Agenda and minutes

Order: Agreed

The matters arising are on today’s Agenda.

Members welcomed that the issue of Members Planning Fees was being looked at.  It is likely to be September before it goes through the Oireachtas.

Order: Report Noted

Order: Response Noted

and

Motion from Cllr Janice Boylan on the Agenda under Item 7 was taken along with Agenda Item 5 as both deal with similar topics:

“This SPC calls on the Chief Executive to proceed as per the agreement of the City Council on 8 June 2015 to add 5 buildings identified in the Frank Myles Battlefield Report to the record of protected structures and to that end to proceed with completion of the assessment of these buildings without further delay. The SPC notes that: the making of an addition to the record of protected structures is a function of the elected members who are entitled to initiate the process notwithstanding the existence of a planning permission (ref. Chief Executives's Reply to Q.89, City Council meeting 12.6.17); elected members initiated said process on 8 June 2015 and it should not be further delayed. - Cllrs Mícheál Mac Donncha, John Lyons, Cieren Perry, Janice Boylan, Cathleen Cearney Boud, Gaye Fagan.”

Discussion took place amongst the members regarding timeframe for implementation of the Moore Street Consultative Group Report.

The A/City Planner advised that an Advisory/Oversight Group has been set up and we are hopeful that it will carry out the work it is charged with doing: “To secure consensus by the relevant players to a way forward for Moore Street, its lanes and interfaces.”  A critical part of this challenge will require engagement by the group with public bodies, developer interests, traders, voluntary groups and the receivers/owners.  The independent chair, Dr Tom Collins from Maynooth, will bring the report back to the Minister within 6 months.

Regarding the Frank Myles Battlefield Report, the A/City Planner advised he didn’t think it appropriate to bring this Motion into the process until the above mentioned group has completed its work.  Whilst a number of the buildings in the Frank Myles Battlefield Report are already listed, some of them were not researched in full.  If we allow the process to follow its path, we can carry out a full independent survey of the inside of all these five buildings, bringing that survey back to the City Council who can then make an informed decision on the way forward.

Questions were raised regarding the process for entering a building on the Record of Protected Structures.  The A/City Planner replied that a technical assessment has to be carried out under Section 51 of the Planning Act to assess the special interest of its architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical nature.  Without having this information available, it’s leaving the City Council open to challenge in that it could be said that the full information wasn’t before the Council when they decided to initiate the process.

The Chair suggested that the Motion be deferred.

Order: Defer the Motion and review when more information is available

Comments were made that the valuations seem to be quite small and reference was made to the unused State-owned sites.  Also, an update on these sites is needed each time this Committee meets.

Helen McNamara, SEO, said that these are the top ten sites on the Vacant Lands Register.  Richard Shakespeare, ACE, said we just need to know what criteria the members want and we can use this to bring an updated version to each SPC.

Discussion ensued in terms of size, value, development potential, planning history, etc.  Particular query was raised in relation to the Department of Justice site at Old Kilmainham Road, and it was requested that we find out why development has not progressed.

The SEO responded that the legislation only provides for properties that are vacant for the previous 12 months going on the Register, regardless of permission.  We are talking with owners of privately owned sites explaining that permission needs to be used to avoid going on the Register.  Properties on the Register in January 2018 will be subject to the levy in January 2019, and the charge will roll on retrospectively each year.

It was agreed that reports coming to the SPC should be based on valuation because that gives a combination of the size and prominence of the site.  If there is a specific site that someone wants, they can request that for a report on it comes to the SPC.  Reports should also be sent to the Area Committees.

Order: Updated report for the next and future SPCs.

Write to the Department of Justice re Old Kilmainham Road site asking why this site has not proceeded since permission was granted 3 years ago.

Motion 483 from Councillor Tina MacVeigh deferred from the January South Central Area Committee Meeting (amended 15^th February 2017), and referred to this SPC:

“This Area Committee supports the occupation of Apollo House by housing activists and calls on Dublin City Council management to implement the following motion agreed at the City Council meeting on 10^th November 2014:

That this Council open an ‘Unused Properties Register.’  The owners of private properties that have been unused / empty for a period of more than six months (as per CSO Census 2011 and other official statistics) will be required to register their intention for use with Council.”

Motion from Cllr Janice Boylan:

“This SPC calls on the Chief Executive to proceed as per the agreement of the City Council on 8 June 2015 to add 5 buildings identified in the Frank Myles Battlefield Report to the record of protected structures and to that end to proceed with completion of the assessment of these buildings without further delay. The SPC notes that: the making of an addition to the record of protected structures is a function of the elected members who are entitled to initiate the process notwithstanding the existence of a planning permission (ref. Chief Executives's Reply to Q.89, City Council meeting 12.6.17); elected members initiated said process on 8 June 2015 and it should not be further delayed. - Cllrs Mícheál Mac Donncha, John Lyons, Cieren Perry, Janice Boylan, Cathleen Cearney Boud, Gaye Fagan.”

The Motion from Councillor Janice Boylan was dealt with under Agenda Item 5

Motion 483 from Councillor Tina MacVeigh

Councillor MacVeigh requested that this Motion be deferred to the next meeting.

CPOs

Councillor Carney-Boud requested this be kept on the Agenda for the next meeting to see if there is any movement re streamlining the process for CPOs from the Department.  Are we moving forward with CPOs as a policy now in the Council in relation to Derelict Sites?

The SEO replied that we are looking to acquire another 10 properties, having already successfully acquired 7 properties.  The process is quite streamlined - we have a clearly defined process in place through acquisition by agreement, and failing that we go to compulsory acquisition.  We don’t tend to lose any of those cases.  Regarding compulsory purchase for redevelopment sites, we are starting one for Capel Street, Ryder’s Row.  Not as many of those on our books as we have on Derelict Sites, but we are looking at strategic sites in the city to compulsorily acquire if necessary.  Currently we are going through our Derelict Sites Register, targeting those that have residential potential to get them back into use as quickly as possible.

Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday, 26September 2017