Protection for the Valley
and the practical reality ...
The
significance of the Liffey Valley
has been recognised by the former Dublin County Council and the
Department of
the Environment through the institution in 1990 of Ireland's first
Special Amenity Area
Order, covering the area around the Strawberry Beds. The Order is
renewed every five
years, and
has successfully been renewed since 1995 to date.
Unfortunately, the original Order was
very limited, and covered only the land adjacent to the riverbank, and
no protection was
put in place to prevent residential or industrial development right up
to the Special
Amenity Area. This has led to some very
insensitive development adjacent to the Liffey Valley.
Moreover, the fact that the order has to be constantly
renewed means that it is a constant struggle to protect the Liffey
Valley.
There was a detailed plan
for
the development of the Special Amenity Area but, due to lack of
funding, and a
distinct lack of prioritisation on behalf of those responsible for
developing
the amenity very little has been done.
Traffic using the road through
the Strawberry Beds, has
made it
difficult and unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians to even walk
down the
road - which for long stretches, does not
even have a proper footpath.
Building on the
Liffey Valley Lands
It seems like every patch of land that it bigger
than a postage stamp is being built on nowadays. The now-waning
economic boom and the almost insatiable demand for houses, combined
with
the myriad abuses of the planning system that this region has suffered
from have changed the nature of all of our communities. There is a
lack
of greenspace in the greater Dublin area and very little
access to
parkland. Through some miracle, the lands around the Liffey Valley have
survived the orgy of rezoning and development and are still
preserved and used as farmland or for leisure activities.
However, despite the lands at St Edmundsbury and Woodville in Lucan
being zoned
as high amenity, attempts were being made up until April 2008 to
have them rezoned for
building. The seriousness of this can be understood when you realise
that it was our own County Manager who sits on the board of the
Affordable Homes Partnership (AHP) 
-
the board responsible for the application for the
rezoning to South Dublin County Council
following the developer Ballymore's application to the AHP. So much
for the motto of the Council: Ag Seo Ár gCúram 1.
Pictured Opposite:
Members
of the LVPA, Save The Liffey Valley Campaign, Public Representatives,
and members of the Public delivering a letter or protest to the AHP
offices in Dublin earlier this year, (2008)
To rezone these lands would only benefit its current owner - Ballymore
Homes. They bought the land (248 acres) several years ago
for 3 million pounds. The reason that they got it so cheap
was that it was zoned high amenity and therefore was useless for
development so if they got to build on it - even with a portion of the
homes designated as affordable
housing, they would make a bigger profit than is possible on
ordinary zoned development land. We are most definitely not opposed to
the provision of affordable homes, on the contrary. But the reality is,
the AHP and its ability to propose rezoning of land, means that
developers are actively incentivised to restrict the supply of
Affordable Homes, so that the AHP will be forced to intervene and
rezone their lands, and transform the worthless to valuable developable
land.
Ballymore have already developed the Hermitage private hospital on some
of the Liffey Valley land that they own so they have already realised
an excellent profit on their investment.
The importance of NOT
rezoning
Once land is zoned for development, it becomes immensely valuable.
Current legal opinion is that if land is zoned for development and an
application is made that fits within the national guidelines
such as the national spatial strategy and the
guidlines for housing density, a council cannot refuse permission for
such a development. If they do, they can, and have been sued by
developers for the loss of potential profits.
The land around St Edmundsbury/Woodville is NOT zoned for
development and as such is not subject to these possibilities. If it is
zoned for development, even on the pretext of affordable
housing, it
will open up the Liffey Valley to development and the possibility of
creating a Liffey Valley Park will be lost forever for current and
future generations.
Pictured Opposite: Our youngest and cutest campaigner to save the Liffey Valley
The Domino effect
Just like tipping over the first one in a line of dominos, once one
area is compromised, it will
topple the next, and that one in turn its neighbour, and so on until
all have
fallen. If one piece of the special Amenity Area Order is lost, the
precedent will have been set and owners of the adjacent land will
attempt to profit by having their land rezoned too. The
pressure on the privately owned Golf Clubs in the area will cause them
to lobby to have their land rezoned and developed and so on
until all of the Liffey is lost.
One of the latest attempts to
develop housing on the Liffey Valley has been defeated.
The attempt to rezone land at St Edmundsbury that is currently preserved from
development by Ballymore Homes and the Affordable Homes Partnership (A
government body) has been withdrawn, with the AHP citing
the absence of support from a significant number of Councilors
as
the reason. However as long as this land remains without full
protection - the risk remains.
Donacomper:
Other proposals
to develop a major town centre at Donacomper in Celbridge, while
initially rejected by the Council are far from being shelved. These will
be devastating if allowed proceed, compromising the valley at it's already narrowest reaches at Celbridge
and
will destroy the wonderful vista's of the valley evident from the
picture above taken from the sitting room of the beautiful
Georgian Kildrought House, situated in the heart of Celbridge.
1
To quote from South Dublin County Council's own website:
"The Motto for their [our] Crest is "Ag Seo Ár gCúram" - This we hold
in Trust, an
admonition to value, to preserve and develop with due regard to the
natural beauty of the area."
