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Its a wee bit more nuanced than first thought. Latest information is 2 passed, incl Henry St and Smithfield, 15 refused.
So 15 to 2 so far…
@ctesiphon wrote:
Well if one refusal is a good result, what would you call a total refusal of all cases?
Very fucking awkward for a City Manager and the Planning Dept that presided over such a disgraceful sham. 😡
What moral authority will there be now for the other units already approved, as it is fair to say if it hadn’t cost more than 30k to appeal the scheme, they would have all been appeaaled – and given the 100% refusal rate, it is fair to say that they would have all been thrown out.
Dont get carried away yet CTE – bear in mind the vast majority of these were not appealed, arising out of the punative cost that the project-splitting caused, and therefore there are still about 90 of these that are live… But the real question is what happens next?
I think it looks bloody awful – a monolithic block wearing this week’s kink of zig zag-windows, which will date quickly.
Last week it was green copper cladding, the week before it was bris de soleil, this week its zig-zag windows; whats next week’ s gimmick going to be?
@Alek Smart wrote:
The two Bus/Coach bays mentioned are not new,they were provided from day 1.
Really? *Rubs eyes to check whatelse they have missed*…If so I stand corrected so.
*Makes mental note to self to wander in to Hempenstalls and get new specs after Christmas*
@Blisterman wrote:
People will only stop using their cars, when there is a decent 24 hour public transport system, which we don’t have at the moment. That should be the main priority, before they think of pedestrianising anywhere, or making it more difficult for traffic.
Just to clarify, the new bus bays outside Berties Bank are for private coaches, not public transport.
I see that DCC have just put in a new taxi rank on O’ Connell Bridge, on the north-bound side; well this should compliment the new bus stop that they put in a month ago, also on the bridge, on the south-bound side :rolleyes:
And these are not the only ad-hoc new provisions to have been made by DCC on O’ C St within the last few weeks; pavement has been replaced by 2 new separate bus parking bays on O’ C St upr, outside Berties AIB and the Carlton/ Dick Quirkes “amusement arcade”, (you know the one I mean, where gambling slot machines are going on despite being a total breach of regulations). And of course there’s no sign of the new plastic poles being replaced by anything more suitable for the cycle-lane between Abbey St and O’ C Bridge.
What a mess 😡
Comments please to Michael Phillips, head of DCC’s Roads Dept, and also to City Manager John Tierney as all of this has happened under his watch in the last few months.
If a city manager isn’t able to keep his roads dept from making mayhem on the capitals main st, after 10s of millions have been spent on it, what hope?
*Warning – The folllowing article is from that notorious rag that pretends to be a broadsheet, The Sunday Independent. Contents maybe dubious, unreliable, and driven by an alterior agenda.*
Faulty towers hit by €22m wrangle
Residents are living in fear at new Ballymun
By JEROME REILLY
Sunday December 16 2007The most ambitious urban regeneration project in the history of the state — the €2.5bn rebuilding of Ballymun is now beset by a multi-million euro legal row over alleged shoddy workmanship as well as anti-social behaviour including drug taking, joyriding and wanton vandalism.
New private apartment blocks designed to be a showcase for the new Ballymun are in danger of becoming worse than the infamous towers they replaced, residents claim.
Gardai have serious concerns about poor security in the apartment complexes at Santry Cross which, under the terms of an unusually stringent covenants of leases, were to be built, managed and maintained as “high class residential developments”.
But residents say underground car parks have become dangerous no-go areas, routinely used by addicts and car thieves, with stairwells contaminated by human excrement and used syringes.
There is no closed circuit TV or evidence of full time security personnel on duty and there are other serious security shortcomings. One resident, Lukasz Holgn, told the Sunday Independent: “I would never allow my wife to go down to the car park with rubbish bags.
“Residents don’t use the underground car park for their cars because they will be stripped.”
There are also issues over construction, with owner occupiers discovering that there was no ventilation air vents in some of the bedrooms leading to problems with damp.
Though there was a vent-like structure visible on internal walls, an engineer discovered there was no duct to the exterior.
An independent surveyor found there was no insulation in the external walls in apartments at the eastern side of the Linnbhla apartment complex.
