. The proposed development will not only see park space been lost due to the building of 5 residential units on open space park land, it will also lose space due to a proposed community centre. The community centre is to be located between the Howth Road and the public park obscuring visibility of the park from the public road. This breaches good practice in designing public spaces as open, visible and secure and could lead to problems of anti social behaviour in the park with the community centre acting as a wall, barrier and screen to the park.
The proposal to build residential units on lands zoned open space in the current development plan and the draft development plan 2011-2017 is a material contravention of the development plan.
The An Bord Pleanala Inspector’s Report regarding the last application states that (Reasons and Considerations Point 1):
“The Proposal to locate 5 no. housing units on lands zoned “open space”, would materially contravene the provision of the Current Development Plan for the area, in that the use classes permitted in principle do not include ‘Residential’ use.”
Baltray Park is zoned as Open Space in both the current and draft development plan and the construction of residential units on lands zoned open space is clearly not permitted. For this reason planning permission should be refused.
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) submitted as part of the planning application contains a number of factual errors and inaccuracies and does not therefore provide a reliable basis for a planning decision to be made.
The EIS contains a number of factually incorrect statements. For example on page 4.5 in table 4.3 it tells us that Saint Fintan’s High School is located in Howth, when it is located in Sutton. And it states that St. Mary’s Secondary School is located in Howth when it is located in Baldoyle and that Pobalscoil Neasan is located in Sutton when it is also located in Baldoyle. Page 4.6 tells us that Howth is served by the 31C route which was discontinued a couple of years ago. These errors of such basic and non disputable information readily available on the internet bring into question the validity and reliability of the Environmental Impact statement on more technical and complex matters.
There is a sufficient quantum of apartments in the area – what is needed is more family homes.
The EIS (p. 4.23) states that the development will add to the housing types and tenure available in the area: “Howth is currently dominated by larger dwelling types. There is a shortage of apartment units in the area.” However this is a grossly inaccurate and misleading statement.
There are numerous apartment complexes in the area such as the Asgard Apartments Balscadden Road, the St Nessans Apartments Thormanby Road, apartments on Main Street, Howth and on Dungriffin Road, the apartments at the former St. Lawrences site at Harbour, the apartments overlooking Howth harbour in various different schemes on Harbour Road, the Howth Lodge Apartments, the Avalon Apartments on Claremont Road and the substantial apartment complexes at Corr Castle and Offington Manor. In addition there are a large number of vacant apartment units at the Coast, Baldoyle which is close by and there are several phases more of development at this location and in the nearby North Fringe with planning permission granted. There is however a shortage of family homes in the area which are badly needed to maintain a balance in the demographics of the local population. The EIS is fundamentally flawed in its assessment of housing need.
In the interests of sustainable planning and protecting the special character of Howth we urge the planning authority to refuse permission for this planning permission.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan Sean Kenny T.D.
Here is a copy of the submission that I sent to Dublin Bus regarding their proposed changes to the 29A, 31 and 31B services. I met with Dublin Bus two weeks ago to outline concerns of people in Howth and Sutton to a reduced service:
Ray Coyne
Dublin Bus Head Office,
O Connell Street,
Dublin 1.
Dear Ray,
Many thanks for meeting me two weeks ago to discuss the Network Review proposed changes for Howth, Sutton and Baldoyle. Thank you for agreeing to restore bus timetables on the many vacant displays in the local area and for agreeing to consider installing additional timetable displays particularly for the benefit of tourists and visitors. I would also like to suggest that the bus stops at Sutton Cross and Howth Dart Station should be considered for realtime displays.
On behalf of the local community I would like to make the following points formally as part of the public consultation process that Dublin bus is undertaking:
• The proposed extension of a high frequency 29 bus route to Baldoyle is very welcome. Dublin Bus are to be congratulated for taking on board the requests of local people and residents associations by adopting this proposal.
