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.”