COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TERENURE-RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE (1)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

QUESTION NO. 9

QUESTION: Councillor E. Walsh

"To ask the Manager to indicate what is required in Planning for Residents who want to take their cars off street into a new driveway and to indicate what type of drawings are required for this development and will he make a statement on the issue as quite a number of residents are being refused permission and by taking their cars off street they are improving mobility in the area especially bin collections?"

REPLY:

Widening of an existing domestic entrance results in a reduction in on-street parking, depletion of grass verges and loss of trees in grass verges. It allows traffic to enter and exit a curtilage more speedily, making it unclear where the entrance is, thus generating a hazard for pedestrians.

The cumulative impact of wider entrances leads to visual degradation of an area, which formerly had landscaped or walled front boundaries combined with hedging, shrubs or trees.There should still be sufficient space for on street parking for one car outside each dwelling. In general, for pedestrian safety and visual reasons, the maximum width of a domestic entrance should be no greater than 3.5m.