COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEASSOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

HEADED ITEM NO. 37

To amend Section 2.3.9 to read as follows (additional text in bold):

 2.3.9 Ground and Surface Waters

It is an objective of the Council that land-uses shall not give rise to the pollution of ground or surface waters during the construction or operation of developments. This should be achieved through the adherence to best practice in the design, installation and management of systems for the interception, collection and appropriate disposal or treatment of all surface waters and effluents.

 It is an objective of the Council that undeveloped lands adjacent to surface waters, particularly salmonid river systems, be retained in their open natural state in order to prevent habitat loss and aid in pollution detection, while providing open space and recreational amenity for river users.

 It is an objective of the Council to ensure that salmonid waters constraints are applied to any development in the Liffey and Dodder river catchments, including Bohernabreena Reservoir, which are recognised to be exceptional with regard to supporting salmonid fish species.

 Best management practice shall be implemented at all times in relation to any activities that may impact on riverine or riparian habitats. Any planned discharges to surface streams shall not impact negatively on the salmonid status of the system. The design and construction of any surface water outfall chambers to rivers shall be implemented in an ecologically sound and fisheries-sensitive manner. The use of concrete (or other toxic materials) at riparian and in-stream locations should only occur in the dry to prevent contamination of adjacent surface waters.

 Applications for large to very large developments should:

 •              Be generally designed and constructed in accordance with the provisions of the Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study policy documents;

 •              Submit, prior to commencement of development, details of a Sediment and Water Pollution Control Plan in relation to the Construction Phase of such developments and

 •              Include an assessment of the impacts of climate change on their development and to make provision for these impacts in particular relating to drainage design.

All developments should incorporate:

 •              Designs and layouts for basements and underground car parks that do not result in any potential for them to flood from within or without;

 •              Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) that balance the impact of urban drainage through the achievement of control of run-off quantity and quality and enhance amenity and habitat. In particular the requirements of the SuDS Manual by the UK's Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) shall be followed unless specifically exempted by the Planning Authority.

The Planning Authority will:

 •              Discourage culverting of streams unless considered absolutely necessary. Where culverting of a stream is unavoidable it shall be required to obtain a consent from the Office of Public Works in accordance with S.50 of the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945;

 •              Require in developments adjacent to watercourses, that any structure must be set back a minimum distance of 10m from the top of the bank to allow access for channel cleaning and maintenance, unless otherwise agreed with the Planning Authority. This may be increased depending on the size of the watercourse and any particular circumstances;

 •              Only permit development when satisfied that new and existing developments are not exposed to increased risk of flooding and that any loss of flood storage is  compensated for elsewhere in the river catchment;

 •              When considering planning applications which include significant hard surfacing, attach conditions which seek to minimise and limit the extent of hard surfacing and paving as well as requiring the use of sustainable drainage techniques, including in particular permeable paving or surfaces such as gravel or slate chippings. The aim generally being to reduce run-off rates and flow volumes from parking areas as well as access roads and

 •              Ensure compliance by all piped infrastructure providers with the requirement to maintain, or reduce the impact on, biodiversity corridors within all areas of the County, where new or extensions to existing piped infrastructure are proposed.