A plan to rezone land in Dublin city centre could threaten the future of the planned family court complex on Hammond Lane, it has emerged.
Proposals to develop the badly needed family and child court complex, on land owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW), have been in the pipeline for at least 10 years.
Last autumn, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said the complex would be delivered as part of public-private partnership, with expected completion in 2020.
However, a draft amendment to the Dublin development plan, currently being considered by Dublin City Council, will result in a portion of the .45 hectare site, close to the Luas red line and Church Street, being rezoned for use as a public park.
Vacant site
The draft plan aims to change a part of the vacant site, at the westernmost section, from Z5, for mixed use, to Z9, for recreational amenity and open space.
The Courts Service has written to the chief executive of the council, Owen Keegan, to object to the rezoning.
The service has said that it came as “a complete surprise” and it was not informed or consulted about it.
The service is currently working with the OPW to develop the site as “a centre of excellence for family law courts, children’s court and support facilities”.
And the rezoning would have “an immediate and possibly harmful effect”.
The chief executive of the service, Brendan Ryan, said that the proposal to rezone land had "come out of the blue".
“If it is adopted by the city council it will curtail the provision of world-class family law courts and family support services in central Dublin,” he said.
Mr Ryan said the Courts Service was using several unsuitable venues across the city for domestic violence, child protection, guardianship and marital breakdown cases.
“We need to utilise all of the footprint on this site for the services we wish to offer, and for which we already have Government approval, in principle, to build,” he said.
‘Yards away’
He also said Smithfield Square, “a large urban public space and park”, and two other smaller squares for public use were only “yards away” from the Hammond Lane site.
“Those who seek protection, redress and resolution from appalling family situations need a world-class family law centre – which we anticipate will be up and running in 2020,” he said.
“If a portion of this site is made inaccessible for our use, the services that we intend to provide on the site will be inevitably curtailed.”
The city council draft development plan 2016-2022 is out for its final stage of public consultation. Councillors will vote on it in the autumn and it will come into effect in November.
