COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Thursday, February 04, 2016

MOTION NO. 184

MOTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

Motion: Cllr G. O’Connell, Cllr P. Gogarty, Cllr L. O’Toole

Given commitment in the CEO’s report to explore the Blue Waterway and the arguments made by the Liffey Valley Park Alliance (0248), P D Adventure Sports (0175) and Canoe Ireland (0176) Table 11.13 Zoning ‘HA-HV’ be amended as follows: 1 Open for consideration (a) Nursing Home (f.g); Sports Club/Facility, un-serviced Campsite (f,g,h); Recreational Facility (f,h). 2 Not Permitted: Boarding Kennels; Traveller Accommodation. And a new clause “in accordance with the Council’s flora, fauna and ecological policies".

REPORT:

Previous Motion – Traveller Accommodation

A motion requesting that Traveller Accommodation uses be moved from ‘open for consideration’ to ‘not permitted’ was submitted to the June 2015 Development Pan Meeting under Motion 297 (ID 45109). Following a vote the motion fell.

Recreation and Sport/Club Uses

Having regard to the Draft Plan regarding tourism, including the policies and objectives for Tourism and Leisure under Section 4.5.0, it is accepted that ‘Recreational Facility’ and ‘Sports Club/Facility’ uses should be listed as ‘Open for Consideration’ under the HA-LV zoning objective of the Draft Plan, subject to restriction/caveats regarding their location/premises, scale, assessment of their landscape impact, and set back from the bank of the River Liffey.

Nursing Home, Camp Site and Boarding Kennel Uses

The Liffey Valley is a proposed Natural Heritage Area (pNHA) and is also subject to a Special Amenity Area Order (SAAO). As a key element of the County’s Green Infrastructure network, policies contained in the Draft Development Plan sets out to protect and enhance the visual, recreational, environmental, ecological, geological and amenity value of the Liffey Valley and to implement the Liffey Valley Special Amenity Area Order (SAAO).

It is within the context of the above that it is accepted that Boarding Kennel uses should be listed as ‘Not Permitted’ under both the HA-LV and HA-DV zoning objectives, however, nursing home and camp site uses would, in general, not be in keeping with the policies of the Draft Development Plan.

Furthermore, the location of nursing homes within the Liffey Valley would undermine the approach of the Draft Plan policy to encourage integrated communities and provide viable and attractive alternatives for older people within their own communities or existing communities. The Core Strategy already ensures that there are sufficient zoned lands in appropriate areas of the County to provide for all the housing needs of the County including housing for older people thus negating the need for additional nursing homes in a peripheral area that is sensitive to development and is not zoned for residential development.

Additional Caveat

With regard to the proposed additional caveat, it is unclear as to which uses that it is proposed that it be applied to and for what purpose. All development will be subject to rigorous assessment against the policies and objectives pertaining to pNHAs, SAAO and protection of the Liffey Valley area as contained in the Draft Plan and it is not considered necessary to include additional caveats with regards to the management of uses. The proposed caveat is also considered to be vague and imprecise and is not linked to specific policy of the Draft Plan and is therefore not considered to be necessary.

Recommendation

It is recommended that this motion is adopted with amendment:

List ‘Recreational Facility’ and ‘Sports Club/Facility’ uses as ‘open for consideration’ under the HA-LV and HA-DV zoning objective of the Draft Plan, subject to restriction/caveats regarding their location/premises, scale, assessment of their landscape impact, and set back from river banks.

List ‘Boarding Kennel’ uses as ‘not permitted’ under the HA-LV and HA-DV zoning objectives.