Researcher Calls for Full Public Enquiry into Monkstown Ring Road

PRESS RELEASE

Researcher Calls for Full Public Enquiry into Monkstown Ring Road

For Release 16/10/2006


A Transport Researcher, Mr. Brian Guckian, has called for a full and rigourous public enquiry into the Monkstown Ring Road planning and approval process after it emerged that significant internal lobbying of Councillors to approve the proposed scheme was undertaken by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council staff ahead of last week's vote.

Mr. Guckian said Councillors had been given presentations on just one option - the existing scheme - and said sustainable alternative options, such as the Monkstown-Stillorgan Greenway, which had been submitted to the Council last February at the Oral Hearing into the proposed scheme, had been totally ignored.

"It's like purporting to have a democratic election and then putting up just one candidate", said Mr. Guckian. "Councillors were advised only on the existing proposal, the EIS for which breached EU planning guidelines and which was thrown out by An Bord Pleanala's independent planning expert last June". Mr. Guckian confirmed that at no stage since last February had he been asked by the Council to give balancing presentations on the Greenway alternative.

"This is a scandal. You have Councillors voting for a scheme that was rejected by an independent expert assessment that carefully took account of a huge range of evidence. Then, they completely ignored sustainable alternatives put forward in good faith by people from the county. Just as An Bord Pleanala's decision to grant permission was wrong and is being investigated, last week's vote is just as wrong, and also should be investigated. The whole thing stinks and demands a full and rigourous public enquiry".

Mr. Guckian said that he expected decisive action from the European Parliament on foot of his recent Petition lodged on August 3rd last, and rejected assertions that there was public support for the proposed scheme. "There cannot be support for this; how can anyone with a conscience support a scheme that has been totally rejected by a state planning expert?".


ENDS

Contact: Brian Guckian 087 9140105 railprojects@eircom.net

Monkstown Ring Road Protest Picket

http://www.ireland.indymedia.org/article/78878

Dublin - Event NoticeMonday October 09 2006

Monkstown Ring Road Protest Picket

dublin environment event notice Sunday October 08, 2006 14:18 by Tony Mac Carthaigh

Monkstown Ring Road Protest Picket

Next Monday , Oct 9 , a peaceful Protest/Picket will be placed at the town hall in Dun Laoghaire where a council meeting will be taking place .

The main item on the agenda is to be the attempted rubber stamping of the highly unpopular Monkstown Ring Road.

On the County development plan for the past 30 years, its imminent O/K would devastate a settled community rending it in two and mean that over 30 mature trees will fall to the chain saws.

Support from some Councillors is assured but a noisy picket with whistles, pots and pans , dustbins etc may encourage some wavering ones to get on side.

South Dublin road approved at council meeting

http://www.irishtrucker.com/news/news_detail.asp?nid=385

A contentious road in south Dublin was given final approval by Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown councilors on Monday, October 9th after a two-hour council discussion.

The Monkstown Ring Road will connect the Stradbrook area of Blackrock to Stillorgan Park.
It was approved by An Bord Pleanala in June.

It means that 16 homes will be demolished.

The board approved the plan despite its inspector advising that it be dismissed.

Residents in the area had organised a campaign against the plan which increased the pressure on Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown councillors before the meeting on Monday.

They also organised a protest outside the council offices on Monday.

Their efforts were in vain. Councillors voted 16 to 11 against a motion to tell the manager not to go ahead with the road.

Green Party Councillor Nessa Childers,

Fianna Fail’s Barry Conway and

Fine Gael Cllr John Bailey had tabled the motion.

Ms Childers pointed out that in the attempts to connect two retail areas, the council had forgotten that people also live there.

However Cllr Eugene Regan stated that the road was an important piece of infrastructure that should go ahead. County Manager Owen Keegan supported the road.

He agreed to provide extra measures to improve the effects of the road on surrounding houses. This was as long as there was no legal conflict with An Bord Pleanala’s ruling. He also said he would be prepared to help in the provision of double glazing for 40 or so dwellings.

Story filed on October 10, 2006

Local Green Party Councillor Nessa Childers stated:

http://www.ciarancuffe.com/PR/2006/PR061011D.Monkstown.RR.Council.Decision.htm

“This unnecessary road will bring thousands of cars past people’s driveways everyday, suffering noise, pollution and vibration.

The traffic implications and the serious failure of the council’s traffic department in presenting their case adequately led, among other factors, to Mr Jones rejecting the scheme. He does so, not in a dismissive manner but in clear professional tones.

“Any benefits the road will have will be outweighed by the environmental violence it will visit on the estates of Rowanbyrn and Brookville, the further stress it will create on the village of Stillorgan, and that it is totally contrary to the policies of national, regional and local development of transport which exist in 2006.

Local Green Party Councillor Kealin Ireland stated:
“The only solution to the traffic gridlock in the county is for Dún Laoghaire County Council to demonstrate leadership and demand of the Dublin Transport Office that it provide an enhanced public transport service for Dún Laoghaire.

If, as the County Manager Owen Keegan has said "we have lost the battle with the car" let's look at alternatives, not build more roads which eventually become carparks.”


Green Party Councillor Tom Kivlehan stated:
"Even the Council admits that the Monkstown Ring Road will end up pushing more traffic through the village of Monkstown".

B. Troy..."Attention of Cathaoirleach Regan"

Attention of Cathaoirleach Regan

Dear Sir,

Before the vote on the MRR at the Council Meeting of 09.10.06 a technical presentation was made, ostensibly to show Councillors 'advantages' of the proposed ring road.

A coloured map entitled MONKSTOWN RING ROAD PREDICTED CHANGE IN TRAFFICFLOWS WITH SCHEME was screened.

This purported to show the changes intraffic flows upon completion of the ring road based on the traffic figuresof the EIS.

A staff member gave a detailed commentary.
This was the firsttime we saw this drawing.
Contrary to the presenter's account, this map is not a true representation in pictorial form of the traffic figures of the Environmental Impact Statement of July 2005.

It is clearly generated by different source material.
It is not true to the figures of the EIS on two counts :-

1. The actual trends are not correctly indicated in line with the figures of the EIS of July 2005 and known traffic counts.

2. The map is not a proper interpretation of the traffic figures as agreed by the engineers from DLRCC and their traffic consultants Faber Maunsell during the Oral Hearing.

As DLRCC Senior Counsel Flanagan pointed out on numerous occasions during the course of the hearing, what was presented at the hearing formed part of the EIS.

