At least 9,000 people are likely to be living in the Grand Canal Docks area when it is finally developed in about five years, according to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.
The development authority yesterday unveiled a draft action plan for the 71-acre area which sees it developing as a "new, vibrant city quarter" taking full advantage of the leisure potential of its extensive water-bodies.
The draft plan, compiled by a consortium of consultants, proposes a pair of lifting or turning pedestrian bridges over the River Liffey, to improve accessibility to the area, as well as a "bus bridge" across the mouth of the Grand Canal. However, given that the draft is merely a consultation document, Dublin Corporation's chief planning officer, Mr Pat McDonnell, expressed concern that it could be "gazumped" by the frenetic pace of development in the city.
The authority's chief executive, Mr Peter Coyne, said it was "critical" that both the authority and the corporation take early ownership of the Grand Canal Docks action plan so that it could be relied upon as a guideline for development.
The area includes the former gasworks, which is polluted after a century of town gas manufacturing. The development authority, which owns this 24-acre site, expects to obtain a licence for its decontamination next month from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Mr Coyne said it would take a year for British specialists Parkman Ltd to complete this work, which he described as "a major engineering undertaking". However, he anticipated it would be available for redevelopment in January 2001.
He stressed there was no question of making a full planning scheme for the area - which would include proposals for tax incentives to encourage development - until arrangements for decontaminating the gasworks had been agreed.
Development guidelines specify six to seven-storey commercial buildings and seven to eight-storey apartment buildings on the main frontages, with lower-rise housing in the middle of the site between Sir John Rogerson's Quay and Hanover Quay.
This largely-derelict area should be opened up by creating new streets running north-south and east-west, according to the consultants - Urban Initiatives, Urban Projects, Hamilton Osborne King and Anthony Reddy Associates.
They have identified two sites for slender high-rise buildings - one at the eastern end of Sir John Rogerson's Quay and the other adjoining the large office and residential scheme now being completed on the former meat plant site at Grand Canal Street.
A triangular area of the dock basin at this point, where rubbish tends to accumulate, is to be filled in to square off the inner dock.
The plan also proposes a civic space at the junction of Hanover Quay and Grand Canal Quay for concerts and other events. It sees this area, to be known as Grand Canal Square, as a prime location for an arts or cultural centre.
There would also be opportunities for high-quality hotel development and greater use of the dock basins for water-based activities.
To promote the Grand Canal Docks area as a place to bring up a family, there is also provision for play spaces for children, including a "kick-about" area. Twenty per cent of the housing will be social or affordable, Mr Coyne pledged.
"Nobody living in the area will be more than a five-minute walk from high-quality public transport, with the new pedestrian bridges over the river giving access to a Luas line on Mayor Street and a pedestrian connection to the DART at Barrow Street," he said.
In this context, he said the development authority believed the car-parking standards laid down in Dublin Corporation's city plan "may be too generous" for the area. This is to be examined in partnership with the corporation and the Dublin Transportation Office.
The authority's director of planning, Mr Terry Durney, estimated that 4,000 housing units would be built in the area, including 1,500 on the former gasworks site. The mix would be 60 per cent residential and 40 per cent commercial.
Mr Coyne said "something like 9,000 new residents will be moving into the area", in addition to those living in the apartment buildings already there.
Restaurants, pubs and shops are envisaged for the water frontages. Stone-built grain stores rising from the inner dock, notably Bolands Mill, are to be retained. Clearance of the camp-shires - the narrow strips of land along the water - will exclude listed buildings, such as Mr Harry Crosbie's home on Hanover Quay.
Mr Coyne said the draft action plan was now open to public consultation. It is to be exhibited in St Andrew's Resource Centre, Pearse Street, for a week and then in Ringsend Tech and the Docklands Development Authority's headquarters on Custom House Quay.
"We will be taking on board the various submissions from the community, interested parties and landowners before finalising the plan", he said. Further information is available on the DDDA "hotline" - phone 1-800-200604.
