Proposed Amendments to the Draft Dublin City Development Plan - what's your opinion?

DCC Planning Secretariat · 27-08-2010 9:52am #1

Thanks again to everyone who commented on the Draft Plan earlier in the year. You can now access a list of submissions from the public, and the Council's response to them, in the Manager's Report. Vol.s 1 & 2. These are available to download from the Development Plan website here. You can also download the full set of Proposed Amendments and related documents from the same page.

The submissions raised a broad spectrum of issues from consultation mechanisms to actions for implementation, from strategic city-wide policies to issues at neighbourhood level and site-specific zoning objectives. However the vast majority were made in relation to a few key topic areas, namely, the built environment, the recreational and natural amenities of the city; culture, conservation and residential amenity.

The proposed amendments now on public display essentially represent a response to the key submission issues, as well as the input from councillor motions, whilst reflecting also the proper planning and sustainable development of the city.

Below is a summary of some of the key changes that have been suggested. If you’d like to comment on these, you can leave a comment here or make a submission/ observation using the online feedback form on the site. The deadline for submissions is Sept 15th.

Regards,
The Development Plan Team

‘Shaping the City’ (Chapter 4 of the Development Plan) relates to the urban structure and built form of the city and corresponds to standards on height and density. It drew a significant number of comments and observations. The main aspects of the proposed amendments to the draft that have resulted relate to:
• a greater emphasis on Dublin as a low-rise city
• changes to the height range for the inner city
• additional assessment criteria for high buildings
• Density standards – the specific criteria for each of the three density bands has been replaced with the more general requirements of the national and regional guidelines
• the term ‘economic corridor’ – this has been replaced through the draft plan with the term ‘innovation corridor’
• in those limited areas identified for higher buildings, a local area plan (LAP) must now be approved first.

‘Connecting & Sustaining the City’s Infrastructure’ (Ch.5 of the Draft Plan) relates to the creation of efficient transport that minimizes pollution and creates a city that's accessible and easy to move around. It also relates to good services infrastructure that minimises waste, enables people to recycle easily and ensures that wastewater is treated safely.

Movement and transport in the city generated a lot of interest. The most significant changes proposed include

• the identification of appropriate locations for off-street car-parking for coaches
• further assessment of potential opportunities for pedestrian crossings along the canals
• extension of the pedestrian zone in the Grafton Street Area
• changes to references to strategic policy documents in the chapter text as well as those already set out in an appendix
• the preparation of plans for key transport nodes

The changes also include a greater emphasis on conservation, heritage and amenity in the context of proposals for extension of Luas Lines.

‘Greening the City’ (Ch.6 of the Draft Plan) relates to protecting and enhancing vulnerable natural areas, recognising the potential of current open space for improvement, balancing biodiversity with recreational needs and promoting play spaces and sports facilities at local level.

The main changes to this chapter focus on issues such as food security and community gardening, a city farm, nature designations and landscape conservation, the life-cycle approach to recreational facilities including adult amenities, and area-specific objectives for improvements to playgrounds and parks.

‘Fostering Dublin’s Character & Culture’ (Ch.7 of the Draft Plan) relates to Dublin’s cultural offerings and built heritage. The key aspects of the proposed amendments to culture include stronger support for community-based cultural initiatives and support for the use of vacant commercial buildings as cultural spaces. Changes are also proposed to the cultural quarters to include the North Georgian City and O’Connell Street Area, and there is a proposal to nurture the potential of a newly identified diverse cultural quarter extending from Heuston / Royal Hospital to the historic villages of Inchicore and Chapelizod.

In terms of the city’s built heritage and conservation, the key changes include a further emphasis on the identification and protection of exceptional buildings of the late twentieth century, a proposal to carry out a study with reference to best international practice on active uses for buildings in the Georgian Core / Conservation Areas and a proposal to undertake assessments to inform the potential for designating a number of specific areas as Architectural Conservation Areas (ACAs).

The changes also include proposals relating to the city’s industrial heritage and the identification of key urban villages with unique characteristics and a special sense of place.

'Creating Good Neighbourhoods and Successful Communities' (Ch.12 of the Draft Plan) is about strengthening Dublin's existing neighbourhoods and communities and fostering the same qualities in newly emerging areas.

The proposed changes to this section include a statement for insertion into the standards on residential amenity, stating that the protection of residential amenities is a primary concern of Dublin City Council.

The changes also include additional descriptive text on the value of public open space in residential developments, provision for communal satellite and broadband services and a series of amendments to proposals for development in conservation areas.

Some changes to the Zoning Objectives were also suggested. The most significant relates to the removal of ‘residential’ as a use open for consideration in the Z15 Community & Institutional Resource Lands. Also, the former Z10B of Outer Suburban (Sustainable Mix-Use) has been omitted from the draft plan and incorporated with amendments into the former Z12 Institutional Lands (Future Development Potential).

All proposed changes in relation to site-specific zonings are set out in a Schedule of Proposed Amendments to Zoning & Objectives, whilst the relevant sites are marked up on the set of Zoning Maps.