The purpose of the new diagram was to 'persuade' the Councillors that there are 'advantages' attaching to the proposed road.

The same form of 'persuasion' was used in the Monkstown Ring Road Report of 1995 in order to have the scheme put back into the County Development Plan and so we recognised that particular stratagem.

The Councillors were misled once again.
We understand that theTransportation Department has been running mini-seminars for small groups of Councillors for the last week or so using this diagram.

This really is intense 'persuasion'.
The diagram represents yet another, different set of traffic figures.

We ask you to immediately act to :-

1. Rescind the decision of Council to proceed with the road as it is based on false information which does not represent the true implication of the traffic figures of the EIS.

2. Make available for general inspection a set of these new traffic figures which form the basis of the diagram in tabular format together with details of their origin - when they were developed and by whom.
Who made the decision to use 'persuasive' figures?
This is the third set of arranged figures that the Roads Department have used to promote this road.

We explained to you in our Rebuttal of the Manager's Report that we as acommunity do not have the financial resources to take legal action against the Council and An Bord Pleanala to establish the highly questionable nature of the traffic figures and, as a consequence, the falseness of the conclusions of the EIS and the decision of the Board of An Bord Pleanala and the County Manager's Report.

Following on from this, we are in contact with the Office of the Ombudsman.
They assisted us in the matter of the 1995 Report.
At that time we could not get the comparative figures needed from the Roads & Traffic Department to prove our point that the MRR Report was seriously flawed.

The EIS of 2005 finally provided the comparative figures we needed.
We contend that there has been a gross abuse of public data.
We are currently preparing a statement of our analysis on comparing the EIS with the MRR of 1995, the conclusions of the EIS, the decision of An Bord Pleanala and the Manager's Report to Council.

We intend asking the County Manager to comment on our deliberations.

Following receipt of his comments (or lack of them as the case may be) the Office of the Ombudsman is preparedto look at it again.

It is the only forum open to us that does not cost the earth?

We consider that our elected representatives are duty bound to help us to establish the truth.
It was obvious from some of the statements made by Councillors at the meeting that their minds are closed to an objective evaluation of the pros and cons of the scheme and that there are other considerations that have nothing to do with dispassionate inquiry motivating their support of the scheme.

This recent third set of figures presented in diagrammatic form at the Council Meeting and used in the 'persuasion' seminars needs to be included in our analysis and we trust you will act with haste to obtain the figures for us.

We suggest that the decision of Council be rescinded immediately to prevent a great injustice being perpetrated on our neighborhoods.

It might be worthwhile advising the County Manager not to proceed with any acquisitions under CPO or carrying out any work on the road until a further meeting of Council has considered the matter again.

Yours,

B. Troy

(For and on behalf of the Combined Residents Associations of Rowanbyrn,Brookville and Fleurville)


An Bord Pleanála
Inspector’s Report
Objectors...
http://www.pleanala.ie/RCH2226.doc

Council Decision Not the End of the Road - Researcher

PRESS RELEASE

Council Decision Not the End of the Road - Researcher

For Release 10/10/2006


A decision by Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown County Councillors to proceed with the Monkstown Ring Road despite its rejection by An Bord Pleanala's Planning Inspector does not mean the road will be eventually built, a Transport Researcher who is opposing the proposed scheme has said.

Mr. Brian Guckian said today that Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown Co. Council's failure to properly examine alternatives to the road scheme in its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and the huge costs of seeking Judicial Review of An Bord Pleanala's decision to grant permision for the scheme last June, were both in contravention of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and a Petition to this effect was now with the European Parliament.

Mr. Guckian said that the material basis for proceeding with the proposed road had been shown to be deeply flawed and unsustainable, and it was disturbing to see Councillors proceeding with it regardless.

This demanded inquiry, he said, and he was also extremely concerned that a sustainable alternative to the scheme, the Monkstown -Stillorgan Greenway, which would facilitate only public transport and would create a linear park along the proposed route, as well as preserving Yankee Terrace off Newtownpark Avenue, had been completely ignored by the Council.

Mr. Guckian further said it was disingenuous of the Council to use the fact there had been no Judicial Review of the proposed scheme as an argument for proceeding with it, since the costs of taking such proceedings under the Irish legal system were completely out of reach of the average citizen.

This was in breach of both Article 10 of the EU Directive on EIA, and the UN/ECE Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1998), which Ireland is a signatory to.

Mr. Guckian advised concerned residents not to give up hope, and said he was anxious for decisive and timely EU intervention on this issue.

ENDS

Contact: Brian Guckian 087 9140105 railprojects@eircom.net

Ciaran Cuffe TD (Green Party) Newsletter 10/09/2006

The residents are thrilled with the rock solid support by Ciaran Cuffe TD and the Green Party on its campaign to have the MRR stopped.

The Green Party is extremely disappointed with yesterday's decision by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to proceed with the construction of the controversial Monkstown Ring Road.
The four Green Party councillors voted against the road.
This road will bring thousands of cars past the homes of people who are currently living in quiet cul-de-sacs. It will demolish hundred year old homes and fifty year old trees.
It is unbelievable that the Council believes that these types of roads-based transport solutions will tame the traffic.
We agree with the Bord Pleanala Inspector who stated that the road would lead to more children being driven, rather than walking to school.
We will continue to press for more frequent DART services, Luas extensions, more buses and feeder routes and investment in a Safe Routes to School Programme.

Brian Guckian...European Parliament Petition

Brian Proposes a Monkstown-Stillorgan Greenway.
Public Transportation-Only Corridor.
He has lodged a petition with the European Parliament Luxembourg.


Mr. Brian Guckian
XX xxxx Road,
Stillorgan,
Blackrock,
Dublin,
Ireland.

Dear Sir,

On behalf of the Secretary-General, I am writing to you to acknowledge recent e-mail on 3,8,2006,

Your petition has been entered in the general register as petition No. 575/2006 and I should be most grateful if you would use that reference number in any future correspondence.

Your petition has been forwarded to the committee on petitions which will, first of all, take a decision on its admissibility, i.e. on whether the subject of your petition falls within the sphere of activities of the European Union. If the committee declares it admissible, it will then examine the substance of your petition.

The committee will write to you directly to inform you of its decision on admissibility.
If your petition is declared admissible the aforementioned committee will examine it at a meeting open to the public in accordance with the provision of the European Parliament’s internal rules of procedure.

May I draw your attention to the fact that the procedure for the examination of a petition may be fairly lengthy, given the large number of petitions that we receive which have to be translated into twenty official languages of the European union and then examined by the committee on petitions.