Residents complain of mildew, pools of water on what are now warped window sills, flimsy external doors and a host of other defects in what were trumpeted as a potent symbol of Ballymun’s rebirth and proof that private investment could successfully bolster public regeneration.
It is understand that a number of owner occupiers are in the process of initiating proceedings against the builders.
One resident has claimed that asthma which she contracted since moving into the Linnbhla complex is related to problems with the construction.
An official garda inspection of the Linnbhla complex, carried out in April by a Crime Prevention Officer, Sgt Jacinta Harley, and seen by the Sunday Independent, states, “I would have serious concerns about parking a vehicle in this underground car park as it is not in any way secure.
“I am amazed that a basic CCTV system has not been installed,” the garda sergeant reported.
Sgt Harley added: “Following my return visit to your apartment complex on April 6, 2007, I am disappointed to state that the security situation has improved little since my visit and recommendations in December 2005.”
Two weeks ago a stolen car was burnt out in the underground car park at Linnbhla. Residents had to be evacuated. The car was set alight beneath plastic sewer pipes on the roof of the underground car park which melted causing raw sewage to burst into the car park.
Now one of the biggest private investors in the new Ballymun is embroiled in a €22m legal battle with Pierse Santry Cross, an arm of Pierse Construction, the second biggest building firm in the State.
Multi-millionaire businessman Ken White, who has bought dozens of apartments in the new Ballymun, has refused to conclude deals on 10 apartments, claiming construction has been defective and the area has become beset by social problems and used by drug addicts and other criminals without hindrance.
He claims Dublin City Council, Ballymun Regeneration Limited and the builders have allowed the new complexes to degenerate into a slum-like condition.
He has been sued by Pierse Santry Cross who want him to conclude the €6m purchase contract and proceedings were opened in front of Mr Justice Kelly in the Commercial Court three weeks ago.
In turn, Mr White has issued a counterclaim against Pierse Santry Cross, the local authority and Ballymun Regeneration Ltd for €22m — a sum which includes the loss of Section 23 tax reliefs he says he would have received from the tranche of apartments at the centre of the dispute.
In a statement to the Sunday Independent, the Pierse Group said the company had “a demonstrable track record of excellence in the delivery of high quality and award winning residential, mixed use and commercial developments throughout Ireland and abroad.”
The statement continued: “The Group has contributed significantly to a number of large-scale and ambitious urban regeneration programmes in Ireland and Britain, including the ongoing regeneration of Ballymun.
“Pierse Santry Cross Limited has instituted High Court proceedings against Kenneth and Jacqueline White for specific performance of Contracts for Sale in respect of ten apartments which they contracted to purchase in November 2005, at The Turnpike, Santry Cross.
“In January 2007 Mr and Mrs White refused to complete the purchase of the apartments and referred the matter to Expert Determination, alleging that major defects existed in The Turnpike. The Expert Determination duly took place and decreed that no major defects existed and that Mr and Mrs White should complete the purchase of the ten units in question.
“Despite the binding ruling of an independent expert, Mr and Mrs White refused to complete and, as a result, High Court proceedings were instituted against them by Pierse Santry Cross Limited.
Those proceedings have now been accepted into the Commercial List of the High Court,” the statement continued.
“Mr and Mrs White have brought a counterclaim which will be fully defended by Pierse Santry Cross Limited. While the value of the claim being advanced by Mr and Mrs White is said to be €22m, no evidence has been provided to support that loss and in any event much of that purported claim has already been the subject of an adverse finding against them by the independent expert,” the statement concluded.
Last week, the Sunday Independent visited the Santry Cross Development and found disturbing levels of vandalism, with some areas filthy and unkempt and with inadequate security.
During a three-hour stay in and around the Linnbhla and the Hampton apartment complex, we gained unhindered access to all floors of both apartment complexes without challenge, easy access to the underground car park at Linnbhla, rear stairwells and other service areas.
We found that fire fighting fixtures had been vandalised. A fire hose was removed from the wall and lying on the ground and there was what appeared to be human excrement on stairwells.
There was evidence of drinking parties and general vandalism in many areas, with some areas daubed with graffiti and contaminated with filth and refuse and marked by bad odour.