• The proposal that buses on the Howth Road would depart at regular and consistent intervals from the city centre will greatly benefit commuters from the area. This will address the difficulty commuters from Howth and Sutton have at peak times accessing buses when they are in competition with commuters who can use any Howth Road bus.
• The proposed reduction of the frequency of the 31 bus to Howth is a retrograde step. The 31 currently enjoys a frequency rate of one bus every 20 minutes for most peak times. The proposal to reduce this to one bus every 30 minutes will seriously impact on the service to residents in Howth and Sutton. Howth is also a major tourist destination and a diminished bus service will be damaging to local tourism and jobs.
• The proposal to withdraw entirely services to Stand Road, St. Fintan’s Road, Shielmartin, South hill and Sutton Park School is unfair. Dublin Bus has provided a limited service to these areas since they were built. It is essential particularly in the public interest of younger and older passengers who rely on this service to maintain it.
• The proposals from the Howth Sutton Community Council for an improved bus service for the entire peninsula of Howth operating from current resources should be seriously examined by Dublin Bus. The failure of Dublin Bus to respond formally to these proposals to date, let alone implement them is regrettable.
• The frequency of buses on the 31B route must not be reduced any further. The service is already minimal.
I hope that Dublin Bus will take these points on board.
Regards,
Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan
This week’s Prime Time Investigates exposed a number of bad planning decisions that are continuing to be made particularly in Fingal County Council. The programme revealed that the Council is continuing to add to the oversupply or zoned lands for residential use. Last July cllrs. approved a Local Area Plan for lands at Oldtown and Mooretown in Swords owned by property developer Gerry Gannon whose loans have been transferred to NAMA.
As one of only six Fingal Cllrs who opposed the Oldtown Mooretown Local Area Plan I think the investigation by Prime Time of the continued bad planning decisions made by Fingal County Councillors is very welcome. I have been trying to draw attention over the last number of months to some of the crazy decisions the Council is making.
Despite some 152 ghost estates and a large oversupply of zoned residential land a majority of councillors particularly from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Independents are continuing to support large land rezonings in Fingal.
One of the best things that we can do as councillors for home owners in any of the 152 unfinished ghost estates in Fingal is stop re-zoning more land for residential use. It may take years for these half built estates to be finished – however zoning even more land and passing even more Local Area Plans will only delay completion even further.
Some of the worst re-zoning decisions this year by the Council included:
- the re-zoning of even more land in Tyrlestown for residential use
- the rezoning of agricultural fields for industrial use despite a huge supply of land already zoned for industrial use which remains undeveloped
- the re-zoning of yet more land at Ridgewood Swords for residential use
- the passing of a substantial number of local objectives for one off houses which destroy the countryside and contravene sustainable planning guidelines
An alliance of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent Councillors are continuing to re-zone even more land for residential use in Fingal, seemingly oblivious to the blight caused by 152 ghost estates in Fingal and the over supply of land already zoned for residential use.
In particular there is already a very large supply of land zoned for residential development in the Swords area. The Fostertown and the Oldtown/ Mooretown Local Area Plans allow for the construction of an additional 4,600 units in total. Taken in the context of the widespread expansion of Swords in recent years it defies all logic that councillors voted for additional residential re-zoning at Ridgewood in Swords.
After all the revelations since the 1990’s regarding bad planning, speculative re-zonings, over zoning of land, destruction and erosion of our green belt and countryside it is beyond belief that a majority of Fingal County Councillors persist in re-zoning land against all the principles of sustainable planning.
This week I have been stunned watching vote after vote an unholy alliance of predominantly Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Independent councillors club together to vote through re-zoning and local objective proposals against the professional advice of the Fingal Council planners. These councillors are also showing complete disregard for the National Spatial Strategy, the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines and the Development Plan guidelines issued by the Department of the Environment Heritage and Local Government.
One of the worst instances this week was when the Council voted to arbitrarily re-zone agricultural fields in the country side for industrial use. The only person to benefit is the landowner in question by greatly increasing the value of his land. The wider community and taxpayer ultimately bear a cost from this breach of good planning and for this approval of leap frog development. After all the mistakes that have happened with bad planning over the years it is beyond my comprehension that it is still taking place today.
