Dublin Corporation is to commission a major skyline study of the capital to identify locations where high buildings might be built, the city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald, has said.
He was speaking to The Irish Times yesterday as amendments to the corporation's draft development plan went on public display for a month at the Civic Offices, Wood Quay. The exhibition ends on February 12th.
The changes include reinstating the Eastern By-pass motorway, from the north port area to Booterstown, in a bored tunnel under Sandymount Strand, as well as rezoning the last remaining tract of farmland in the city for residential development.
It also includes an explicit statement to "rebalance" transportation in Dublin in favour of public transport, by facilitating the development of Luas and the quality bus corridors, while "giving the car its rightful place without allowing it to dominate the city".
Other major changes in the draft development plan include: The inclusion of a further 1,500 historic buildings on the lists of those scheduled for protection or preservation in addition to the 1,500 listed in the earlier draft.
the introduction of a licensing system for all public car-parks within the canal ring to ensure the provision of short-stay business, shopper and visitor parking, rather than commuter parking.
a crackdown on the development of more hotels and guest houses in designated residential conservation areas, such as large parts of Ballsbridge.
explicit support for the proposed national conference centre at Spencer Dock and North Wall Quay. However, Mr Fitzgerald made it clear that plans for more than 5 million sq ft of ancillary space on the site would be assessed on proper planning criteria.
Asked about the corporation's more relaxed standards for high buildings in Dublin, the city manager conceded that it was a "radical departure", but he felt it was necessary in "a changing city, one that's changing faster than any other city in Europe".
Mr Fitzgerald said this change in policy had generated opposing views. On the one side, conservationists argued that Dublin was a low-rise city and should always remain so. On the other, development interests made the case that the time had come "to go up rather than out".
Asked why the corporation had not conducted a series of visual analysis studies to determine more precisely where high buildings might be located, Mr Fitzgerald said the draft plan had avoided being over-prescriptive to help develop a consensus on the issue.
"There's a very strong consensus that the core of the city, especially the Georgian core, is sacrosanct, but also that there are points outside it where high buildings could be a feature. So what we propose to do is to carry out a skyline study to identify these locations."
Mr Dick Gleeson, deputy chief planning officer, said it was not possible to look at the issue of high buildings in isolation from their context. He envisaged a series of urban design studies on the lines of one currently being done for the Grand Canal Docks.
The revised plan commits the corporation to retaining the Georgian city and to protecting its original character in terms of the scale, features, streetscape, setting and materials. On the Eastern By-pass, Mr Fitzgerald said it had been "off the agenda" for several years. However, nobody could have foreseen the huge growth in traffic over the past four years and this had helped to change public perceptions. There was a considerable demand for the route among business people as represented by the Chamber of Commerce.
The proposed motorway had been included in the plan as "a concept, a line on a map". Further studies would have to be undertaken and the decision on whether to proceed would be "another day's work". He had no idea what it might cost.
Mr Gleeson said the draft explicity stated that the motorway would be in a bored tunnel beneath Sandymount Strand to protect one of the principal amenities of Dublin Bay, a major change from earlier schemes.
Asked what priority the corporation assigned to the by-pass vis-a-vis investing in public transport, the city manager said he would "come down strongly in favour of investing in public transport" but, as with high buildings, it was not an either/or issue.
On the proposed rezoning of 100 acres of agricultural land at Pelletstown, between Finglas and Ashtown, Mr Gleeson said this was subject to the preparation of an action plan which would include an "ecological" linear park in the Tolka Valley.