In his counterclaim action against Pierse Santry Cross, Dublin City Council and Ballymun Regeneration, Mr White who is based in Harcourt Street and has substantial property interests throughout the city, has retained former Justice Minister Michael McDowell SC as his counsel.
The Sunday Independent has learned Mr White will make a number of claims. He will allege that the showcase Santry Cross estate common areas, the internal common areas, the car parks and the gardens of the development have been allowed to become run down, dirty and damp and foul smelling and contaminated by refuse, drug addicts’ paraphernalia and excrement.
Mr White’s legal team, Lyons Kenny Solicitors who are also acting for individual owner occupiers, will say the areas are accessible to trespassers at will, usable by drug addicts and other criminals and entirely unsupervised by any appropriate security personnel, porters or caretakers or any CCTV system.
Disturbingly, they will also make a number of serious claims in relation to fire alarms and fire escapes. They will say that an independent surveyor found many of the fire doors nailed shut on the date he inspected the site and many areas remain wholly devoid of locked gates and doors.
During the visit by the Sunday Independent, those fire doors were not locked.
Mr White’s counterclaim will declare that, far from being a high class residential development, the entire estate has become a development in rapid and serious decline towards slum status.
Mr White will also raise issues in relation to the management of the estate.
Another of his claims relates to what he alleges to be the absence of valid planning permission at the Hampton apartment complex. He says the apartment block was supposed to have a glazed skylight from the atrium to ground level but to save money the builders, Pierse Santry Cross, decided to replace it with a metal grill structure so converting what should have been a closed internal common area into an area, open to the elements, which is cold, damp and frequently flooded.
Mr White requested the local authority issue an Enforcement Notice directing the builders to replace the open air grill-like structure to comply with the planning permission. The Enforcement Notice was granted. But within days the Enforcement Notice was rescinded by Dublin City Council on the basis that the open mesh atrium was judged an exempted development. Mr White was told in a letter from a senior official the file would be closed. But less than a month later that decision was again reversed and he was told officially the open mesh atrium was not an exempt development and the file was again open.
This issue will be raised in the court case in the commercial courts early next year with Mr White’s claims vigorously challenged by Pierse Santry Cross limited.
Mr White declined to comment but said he remained totally committed to the regeneration of Ballymun. Mr Ciaran Murray, an Assistant County Manager and Managing Director of Ballymun Regeneration said that because proceedings had been issued he was not in a position to comment.
– JEROME REILLY
OPW joint ventures to develop State sites for €125m
Martin Wall, Industry CorrespondentThe Office of Public Works (OPW) has entered into joint ventures with the private sector for the development of three State-owned sites in Dublin city centre which it said could generate up to €125 million for the exchequer.
Under the deals the State will receive a percentage of the rental income from the redeveloped sites.
OPW chairman Seán Benton said the largest site was Hawkins House, the current headquarters of the Department of Health, while the others were at Hatch Street and O’Connell Street.
He said the estimated €125 million in income from the joint ventures would be in addition to about €400 million raised from the sale of assets in recent years.
The money is likely to be used to offset the €900 million bill for the provision of new State offices around the country under the decentralisation programme.
Meanwhile Minister of State at the OPW Noel Ahern said unless there was a breakthrough on recruitment or on allowing staff in State agencies to transfer from one body to another, this element of the decentralisation plan would take longer to achieve.
The Minister described the Government’s initial four-year target for implementing the decentralisation plan as “unrealisable”.
However, he said it had “acted as a catalyst and made things happen”.
An OPW spokesman said last night the projected income stream from the joint ventures, worth €125 million at net present values, was substantially more than could have been accrued if the sites had been sold.
Mr Benton said the Hatch Street premises, currently used by OPW engineers, would be developed, probably mainly for offices, in partnership with a company which owned land at nearby Earlsfort Terrace.
He said the sites on O’Connell Street which were now “half-empty shop fronts” would be included in plans for a large shopping development at the old Carlton site.
Mr Ahern said the State was only putting its sites into the deals and not cash.
