Agenda item

The Lord Mayor opened the meeting by expressing condolence to Cllr Mary Freehill on the recent death of her mother – Kathleen Freehill. The Lord mayor also remembered  those who died on the streets of Dublin in recent weeks.  A minute’s silence was held as a mark of respect to the deceased. The Lord Mayor then introduced Mr Graeme McQueen of Dublin Chamber of Commerce who made a presentation on The Great Dublin Survey. This was followed by questions from Members who expressed their appreciation to Mr McQueen. Full details of the presentation can be found in Appendix A to these minutes.

The Lord Mayor then referred to Moore St and said that the addition of a number of buildings in the Moore Street Battlefield Site area to the Record of Protected Structures had been referred to a Planning & Development Strategic Policy Committee meeting, which was then postponed. He wished to make clear that this is a live issue and that their listing is under active consideration.  The owners of the properties need to be notified accordingly. Mr John O’Hara cautioned against this for the following reasons:

Ø  there is an active Court case involving the site,

Ø  an Advisory/Oversight Group has been established with an Independent Chair to work with the developer and members of the original Consultative Group to find a way forward and

Ø  there is an extant Planning Permission in place which allows for the demolition of these buildings.

However, given the clear will of the Members, Mr O'Hara undertook that the Council would write to the owners of these properties to inform them of the City Council’s strong desire to proceed with the process. The Lord Mayor then proposed “That the process of adding No 10, 20 & 21, the O’Brien’s Mineral Water Works building, the White Cottage building, Henry Place and the Bottling Stores, Moore Lane, to the Record of Protected Structures be continued” The motion was seconded by Councillor C Burke and agreed..

The Lord Mayor then referred to Kilmainham Mill and said he had visited this site last week.  He said that the South Central Area Committee had passed a motion agreeing to initiate the process for a material alteration to the City Development Plan to rezone the site of Kilmainham Mill and surrounding outbuildings to Z8 and asked for clarification as to the implication of this proposal. Mr John O’Hara clarified the various zoning that apply to this site and suggested that being listed on the Record of Protected Structed would provide the necessary safeguards for this property. The Members requested that the Lord Mayor to arrange a meeting with the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to discuss the issue and make her aware of their concerns. 

The Lord Mayor then informed the Members that there is widespread local concern that the NTA are objecting to the development of a Lidl Retail Unit in Ballymun. On an unrelated issue, he also informed the Members that a Mental Health Petition had been handed in to him before the Meeting. He also reminded Members that having received their Donation and Ethics Forms in the preceding days, they must make the statutory declarations by the due dates. Donation Forms must be witnessed and returned to the Chief Executive’s Office by the 31^st January 2018. Ethics Declarations must be returned to the Chief Executive’s Office by the 28^th February 2018.