SARA News

Editor Pat Naismith
Vol.1 No.5 Date. 10/11/00

What the Papers Say

STEASIDE PLAN UNDER FIRE

By MARTIN BARRY
Regional Development Correspondent
Southside People 25/10/00

The European Commission is investigating the failure of the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to carry out an environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Stepide Area Action Plan which was adopted by the council last June.

According to MEP Patricia McKenna the Commission has requested clarification from the Department of the Environment on the reasons why no EIA was undertaken.  She said the Commission also raised the wider issue of how ElAs are applied in a context of area action plans.

The Government has now been issued a deadline of the end of October to respond to the Commission's queries.

Calls for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown to implement an EIA as a condition of the Stepaside Plan were rejected by council officials on the grounds that there was a lead-in time to the implementation of the directive which did not compel the council to carry one out.

After months of acrimonious debate, the Stepaside Area Action Plan was adopted by the Dundrum Area Committee with five councillors in favour and three against.

The plan envisages the building of over 4,000 residential units and outlines infrastructural, recreational and amenity guidelines for the area.

According to Patricia McKenna Stepaside is an area of great amenity value at the foot of the Dublin mountains and the council's failure to carry out an EIA was in breach of EU Dlrective 85/337/EEC which maintains that assessments are compulsory for any developments in urban areas covering 50 hectares or 120 acres.
"In the Stepaside case, the Area Action Plan is well over the threshold as it covers 200 acres and is to provide for 4,200 residential units," Ms McKenna said.

Ms McKenna said she has filed a similar complaint against the proposed Cherrywood Action plan which covers an area of 220 hectares or 544 acres of land that "compromises such archaeological treasures as Tully Church and [Celtic] crosses as well as important wildlife habitats of the Carrickmines and Shanganagh River"

She said the area also contains important hedgerows and woods which "are a predominant feature of the area and will be seriously put at risk when the planned mixed use development go ahead."

According to Patricia McKenna Ireland is in beach of a number of EU directves on Habitats, Wild birds, Drinking Water and Animal Experiments.

She said the Commission may have been seen as lenient in the paet, however with the proposed expansion of the EU, the Commission was now taking a more pro-active role in compliance with EU legislation.  Greece was recently issued hefty fines per day for non compliance, she added.

THE DEPARTMENT of Education is undertaking a technical assessment of proposals to locate a post-primary school on the site of the Mountainview Pitch and Putt course in Stepaside village in Co Dublin.

The proposals are raising concerns among local residents who fear that granting permission for a school could create a breach to the embargo on development on this mountain side of the Enniskerry Road at the village.

Under the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Development Plan for the area, development is being curtailed on this side the road.

The site is understood to have been recently sold by the lotto winning owner of the Mountainview pub to a private developer, and residents fear that any developer may seek to undertake private development on the site.

Resident's are also puzzled at Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council's (DLRCC) decision to suggest the site for a school as a site had already been earmarked for the school on the northern side of the village.

The DLRCC Development Plan acknowledges that the Mountainview site is the "wrong side" of the road.  However it points out that pedestrian safety "is considered less of an issue in the context of post-primary school provision".  It also acknowledges that the steep southern side of the may present technical challenges for development.

Nevertheless it argues that given its access to the village core, "the opportunity should be taken to at least explore the feasibility of the site".

In relation to the northern school site, a spokesperson for DLRCC also acknowledged that discussions are taking place with developers and Old Wesley and Lansdowne rugby clubs which own part of the land on the Kilgobbin Lane, north of the village.

These discussions are aimed at ensuring that the privateIy-owned site would become public amenity, either as part of the school or as public open space.  The spokesman said "We are committed to ensuring that this remains an amenity open space." He continued that if the developers were to provide land for open space in this part of Stepaside, it would reduce the developers' requirement to provide open space in other developments."

The problem is that as this site is zoned residential it could prove extremely expensive for DLRCC to acquire.  In contrast, a land swap would be a very cost-effective way.  This land swap could involve lands on the south side of the village at the publicly managed Stepaside golf course which it is proposed to extend to include part of the Ballyogan infill.