Details of the joint ventures emerged at an OPW press conference yesterday to announce a deal to have offices for 1,500 staff moving to Portlaoise, Mullingar and Carlow under decentralisation provided as part of a public/private partnership.
A consortium, the Macquarie Partnership, won the tender for the project. It will design, finance, build and maintain the offices under a 15-year contract worth up to €140 million.
Mr Ahern said “very significant progress” had been made in the decentralisation programme. Decentralisation for civil servants – about 6,200 staff – would be more or less completed by the end of 2009.
However, the Minister acknowledged that progress was much slower among professional staff and those in the State agencies.
Only about 200 personnel in State agencies have moved so far.
In the summer, the Labour Court effectively ruled out moves by State agencies to use promotions as incentives to encourage staff to transfer.
Mr Ahern said “the hope is that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will get involved and try come up with a solution on a case-by-case basis”.
He said a problem was that staff in State agencies could not readily transfer from one body to another.
Some unions had been “rather anti the whole concept of decentralisation” and he hoped that talks could get under way to deal with the issue on a case-by-case basis.
© 2007 The Irish Times
Bye bye Hawkins House – it’ll be much missed, about as much as a bout of anal cancer.
Thanks for posting these notes Emma 🙂
Some valid points there – Im not too keen a fan of the outcome of the renewal of O’C St, but that said I do think that Gerry Mitchell & Co are among the best landscape architects that we have in this country… and the point re just dumping greenery into urban areas is valid – just look at the trees obscuring the front of the old colonial parliament; but equally too there is a balance – and I think there is quite a consensus as to the failure of the hard surface areas at both the Jervis Centre and also the plaza at City Hall.
@Sunday Independent wrote:
By Tom Prendeville
Sunday November 25 2007A new underground Dart service linking Heuston Station to the Docklands which is scheduled to cast €2bn is set to go ahead — despite the fact the two destinations are already linked by a fully functioning but little used railway known as “The Ghost Line”. .
The existing high speed railway travels from Heuston through the Phoenix Park tunnel before surfacing again and travelling through Cabra, Phibsboro, Drumcondra and onto Connolly Station and on to the Docklands
The neglected rail link is fully functioning and occasionally carries freight and is used to shunt locomotives between Dublin’s two main railway stations.
Now a rail user lobby group have questioned the vast amount of money which is earmarked for a new tunnel under the city when the old Victorian railway line could be used to service some of the city’s most densely populated areas.
“They are wasting an incredible asset and instead ploughing vast sums of money into a new inter-connector tunnel,” said Derek Wheeler of Rail Users Ireland. “The rail lines have been there for over one hundred years and have carried passenger trains in the past and are begging to be used again. It is a rapid rail service that can be up and running within a year. The whole system is just about ready to go.”
In the past, the Phoenix Park tunnel was portrayed as an unsuitable, crumbling and leaky vestige of Victorian engineering. But in reality the tunnel was engineered to the highest standards and is vast and cavernous. Approximately 757 yards in length, it was built to accommodate two wide gauge 9 foot 10 inch trains travelling in either direction.
“Transit time to either Connolly or the North Wall from Heuston would be about 10 to 12 minutes and the Phoenix Park route would have the benefit of servicing a lot of densely populated areas,” said Wheeler.
“Currently, the lines through the Phoenix Park are fully signalled to passenger standards, with signal spacing adequate to support trains at approximately five minute intervals in both directions.” However, Iarnrod Eireann insists that the Phoenix Park route is a non runner and would only add to the congestion at Connolly Station:
“The Phoenix Park tunnel is currently used for freight services and special train services, particularly during the GAA season,” said spokesperson, Barry Kenny. “Using the park tunnel would result in cancellations of other services. Connolly station is at full capacity at peak times, and using the park tunnel in this way would not generate any additional commuter capacity in the greater Dublin area. Kildare services could not serve Heuston without an additional platform and track work being provided there, and could not serve docklands without track modifications at a multi-million euro cost.”
Three years ago, Iarnrod Eireann had an entirely different view. On February 25 2004, Joe Maher, the then chief executive of the company told the Dail Transport Committee: “We certainly intend to use the park tunnel in the short-term to bring trains from the Kildare/Newbridge area into Spencer Dock because there is demand for that.”