**************
Introduction
The Monkstown - Stillorgan Greenway is an exciting new way of reconciling transportation objectives with sustainability in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.

What is the Greenway?
The Greenway is an entirely new public transportation-only corridor, following the orbital reservation of the proposed Monkstown Ring Road. It provides for bus, cycle and pedestrian modes of transport, as well as a new linear park.

Fulfilling Objectives
The Greenway completes an orbital corridor from Stillorgan to Dun Laoghaire, first proposed in the 1970s. But importantly, it is based on 2006 transportation thinking. And critically, it leverages public transport use. This is further discussed below.

Greenway Features
The Greenway, facilitating sustainable transport modes, needs less roadspace than a car-based design. Importantly, the width can be reduced in critical areas (such as Yankee Terrace) because the vehicular bus traffic would be significantly less continuous and more predictable than regular car-based movements. This means that very short single-way sections could be provided, eliminating the need for CPOs and consequent social impacts.

If necessary, very short single-way sections can be provided on the Greenway to avoid property demolition.
This is made possible by the less continuous nature of bus traffic and by traffic signalling technology.

Example
A bus waits for one travelling in the other direction before entering
the short single-way section.
The Greenway also features parallel cycleways and pedestrian routes and allows for large-scale planting and landscaping to form a linear park

The Split......Know who you can depend on!

Councillors against the road:

1. Bailey John (FG) jbailey@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
2. Bailey Marie (FG) mbailey@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
3. Butler Larry (FF) lbutler@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
4. Childers Nessa (Green) nchilders@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
5. Conway Barry (FF) bconway@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
6. Devlin Cormac (FF) cdevlin@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
7. Dillon Byrne Jane (Labour) jdbyrne@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
8. Fallon Ciaran (Green) cfallon@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
9. Ireland Kealin (Green) kireland@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
10. Kivlehan Tom (Green) tkivlehan@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
11. O'Callaghan Denis (Labour) denisoc@cllr.dlrcoco.ie

Councillors for the road:
The main parties in power (Fine Gael and Labour) voted majority in favour of the road going ahead.

1. Baker Marie (FG) mbaker@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
2. Bhreathnach Niamh (Labour) nbhreathna@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
3. Corrigan Maria (FF) mcorrigan@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
4. Cosgrave Louise (FG) louisecosg@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
5. Culhane Aidan (Labour) aculhane@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
6. Fox Tony (FF) tonyfox@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
7. Hand Pat (FG) phand@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
8. Horkan Gerry (FF) ghorkan@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
9. Marren Donal (FG) dmarren@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
10. Matthews Trevor (FF) tmatthews@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
11. McCarthy Lettie (Labour) lmccarthy@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
12. Mitchell O'Connor Mary (PD) mmoconnor@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
13. O'Keefe Gearoid (Independant) gokeeffe@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
14. O'Leary Jim (FG) joleary@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
15. Regan Eugene (FG) eregan@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
16. Smyth Carrie (Labour) carriesmyth@cllr.dlrcoco.ie

Absent:
1. Joyce Tom (FG) tjoyce@cllr.dlrcoco.ie

Councillors promises…..some only tell you what you want to hear

Sad news folks

16 Councillors for the road to be built.

11 Councillors against the road being built.

1 Councillor abstained.

Do you remember which councillors promised you they would vote against the road?
Do you still have the paper work that came thro your door?
Do you remember the answers you got on your phone call campaign?
Do you remember the answers toy got from your text campaign?
Do you remember the answers you got from your email campaign?

Which councillors were unavailable to you for comment all through your campaign?

The election process is just around the corner.
All the local politicians will be knocking on your door looking for your vote to keep them in a job.

What will be your reply to them when they do that?
What will your vote be?

An Bord Pleanála....can they make up their own minds??

http://www.pleanala.ie/REP/208/R208406.DOC

An Bord Pleanála

Inspector’s Report


PL06D.208406


DEVELOPMENT:

Two storey detached house on site to side of

126 Rowanbryn,

Blackrock,

Co. Dublin




PLANNING APPLICATION

Planning Authority: Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council

Planning Authority Reg. No: D04A/0651

Applicant: Helen Coughlan

Application Type: Permission

............It is also stated policy to:-

“Conserve the existing housing stock of the county, to densify existing built up areas and to retain and improve residential amenities in existing residential developments” (para 5.1.5 – policy RES5).........................

............In terms of the Roads Objectives, the Plan states the following in relation to the Monkstown Ring Road:-

“It is a Council objective to complete the strategic orbital route known as the Monkstown Ring road to link Dun Laoghaire with the west of the County. The route will follow York Road, Mounttown Upper, Monkstown Avenue, to Brookville Park, and then to Carysfort Avenue via Yankee Terrace and Fleurville. The proposed design shall seek to retain Yankee Terrace.”

The Scheme is included in the list of Six Year Roads Objectives. The Plan cautions that the schemes are “dependent on the necessary finance being available”.

[I am enclosing, in the Appendix at the end of this report, extracts from the written Statement of the Plan, highlighted where relevant to the issues in this appeal, together with a copy of an extract from the Development Plan map.].........................

CPO & extinguishing the public rights of way

NOTICE OF THE CONFIRMATI0N BY AN BORD PLEANÁLA OF A COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER MADE UNDER SECTION 76 OF AND THE THIRD SCHEDULE TO THE HOUSING ACT, 1966, AS EXTENDED BY SECTION 10 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (NO. 2) ACT, 1960, AS RESPECTS ALL OR PART OF THE LAND TO WHICH THE COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER RELATES TO BE PUBLISHED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 78 (1) OF THE HOUSING ACT, 1966, AS AMENDED BY THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ACTS 2000 -2004
COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Compulsory Purchase
(Monkstown Ring Road) Order, 2005

An Bord Pleanála has, on the 22nd day of June 2006, made a Confirmation Order confirming with modifications the above-named Compulsory Purchase Order as respects the land described in the Schedule hereto. The said Order, as so confirmed, authorises the County Council of the County of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown to acquire the said land compulsorily. It will become operative three weeks from the date of publication of this notice. A copy of the Order as so confirmed and of the map referred to in it may be seen at all reasonable hours at the offices of the County Council, County Hall, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Local Office, Dundrum Office Park, (rear of Bank of Ireland) off Main Street, Dundrum.

The Order also authorises the Local Authority to extinguish the public rights of way 1 – 3 on Part 11 of the Schedule and the private right of way described in Part II of the Schedule hereto, by Order made by them after they have acquired the said land.

