STEPASIDE AREA RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION.
Visit to Brussels
Four members of the Stepaside Area Residents Association, led by
Chair Lettie McCarthy, visited Brussels at the end of June as part
of a fact-finding delegation. They were brought on a
tour of the European Parliament, listened for a time to the debate
and had a number of presentations on the working of the Parliament
and its relationship with the other decision-making structures of
the EU. In particular they were struck by how much of
the policy and implementation took place, either without reference
to the Parliament or where there was no obligation on the
administration to take account of the MEPs views. In
some circumstances the European Commission, The Council of
Ministers and the Permanent Representatives took very important
decisions without involvement of the Parliament and, indeed,
without the MEPs even knowing how their own Minister had voted!
Arrangements were made for the Stepaside Group to meet with the
Environmental Directorate to discuss the concerns of the 8,000
residents in the area at the proposals of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown
County Council to implement the Stepaside Area Action Plan without
an Environmental Impact Assessment or a proper Traffic
Study. Full documentation was provided to the Senior
officials who indicated their very serious concern at the way
Dublin was being allowed develop and at the attempts by some
Authorities to deal with individual areas in isolation without
taking account of the overall impact on the area. They
accepted that this was what was being attempted in Stepaside and
the adjoining areas.
They stated also that the Irish County Managers, including the
then Manager of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, had been
brought to Brussels and the policy of the European Commission on
the Environment outlined in detail. They further
explained that evasion or failure to comply with their guidelines
could result in delays with EU grants and instanced cases where
this had been necessary to get compliance from two local
authorities. While the Commission was mainly concerned
with overall macro development rather than specific areas like
Stepaside, they accepted on the basis of our maps covering the area
from Dundrum to Cabinteely, that area impact studies were
essential. It appears that a successful case based on
the failure of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to carry out
these basic studies could result in the withholding of such grants
in respect of the South Eastern Motorway until the Council
fulfilled its obligations.
|