urbanisto
Forum Replies Created
- Posts
@GrahamH wrote:
It seems likely they were damaged during the Junior Cert ‘celebrations’ on O’Connell Strreet the other night.
I walked the length of the street only a few days ago and everything was fine – where is all this damage Stephen? 15 trees is a heck of a lot.Im surprised you didnt notice these Graham. I haven’t counted but I would guess it’s about 15 in all. There are a number missing on the Spire to Bridge stretch as well so it not just something related to the last phase of works.
You mean the riot that wasnt a riot phil? The thing is that many of these missing trees where only put in place after the riot, particularly along the upper stretch of the street.
I also though it might be something to do with the installation of the kiosks. I reckon the CC have gone cold on these. Id say there wasnt sufficient uptake to make them commercially viable and they fear a repeat of the situation on Grattan Bridge. I may be wrong but it they havent even been mentioned lately. The planning permission for the kiosks on the lower half of the street was granted early last year and I would expect that the kiosk incorporating the Luas power room be in place at least. Instead this concrete lump just got a paint job to make it less conspicuous. The tender for the kiosks, issued earlier this year I think, mentioned that they were build and operate jobs, that is the CC wasnt undertaking thew works themselves.
Mr Fenetec has found another spot for one of his (or is it her) non-descript telephone kiosks. At least Fenetec is sticking to the median as proposed by the overall plan for the street. Eircon also recently installed a number of booths along the side pavement although they are in line with the lamps, trees, etc.
What has happened to (at least) 15 trees on O’Connell Street?! Removed, in some cases sawed off at the base. Its very strange…were they diseased, dead on arrival? Can anyone shed some light.
And speaking of light…. there are a number of lamp standards not working, including the whole section in the median at before the Larkin statue. Is it a tripped switch?
HAve you been on to the Heritage Officer at DCC Devin? Perhaps they have an opinion on whats happening.
I spent a few days in Berlin last month and took the opportunity to visit Karl Marx Allee which was basically the GDRs showcase street to rival the Ku’damm in West Berlin. Its a very impressive show of the Soviet wedding-cake style architecture and quite attractive, while at the same time being monumentalist and monolithic. Anyhow, the street is lines with four rows of very attractive lamp standards after the fashion of our iconic city centre standards. Lovely pieces: two copper lanterns, same concrete and a small bank of tiling at the base to set off the lamp. Sadly many of them are irretrievably damaged and no effort seems to have been made to to restore and retain these lovely lamps. The Berlin government is broke and Karl Marx Allee seems to suffer from it associations with the former communist state (theres lots of anti-communist graffiti and vadalism about).
Anyhow, Karl Marx Allee is well worth checking out if you get a chance.
While the quay walls are such an important feature of Dublin’s riverside, I think stepping the whole section of quay in front of the Custom House down into the river would be an excellent idea. It would visually connect the Custom House to the river and create an excellent public space.
I am delighted Georges Quay is being tackled..its a disgrace considering its prominent position. I agree that this section of the city is surprisingly desolate and ignored. A new lease of life is just what it needs and its important that reduction of traffic be seen as an important element in that. I am also happy Beresford Crescent is being tackled before its too late. Overall I welcome this project, particularly its ambitious scope.
F is the railing of the Rotunda on Parnell Square South, the northside railing are blue.
G – I agree with Lincoln Place
H is on Talbot Street, just up towards Marlborough Street. Theres a lot of desperately-in-need-of-paint jobs along this street.
Is No 2 the arches of The Vaults bar under Connolly
Is No 3 around Bridgefoot Street?
A longer look at this building yesterday has given me a different impression. Its a bizzare structure! It completely jars with all of the buildings around it (lets face it its on one of the most sentsitive sites in the whole city). I understood one of the key motivations behind the building was to restore the building line on Dame Street but this yoke is set too far back to achieve this. It is also too shallow to do anything for Palace Street and the way it butts up against existing terrace on Palace Street is criminal. The cupola or rather semi-cupola, which I thought still had to be tiled, HAS been tiled. However uniform grey mosaic tiles make it just look like concrete. Its awful!
