GrahamH
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It’s the precendent set that’s possibly the worst aspect of it – within months they creep down streets and roads into neighbouring properties. And sometimes people ask their neighbours if they’d like it done as well at the same time, reducing the cost, whilst increasing the damage to the street and buildings.
Certainly there are many people who are simply unaware of the damage being done, but so much is carried out by persons only too well in tune with what they’re at, esp developers. Many people as you say simply don’t agree with being told what to do – an issue highlighted fairly recently on the radio, albeit a bit off-topic, with Victorian owners in south Dublin annoyed at being prevented from removing railings and paving over front gardens.
Nice to see someone cares:
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT: The provision of a vehicular entrance and one parking space, replacing section of boundary fence with matching ironwork gates at Palmerston Park, Rathmines, Dublin.
DECISION
REFUSE permission for the above proposed development based on the reasons and considerations set out below.
REASONS AND CONSIDERATIONS
The existing dwelling at Palmerston Park is included in the Record of Protected Structures, and the site of the proposed development is located in an area designated, in the current Dublin City Development Plan, with zoning objective Z2 – “To protect and/or improve the amenities of Residential Conservation areasâ€. It is the policy of the planning authority to protect and enhance such areas. It is considered that the proposed development, entailing removal of a section of the original front railings and plinth wall, its replacement by vehicular entrance gates and conversion of part of the front garden area to car parking use, would detract from the streetscape character of the area and from the setting of the protected structure and would set a precedent for further similar development in the area. Accordingly, the proposed development would conflict with the reasonable policy of the planning authority, would materially and adversely affect a protected structure and would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
Member of An Bord Pleanála duly authorised to authenticatet the seal of the Board.
😀
I’ve wondered this too, it was off centre on the ‘old’ median as well. It’s much more noticable now with the rigid symmetry of the trees and lamposts. Glad it wasn’t moved though, nice to have things in their original spots, even if slightly odd!
The base/plinth of this monument is as equally fine as the sculpture, often goes unremarked. The granite has a lovely rough texture which contrasts with the sharp lines of the overall profile.Are his hands purposely oversized so as to appear to-scale when seen from below, like the statue of David?
What a silly idea to have O’Connell facing up the street – suppose it woud have been just another of those things we did our own way that everyone else laughed at – like putting dado rails upside down, the amount of times you see it…:)
What are they at down there, I mean the most ludicrous of all – submitting motions after the meeting started?!?
You’d wonder about this place you really would…Wonder if the sewer gas victims survived – presumably they did. Nice little piece, textbook Irish Romanesque. Doesn’t it lean over to one side – might be mixing it up with something else though.
Good to see the monuments being tackled now, wonder if any of the railings will be reinstated around some of their bases, although – I think some of them look equally fine without them. Rubbish would probably fill up behind them if they were put back, but they would also largely prevent the graffitti brigade from attacking them – John Gray was notoriously bad till recently.
The black pen scribble is much worse than the spray paint.I haven’t the faintest as to what a ‘sports cafe’ is Diaspora – considering it’s likely no one else does either, it gives them a good deal of room to manoeuvre 🙂
Interesting piece by David McWilliams in the Sunday BP a couple of weeks back on applying the rules of the property market to that of road users – that people should pay for consuming what is a limited resource at peak times, i.e roadspace – also higlighting that the taxes of people who use public transport are ploughed into roads for private transport etc.
On what grounds? One maybe sure the signage will be of the restrained gold relief variety or similar and works by and large will be sensitive.
Whereas most people would probably percieve the idea of a bookies on the street as unacceptable, would such a use be percieved as so incongruous by ABP?What was there before, was it a public park? Is it intended to open it as such once the cars eventually go?
So is the replacement of original windows in protected structures deemed to be a material alteration to the fabric of such buildings in ALL areas of the country? – i.e is it considered as important as the masonry/brick facades of buildings or is it up to the planners or conservation officers as to whether they will allow them?
There are just so many of them cropping up in the centres of villages and towns across the country in 18th & 19th century structures, that just some of them must be listed, even if it’s just a handful out of the 100s it’s happening to. Is a blind eye turned to replacement windows in favour of concentrating on protecting more ‘worthy’ aspects of buildings or parts that are easier to police?
Agreed, with some exceptions, Ballsbridge has little character anymore, with the exception of wealth of course, which oozes out of even the worst of buildings.
Watching bits of the Horse Show there at the weekend, the Four Seasons was unfortunately evident looming over the stands – bearing an uncomfortable resemblance to the flagship Disneyland Hotel outside Paris. All it needs are some trees clipped into mouse ears 🙂
Dublin-Kinstown Railway
Loop Line
Royal Hospital
Parliament Building
ESB Hq – at the time at least.
Busaras – albeits impact short-lived.
Wood Quay – stirred the city into action.If a building is protected, does the local authority have an obligation to insist on the removal of old replacement windows, similar to an ACA in the case of the owner applying for pp for other works as Devin mentioned earlier?
Also, if a building is listed, and original sashes are removed subsequent to its listing, are the local authority obliged to enforce their reinstatement – or is it up to the planners/conservation officer as to whether they’ll allow them?I can think of many such cases where I think the buildings are listed, but PVCs are installed. And these would be properties that have applied for pp so the PVCs were part of the job.
The windows are so inappropriate, on a unique street, and it is disgraceful PVCs were allowed to be put in. And they’re sweeping up the place like a cancer. I’d like to follow it up because it just can’t continue, it’s been said by other people too which surprised me – but I don’t know where I stand if they are listed.
As far as I know I remember seeing them identified in the Development Plan.And ironically the Moore St area, if not the street itself as well, was once a fashionable residential area – and long before the influence of snooty Gardiner’s Mall next door.