An application for judicial review of the decision of the Board under Order 84 of the rules of the Superior Courts (S.I. No. 15 of 1986) may be duly made to the High Court within eight weeks of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with Section 50 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
Schedule – Part 1

Lands situated in the Town Lands of Stillorgan Park, Newtown Castlebyrne & Kill of the Grange.

Louis Monks Edward C Hughes
Senior Executive Officer County Law Agent
Economic Development & Planning Dept.



Dated this 24th Day of July 2006.

Calamitous Monkstown Ring Road to be scrapped?

http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?p=57645#post57645


Just an update on this disastrous scheme.
Monday night will see the members of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council vote to remove this road from the Development Plan.
For info on this scheme, please see the previous post on the matter...In summary, An Bord Pleanala's technical assessment of the scheme found it to be deeply flawed and contrary to proper and sustainable transport planning, but their members still approved it as it complied with the Statutory Development Plan.

As a result opponents, and the Green Party's Nessa Childers, have asked for it to be removed from this plan owing to the independent assessment carried out.

It would seem that apart from the 4 Green Councillors, FG's John Bailey and Maria Bailey and FF's Barry Conway, many Councillors remain unconvinced that this road will destroy vast swathes of suburban Dublin without conferring any benefits.

However they are beginning to turn.

They are meeting with locals again, having had presentations from manager Owen "The argument that private car capacity should be increased was lost a long time ago" Keegan last week.

For Niamh Breathnach, who lobbied to remove this scheme in 1993, to now approve it would be a joke considering the greatly increased environmental disbenefits that would now accrue from the scheme.

For FG, who’s John Bailey has been vehement in his disdain for this road, to open up a new public schism between Dail hopefuls Bailey and Regan would also do them damage in a very sensitive constituency they once dominated.

Monday Night will be interesting.
We will find out for sure if all the bluster from the major parties about environmental concerns and the promotion of sustainable transport is just that.

Do they (Breathnach, McCarthy, Smyth, Baker, O'Leary, Regan, Butler, Devlin, Mitchell O'Connor et al) have the stomach necessary to stand up and make the proper decision based on the facts?

Do they have the necessary insight to leave 1970's transport planning philosophy behind?
Have they the necessary imagination to come up with sustainable solutions to urban transport problems?
Are they willing to allow professional, considered, detailed advice to be brushed aside by haphazard mismanagement of the County?

It's now time for the elected members to exercise their mandate and run the damn county the way it should be...

Michelle Cawley a Brookville resident........."endangering the lives of children"

Hi A-MRR,

I’m really pleased to see the blog with loads of information about the protests against the Ring Road.

I’m a Brookville resident and am worried about next Monday’s decision – hopefully we have done enough.

I was interested in the item on the news the other day about how the Dept of Transportation are unhappy with the amount of schoolchildren who are now being driven to school and the numbers walking are down between 50-80%.

They are going to do a survey and it was said that these statistics might have an impact on future planning decisions.

I think it’s incredible then that they are considering putting a highway through a residential cul-de-sac endangering the lives of children and ensuring that none of them will be walking to school if the road goes ahead.

It’s so disgraceful that this has gotten this far.

I wrote to the cllrs again yesterday pointing this out.

Just wanted to say well done with the blog.

Let’s hope we pull through next Monday.

Regards,

Michelle Cawley

CRSOS Chairperson Gene Feighery expresses concerns to Cllr. Gearoid O'Keeffe

To: "Gearoid O'Keeffe" <gokeeffe@cllr.dlrcoco.ie>
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 5:50 PM
Subject: MRR - Lobby Councillors

Combined Residents to Save Open Space
Chairperson: Gene Feighery,
Vice Chairperson: Sarah O'Connor,
Secretary:Deirdre O'Reilly

Dear Cllr. O'Keeffe,

On behalf of CRSOS, and in co-operation with SDCRA and a number of residents' groups in Monkstown, we request that Item no. 7 relating to theCounty Manager's recommendation on the Monkstown Ring Road be rejected at Monday 9th October's council meeting.

CRSOS made a detailed study of the EIS prepared by DLRCoCo.
We made a submission based on the findings of this EIS to the Council.
We attended and contributed to the oral hearing process presided over by Inspector Philip Jones of An Bord Pleanala in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin.
We have read and considered Inspector Jones' report on the MRR.
We reject the Manager's report and conclusions on the proposed road.

The development of Dun Laoghaire Golf Club lands and the construction of the Monkstown Ring Road are inextricably linked.
Sections of the EIS, which was so heavily criticised by Inspector Jones, refers to anticipated future development, increase in traffic volumes and residential densities arising from Dun Laoghaire Golf Club lands.

The current planning application proposal seeks twice the density referred to in the original rezoning application and the granting of permission and density of the development relies heavily on the carrying capacity of the local infrastructure.

Contrary to recent media reports to the effect that the golf club deal is now concluded, the record will show that the Heads of Terms, signed by Peter, Joseph and Michael Cosgrave of the Cosgrave Property Group on 5th June 2002 states:

"The Purchaser will have the right to reject the variation of the Plan if it does not provide a sufficient number of residential units to be agreed with DLGC"

I note from recent media reports that your sympathies may rest with a number of property owners in and around Yankee Terrace.
Regardless of whether or not the road goes ahead, these property owners will achieve a market value for their houses, either by CPO or on the open market.

However a decision based on the principles of sustainable development, residential amenity, protection of architectural heritage and community needs must take precedence over a small number of property owners whose interests will be served regardless of the road construction.

Therefore we request that you exercise independence on this matter and that your decision reflects the wishes of a large number of residents in Dun Laoghaire, Stillorgan and its environs by rejecting the Manager's recommendation to develop the MRR.

Thank you.

Gene Feighery,
Chairperson, CRSOS

Ros O'Shaughnessy took some nice Pics of the A-MRR March

Barry Troy of the Rowanbyrn and District Residents Association with Cllr. Ciaran Cuffe (Green Party) and Cllr. John Bailey (FG) Listening to speech from Cllr. Nessa Childers (Green Party)

Even in the torrential rain.... this will give you all the scale of the event.

Expressions of a concerned parent to Owen Keegan

"owen keegan" <okeegan@dlrcoco.ie>

Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 11:34 PM

Subject: Rebutting NTP Ave. pro-road group

It has come to my attention that residents in favour of the Ring Road have received front page attention in the latest edition of the LifeTimes publication.

