COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

MOTION NO.89

MOTION: Councillor Joanna Tuffy

SD-C-227 OPR Page 59 Public Rights of Way that the review of public rights of way would include other points of access to the SAAO Liffey Valley riverbank such as that adjacent to the Scouts Den between Chapel Hill and the River Bank, the entrance from the Old Rectory to the river bank and that there be an audit of all publicly owned lands near the river bank be they owned by any public authority including OPW, HSE etc.

REPORT:

The motion appears to set out two proposals: 1. That the review of public rights of way includes points of access to the SAAO Liffey Valley riverbank, giving examples of such; and 2. An audit be carried out of all publicly owned lands near the riverbank be they owned by any public authority including OPW, HSE etc.

The issue of public rights of way was also submitted to the Draft Plan through the public consultation period under submissions SD-C195-227 made by the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). Recommendation 9 of their submission relates to public rights of way whereby they indicate that the planning authority is required to include written policy together with maps identifying public rights of way. The Chief Executive responded under Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) – Rights of Way, pg59-60.

With regard to the first point, the identification of public rights of way is a difficult and resource intensive exercise in the absence of land law or property registry to facilitate. However, the Draft Plan details specific policies and objectives under Policy EDE 23: Public Rights of Way. Of particular note is EDE23 Objective 2 which sets out the local authority’s intent to review, through a stepped approach, the identification of public rights of way. 

EDE23 Objective 2 : ‘To identify, in a logical and sequenced way, existing public rights of way in relevant areas of the County and to investigate the creation of new public rights of way by taking the following steps within two years of adoption of the Plan:

Identify and map those areas within the County which have the potential to give access to mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other places of natural beauty or recreational utility.

Examine the identified areas for existing access routes.

Investigate whether existing access routes are public rights of way and where there is an understanding that a public right of way may exist, undertake the necessary steps for consultation set out in the Planning Acts.

Once verified, map and identify those public rights of way in the Development Plan.

Where public rights of way do not exist and access would be appropriate, consider using public rights of way agreements available under section 206 of the Planning and Development Acts.

Where public rights of way agreements are not possible, consider the use of compulsory purchase orders under section 207 of the Planning and Development Acts.’

A public right of way cannot be included in the plan without full due diligence and verification being carried out. EDE23 Objective 2 ensures that this stepped process will be carried out within two years of the adoption of the Development Plan. It should be noted that once further public rights of way are identified as set out under the objective, a Variation of the Plan, as appropriate can provide for a list to be appended and the public rights of way mapped. EDE23 Objective 3 and 4 of the Draft Plan allow for the same. 

With respect to the second issue which refers to an audit being carried out of all publicly owned lands near the riverbank be they owned by any public authority including OPW, HSE etc, it is noted that the first bullet point in EDE24 outlines the areas to be covered EDE23 Objective 2 : ‘To identify, in a logical and sequenced way, existing public rights of way in relevant areas of the County and to investigate the creation of new public rights of way by taking the following steps within two years of adoption of the Plan:

Identify and map those areas within the County which have the potential to give access to mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other places of natural beauty or recreational utility.

While EDE23 Objective 1 seeks to ‘promote the preservation of public rights of way that give access to mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other places of natural beauty or recreational utility.’  As such, identification of public rights of giving access to the Liffey is covered under the objectives in the Draft Plan.

Furthermore, the provisions of policy NCBH7 Liffey River Valley and Special Amenity Area Order should also be noted where it is an objective of the plan under NCBH7 Objective 7 To work in collaboration with the owners of lands along the length of the river to seek to provide appropriate public access. 

Having regard to the above it is considered that the provisions under Policy EDE 23 and 24 and NCBH7 Objective 7 as detailed in the Draft Plan adequately provide for the review of public rights of way and the locations put forward by this motion. 

CE Recommendation: It is recommended that the motion is adopted with amendment to reflect that Policy ED23: Public Rights of Way, EDE23 Objective 1-4, EDE Policy 24: Permissive Access Routes and EDE24 Objective 1 and NCBH7 Objective 7 Liffey River Valley and Special Amenity Area Order of the Draft Plan are sufficient to provide for the intent of the motion.