Meanwhile, Transport 21’s proposed inter-connector tunnel which would extend the Dart service to Heuston and onwards to Park West, Adamstown and Hazelhatch is being hailed as a panacea to all the city’s public transport needs. In 2003, it was estimated that the new inter-connector would cost €1.3bn. However, the cost of major infrastructure projects have a history of spiralling out of control, and some critics have suggested that the new tunnel could eventually end up costing €2bn.
– Tom Prendeville
A fairly valid point, I would have thought. Far from it that Im against the Interconnector, it just seriously bugs me that the existing line isn’t used – and nor are there any plans to complete the circle by incorporating it into the future interconnector 😮
@Peter FitzPatrick wrote:
Having seen it myself last week, its worse than Graham’s photo’s suggest. The glossy facade borders on bling set against the muted tones of its neighbours, its ‘design’ is absolutely without context, destroying the continuity of a lovely terrace.
Why DCC allowed any kind of intervention here is beyond me, the finished product adds insult to injury & seriously undermines DCC and their truck load of IAP’S.
+ 1
Woefully inaccurate repporting by the examiner, which I have underlined for the fun :rolleyes:
@Irish Examiner wrote:
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
An Taisce opposes bikes for ads plan
A PLAN to provide nearly 500 free bikes across Dublin in exchange for more than 100 outdoor advertisement spaces met with opposition yesterday.
An Taisce said the plan, which will involve large illuminated advertisements across the capital, was against EU law.
Its request to An Bord Pleanála to bring a review of the project before the High Court was refused.
The board began the first of four days of hearings on the plan, which has been submitted to Dublin City Council.
Local councillors, city centre businesses and residents are objecting, claiming the advertisements could distract drivers and divert attention away from existing shops and it is not a good deal for the city and its residents overall.
The council’]2,000[/U] free bicycles to the city, where residents and tourists use a card with a deposit to travel from one location to another.
It is hoped the project in Dublin would see a crop in the number of cars entering the city centre.
However, An Taisce says the additional advertisements would clutter city landscapes. Maurizio Passi, with local business Tiffany Blinds, warned the advertisements would distract from city centre businesses themselves.
Hearings at An Bord Pleanála are due to continue for at least another three days.
Others due to appear before Inspector Jane Dennehy include representatives from Arnotts and Eason, residents from North Great Georges Street, local advertisement companies and local councillors.
The free bikes scheme already operates in cities including Vienna and Paris. Plans in Dublin would see some commercial signs as big as seven square metres erected on structures or buildings.
Some city councillors are objecting, saying other cities have received more bikes and better deals than that agreed with the Dublin City Council.
Hearings will continue today.
Irish Examiner
I really don’t understand the use of the term “free”; are car hire companies now to be referred to as “Free Car Schemes”? :confused:
From todays Times –
@The Irish Times wrote:
Advertising company responsible for 119 illegal hoardings
Olivia KellyThe advertising company which is to provide a city bike scheme for Dublin in exchange for free advertising at 120 city locations is responsible for 119 illegal advertising hoardings across the State, An Taisce has told a Bord Pleanála hearing.
The planning board yesterday opened an appeals hearing against 24 of the 120 planning permissions granted by Dublin City Council to one of the world’s largest advertising companies, JC Decaux.
The council has granted permission to erect 70 panels of 7sq m (8.37sq yards) and 50 panels of 2.59sq m (similar in size to a bus shelter) at locations around the city for a period of 15 years. All panels will be free-standing, double-sided, can be illuminated at night and can carry moving images.
The council is to receive no revenue from the advertising or rental of the advertising spaces, but will get 450 bicycles, reduced from an original 500, which will be available for hire by the public at a fee yet to be decided.
Under the contract with the council, JC Decaux will also provide four public toilets, a number of signposts, freestanding maps and “heritage trail” posts.
The council has also secured a commitment from the company to remove 100 of its 18sq m advertising hoardings from the sides of buildings in the city.
However, An Taisce told the hearing that these older style hoardings were no longer lucrative and many were likely to be illegal and should be forcibly removed by the council.
