John Gormley

Green Party Chairman and Dublin South East TD John Gormley has welcomed An Bord Pleanála’s decision today to confirm Dublin City Council’s compulsory purchase of Dartmouth Square.

Deputy Gormley said: “When the park was first closed by Noel O’Gara in January, I called on Dublin City Council to do everything in its power to re-open the square as a public park, including acquiring it under a Compulsory Purchase Order if necessary.”

“I am delighted to learn that An Bord Pleanála has now confirmed that the CPO is necessary to satisfy a community need, and that Mr O’Gara’s objection to the order cannot be sustained.”

“Mr O’Gara has tried to portray himself through the media as a harassed landowner holding out against the residents of the square who wish to keep the park for their own exclusive use. However, as I asserted in my submission to An Bord Pleanála, this park is an amenity for all residents in the area. Dublin South East has less public open space per capita than any other area of Dublin, and it would be unacceptable to see another park close to the public.”

“The compensation which Dublin City Council will have to pay Mr O’Gara has yet to be decided, but I hope that this process can be completed speedily so that the park can re-open without further delay.”

Last night’s public meeting on the proposed incinerator in Poolbeg was well-attended and the response to the speakers was very positive. For those who couldn’t make it along, we will post a summary of the speakers’ contributions here soon.

In the meantime, a number of people have requested headings they can use for writing a letter of objection to An Bord Pleanála. The information below should help you put together a letter to state your objections to this proposal.

Deadline: The deadline is Monday 2nd October at 5.30pm.

There is no set format for submissions, but you must include

• Your name and address
• The planning reference: EF 2022

The following are some of the grounds under which you can make objections:

Impact on your health and your family’s health - due to emissions from the incinerator and the trucks bringing waste to the incinerator.

Loss of visual and natural amenity - the incinerator will be a massive structure, the length of Croke Park and the height of Liberty Hall.

Nuisance from pollution and increased traffic during the construction and operation phases.

Impact on heritage

Impact on wildlife in the nature park, Dublin Bay and the river Liffey. Note that the incinerator will be built next to an EU-designated Special Protection Area for rare and vulnerable birds.

Impact of trucks on traffic movements in the area - note that the site for the incinerator was originally selected in 1999 on the basis that the Eastern Bypass would be in place.

Cumulative impact of locating incinerator next to other polluting industrial uses.

Green Party Chairman and TD for Dublin South East John Gormley will join anti-incineration campaigners in protest against Environment Minister Dick Roche’s attendance at a pro-incineration conference in Dublin at 12.30pm today. Minister Roche will deliver the keynote address at the conference, titled ‘Energy from Waste in Ireland’, which is taking place at the Radisson Hotel in Stillorgan.

“The Minister’s attendance is yet another demonstration of the enthusiasm with which this Government promotes incineration over more sustainable waste management solutions,” said Deputy Gormley. “In Dublin South East, Minister Michael McDowell is still trying to tell us that the proposed incinerator at Poolbeg is not part of Government policy. Minister Roche’s speech today once again demonstrates the opposite.

“This is a gathering of many of the key promoters of incineration in Ireland. In that context the Minister’s presence is entirely appropriate.

“The title of this conference is particularly telling – Energy from Waste in Ireland – assessing the best use of a reliable resource. The incineration sector know that they can rely on ever increasing volumes of waste for as long as this government is in power and refuses to seriously address waste prevention and minimisation. They also have a ‘reliable resource’ in the Minister, who can be called upon to energetically support their cause at every opportunity,” concluded Mr Gormley.

The deadline for public submissions to An Bord Pleanála on the proposed incinerator at Poolbeg is Monday 2 October 2006 . The Green Party will hold a public meeting on the topic of opposing the incinerator through the planning process on Thursday, 21 September 2006 at 8pm in Clanna Gael Fontenoy clubhouse, Sean Moore Park.

Statement by Green Party Chairman and TD for Dublin South East John Gormley:

“I attended Court today for the second time in relation to Dublin City Council’s injunction against Noel O’Gara, the controversial owner of Dartmouth Square in Dublin. Last week he stated in court that he wished to use tree-pruning machinery in the park. This is a euphemism for chainsaws and naturally causes concern for local residents. At this morning’s hearing Mr O’Gara stated that he wishes to question the constitutionality of the Planning Act 2000. Resolution of this particular dispute is therefore delayed for another week and won’t be fully resolved until the compulsory purchase order is fully approved. (more…)

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche TD will speak at a conference entitled “Energy from Waste in Ireland – Assessing the best use of a reliable resource” on Tuesday 19th September. CRAI (Combined Residents Against Incineration) has called for a protest against this pro-incineration event, at the Raddison Hotel Stillorgan at 12.30pm. The Green Party in Dublin South East will be supporting this protest, and urge you to come along if possible.