And the gantry? I agree it serves NO useful purpose, although it will probably have spotlights attached. Of course its all done using ugly galvinised steel, just like the west facing ‘balconies’ and fire escape like stairs…I HATE galvinised steel but obviously someone in DCC is in love with the stuff (look at all those poles and street furniture around the city)
Finally this plaza: whats it for? Its a bizzare space. Nothing fronts on to it, no uses. The finish is very poor as mentioned above. It all adds up to a big mess. I want my garden back!!!
Related: A team have started dismantling the old machinery house on the bridge here (its called MacMahon Bridge) hopefully signalling the start of its refurbishment. Section of the pavement all along Pearse street are slowly (but surely) being relaid and it also seems a new unified lighting scheme is planned to give the street a much needed upgrade.
Aaaaghhh!!!
This is almost complete and there are some serious issues. Firstly its jars against the Sick and Indigent House beside it on Palace Street. Perhaps the join needs to be finished but its awful the smooth shiny granite next to the plaster of the S&I House. The S&I is also in dire need of some TLC. On the other side the new plaza is being installed but it will be a mess by the looks of it. The old street paving (the nice old colourful granite we know and love) is being kept in place and up against it is the now standard Chinese white stuff. No effort madeit seems to marry the two or even create a uniform scheme. It will look crap! Why not just one or the other???
The building itself is quite okay, smaller than I though. The cupola has yet to be tiled. The gantry is in place though.
A hideous colour! Who on earth chose it….
Well I got my first look at the competed street this week and I have to say I am quite pleased at how its turned out. I actually dont find it as bare and sterile as I expected, at least not with summer leaf cover. And lets not forget that the trees will grow and will become a much moire prominent feature. In fact the plaza trees are already look like they are thriving. There are a number of trees missing though…anyone notice this. About 10 in all I would think. I wonder are tehy related to the installation of kiosks? In fact the one thing that struck me about the street is the need for a thorough snagging. Lots of small bits and bobs needing attention to complete the finish.
I must also say that the visual clutter is also not as bad as I expected…in fact I think tehre has been some effort made to reduce the poles which seemed to be springing up everywhere. For example the plaza area is now cleared of poles and bus stops. I see Fenetec’s new telephone kiosk on the median where the fountain used to be. Sorry Fenetec but its a non-event I still stand by my suggestion of incorporating telephones into kiosks. Eircom are installing kiosk on the side pavements (the opposite of what was intended) although they are in line with things like lighting, post boxes and bins. But they have opted for their own design and I really dont see the DCC enforcing a standard model.
On the planning front I notice Clerys have a permission in to renovate their Sackville Place frontage. Also saw a couple of refusals for internet cafes in the ACA area. What really needed is for the DCC to target certain units along the street for big name retailers to stimulate development. Findlater House is an obvious target and is Dr Quirkeys. I would also like to see some progress by the RDH, Savoy and Gresham on their already approved application. And encouraging street cafes and some quality restaurants would also be a positive move.
And finally, I think the sculptures are cool., a great idea. Just need a few seats to admire them.
This story is a little bit off thread but perhaps the more cynical among you can see a common theme..
Department rejects plans for ‘green’ cement
Liam Reid, Political ReporterThe Irish Cement plant at Platin, Drogheda, Co Louth
The Department of the Environment has refused to support Office of Public Works (OPW) proposals on the use of environmentally friendly cement in public building projects.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the department made its opposition clear after a meeting at which cement industry representatives vigorously opposed the proposals.
Earlier documentation suggests the department had initially looked favourably on the proposals.
According to documents released to The Irish Times, the department had discussions with the OPW about making it a requirement that “green” cement be used in Government building projects such as new decentralisation offices.
