COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE/FIRHOUSE/BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 08, 2021

MOTION NO. 2

MOTION: Councillor Yvonne Collins

To ask the Chief Executive to immediately retract the derogation allowed to the developers of the lands formerly known as the Cosgrave site on Scholarstown Road to extend their working hours and not to accede to any further requests in this regard, as the working hours provided for within the original planning permission have already caused and are continuing to cause, undue suffering to nearby residents in terms of noise and fumes, and extending them is unduly oppressive and has caused further unnecessary hardship for the residents. The development will be built soon enough.

REPORT:

Derogation licences for extensions of working hours are a common occurrence across the County and are facilitated through the wording of planning conditions. The licences are often necessary to enable the construction of sites, particularly for the concrete works.

In addition, Circular PL 05-2021 issued to planning authorities by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage relates to extending working hours to facilitate the recommencement of residential construction projects allowed as part of the initial easing of the Covid Level 5 restrictions further to the recent lockdown.

It is within these guidelines that the Planning Authority are considering derogation requests on a case by case basis with a view to assisting the sector to compensate for lost productivity and output.
The following will be taken into consideration by the planning authority when considering derogations having regard to the local circumstances relating to individual sites including factors such as:
- the nature, scale, extent and location of the construction site i.e. rural/urban, small-scale/major development, single/multi storey etc;
-in particular, the proximity of the construction site to occupied homes and other types of premises or land uses that may be potentially sensitive receptors in the area concerned i.e. number, distance and type;
- the likelihood of noise, dust or other emissions, traffic and local parking impacts, and any proposed ameliorative measures, including management/monitoring.

In respect of the derogation requests for the subject site, the Council have taken on board the concerns of the Local Residents and representations on their behalf and have clarified and sought amendments to derogation requests for Block A accordingly. All derogation requests are considered on a case by case basis.