COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TERENURE-RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE (1)

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

MOTION NO. 22

MOTION: Councillor C. Keane

"That this committee agrees that the laneway directly to the rear of 99 Limekiln Road be disposed of by SDCC and incorporated into the rear garden of said house –I have been informed that adjoining neighbours have already been surveyed by SDCC house to house on this issue and have secured agreement from adjacent neighbours on this road. An application has already been made for this two years ago and the public right of way has already been extinguished on this laneway."

REPORT:

An application to acquire a portion of laneway at rear of 99 Limekiln Road was received from the householder in May 2006.  The applicant was informed that the public right of way would need to be extinguished over the section of laneway to allow for a disposal of same.  The Development Department proceeded to examine the application from the houseowner of No. 99 to acquire the section of laneway in conjunction with other Departments of the Council and public utility Companies. As the closure of this section of laneway would be of a permanent nature, if the disposal proceeded, the main issue to clarify was that the disposal of the area would not block access for other dwellings who relied on the laneway for rear access to their dwellings. This was not the position in this case, as there are two access points to the laneway and the house owners with access immediately from this section of laneway, did not object.

In the meantime, the Roads Department initiated the procedure in relation to the extinguishment of the public right of way over the section of laneway in question. The process was initiated at a meeting of the Terenure Rathfarnham Area Committee on 01/05/07, notice was published in The Echo Newspaper on 16/5/07 and signs were erected on site. No submissions were received and the matter was brought to the Terenure Rathfarnham Area Committee on 02/10/07 and to the full Council meeting on 12/11/2007 for ratification.

Whilst the Council was in the process of examining the application, the houseowner of No 99 proceeded to carry out work on the laneway in the mistaken belief that once the public right of way was extinguished, he was at liberty to incorporate the area. On the Council becoming aware of this work, the houseowner was written to instructing him to cease work and re-instate the laneway.

At this stage, an objection was also received from the householders of an adjoining property whose property sides on to the laneway. These householders indicated that they had not been aware of the initiation of the procedure for the extinguishment of the PROW and otherwise they would have made a submission at that stage. There is no access into the property from the laneway at present but the laneway would possibly be required for the maintenance of the side gable and may be required for access at a future date. 

In the circumstances, it is not now proposed to proceed with the application to dispose of the section of laneway at rear of 99 Limekiln Road as only one householder wishes to incorporate a portion of the laneway– however the matter may be reviewed in the future if the remaining properties backing on to the laneway, wish to acquire the area adjacent to their properties when it may be possible to achieve a division of the laneway to suit all adjoining parties.