“Green” cement is made from materials that are the byproduct of industrial processes, such as slag from the manufacture of steel or other metals or ash from coal-fired power stations. As a result it does not require as much energy to produce. One Irish manufacturer, Ecocem specialises in “green” cement, and has lobbied the Government on the use of green cement in public building projects. Other large cement producers also have the capacity to manufacture the material.
In a letter to the OPW last September, the Department of the Environment described the plan as “very laudable” and said it would continue “to explore the potential of the initiative . . . so as to follow the aspirations of both ministers”.
The following month, department officials held a meeting with the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) who were “vociferous in their criticism” of the project, according to a departmental official. The CMA is a lobby group for the three main manufacturers – CRH, Lagan Cement and Quinn Cement.
Following the meeting, the department sent a letter to the OPW stating it was “particularly concerned that the initiative, however well-intentioned, may prove prejudicial to the emergence of a voluntary agreed programme of action by the industry”.However, senior OPW staff also claimed in documentation that the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, had agreed to the initiative in 2004 – a claim the department rejects.
In November last year, Mr Roche wrote to Minister of State at the Office of Public Works Tom Parlon to say his department would not take part in the initiative, because it would favour one manufacturer in particular. This was a reference to Ecocem. Separately, the traditional cement industry has argued the scheme would have unfairly benefited Ecocem over the traditional companies.
Mr Parlon responded by letter rejecting this and he said there were a number of suppliers of “green” cement in the State. He also indicated in his letter that the OPW would be pursuing the initiative alone. An OPW spokesman said yesterday that the specification of the use of “green” cement was now contained as a preferred option in decentralisation projects but it is not mandatory. He said the OPW now used a system where additional points were awarded to tenderers for the inclusion of more environmentally friendly building materials.
The OPW was also currently in discussions with the cement industry to see if some of its products met criteria for designation as environmentally friendly.
The Department of the Environment, in a statement to The Irish Times, said that the proposals were initiated by the OPW, not by the department, and added that Mr Roche had never approved the scheme.
© The Irish Times
I thin k it will be quite an exciting addition to the street actually, especially at night. 2 years is quite a significant delay though….I wonder whats up. Were they waiting for DCC to get its bit over with before they invested.
@Pug wrote:
I thought this report was out today or something until I looked at the date. How did Martin Cullen get away with that and what happened afterwards? surely someone was disciplined? Outside of the e-voting and failed rehash of every transport policy that was called Transport 21, this surely was a sacking offence on its own?
This was the whole point of Martin’s decision as M of ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE & Local Government to dismantle Duchas as a stand alone agency with a right to intervene on its own accord in the planning process. The new Heritage Service must now get approval from the Minister to lodge any objections. Of course Martin is also famous for having passed the National Monuments Amendment Act allowing him (or his succesors) to declaisfy national monuments. Ahhhh a great man Martin…a true PATRIOT. Somewhat after the mould of Charles J. ‘everyone hated him, except the people’.
A recent article on this hotel (by Frank McDonald I think) pointed out how the hotel martketing shamelessly exploits the castle as an attraction to the hotel..’get your wedding photos taken against a stunning backdrop’ etc.
Yes and yes… Gresham have done a good bit of work over the past 2 years. Not a dickybird from the awful RDH though.
BTW…anyone interested in getting invloved in this application. The original application was declare invalid by DCC (the site notice didnt possess enough info) so that means a new application will be lodged. Gove any potential objectors or observers some extra time…
Within the next 12 weeks I imagine.
Cullen gives go-ahead for Luas extension
14 August 2006 14:49
The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, has signed an order giving the go-ahead for the start of work extending the Luas Green Line from Sandyford to Cherrywood in Dublin.
The extension, which will be 7.5km long and is due to be completed by 2010, is being co-funded by the Exchequer and a group of private developers.
It is expected that the extension will increase the number of passengers on the Green Line from more than 10 million a year to more than 18 million.
RTE NEWSAmazing! 3 years to complete this section.
