Madam, - The oral hearing of An Bord Pleanála regarding the proposed development at Adamstown in Co Dublin is interesting. I have been living in so-called "New Lucan" for a number of years. The entire development, approximately 500 acres south of Lucan Village, is similar in size and adjacent to the proposed Adamstown development. It was rezoned 10 - 15 years ago and most building is the area is now complete.
However, no litter bins have been installed in the residential areas of "New Lucan". There are a small number of litter bins in proximity to local shops and these are regularly full. South Dublin County Council has confirmed that it does not have the necessary resources to provide litter bins.
Therefore, I am not in any way confident that the local authorities, builders and other vested interests will be able to provide the necessary infrastructure for Adamstown, including roads, schools and other community facilities if it cannot even install and service a few litter bins in an existing development.- Yours etc.,
LLOYD CALLAN Moy Glas Glen, Griffeen Valley, Lucan.
Madam, - I am currently at home in Ireland on an extended vacation from my work overseas and am therefore not au fait with the history of the Adamstown Development, but have read the various reports and articles with growing amazement.
A scheme of this magnitude would never receive funding from any of the worldwide funding agencies without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and also the requirement for an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to be undertaken, and which would be contractually binding on the developers and contractors.
If the Government, or SDCC, does not have the funds for the necessary infrastructure (roads, water supply, sewers, schools, etc.) then these facilities should be required as part of the development and paid for by the developer and, obviously, the end user, or occupier, of the development.
The developers, after all, are funding and profiting from the project.
I have just completed a project in one of the poorest countries of the world, where a new water treatment plant is desperately needed for the capital city and where all parties to the project are desperately keen for the project to proceed.
However, to satisfy that government's requirements, and the requirements of the funding agencies, I had to prepare an EIA and an EMP report for the nine-hectare site.
I find it incomprehensible that one of the poorest countries in the world requires an EIA for a relatively small development and yet one of the richer countries does not require an EIA for a much larger, and potentially much more disruptive project. - Yours, etc.,
MIKE SOULSBY, Riverwood Place, Dublin 15.