An Taisce representative John Stewart said the heritage body had identified 119 locations across the State where JC Decaux was responsible for illegal advertising billboards. These were advertising panels that had either been erected without permission, or had been altered, extended or illuminated without permission.
In 28 cases so far, An Taisce has secured declarations from the relevant local authorities that the developments are unauthorised, eight of which relate to developments in Dublin. JC Decaux had also failed to comply with orders from An Bord Pleanála and various local authorities, Mr Stewart said.
“JC Decaux are in contempt of the board, in contempt of the local authorities and in competent of the people of Ireland as a whole.”
An Taisce heritage officer Ian Lumley said the contract between the council and JC Decaux should not go ahead because it conflicted with EU and Irish law. Under an EU directive the project should have been subject to an environmental impact assessment (EIA), he said.
It also conflicted with Irish property law, which stated that property owners had rights to a portion of the public road. He added that the applications were “premature” because the city council was preparing an outdoor advertising strategy. The contract should not be allowed to proceed until this strategy was adopted, he said.
Senior planner with the council Mary Conway said the applications did not fall within the EIA remit. JC Decaux has said that Mr Stewart’s assertions were untrue and defamatory. The hearing continues today.
© 2007 The Irish Times
@GregF wrote:
Well low and behold, whilst sauntering down O’Connell Street I managed to encounter himself again for a second time. Like St Paul on the road to Damacus, truely this had to be a miracle that I beheld for from a shop window stood another vision of the ominipotent king, but this time manifested as a 7 foot figure surrounded by other such venerable religious curio. Attired in his customary red robes his languid hands revealing a little bit of his all loving rosey red heart and all for the princely sum of only €799.00. One would see such a little shop of quirky oddities perhaps in Talbot Street and the like years ago but here this was on O’Connell Street, Ireland’s premier street. And I thought to myself, doesn’t it compliment the Anne Summers store, Burgerking and of course the other manifestation of himself up the road at the taxi rank very well indeed! Classy stuff!
I actually thought this was a joke, with the picture taken from elsewhere – and then I walked down that way today… As enterprises go, the Mary Dominatrix is unique – savings of all sorts are provided for; if one does not need the saving of one’s soul with such iconography, well guess what else the shop does? A Bureau de Change! 😮
Banking and religion all in one, and all I can say is Christ it is tacky!Anyway needless to say, the unauthorised fascia is still in place. Well at least they don’t insult the public with the euphamism “Temporary Sign” like the other breachers….
*Conversation over coffee amongst 2 DCC planners*
Planner 1: “Enforcement, whats that?”
Planner 2: “Don’t know, but have you seen these shiny billboards that a company is offering to decorate the footpaths with? See, they light up too…” :rolleyes:@JuliusCaesar wrote:
any photos?
Its comical – still the same, obviously being left that way. bizarre. Best point of view for a snap maybe from upstairs in a bus.
Something that may be of interest – particularly in regard to Jean Charles Decauxs previous convictions…
@The Economist wrote:
From The Economist
Sep 20th 2007Vive la Vélorution!