I would like to rebut a few of their arguments.

First of all, they complain that we in Rowanbyrn bought our houses knowing that the MRR was due to be built.

Not true.

When we bought our house in1991 we were told by a planning office official that the plan was "old" and "out of date" and "due to be taken off".

Indeed, the Lifetimes article points out that it WAS "taken off" in the1990's.

Many if not all residents of Newtownpark Ave bought their houses on a road in full use, they knew what they were doing.

What they propose is essentially to shift all the problems they complain about over to us!

However, the opening of the Ring Road as proposed will NOT solve their problems.

A tremendous amount of the traffic on NTP Ave is generated by the schools, church and shops.

Traffic will not go away, it is likely that NTP Ave will be used as a "rat run" when the inevitable congestion occurs on our portion of the Ring Road......should it go ahead.

One of the residents interviewed claims that she can be delayed for "hours"getting into her driveway.

What utter nonsense.

As a regular user of NTP Ave I have never been delayed on that road for more than a few minutes unless the traffic lights are faulty or there is some other abnormal problem.

A frustrating delay at times, yes, but, one of minutes, not hours.

Her claimis completely bogus.

Again, what she and her group are asking is that WE shoulder the problem, which they bought into.

Newtownpark Avenue will always be a busy road and has been for years.

The residents there are accustomed to it and bought there homes in the full knowledge that it was so.

Until relatively recently there was no promise of the proposed Ring Road in sight, which would supposedly relieve traffic on NTP Ave.

We, on the other hand, accustomed to only local traffic, have built up a sociable community comprising Rowanbyrn, Brookville and Spring Hill estates

Many of us have children who visit friends in other parts of the three estates, and parents can rest assured that if the kids follow specific routes that they will not have to cross any busy roads.

Our own cul-de-sac attracts kids from all over the three estates.

If this road plan goes ahead, our community will be chopped into pieces, no longer safe for our children to travel to see their friends without being driven or accompanied by parents.

Our own cul-de-sac, numbers 1 - 16 Rowanbyrn, will be cut off from the rest of Rowanbyrn Estate.

As far as the residents of Yankee Terrace are concerned, it is my understanding that those who support the new road are happy to see YankeeTerrace demolished so they can take the CPO money......and have no hassle ever selling their property.

We are the ones who will be stuck here with the traffic and all its attendant problems.

I look forward to your voting to reject the Ring Road plan on Monday.

Yours sincerely,

Carol Stephenson-Carty

Enda Carty

Aoife Carty

Evan Carty

Residents of Stillorgan and Kilmacud in opposition

Residents of Stillorgan and Kilmacud unite in their opposition of the proposed Monkstown Ring road.

Over 30,000 vehicles (1 vehicle every 2.8 seconds) including HGV traffic will cut a swathe through Stillorgan.

A local area plan is being prepared for the area to try and manage the construction traffic which will strangle the area over the rest of this decade during the reconstruction of Stillorgan Shopping Centre, Leisureplex, Blakes and ancillary sites.

Local residents in Mount Merrion fear that rat running will force a huge portion of this traffic through their residential area.

A petition has already been signed by hundreds of local residents.

**

Monkstown and Dun Laoghaire homes were not aware that the Monkstown Ring Road is coming their way.

They assumed that the traffic was going to divert on the Deansgrange road.

The traffic figures used in various reports prepared by Dun Laoghaire are not consistent.

MRR final big push!

Stop the Monkstown Ring Road!!

We need YOU for the final big push!

PICKET THE COUNTY HALL

(OPPOSITE DUN LAOGHAIRE DART STATION)

http://www.dlrcoco.ie/map.htm

MONDAY 9TH OCTOBER AT 4 PM
GATHER AT THE CAR PARK ENTRANCE TO COUNTY HALL


Bring picket signs, whistles, and other noisemakers

(pot lids and spoons, etc)

Most importantly, BE THERE!!!

Bring your friends!

Bring your kids!

WE WILL BE HEARD!!!

The crucial vote we have been waiting for is at hand – it takes place at the County Council meeting on Monday October 9th at 5 PM.

We will gather there at 4 PM in order to greet the councilors on their way in with our determination to have this road STOPPED.

WE NEED YOU THERE

DCC 02/02/1982. Notification of a decision to refuse permission.

02/02/1982

Dublin County Council
Notification of a decision to refuse permission.

Local Government (planning & development) acts, 1963 & 1976

Fleurville was built after several attempts to develop the site and in particular on order A/1086/82 dated 30/04/1982.

Bullet Point 6 states.

The site of the proposal is seriously affected by the projected Monkstown Ring Road reservation as shown on drawing map RSPS 2005 from the edge of which proposed houses require to be set back at least 50 ft

Cllr. Kealin Ireland (Green Party)

The residents greatly appreciate Cllr. Kealin Ireland's continued support.

Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 11:26 AM
Subject: Re: Stop the Monkstown Ring Road !

Hello

I have given the issue of the Monkstown Ring Road considerable thought and have come to the conclusion that it is unnecessary at best and will be severely disruptive or dangerous at worst.

Last week I attended a very detailed presentation given by the Council in relation to the road.

(All councillors were invited to a similar presentation).

Nothing which I heard or saw made me change my view. In fact the information, including maps and statistics, only strengthened my viewpoint; that this road was envisaged during the 70s when the county, infrastructure, its residents and their needs and lifestyles were dramatically different.

I believe that the road will contribute nothing positive to residents' lives and that it could have a very negative and potentially dangerous effect.

It will not reduce traffic congestion in Blackrock, Monkstown or Dun Laoghaire, in Carysfort Ave, Newtownpark Ave or anywhere else - no matter what you have been told and what spin has been put on these issues.

The road and its consequent rat running will in all likelihood add to congestion and the volumes of traffic in the vicinity.

I am at a loss to understand those who say that it will contribute to the economic development of either Dun Laoghaire or Stillorgan.

It is a reasonably inaccessible road of only 1 km which brings motorists further away from both these centres than any existing access road. This will lead to frustration and anger - not economic re-development.

Our planners, councillors and the County Manager should demonstrate leadership and admit that this road is a mistake and should be declared redundant.

We should use all our influence to persuade the Dublin Transport Office that the only solution to the county's traffic congestion is to provide enhanced public transport.

Owen Keegan (County Manager) himself said when he was Traffic Manager for Dublin City that we had lost the battle with traffic congestion. I concur.
Take a trip along the M50 any hour of the day or night, any day of the week and you will see the logic of his argument.