I have submitted motions on the following topics to the Fingal Development Plan:
• Provision of a cycle way in the Metro Economic Corridoor
• Rain water harvesting in new developments when appropriate
• Renewal of the Howth SAAO
• Protection of access to beaches
• Incorporation of Green roofs in large developments
• Deletion of implementation of the Howth Urban Centre Strategy
• Naming of new residential areas in Irish
• Geographical spread of new graveyards to be located preferably close to public transport
• Re-insertion of hotels as not permitted in principle in high amenity areas
• Exclusion of light, air and noise polluting activities that effect residential neighbours of the Baldoyle Industrial Estate
• Protection of public views of the Martello Tower at Edros
• Provision of a community centre at Edros
• Height restriction of 3 storeys at Edros
• Requirement of drainage and flood impact study at Brickfields, Baldoyle
• Provision of a nursing home, independent living units and Sports Club House at Brickfields Baldoyle
• Deletion of landmark building from managers amendment at Techrete
• 5 Storey height restriction for phase 5 of the Coast Baldoyle
• Preservation of public views to the Sea and Ireland’s Eye in Howth from Seaview Terrace, Main Street, entrance to Deer Park, Balscadden Road
• Addition of Porto Fino to the Record of Protected Structures
This summer the Fingal County Council Management have decided to stop cutting grass in a number of areas including open spaces within housing estates. Their plan is to remove a crop of hay at these locations at the end of the summer to reduce the fertility of the soil and then to commence with bulb, wild flower seed and tree planting to turn these areas into meadowlands rather than open grass spaces. The Council management are claiming that this practice of not cutting the grass is in the interests of “biodiversity”.
In other areas the Council has severely reduced the frequency at which it is cutting grass, leaving greens scorched when they are finally cut and rendering most open spaces unusable for the rest of the time.
This decision to stop cutting grass has being implemented without the consent of local councillors and local communities. Residents who put great effort into keeping their houses and gardens well maintained are upset that the Council is failing to cut the grass. While the Council has to be more efficient, it still has a budget of a 252 million euro which is more than ample in my view to support core services like grass cutting. If the Council is able to approve foreign trips to Brazil, then it should be capable of cutting the grass.
Developers are required by Fingal County Council to provide open space in new housing estates so that residents can use the space for recreation, sport and walking. By failing to cut the grass the Council is rendering these areas unusable.
The assertion from the Council management that they are cutting grass in areas where they know children use it for football is simply not true. I know of several areas where there are goal posts in place and yet no grass is cut.
I have submitted the following motion to the June County Council meeting:
“That the manager will immediately restore the practice of regular grass cutting in housing estates and communities and will desist from implementing the draft and unapproved growing places policy without the active consent of local residents and elected members”
At yesterday’s Council meeting item 30 J on the agenda was a conference in Bermuda.
With my full support my colleague Cllr. Patrick Nulty requested a roll call vote to remove this conference from the list of approved events that councillors can claim expenses and travel costs for. Incredibly a number of councillors defended this “conference” in Bermuda and a decision on approval has being deferred until our June meeting.
At a time when the Council is removing the bin tag waiver from pensioners and people who have become unemployed and when local businesses are struggling to pay their Council rates I find this staggering.
The invitation sent officially to councillors reads as follows:
“Looking for a few good reasons to attend the 20th ACI World & Latin America-Caribbean Annual General Assembly Conference and Exhibition this November? Here’s the best one: It’s in Bermuda…. Here are several more:
- Our famous pink sand beaches
- 400 years worth of history…..
- Dazzling sunlight on white roofed pastel cottages
- Lush Gardens….