JCDecaux and Clear Channel Outdoor battle over urban bike-schemes
OUTDOOR advertising has become fiercely competitive and highly
political. America’s Clear Channel Outdoor and France’s JCDecaux
fought for months in negotiations with the office of the mayor of
Paris, and in court, to snap up the contract for panneaux contre
vélos—setting up a bicycle-rental scheme in Paris in exchange for
exclusive rights to the French capital’s 1,628 billboards. Although
Clear Channel claims to have won “technically”, the French firm, whose
founder, Jean-Claude Decaux, has close ties to the political
establishment, emerged as the victor in practice this spring. JCDecaux
set up the bike-rental system in record time and launched it on July
15th.Vélib’ (for vélo, or bicycle, and liberté, or freedom) has since taken
Paris by storm. More than 10,000 bikes have been installed at 750
docking stations, which is half of the scheme’s eventual capacity,
says Jean-François Decaux, the son of the founder and co-chief
executive of the family-controlled firm along with his brother,
Jean-Charles. The bicycles have been used by 4m people so far, who
have clocked up 100,000 rides a day. Last week Jean-François was in
Moscow for talks with the mayor, who is keen to introduce a similar
scheme there. The mayor of Chicago also expressed interest in
importing Vélib’ during a recent visit to Paris.JCDecaux neither invented nor pioneered urban bike-operations. But
Vélib’ is on a different scale from any of its predecessors. Smaller
schemes launched over the past four decades mostly failed because the
bikes were vandalised or stolen. More recently both JCDecaux and Clear
Channel Outdoor have launched urban bike-rental schemes in which users
pay with their credit cards—which means they can be tracked down in
case of abuse. Such schemes are now working well in more than a dozen
cities including Vienna, Lyon, Brussels, Seville and Cordoba (run by
the French), and Barcelona, Oslo, Stockholm and Rennes (run by the
Americans).Not all bike-rental operations are funded in the same way. The Paris
scheme is entirely financed by JCDecaux, which is counting on rental
fees and the sale of billboard advertising to cover its running costs
and recoup the €90m ($126m) investment required to set it up. (A
one-day pass for Vélib’ costs €1, a weekly pass costs €5 and an annual
subscription costs €29 with no additional charge as long as each ride
lasts less than 30 minutes. Users also agree to a €150 security
deposit.) The city of Barcelona, by contrast, pays Clear Channel
Outdoor to run its “Cyclocity” scheme and pockets the rental fees. It
is another success, with a 3,000-strong bike fleet that will increase
to 6,000 by March next year. It already has 90,000 registered users
who pay a €24 annual subscription.JCDecaux and Clear Channel Outdoor will continue to compete for new
bike schemes as well as contracts for billboards, street furniture
(public loos, bus shelters and the like) and transport (advertising in
airports and train stations). The French recently won a bike contract
in Toulouse, and the American firm will launch a cycling scheme next
month in Washington, DC. Both are lobbying hard for the right to set
up a scheme in London.In the past JCDecaux has repeatedly been accused of unfair play and
Jean-Claude has twice been convicted of criminal offences in
connection with contracts awarded by local governments. Both offences
took place before the firm floated on the Paris stock exchange in
2001. Since then it seems to have played by the rules.And now, with Jean-Claude’s blessing, Jean-François and Jean-Charles
(as well as Jean-Sébastian, a younger son, and a few more Jean-hyphens
involved in the management of the company) could be on the verge of
the biggest coup in the firm’s 43-year history. On September 25th
shareholders are expected to approve the leveraged buy-out by two
private-equity companies of Clear Channel, the media company that owns
Clear Channel Outdoor, at a shareholder meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
If the private-equity buyers then put the outdoor-ad business up for
sale, the French are likely to jump on it.A merger of Clear Channel Outdoor and JCDecaux would make lots of
sense, says Edouard Camblain, an analyst at Société Générale in Paris.
JCDecaux is weak in America, where Clear Channel has 22% of the
market. Clear Channel is also appealing thanks to its strength in
China, one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. And a merger would
bring considerable economies of scale.Yet buying Clear Channel Outdoor would not be easy. The takeover would
probably be paid for with a combination of debt, new equity and
possibly the sale of the JCDecaux’s 10.5% stake in Bouygues Telecom.
This would dilute the stake held by the family, which holds 72% of the
capital, and some of the hyphenated Jeans would probably have to go.
Combining the market leaders might also cause problems with
competition watchdogs in Britain and in France, where the merged
firm’s market share in outdoor advertising would be almost
two-thirds—and it would be the only advertising company providing
trendy urban-bicycle schemes.http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9832847
@Alek Smart wrote:
the new Leeson/Morehampton/Waterloo Increased Cycling Risk Area
Alek has a point re this – was along here today; presume its not finished as it really is bonkers. As is the outbound (from town) cycle lane now splits into 2 at the bottom of Apian Way – one dotted lane weaving, while the old lane (which has got the red tarmac) remains en-situ inside the left turning lane… All very odd & lethal for which DCC will inevitably get sued if left as is 😮
Back to O’ Connell St, the new, eh, cycling facilities were certainly generating the reaction today. I wouldnt be suprised if theyre gone by Christmas. It would be worthwhile posting a picture here of the plastic traffic poles on Stephens Green, showing how shabby theyve become in approx 3 years.