Roads attract traffic and congestion and increase our reliance on cars.
This is the key issue which we need to address over the next decade.

I realise that this viewpoint is not supported by all.
However, after listening to all viewpoints and visiting the area over recent months, I have concluded that I must act in the interests of the greater good and support the hundreds of residents who will be severely disadvantaged if this road proceeds.

It is my honest judgement that this road is unnecessary and I will therefore be voting to support the Green Party's motion to remove the road from the County Development Plan.

Please do not hesitate to contact me again about this issue - and thank you for taking the time to write to me.

Regards

Kealin

Councillor Kealin Ireland
Green Party
Eglinton Cottage
Tivoli Road
Dun Laoghaire
Co. Dublin

01 2801 439
086 388 1535

A detailed map outlining a "Nice looking cycle path"!!!

http://www.dlrcoco.ie/planning/DevPlan04/MAP02/map2H.htm

Cllr. Barry Conway (FF) offers guarded support 01/10/2006

The residents greatly appreciate Cllr. Barry Conway's continued support.

I think some clarification of the wording (in red) would be good.

To the Residents of Rowanbyrn, Brookville Park Fleurville And Surrounding Areas

October 1st 2006

Re: the Monkstown Ring Road

Dear Resident,
Following correspondence from many residents I am writing to you to outline my position in connection with the proposed Monkstown Ring Road.

In light of the inspector's report which was issued following an extensive public hearing, I cannot support the road as currently proposed.

The inspector highlighted the adverse impact of the road.
In particular he outlined the implications of the road in terms of community severance, road safety and pollution.

As a public representative for the area I feel compelled to have regard to his findings.
Accordingly I intend to vote against the road when the County Manager brings the matter before the Council.

Kind regards

The Missing Link???.......Treasury Holdings proposed Re-Development of Stillorgan

http://www.pleanala.ie/REP/214/R214710.DOC

PLANNING APPLICATION

Planning Authority: Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council

Planning Authority Reg. No: D05A/0215

Applicant: Myrmidon Ltd.

Application Type: Permission

Planning Authority Decision: Grant, subject to 24 conditions

DATE OF SITE INSPECTION: 17th May 2005.


Excerpts from An Bord Pleanala Planning Application…Page 23 0f 73

Ø It is noted that the developer of the Shopping Centre, Treasury Holdings, offered to fund the reasonable costs of a review of their traffic documentation. However, the appellants responded to the effect that this would not result in any additional benefit, but that the commissioning of traffic studies or analysis in addition to the integrated traffic management plan, in the context of the Local Area Plan, would be welcomed by them. (Copies of the exchange of correspondence is appended).



Ø In addition to this, the appellants note the proposal for the Monkstown Ring Road, the EIS of which predicts a traffic flow of some 25,000 cars and 810 HGV’s, and state that this will “clearly have a significant impact on traffic volumes in Stillorgan”. It is noted that this has not been referred to, or considered at all, in the traffic surveys and data submitted as part of the Shopping Centre application.

Page 27

The Plan indicates a Cycle Priority and also a Quality Bus/Bus Priority objective for the Lower Kilmacud Road, running to the junction with the N11 in each case (the bus priority objective continues eastwards beyond the N11 along Stillorgan Park)......................

Page 35

Within the Plan’s retail hierarchy, Stillorgan is classified as a District Centre (the second tier in the hierarchy, after Major Town Centre and before ‘Neighbourhood/Local Centre’). The two Major Town Centres are Dun Laoghaire and Dundrum, with Cherrywood-Rathmichael as a new emerging urban centre, while the other District Centres are Blackrock, Nutgrove, Dalkey and Cornelscourt. The Plan states:-

“Retail developments should relate to this hierarchy, they should locate within designated centres.... and be of a scale compatible with the function of the centre, and the market that it serves. In order to ensure the continued vibrancy of Major Town Centres, Cherrywood-Rathmichael and District Centres, the provision of leisure, entertainment and cultural uses will be encouraged. In large-scale proposals, the provision, and retention or replacement of such uses may be required.”...............................

Page 47

..............................In particular, I find the consultants’ unwillingness to accept that the 2002 figures were unreliable because the surveys were carried out at a time when all of the local secondary schools, and many of the local private primary/preparatory schools were closed, and also during the weeks of the 2002 World Cup, which had the undoubted effect of markedly suppressing traffic volumes. The figures now presented show that the reduction in traffic levels through the junctions between 1999 and 2002 was not representative, and that the levels in 2004 were the same, or higher, than those in 1999......................................

Given that it is Government policy that no significant additional road capacity is to be provided in the Greater Dublin Area inside the C ring, and that modal shift to public transport has to be accelerated and promoted in lieu of the provision of further road capacity for private cars, it is unlikely that the increased traffic levels generated by this, and other developments in this District Centre, can readily be accommodated within the road network..............................

...............This begs the question whether it is appropriate to prevent redevelopment of brownfield sites, such as this, in commercial cores, only on the basis that there is insufficient road capacity to take the traffic generated by it.................

There must come a time when the convenience of the motorist, and perhaps outmoded desires for engineering-based solutions that seek to maintain “free flowing” traffic conditions, have to be subordinated to the needs of sustainable development, and that the emphasis must be placed on public transport, and other sustainable modes of transit, rather than private motor car transportation.

In essence, traffic delays, of themselves, can no longer be the test against which the acceptability or otherwise of developments in highly urbanised built-up commercial areas should be judged................

........................................The developer shall pay to the planning authority a financial contribution of €3,646,296.70 (three million, six hundred and forty-six thousand, two hundred and ninety-six euro and seventy cents) in respect of public infrastructure and facilities benefiting development in the area

SouthSide People 02/10/2006

http://www.dublinpeople.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1729&Itemid=49
Appeal to reject ring road


Southside residents who say they will be adversely affected by the construction of the Monkstown Ring Road have issued a rebuttal of the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown county manger’s report on the road, which supports the project.In a document seen by Southside People, the Rowanbyrn and Brookville Residents’ Association appeals to councillors to instruct the manager to remove the present scheme from the County Development Plan.

This comes ahead of a county council meeting to secure funds for the project on October 9.

The manager’s report was highly critical of the report of An Bord Pleanála’s inspector who said he was “satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the adverse effects on the environment of this proposed roads scheme…. are so severe that the scheme ought not to be approved”.

The inspector added: “The benefits of the scheme are so minimal and insignificant as to be far outweighed by the environmental costs, both to the community in general and to those persons whose properties are sought to be acquired.”

