Public Meeting to discuss the next Dublin City Development Plan
Issued : Tuesday 15 June, 2010
Areas : Dublin
I would like to invite you to a Public Meeting next Tuesday 22nd June at 7.30pm in the Hilton Hotel on Charlemont Place, Dublin 2 (beside the Charlemont Luas station) to debate the next Dublin City Development Plan.
Speakers will include representatives from local residents associations and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Chris McGarry, Planning Consultant will also make a presentation.
Lets make a Development Plan for Dublin that Works
Dublin has some of the finest residential streets in Dublin, indeed probably in Europe. We can be proud of that and it didn’t happen by accident. Good neighbourhoods and local villages work when they are planned sustainably. Our local urban villages and their surrounding residential roads should cater for families of all generations and provide for schools, shops and recreation spaces and facilities accessible to all. That is what good planning should aim to achieve and that is why I have fought so hard since joining the Council to protect the green spaces in the City and to turn what are called the ‘Institutional Lands’ into ‘Resource Lands’.
We also need a thriving City Centre to keep our City vital. Dublin can be the engine of future economic growth and the base for well-paid jobs. We also need a vibrant City Centre to support Dublin’s unique cultural, heritage and retail core. The City Centre is also where all our public transport and future public transport improvements will intersect. This is the most sustainable way to develop the City into the future. The changes I proposed last year with the support of the Labour Group have made this distinction between the inner core and the outer part of the City.
What is the Development Plan and why is it important?
The Development Plan is the overall framework document that governs every individual planning application that is made in the City. It tells us what can be built on any piece of land by means of land use zonings; it sets standards for apartments; it contains guidelines for things like off-street parking and basement developments; it contains the list of which buildings are on the Record of Protected Structures. The Development Plan lasts for 6 years. The current Plan expires in January 2011 and we are currently preparing the 2011-2017 Plan. The 52 Councillors elected last June will ultimately vote on this new Plan. After that, it’s the City planners and An Bord Pleanála who decide if individual planning applications are in accordance with the Plan.
What is the process for making the Plan?
The process for making the Plan is regulated by the Planning & Development Act, 2000. There are a number of periods of public consultation – the most recent period has just ended. There will be a further 4-week period of consultation in August and September this year.
Residents, various interest groups and the 52 Councillors have to battle for their voice to be heard and one of the big tasks in my experience is to try to take a balanced and coherent view of all the different viewpoints being expressed.
What are the next steps?
22 June Public Meeting at the Hilton Hotel, Charlemont Place
2 July The Cllrs will file motions to amend the draft Plan
26/30 July The Cllrs will publicly debate these motions
16/20 August 13/17 September There will be a further 4-week public consultation period
October & November The Manager will report on the further consultation & Cllrs will debate this and make final adjustments
December, 2010 The Plan will be published & come into effect in January 2011
So, get involved by contacting your Residents Association or any of your local Councillors or go online to the dedicated website www.dublincitydevelopmentplan.ie
Cllr. Oisín Quinn
Cllr 
