Combined Whitehall Residents Association

The request to change the Framework plan to a Local Area Plan with statutory standing has been dismissed in the report on submissions, the following being the response.

“The Whitehall Plan is a draft non-statutory framework plan. This approach for the preparation of a non-statutory plan was agreed by the members at the North Central Area Committee Meeting on 21st January 2008.

The purpose of Local Area Plans (LAPs), as set out in the legislation and ministerial guidelines, is to provide guidance for the coherent development of strategic growth areas and areas with substantial brownfield or greenfield lands for development. The Whitehall lands are relatively small-scale and site-specific in nature and do not demonstrate strategically significant development capacity. For these reasons, the lands in question do not come within the definition of lands appropriate for the preparation of an LAP, as set out in the legislation.”

It seems that the focus is on that piece of land above the tunnel rather than Whitehall as a whole and how to bring it together into a great area.

A report on the submissions by Whitehall residents and other stakeholders has now been made available. According to the report a total of 252 submissions were received, and the main issues were grouped under the following headings.

1. Traffic
2. Height
3. Church Carpark
4. Inadequate facilities / amenities / infrastructure
5. Density / Range of house type
6. Lack of Strategic Environmental Assessment / Environmental Impact Study
7. Port Tunnel Safety
8. Construction nuisance / pollution and noise
9. Inadequate public consultation / need for Local Area plan

Each of these headings is examined and the respones and recommendations to our concerns makes for interesting reading. This document doesn’t look like its complete, but give a good indication of the thinking of our public servants.

The following issues are also addressed

Recommendations

Issue
No. Issue Content
1 Traffic
1.1 High Park Cul de Sac
1.1.1 Antisocial Behaviour
1.2 Gaeltacht Park Residents
2 Height
2.1 12 Storeys
2.1.1 Ugly Gateway
2.2 Low Rise Typology
3 Parking
3.1 Loss of Park and Ride
3.2 Overlooking/Privacy
3.3 Overshadowing
4 Inadequate Facilities
4.1 In support of GAA Facilities
4.2 Opposed to GAA Facilities
4.3 Inadequate Public Open Space
4.4 Inadequate Infrastructure Or Services
4.5 Loss of Amenity
4.6 Inadequate Research
5 Density
5.1 House Range
5.2 Too Many Apartments
6 Lack of SEA/EIS
7 Safety -Port Tunnel
8 Excessive Construction
8.1 Pollution And Noise
9 Inadequate Public Consultation
9.1 Change to Statutory Plan

The full Report can be downloaded here Report on Submissions in PDF format

The Council has organised a consultation meeting for residents’ groups in relation to Maximising the City’s Potential. It’s on Monday 23rd June in the Artane / Beaumont Recreational Centre at 6.30pm .

The document can be viewed on this blog, use the link above for quick access.

I am just bringing to your attention the attached letter which I retrieved today from the Barina planning application file. It’s a letter from the NRA outlining its recommendation that planning permission be refused and detailing their concerns about the potential impact on the Dublin Port Tunnel.

Separately, I have requested maps and notes from the Council on the “restricted zone” for development along and adjacent to the tunnel’s path. I will pass this on to you as soon as I have it. [ National Roads Authority Letter regarding planning permission for Barina Development]

Róisín

252 submissions were received from residents and business in relation to the Whitehall Framework Plan.

The committee continues to work to have the plan changed to an Area Plan with statutory standing.

THANK-YOU TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE FUND TO HIRE THE PLANNER.

The submission made on behalf of all of the resident associations in the area, funded by your Euro’s is available on this website now.

On May 16th Councillor Deirdre Heney wrote back that she supported changing the plan to an Area Plan.

” I would much prefer if the framework plan was a local area plan and have no difficulty supporting your request. Indeed I have made strong represtations in this regard to the Manager some months back. The feedbackback from Planning is that the legislation does not require a local area plan in this instance, owing to geographic area and population level.

It is for this reason that I believe it will be difficult to persuade management to move in the direction of a statutory local area plan. You may recall at the initial meeting in the Parish Centre that I did refer tothe fact that the consultants recommendations for Whitehall would not result in any statutorily binding plan, i.e. that any planning applications granted by Dublin City Council will be open to appeal to An Bord Pleánala, who are not bound to have regard to a ‘Framework Plan’.”

Another email followed on the 19th of May highlighting the fact that the Framework Plan would be discussed at an upcoming area meeting, as a result, representatives from the Combined Residents Associations will attend this session.

” At our Area Committee meeting this afternoon we were informed that a draft report on the Whitehall Framework Plan will be presented to us early in June. The draft report will encompass the various views expressed during the public consultation process and will be presented to local public representatives for consideration.”

Dear All,

Further to the recent public consultation on the Whitehall Framework plan,and our recent discussions about the merits of a statutory area plan as compared to a non-statutory framework plan, we have asked the independent planner we engaged to summarise his expert advice on the matter. The attached letter details the advantages of a statutory area plan.

I have been asked by the Combined Whitehall Residents Association to circulate this letter to you. Should you wish to also receive a hard copy please do let me know. We would like you to consider this advice andour desire as the Combined Whitehall Residents Associations to change the non-statutory framework plan into a statutory area plan.

Sincerely,

Aphra Kerr.

on behalf of the CWRA

Letter from Barnes Consulting

The basis of the submission prepared by Barnes Consulting on behalf of the Residents of Whitehall was to change the framework plan to a local area plan. A local area plan is statutory. The attached letter outlines the benefits of pursuing a statutory local area plan. Letter from Barnes Consulting

Letter sent to Highpark Residents Association outlining the status of the submissions within Dublin City Council. 252 public submissions were received and are currently being reviewed. Key themes identified are

• Traffic
• Height
• Car Parking
• Amenities and Facilites
• Density
• Implication for Services

Letter regarding Interim Report on Framework Plan

15th April 2008

You may be aware that the decision in relation to Barina was to seek ADDITONAL INFORMATION

I am attaching the planner’s report which gives the background and explains the thinking of Council officials. There are some restrictions on height but at first glance, the Council seems well-disposed to the application.

We have a major battle on our hands

Regards,

Róisín.