PRESS RELEASE
EU Petition on Monkstown Ring Road Ruled Admissible
For Release 1/12/2006
An EU Petition citing breaches of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment in relation to the planning of the Monkstown Ring Road has been ruled as Admissible by the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, a Transport Researcher who lodged the Petition, has said.
Welcoming this development Mr. Brian Guckian said that the Petition also cited a number of other Irish road projects that showed similar failures in the planning process.
The central part of Mr. Guckian's Petition is that Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co. Council failed to adequately and correctly study Alternatives to the MRR scheme, which is a central requirement of the Directive. Mr. Guckian said that legal arguments used at the Oral Hearing in support of the Council's limited interpretation of Alternatives as simply meaning alternative routes for the proposed road were deeply flawed and eminently challengeable.
However, the legal process in Ireland was arranged so that concerned citizens essentially could not challenge the law in these matters, nor challenge flawed planning decisions, because of the very high costs involved, and said that this in itself was another breach of the EU Directive, which required that citizens must have access to justice in planning matters, and at reasonable cost.
Mr. Guckian said it was vital to remember that An Bord Pleanala's Planning Inspector had rejected the Monkstown Ring Road proposal on the most serious and material grounds, and had also raised similar concerns about the consideration of Alternatives. He had also clearly stated that a public transport-only corridor, such as envisaged in the Monkstown-Stillorgan Greenway proposal, merited favourable consideration, in place of the proposed MRR.
ENDS
Contact: Brian Guckian railprojects@eircom.net
EU Petition on Monkstown Ring Road Ruled Admissible
For Release 1/12/2006
An EU Petition citing breaches of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment in relation to the planning of the Monkstown Ring Road has been ruled as Admissible by the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, a Transport Researcher who lodged the Petition, has said.
Welcoming this development Mr. Brian Guckian said that the Petition also cited a number of other Irish road projects that showed similar failures in the planning process.
The central part of Mr. Guckian's Petition is that Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co. Council failed to adequately and correctly study Alternatives to the MRR scheme, which is a central requirement of the Directive. Mr. Guckian said that legal arguments used at the Oral Hearing in support of the Council's limited interpretation of Alternatives as simply meaning alternative routes for the proposed road were deeply flawed and eminently challengeable.
However, the legal process in Ireland was arranged so that concerned citizens essentially could not challenge the law in these matters, nor challenge flawed planning decisions, because of the very high costs involved, and said that this in itself was another breach of the EU Directive, which required that citizens must have access to justice in planning matters, and at reasonable cost.
Mr. Guckian said it was vital to remember that An Bord Pleanala's Planning Inspector had rejected the Monkstown Ring Road proposal on the most serious and material grounds, and had also raised similar concerns about the consideration of Alternatives. He had also clearly stated that a public transport-only corridor, such as envisaged in the Monkstown-Stillorgan Greenway proposal, merited favourable consideration, in place of the proposed MRR.
ENDS
Contact: Brian Guckian railprojects@eircom.net
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