And it’s good to see today that redevelopments of many council estates in the city are now happening on the existing sites in opposition to the large scale movements to Tallaght and Ballymun in the 60s & 70s.I largely agree with you chewy, you’ve pretty much elaborated on the issues raised – apologies for my unfortunate knack of intertwining fact with opinion, but some women did say they would finish up if they could and that they weren’t in it for the charm of the job 🙂
I don’t know the ins and outs of the CC involvement, other than the place had been let fall to ruins long before the past 5 years or so when the plans were first proposed, but it is certainly clear that the traders have been let down time and time again – the whole project is presumably still tied to the Carlton.
Fundamentally I think a market has to be maintained here, the diversity they offer to city centres is so important, let alone to this area of Dublin. I’ve no objection in the slightest to alternative stores or markets, indeed ‘market’ nowadays increasingly refers to alternative and multi-cultural produce, but well maintained development is equally important – there’s a difference between the worst elements of so called gentrification and just decent, clean, well-managed property.
What do people think of the roof-covering idea? I’ve always liked it anyway, further distinguishing Moore St from the surrounding mainstream commercial area. And a roof can contribute greatly to the atmosphere of a place, you can capture a real buzz from a large inclosed space, esp having it still open to the elements at each end, in this case still allowing a strong connection with the city. How to balance external ‘rusticness’ with internal comfort will be the challenge.
Overall major changes are going to have to happen to the street. I think everyone’s agreed that the Ilac has to go, so that’s half the street changed completely, and there’s quite a few holes that have to be filled on the other side. Coupled with new paving/flooring and the possible addition of a roof, the place will change completely, regardless of who or what remains trading on the street or in its buildings – although the apartments and office space mooted before futher above the street would have an impact on things alright.As to gentrification, I think it’s inevitable and not a bad thing that if a market is to thrive here, other traders flogging sun-dried tomatoes and olives will also move in, helping to sustain the place. Ireland is changing after all.
Yes – the Ulster Bank should be razed to the ground, it has to be the ugliest non-Brutalist building in the city.
Other buildings that should go would be ones that wouldn’t be on such a list, the terrible red-bricked rubbish that makes up so much of Dublin and regional towns, like that monster on Nassau St, which I find so much more offensive than concrete slab blocks – at least these are so bad they’re almost attractive, one onto themselves, but the bricked stuff neatly skips over the line into acceptability and avoids all popular criticism, enabling them to destroy streetscapes for decades to come.
A Grade X list would be welcome, not only for ugly buildings, but inappropriate ones too. As to who decides what is another matter, taste police and all that.
The DIT-made documentary about Moore St shown on RTE 1 recently certainly cast shadows on the image of Moore St as the heart of aul Dublin, or as the capital’s own melting pot of cultures.
It appeared most of the traders on the street were not in the slightest bit phased with the idea of the place being practically razed to the ground – some expressed concerns with it becoming a cappuccino Mecca with the eventual exclusion of themselves, but most welcomed the idea of redevelopment and in fact continuously complained about the CC allowing the street fall into its current state and the blatent lack of progress on the ground.Also the few multi-cultural establishments on the street can hardly be described as forming the city’s ‘alternative quarter’ – rather these poorly maintained stores have emerged simply because the rents on the street are so low because no one else in their right mind will invest in the place. In contrast to those trading on the street, these shops are concerned that any redevelopment will immediately force them out as rents will go through the roof.
Certainly the romanticism of the traders is well gone, some of those interviewed would give up the job in the morning if they could – and all were conveyed as hard-nosed business people determined not to give anything away or even haggle etc.
Also there was no ‘we’ve been on this plot for 5 generations now’ – rather the numbers trading has decreased substantially in recent times.So whereas those who are left must be accommodated in the new scheme, I think the idea of sustaining the ‘atmosphere’ and ‘feel’ of the place, and maintaining ‘old Dublin’ in the plan really isn’t practical, simply because it doesn’t exist anymore.
Saying that, incorporating the decent Victorians there is essential, being just about the only aspect of the street from its heyday that survives. The idea of some designated affordable units for well maintained alternative stores is also an attractive option, if possible – not least to save the place from total ‘mainstreamisation’.Keep paint well away – there’s too much happy clappy sunset yellow in this country! The very appeal of the section stems from the fact that it’s rendered – the same applies to so many 1920s & 30s houses, people just itch to paint away their supposed grubbiness – leave them alone!
What a bizzare building – the regional differences in older buildings is great in this country, esp the south differing from the Dublinesque of the north east – so many quirky features completely alien to the almost standardised architecture of the Dublin-influenced area.
That Heineken porch is woeful.
This was always going to be a problem – traffic running through the plaza. Suppose it highlights how uncomfortable such a feature is on what essentially is an avenue, or long stretch of street. Not that I think it doesn’t work; the presence of the GPO was always going to require special treatment, and the plaza does it justice.
But there is an issue at present with both the plaza and the Spire act as a termination point on the street, actually discouraging even more so people from going further up the street. From a pedestrian flow point of view, the site of the Parnell Monument would have been superior for the Spire, acting as a magnet pulling people and tourists right to the very top, and further into the proposed ‘cultural quarter’ and opening up new possibitities for Parnell St.
But the Nelson site has too much historical significance to be glossed over, and as a major nodal point in this area of the city, the Spire just belongs there.But it still throws you, the geography of Dublin city centre was such a major player in this event – sure he might as well have built the GPO as a gothic folly while he was at it 🙂
The last scene is the best, cliched, but it works – and the scene under Connolly with the pillars either side is great, a part of the station so few people see.