At the risk of adding fat to this fire…not knowing very much about the IRDA I googled them and found this on the net from the Western People (dated 20/08/2003).
UNDEMOCRATIC AND ANTI PEOPLE
The Irish Rural Dwellers Association was formed a year ago in order to safeguard people’s rights who have been refused planning permission in rural areas in this country.
It has been found that at a stroke of a pen vast areas of very valuable land in rural areas and villages have had value of such property reduced to nil and that even family members cannot get planning permission on their own land while housing and hotels can be built on The Ridge Pool in Ballina or on the Garavogue in Sligo.
Inside the year they have done quite a lot of research and have come up with interesting facts and have issued a press release on the matter.IRISH RURAL DWELLERS ASSOCIATION
The Irish Rural Dwellers Association established a year ago to unite rural people in the face of mounting pressures on the future of rural communities, have exposed what may well be the main cause of refusals for houses in the open countryside and corresponding pressures to move people into towns and villages. Reaction against the entire planning regime as if affects rural houses is countrywide and large turnouts at IRDA meetings reflect the hurt, frustration and anger of ordinary people who can’t build houses for their families – often on family owned land.
“The planning regime is undemocratic, anti-people and out of control” says a spokesman for the IRDA. “A root and branch change is now essential including radical legislative change”.
Pointing out that the traditional Irish housing pattern based on the townland (baile fearann) stretching back thousands of years which is uniquely different from England and mainland Europe, has become almost entirely dominated by an English planning philosophy, the spokesman said that the IRDA are determined to see control of planning policy brought back to elected Irish politicians.
Until recently, Town Planners educated in Ireland graduated without any rural qualification. Available journals and planning literature are predominately English. Most graduates are accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in London. In addition, many Irish planners received their education in colleges in England.
Speaking at a public meeting in Macroom on June 23rd Kieran Lynch, ex senior planning executive and consultant lecturer, agreed with Jim Connolly of the IRDA, that the Irish Planning regime is UK influenced. “We have failed to produce an Irish planning philosophy so far” he said.
In An Bord Pleanala’s annual report for 2001, the Chairman John O’Connor states that the majority of extra resources (including 50 planners) brought in to cope with the increased workload are UK based.
As well, the RTPI have set up an Irish Planning Policy Panel with an office in Clare. A discussion paper published in July 2002 is intended to influence Irish Planning Policy. The RTPI have only three regional branches worldwide i.e. Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. When asked the reason for their Irish Planning Policy (they have no other such panel outside Ireland) a spokespersonf or the RTPI in London said “because of the long historical links between England and Ireland, because they don’t really consider Ireland to be ‘abroad’ and because they have so much members working in planning authorities in Ireland”.
“This is not a case of Brit bashing – The IRDA would be equally opposed to an alien planning philosophy being imposed on the Irish people from Germany, France or any other country” the spokesman said.
Individual planners have huge powers of personal discretion in recommending permission or refusal for houses. Inconsistencies abound everywhere. Concern for Irish culture and traditional rural community life is completely ignored in the current regime. It is further largely undermined by an influx of planners from many other countries around the world who make decisions in Ireland without any understanding of Irish traditions and without being obliged by the D.O.E. to do any course whatsoever in Irish history or related subjects before being allowed to practise here.
“The IRDA believe it is a small wonder that rural people and people wanting to live there are suffering, frustrated, angry and demanding change. They have lost all respect for planning authorities and see them as the successors of the landlords who tried to depopulate Ireland in the 19th Century.
“It is a very serious matter for democracy when people lose respect for institutions of the State or state sponsored private bodies like An Taisce. These institutions cannot function in the long term in any democracy without the respect and support of the tax payers who pay their wages.
The IRDA are running a conference on ‘Positive Planning for houses in the Open Countryside and Vibrant Rural Communities’ in Caherciveen on the 3rd and 4th of October. Details are available at 065-9058229.