Of course the current debacle as to the cycle lanes on O’ Connell St is only symtomatic of the deeper under-lying problems – consideration of day-to-day use was never let get in the way of the concept – hence cycleways on the right that could never link in, and footpaths that bleed into the road surface from a pedestrians perspective.
Returning to the O’ C St cycleway itself, it doesn’t work on the right (outside) and had to be removed. It also doesn’t work where it now is on the inside of the bus lane, as taxis, buses, left-turning vehicles all obstruct – and cyclists now end up in the centre…So while not ideal, might it yet be the best option to clearly demarcate a cycle-lane in the centre between the two vehicle lanes – a straight “weaving” lane as it were?
Hmmmm. The red block is a missed opportunity alright. Why oh why is the council not getting developers to bring form and finish up to par where bulk and mass is being permitted? The same has been let happen at the corner of Granby Row, while for anybody who wants to see a real horror story, just get in and inspect the recent ten story block of apartments on the corner of Moore St and Parnell St, designed by Tony Reddy’s firm IIRC… It’s well worth having a look; given that such bulk was permitted the standards within are really second-rate – awkward angles greet the visitor at the entrance hall, non-opening windows are not self-cleaning from what I can tell, lifts are tiny given the amount of people that they’re to serve, long dark corridors that were already smelling of dampness prior to final comletion, and a ‘penthouse’ apartment where the ceiling is at the same relatively low height as the rest of the apts. Remarkable. The only slightly edeeming feature in my book are the razor-edged metal plaques erected on the Moore St gates, commemorating the 1916 leaders; its just unfortunate that the gates themselves slam closed at all times of day and night – very nice for the residents overhead, I’m sure :rolleyes:
Returning to Parnell Square itself, the new access point facing the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery is indeed a welcome improvement. The attention to detail in terms of the etched glass reflecting the motifs is a nice touch, and all round it seems to work very well. I am also glad that DCC didn’t try to do anything overly “radical” which may have botched up (such as happened with the former park at St Marys outside the Jervis Centre). So hats off to the architects in DCC on this one; sensitively handled it should be a real success 🙂
@GrahamH wrote:
Regarding the proposals for renewing the square as a whole, I was impressed by this plan when regeneration was first planned. The idea of erecting hospital buildings along the east and west perimeter in exchange for returning the middle of the square to use as gardens seemed a very sensible and smart idea. However given the development of the National Childrens Hospital being planned for Eccles Street, it would appear likely that it will become the maternity hospital – superceding the Rotunda]not builld[/I] along the perimeter, and instead return Bartolemew Mosse’s Pleasure Gardens as a real amenity to Dubliners. It’s not as if the north inner city has much green space anyway; Mountjoy Square and King’s Inns front at Constitution Hill add up to relatively little when compared to the area of Merrion Square, Stephens Green, Iveagh Gardens, St Patricks etc. Even at present part of what was the park at Sean MacDermot St/ Gardiner St is being built upon – so all in all a real shortage of publically accessible green space in the north inner city, hence the case for really trying to restore the amenity aspect of Parnell Square to it’s maximum. Any takers?
@Peter FitzPatrick wrote:
However, regardless of what stands there now & the controversy that goes with it, it doesn’t take away from the fact that what was proposed for this site was and still is utter, out of scale, cheap crap – well in line with its recently constructed sisters up the street….Whatever happens, Mr. Murphy’s proposal is not appropriate for this site.
Agreed. Another bargain-land block like that on Granby Row/ Dorset St corner or the horror at the bottom of Henrietta St (also on the same axis) should not be let happen again. Afaik there was no case made by Murphy that the house wasn’t the birthplace, ie he didn’t outline “the exceptional circumstances” as required by the act, and instead willfully set about replacing what he believed was the Sheridan house with this –
An ignorant application that if it had been permitted, would have been perfectly at home with the substandard dross down the road at Henrietta St corner –
…and also up the road at Granby Row –
I think Dorset St deserves better and I suspect that with ABPs HQ not being a million miles away on Marlborough St, that their thinking may not be dis-similar. Ultimately what was proposed was utterly unsuitable, so a good decision as far as I’m concerned.