- Nine impeccably groomed golf courses
- World-class diving on historic shipwrecks”
The fact that some Fingal Councillors support spending public money on a poorly disguised holiday for themselves is outrageous. It requires a highly creative imagination to visualise this event as a serious conference requiring representation by Fingal Councillors. I’d suggest that any councillor with such a creative imagination might retire from the Council and take up creative writing of children’s fairytales instead.
The Labour Party unanimously adopted a motion on Saturday at conference in Galway commiting the party to abolish water tax when Labour is in government.
Here is the text of a letter that I signed together with a large number of my labour colleagues from around the country today:
As Labour Party Councilors, we wish to state our opposition to Minister John Gormley’s plan to introduce water charges.
Labour reaffirmed our opposition to water charges at our Party Conference in Galway last weekend. We believe in the provision of water as a fundamental human right and that the cost of providing an EU standard of water to every home in the state should be funded through a reformed and progressive tax system.
Labour also confirmed at our Conference that we are committed to abolishing these regressive water charges if in Government. In the meantime, we as Councilors will continue to lead the opposition to water charges and privatisation in our communities and in Council Chambers across the country in the months ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr. Gearóid Buckley, (Bandon Town Council)
Cllr. Kevin Byrne, (Kildare County Council)
Cllr. Shaun Cunniffe, (Tuam Town Council)
Cllr. Marie Corr, (South Dublin County Council)
Cllr. Peter Coyle, (Fingal County Council)
Cllr. Donie Daly, (Youghal Town Council)
Cllr Paula Desmond, (Cork County Council)
Cllr Ger Dunne, (Naas Town Council)
Cllr. Leonard Hatrick, (Ardee Town Council)
Cllr. Dermot Looney, (South Dublin County Council)
Cllr. John Lyons, (Dublin City Council)
Cllr. Eamonn Maloney, (South Dublin County Council)
Cllr. Marie Moloney (Kerry County Council)
Cllr. Frank McBrearty Jnr, (Donegal County Council)
Cllr. John McGinley, (Kildare County Council)
Cllr. Patrick Nulty, (Fingal County Council)
Cllr. Sean O’ Brien, (Tullamore Town Council)
Cllr. Tomas O’Brien, (Kinsale Town Council)
Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan, (Fingal County Council)
Cllr. Michael O’Donovan, (Fingal County Council)
Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ennis Town Council)
Cllr. Seamus Ryan, (Waterford City Council)
Cllr. Eamon Tuffy, (South Dublin County Council)
Cllr. Mark Wall, (Kildare County Council)
The Evening Herald today runs with a story on councillors in Fingal claiming over 90,000 euro in expenses for conferences and foreign travel:
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/councillors-notch-up-836490k-bill-on-freebie-foreign-trips-2135676.html
For the record I pay my own way to any conferences that I attend and I have never claimed a cent of expenses for attending any conference.
However these articles are problematic. They spread apathy about politics. They give the impression that all public reps are the same and are just in it for themselves. They give the impression that all conferences attended by councillors are attended as “junkets”. And more importantly these articles distract from the real crimes that are taking place in Ireland where billions of euro of public money is been given away for bailouts.
Most councillors have a genuine commitment to their local community and to public service. Many who attend conferences do so to further their understanding of issues so they can perform their duties as councillors. However if the wrong impression is being conveyed councillors must take responsibility for this. We live in a time when funding for vital community projects is not been provided. And yet some of our elected reps who are meant to lead are jet setting off around the world.
Yesterday Fingal councillors voted 13-8 to approve a trip for councillors to Brazil. This shows just how out of touch many of our elected representatives are. I voted against the trip and spoke against it. Fine Gael and Independents voted en bloc for this completely unnecessary trip.
At the meeting I suggested that there is plenty councillors can do closer to home if they wish to brush up on policy issues. There are excellent resources available in Ireland – on the internet, in publications and from conferences that are organised here. I attended an excellent conference on planning held by An Taisce several months ago and learned a great deal. There was no hotel, no flights, no complimentary dinners or travel expenses. It cost the tax payer zero cent – and as it turned out I was the only councillor in the county to attend!