In their rebuttal of the manager’s report on the ring road, the Rowanbyrn and Brookville Residents’ Association claimed that it was “an attempt to rewrite the Environmental Impact Statement and simultaneously discredit the findings of the inspector”.

Barry Troy of the Rowanbyrn and Brookville Residents’ Association told Southside People: “He adopts the position that An Bord Pleanála has granted permission so therefore he must build the road. However, we reject this and it is up to the councillors to approve the project which is going to cost €15 million.”In the document residents claimed that the manager and An Bord Pleanála attempted to maintain that the ring road would reduce traffic and improve the environment on adjacent roads.

“The Transportation Department and their traffic consultants abandoned this idea during the oral hearing when they could not explain the large discrepancies in their traffic analysis,” the residents stated.

“They stated then that the MRR would not reduce traffic congestion or increase safety on any road.

Now the manager is saying the opposite – a second bite at the cherry.”

The residents contend that the purpose of the MRR is to create the idea that there is now increased space for traffic on many existing roads to justify releasing new traffic from other developments.

The rebuttal of the county manager’s report further claimed that Mr Keegan had not given any consideration to valid alternatives, which would achieve positive results for everyone.

Residents also held a protest march last Saturday in advance of the county council meeting this week where a motion will be put forward to have the ring road removed from the Development Plan.

In a statement, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council said: “All issues and alternatives were considered at the oral hearing.

An Bord Pleanála adjudicated and approved the scheme with modifications.

“The road has been in successive development plans since 1972 except for one period.
It is an objective of the current development plan and is being implemented by the county manager on this basis.”

Cllr. John Bailey (FG) Support 01/10/2006

The residents greatly appreciate Cllr. John Bailey & his daughter and fellow Councilors, Maria Bailey continued support.

October 2006

Re: The Monkstown Ring Road - I promise to oppose it

Dear Resident,

I wish to write to you to state my position on the proposed Monkstown Ring Road Development.
I have listened to the views and concerns of residents in the locality, attended residents' meetings on the matter and read the Planning Inspector's Report to An Bord Pleanala.

I will be opposing the Monkstown Ring Road when it comes before the Council on Monday, 9th October and I will be voting to remove the proposal for the road from the County Development Plan.

This is my written guarantee to you that I will do that.
In addition to this I will also do my utmost to convince other County Councillors of the need to oppose this road.
Furthermore, my daughter and fellow Councillor, Maria Bailey has assured me that she will also oppose Ring Road and vote to remove it from the County Development Plan.

I believe the Planning Inspector's Report clearly outlines numerous grounds on which this road should not be given approval and it would be remiss of me as a public representative to ignore this expert advice and even more importantly the wishes of the public.

If I can be of any assistance to you at anytime then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Wishes.

Yours faithfully,

Councillor John Bailey
-Dail Candidate

TD Barry Andrews (FF) Support 07/09/2006

The residents greatly appreciate TD Barry Andrews continued support.

Some of Barry Andrews TD letter to a concerned Fleurville resident.


“However, it seems now that the experts are divided since Mr. Jones’ report was so clear in saying that the road would not be in keeping with good planning”.

“I have spoken to some of the Fianna Fail public representatives, namely, Cllrs. Gerry Horkan, Barry Conway, Larry Butler and Cormac Devlin. I have verbal commitments from each of them not to support the measure through the Council chamber if the Manager puts the issue to the members of the Council.”

“I hope this clarifys the situation.”

Kind Regards,

Yours Sincerely.

Graeme Byrne has his own details on MRR

Monday, July 24, 2006

The Monkstown Ring Road and Bord Pleanala

This road has been planned by Dunlaoghaire Rathdown County Council since the 1950's although they can't prove anything before 1972, as they lost their documentation.

Anyhow, the reason I have created this blog is because Bord Pleanala have approved the development, despite very strong recommendations from one of their senior officials to reject the planned development.

Here are some of his closing comments in his report following an oral hearing into the planned development:This is an extract from the Inspectors' report.
Graeme's full webPage can be read at http://monkstownringroad.blogspot.com/

Monkstown Ring Road Protest March Sept 30th

http://www.dublin.ie/forums/showthread.php?p=86127#post86127

An Bord Pleanála, against the advise of it's own inspector, has granted permission for the building of the Monkstown Ring Road.

The local residents have organised a protest march in advance of a county council meeting where a motion will be put forward to have the Ring Road removed from the Development Plan.

The march will take place this Saturday, September 30th, starting at 2pm from the green at the entrance to Brookville Park, Blackrock.

This road does not only affect residents of Fluerville, Brookville and those of Yankee Terrace whos houses are to be compulsory purchased but this road is to extend to Bakers Corner (already a bottle neck) and on to Sallynoggin, Glenegeary and Killiney.

This road and further proprosed roads in the Development Plan 2004-2010 are going to bring further traffic congestion to already congested areas such as Deansgrange and Mountown.

One of the arguements given to An Bord Pleanála by the planners was that this road would provide a link between Stillorgan and Dun Laoghaire; as the road doesn't go to Dun Laoghaire and instead filters into smaller bottle necks this arguement is flawed in the extreme.

Pleanálas' own inspector argued this point and many others at the Oral Hearing earlier this year. The oral hearing went in favour of not building the road but the Bord choose to ignore both the inspectors report and the affected residents and granted the permission.

A letter and email campaign, petition and also a march has been organised in the hope that the councillors will remove the road from the plan at their next meeting.

Such councillors as Barry Conway (FF) and Nessa Childers (Green) are against the Ring Road and Councillor Childers, I am led to believe, will be putting forward the motion to have it removed at the next meeting set for October 9th next.

I am appealing to all members and their families who live in the affected areas to come to the march on Saturday and to those who wouldn't be affected we would appreciate all your support.

The proposed development plan etc are on the councils website: www.dlrcoco.ie

Madness in Monkstown Sat. 30/09/2006

October, 2006

Madness in Monkstown
It rained, it lashed, it poured, we marched through the downpour.
It seems crazy that in 2006 a Local Authority believes that throwing more roads at the traffic will solve our transport problems.
The amazing thing is that that it's not a road like the new road between the Glenageary Roundabout at Sallynoggin and Church Road in Killiney.
This thing is a monster.
It will bring tens of thousands of cars past people's driveways every day.
It will exceed the noise levels for National roads.
It'll have the same amount of traffic as the Arklow Bypass, but it'll bring them on to what is currently a series of cul-de-sacs.

