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.
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