Sir, – Frank McDonald shines some welcome light on the operations of the "planning-industrial complex" in Dublin and the effective abandonment of "proper planning and sustainable development" (Opinion & Analysis, January 30th). The combination of intense levels of speculation and construction and a permissive official climate of development at all costs have put the heritage and amenities of the city under siege.
Once a bulwark against planning chaos, it is sad to observe that An Bord Pleanála is now its chief facilitator.
Community groups, local representatives, heritage bodies and others have been left aghast as appeal decisions are made permitting overly dense, overscaled development proposals with no modifications and, increasingly, overturning local authority decisions to refuse permission, in addition to direct strategic housing development applications.
In respect of heritage, many lines have been crossed. The massively dense and bulky office scheme newly constructed by the ESB on Fitzwilliam Street Lower has seriously compromised the 18th-century setting and integrity of Merrion Square and the wider south Georgian core, given permission by the city council and the board in the face of strict conservation codes for that area and much third-party opposition.
High-rise buildings of 21 and 23 storeys have recently been permitted on Tara Street, right in the historic core, overlooking the Custom House, Trinity College and College Green. The former Parliament House (now Bank of Ireland) and Trinity College will now have a modern tower-block looming up between them.
Over in the north Georgian area, a shocking decision by the appeals board last year permitted the Mater Private Hospital to add two extra floors to its building on Eccles Street, thus wrecking the setpiece vista towards St George’s Church.
As Frank McDonald notes, much of this is occurring under the Urban Development and Building Height Guidelines, a lowest common denominator document introduced by former minister for housing and planning Eoghan Murphy at the end of 2018, designed to override the democratically adopted development plan and all other cultural heritage protections so as to allow construction of high-rise buildings in any location of the city.
Apart from failing to address cultural heritage or the massive environmental costs around the construction and running of high-rise buildings, these guidelines were in fact wholly unnecessary as very generous provision was already in place for location-based high buildings under the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-22.
Of great concern to An Taisce is that groups or individuals with no background in urban planning or city-making have, through lobbying, potentially effected influence resulting in moves such as the building height guidelines with such grave implications for the historic city of Dublin. This is not the action of an enlightened leadership.
The present generation has a duty to protect and conserve the city’s historic urban landscape and ensure it is passed onto our successors with its value intact. It is manifestly failing on this front at present. Fundamental change to planning governance is needed. As a first step, former minister Eoghan Murphy’s height guidelines must be removed by the current Government. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN DUFF,
Dublin City
Planning Officer,
An Taisce,
Dublin 8.