Well, the inspector said in his report that:"...the proposed road development would represent an inappropriate form of development which would encourage increased car usage and would conflict with national, regional and local policies for the sustainable development of transport."He also stated that:"I am satisfied that the proposed road would be likely to lead to a modal shift away from walking towards short-hop use of cars, on grounds of safety.

This would, in my judgment, be particularly likely in relation to school children, who currently have safe routes to walk to the local schools within a 300m - 500m distance, being driven to school in the future.

This is totally contrary to the emphasis and policy direction of the Platform for Change Strategy (and indeed other Government policies in relation to health and children generally.

"The solution is for Government to provide more buses, and better routes in Dublin, instead of endless wrangling between Government partners; improve DART frequency; and extend the Luas to Bray, as well as providing Safe Routes to School at a local level.

After spending days at the Oral Hearing held by An Bord Pleanála in the Gresham Hotel last spring I was delighted with the Inspector's Report but bitterly disappointed that the Board itself over-ruled his decision.

Matters will come to a head on Monday week 09nd October in the Council Chamber of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, and it could turn nasty.

The Green Party councillors led by ward councillor Nessa Childers will be voting not to proceed with the works under section 139 of the Local Government Act, and it's up to the other groups on the Council to decide what to do.

There's a lot of lobbying going on, as there'll clearly be winners and losers in all this.

I've been receiving lots of texts and emails, and I do my best to win them over to my way of seeing things.
Text lobbying seems to have emerged over the last few months. It's invasive, but effective.

I just don't see the logic in spending €20 million plus on saving 30 seconds on a journey and reducing congestion by 1%, but as I said in my own evidence at the Inquiry even those figures are suspect.

If more kids are going to be driven to school, it simply doesn't make sense.

Well done to Sean Mulvihill (shaking hands with Nessa and myself in the pic) and Barry Troy of the Rowenbyrn and District Residents Association for the time and effort that they've put into all of this.

We'll see how it all pans out in the Council chamber on Monday week.

Pictures Of the A-MRR March Sat.30/09/2006

Ciaran Cuffe's Information on the Monkstown Ring Road

http://www.ciarancuffe.com/DunLaoghaire/BlackrockWard/Monkstown.htm

Information on the Monkstown Ring Road

27 June 2006 Monkstown Ring Road Decision by An Bord Pleanála

Dear Residents, An Bord Pleanála has approved the proposed Monkstown Ring Road with 13 conditions.
Most of these conditions ensure that the Council builds higher boundary walls adjacent to the road as well as some pedestrian facilities.

While these conditions do represent an improvement on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s original plan I still believe this road project is a poorly planned piece of infrastructure.Having spent considerable time at the Oral Hearing arguing against the road I am disappointed at this outcome.

The Green Party felt that this road was inappropriate and would attract more traffic onto residential streets. We will continue to oppose the plan and press the Council to provide more support for improved bus, DART and Luas links as well as pedestrian and cycling facilities.

I believe that the new road will result in large volumes of commuter transport passing through quiet residential areas.
I also believed the destruction of the cottages on Yankee Terrace could have been avoided.My Green Party colleagues on the Council will now seek to have the road removed from the County Development Plan, but it is unlikely that we will receive support from the other political parties on the Council.
Some of you may also wish to seek a judicial review of the decision, but again I feel that this is unlikely to succeed.
I have attached a link to the Bord’s decision and the Inspector's Report, and my own submission to the hearing may be viewed below.

Link to An Bord Pleanála Website:

http://www.pleanala.ie/monk.html

I ask that the application from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for approval for the Monkstown Ring Road be rejected by the Board.It should be rejected for two reasons.
Firstly the Environmental Impact Statement is gravely deficient in its content.
Secondly, and more significantly it is a poor transport proposal.
The alternative of a do-nothing or a do-minimum should be considered. This could include enhanced public transport provision and traffic management and/or pedestrian and cycling linkages through the area.
Deficiencies Mr. Inspector the EIS is inadequate in content; it conceals the views of the County Architect that Yankee Terrace should be retained; it naively assumes that new roads are good for business.
It fails to take into account the tendency of new roads to create traffic and it under-estimates their tendency to attract traffic.InformationInsufficient information has not been made available in a timely manner for third parties to assess the proposal.

I understood that the ‘Monkstown Ring Road Environmental Impact Statement dated July 2005, with page number up to 101 and which included fold-out figures was the Local Authority’s application to the Board for approval.
I am happy for the Applicant to expand that information with the statements from a dozen witnesses to date. However I am concerned at the reference to additional folders of information that have been placed at the rear of this room, which I have not had the chance to study, and which have not been copied and circulated to those who have made observations.
I also note that an additional Report from the County Architect was submitted on day three of the hearing.
The mapping information made it difficult to differentiate buildings from open space, and the traffic model mapping was difficult to follow.
In addition it appears that different cordons were used for traffic modelling, building assessment, and the investigation of flora and fauna habitats.Amenities / ConservationI am concerned that three days into the hearing we were given a report by the County Architect Mr. Derek Jago that recommends that the sixteen buildings due for demolition should be retained. This is an extraordinary admission by one of the most senior officials in the County Management team.

During the Vietnam War the journalist Peter Arnett quoted an unnamed American General as stating: "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."Similar sentiments seem to be behind the proposal that we demolish sixteen homes and somehow rejuvenate Newtown Park Village.

The proposed road would lead to a significant loss of amenity for those living adjacent to the proposed route.

The plan proposes the acquisition and demolition of sixteen homes. It will bring high volumes of traffic onto Fleurville and Brookville Park. There will be a reduction of open space at Fleurville.

Up to eighty trees will be felled.
It will be very difficult for residents to cross the new road.I am concerned at the loss of built heritage, and particularly the loss of sixteen homes if the scheme proceeds.
Housing is in high demand in the County, and this is a significant loss.
I don’t believe that due consideration has been given to the worth of these buildings.
The Planning Act 2000 states:For the purpose of protecting structures, or parts of structures, which form part of the architectural heritage and which are of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest, every development plan shall include a record of protected structures, and shall include in that record every structure which is, in the opinion of the planning authority, of such interest within its functional area.
Planning and Development Act 2000 Section 51.— (1)I would expect an E.I.S. to at least examine the existing buildings under these headings yet I do not believe that this has occurred.

I also don’t believe that sufficient attention has been given to the intrinsic worth of these homes within the main EIS document.
The loss of all of these buildings amounts to more then their individual value.
It is the dramatic reduction in the quality of the built environment in the heart of the village.