"Bad planning is not a victimless crime," commented Dr. Berna Grist of UCD recently. An Taisce engages in the planning process with a view to having law and policy properly applied, for the good of communities.
An Taisce’s chairman Charles Stanley Smith said today “We are unhappy that such a decision has been made before the judicial review process of the An Bord Pleanála granting of permission has been completed, however this decision does not affect our case.
Though there are 26 conditions in the MLVC (Marine Licence Vetting Committee) report, we have asked the Minister if these are the conditions that have been attached to this decision to grant the foreshore licence and until we examine these in detail we cannot make a full comment on the impact of this decision.
Further to the decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant permission to the latest Corrib gas pipeline application , the Chair of An Taisce, Charles Stanley-Smith in commenting on the decision stated:
“ An Taisce was very disappointed with An Bord Pleanála’s decision. An Taisce considers that the implications of this decision go far beyond the Corrib gas pipeline and have major repercussions for the status of implementation of European Directives in Ireland. In this instance An Taisce has concerns both in relation to Irish and European Law”
An Taisce contends that the decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant permission to the latest Corrib gas pipeline application is fundamentally legally flawed on a number of grounds. Chair of An Taisce Charles Stanley-Smith in commenting on the decision stated:
An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, takes this opportunity to clarify the statement in the Sunday Times of 7th March 2010 in which we are quoted as saying that “the Spirit of Ireland” should be “pushed through for the good of the nation”. An Taisce has said that that the planning and regulatory processes need to be audited, improved and interlinked urgently so as to manage efficiently and effectively the implementation of our renewable energy targets in ways that do not undermine the protection of the environment and the ecosystems that support Ireland’s future.
Yesterday the Save Bremore group officially launched their campaign to coincide with the Martin Brennan conference at Newgrange. The Save Bremore group hope to highlight the threat of major industrial development to the North County Dublin area near Balbriggan.
Yesterday we learned that President Sarkozy proposes to introduce a Happiness Index to use in addition to the gross national product as a measure of the success of France’s economy and to guide their future policy.
It is interesting that this comes on the same day that the Dáil begins to debate the Government’s plan to restore liquidity into the banking sector and to set up an agency to manage the national assets that the Government will acquire in the process.
From Frank McDonald - Irish Times Saturday September 12th
Man's last great folly
ENVIRONMENT: Dubai: The Story of the World’s Fastest City By Jim Krane Atlantic, 344pp. £17.99
DUBAI, WROTE French architect Patrick Bouchain, is “probably the very last great folly humanity will be able to afford”.
Intrigued by his verdict, I went to see it for myself in May 2007 and wrote a piece describing Dubai – then in the grip of a building boom even more incandescent than our own – as the world capital of unsustainable development.
From Tim O'Brien - Irish Times Friday, September 11, 2009
Dublin Bay infill hearing adjourned over bias issue
AN ORAL hearing into plans to infill 52 acres of Dublin Bay was adjourned indefinitely yesterday after concern was expressed about the involvement of flooding specialists HR Wallingford.
Counsel for Dublin Port Paul Gardiner SC raised the possibility of an objective bias in the firm’s retention by An Bord Pleanála, as HR Wallingford had previously been retained by the promoters of a new port at Bremore in north Co Dublin.
From Tim O'Brien - Irish Times Friday, September 4, 2009
Economic arguments should not be part of port inquiry, hearing told
ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS at the core of the Dublin Port Company’s plans to infill 52 acres of Dublin Bay may not be considered by a planning inquiry into the project, An Bord Pleanála was told yesterday.
From Frank McDonald - Irish Times Wednesday 2nd September 2009
AN TAISCE has warned that the proposed deepwater port at Bremore, north Co Dublin, could threaten an archaeological complex of passage tombs even older than Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth in the Boyne Valley.
The environmental trust was commenting yesterday on plans by Drogheda Port to extend its boundary southwards so as to incorporate Bremore for development of the deepwater port in partnership with Treasury Holdings.