Clanna Gael Fontenoy clubhouse, Sean Moore Park

October 2nd is the deadline for submissions to An Bord Pleanála on the proposed incinerator at Poolbeg. The Dublin South East Green Party has arranged this meeting to assist residents who wish to submit objections. We have lined up a number of speakers to make contributions on various aspects of the planning process and the incinerator proposal, and there will be an open forum for residents and campaigners to discuss the best approaches to fighting the incinerator through the planning process.

If you have not already prepared an objection, we hope this meeting will provide useful ideas. If you have already made a submission, please come along and share your views with the meeting.

Although the incinerator is definitely a political issue, we are hoping that this meeting will focus on the practical aspects of fighting the proposed incinerator.

Speakers:

Dr Anthony Staines, School of Public Health, UCD
Dr Staines is an epidemiologist and senior lecturer in the School of Public Health, UCD. He is the co-author of the baseline health status assessment for Ringsend, and featured on the recent RTÉ Prime Time report on incineration.

Nick Loughnan, CHASE, anti-incinerator campaign in Cork
Nick Loughnan is a member of the Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE), a campaign group which has been opposing the building of two incinerators at Ringaskiddy in Cork Harbour.

Joe McCarthy
Joe McCarthy is an independent IT expert who was instrumental in exposing the problems with the Government’s electronic voting system. He has also used Freedom of Information requests to research the proposed incinerator. This research was the subject of a recent editorial in the Irish Independent.

Frances Corr, CRAI
Frances Corr represents Combined Residents Against Incineration (CRAI), the campaign group opposing the incinerator at Poolbeg.

Chair: John Gormley TD

The Minister for Justice , Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell has personally intervened in the Dartmouth Square legal dispute in his Constituency in a manner that is prejudicial to the progress of current legal proceedings namely a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) and consequent valuation arbitration.

The Minister has circulated a letter on 6th. Sept 2006 to the residents of the area with regard to the Dartmouth Square CPO case. In referring to the current CPO proceedings by Dublin City Council against Noel O Gara who acquired the Square from the Darley Estate, the Minister has made an unprecedented personal judgement on the financial value of the Square in saying that :

“No matter what view you take of the value of the land in conformity with the Planning Acts ,it is clear to me that it must at least have the value of say, a commercially run tennis club . While I am reluctant to put a commercial price on such a use of the land, it can hardly be less than one hundred million euro and could well be multiples of that. I note than Mr O Gara is claiming a value of 175 million euro (which I think is absurd”) ”

The Minister has in effect behaved like an estate agent talking up the value of the land . The effect of the Ministers intervention means that Mr. O Gara could now demand a higher land value for the Square beyond that of Green space / passive open / amenity space in any arbitration after a CPO confirmation , or in negotiations with Dublin City Council.

While the intent of the Ministers letter was to criticise Dublin City Council and presumably score brownie points for his own great wisdom, the unintended effect of his intervention has been to assist Mr. O Gara in obtaining a higher value for the purchase of the Square.

Like Mr Bumble, (the self important parish official in Oliver Twist) The Minister for Justice , Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell likes to think that he knows more about everything than anyone else.

Minister McDowell’s ill-judged intervention has done real harm to the public interest and played directly into the hands of Mr O’Gara.

The public would like more public spaces protected and more land acquired for public space. But this of course is not in keeping with the FF/PD agenda of giving developers and speculators as much latitude as possible

Reacting to news that Dublin City Council has begun legal proceedings against the developer Noel O’Gara, who yesterday attempted to turn Dartmouth Square in Dublin into a car park, Green Party Chairman John Gormley TD said:

“I welcome the fact that legal papers how now been served on Mr O’Gara and sincerely hope that he discontinues his greedy charade. I have also been informed that Dublin City Council intends to serve an injunction on him to cease his illegal activities in the park. It is quite clear that Mr O’Gara did not seek planning permission for any type of car park, nor has he any public liability insurance for vehicles parked in the area. (more…)

Click the photo above to see more images of today’s protest at Dartmouth Square.

The Green Party is supporting residents who have organised a protest at Dartmouth Squarein Ranelagh, Dublin, this morning, where developer Noel O’Gara has set up a car park in the public park.

Green Party Chairman John Gormley TD said: “I am quite shocked at the latest actions of Mr. O’Gara. It is clear that Mr O’Gara cares very little about Dartmouth Square and the local residents. He is simply interested in making as much money out of this development as possible.

“This latest episode, again, shows why we must establish definitively how this situation was allowed to come about. I will be at the park this morning assisting local residents and I have no doubt that in the long run Dartmouth Square will remain a public park.”

Dartmouth Square, a two acre public park has been maintained by Dublin City Council since 1987. In January of this year, Mr. Noel O’Gara locked up the park, claiming it was now privately owned. Today, he moved cars onto the lands where he intends to build a crèche, gym and car park for 600 cars.