Building Dundrum’s Best Future: how new thinking on heritage and environmental sustainability can help create the Dundrum of tomorrow

• Welcome and introduction: Nick Armstrong, Imagine Dundrum
• A Word from the Chair: Dr Paula Russell, UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy
• Heritage: People and Place Through Time: Deirdre Black, Heritage Officer, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Co. Council
• Future-proof: Building a More Resilient Dundrum: Dr Philip Crowe, UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy
• Q and A: questions and comments for the panel
• Conclusion: Anne Colgan, Chair, Imagine Dundrum

 

Dr Paula Russell lectures at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in: History and Theory of Planning, the Role of Community in Planning and Local Plan Making. She researches the role of civil society in the planning process, looking at issues of engagement and influence. She has a broad interest in urban policy issues, is a member of the board of the European Urban Research Association (EURA) and an Associate Editor of the journal Urban Research and Practice.

Deirdre Black, Heritage Officer with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, previously advised public agencies on heritage, active travel, sustainable tourism and landscape strategy and worked across Ireland in community-led placemaking. A professional Landscape Architect, she has been a Design Fellow at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy in UCD and a Visiting Lecturer at the Centre for Planning Education and Research in UCC.

Dr Philip Crowe lectures in Climate Responsive Design in the UCD Schools of Architecture and Engineering, and is co-Director of UCD’s Centre for Irish Towns. He is a co-leader of the EU funded project Green Buildings and Neighbourhoods, and the Creative Ireland Ripple project on citizen engagement with climate change. His research includes work on urban resilience, vacancy and adaptive reuse, and revitalisation of towns. He was formerly Director of Sustainable Design with M.CO design and project management consultancy for 9 years.

View the programme here.

This recommendation comes in the 100+ page response from the Chief Executive of the County Council to the Hammerson-Allianz plans as lodged with An Bord Pleanála.

You can see the report by clicking on this link.  The grounds for recommending refusal are on pages 79 – to 81.

Notably the final paragraph of the report states “The planning authority considers it would not be appropriate in the circumstances to specify planning conditions given that some of the recommended reasons for refusal relate to fundamental development principles and cannot be addressed via Condition”

An RTE report of 14th June gave a useful summary: https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0614/1304872-council-recommends-refusal-of-881-unit-dundrum-block/

Update: An Bord Pleanála was due to give its decision on the Hammerson-Allianz planning application on July 25^th , but announced a few days earlier that it would be delayed. No reason was given, and no new date has been set

So the deadline for submissions to An Bord Pleanala (ABP) passed last Monday at 5.30 pm.

The options open to ABP are threefold: APPROVE planning permission, REFUSE planning permission, or Approve subject to conditions.

ABP is required to publish its DECISION by Monday July 25^th, at the latest, but it may do so before that date.

Over the course of the weeks since the plans were published, Imagine Dundrum has been encouraged by the support we have received from our friends and neighbours in Dundrum and its environs. If the attendance at our public meeting and our drop-in clinics and the number of queries and supportive messages is anything to go by, ABP will have a considerable volume of quality submissions to consider before making its decision. Our own submission will be posted on our website www.imaginedundrum.ie shortly. Our core message is to recommend refusal to these plans.

We take this opportunity to thank everybody who has made a submission and all who have supported Imagine Dundrum in our efforts since 2016 to influence a positive outcome for Dundrum Village. We look forward to linking up with you again as the decision date approaches.

In advance of the May 9th deadline for submissions (known as Observations) to An Bord Pleanála on the Hammerson-Allianz plans, Imagine Dundrum wrote a set of guidance notes to help individuals write their own submissions. You can read them here.

The only opportunity for groups and individuals to comment on this major Strategic Housing Development is by making a written observation (sometimes referred to as a submission or an objection) to An Board Pleanála before the deadline of 5.30 pm on Monday May 9th. All observations must be accompanied by a payment of €20*.

An observation can be a simple, short, hand-written note or a more complex detailed submission with plans, photos and reports.

All observations must contain the reference number 313220 or the development address – Old Dundrum Shopping Centre, Main Street, Dundrum – and your name and postal address.

Written observations
An observation can be hand-delivered or posted to An Bord Pleanála, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, D01 V902 accompanied by a cheque, Postal Order or bank draft for €20. (Cash and card payments are accepted at the counter for hand-delivered observations).

Online submission
If you are making an online submission, you should prepare your written observation document in advance (include your name and address). An Bord Pleanála have available an observation form that you might find useful – https://www.pleanala.ie/en-IE/Observation-on-a-SHD-Application-Public/Observation-(SHD)-Making-an-Observation scroll down and click on ‘observation form’ at the bottom of the page.

When you are ready to submit your online observation go to https://online.pleanala.ie/en-ie/housing/observation.

1. Enter the reference number 313220 and upload your observation document.
2. Click on ‘Next’
3. Enter your name and Email address
4. Click on ‘Next’
5. If you are ready to submit select ‘yes’, select €20 fee, enter your card details (make sure the details are correct) and click ‘Finish and Pay’
6. You will receive a confirmation message.

*The more observations made the better, but you can cut down the cost of the observation by sharing with two or three neighbours or friends.

Download our pdf guide here.

• Lack of community engagement. Despite promises, and statements of a community-focused corporate ethos and commitment to place-making, the developer has failed to consult with the community in advance of lodging their plans.
• Timing. The 5-week public consultation period from April 5th includes 2 weeks of the Easter break for schools and colleges, when many local people will be away.
  In addition, the plans were lodged only a very short time before the coming into force of the new Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Development Plan 2022-28 and in the absence of the long-awaited Local Area Plan for Dundrum, both of which contain strong protections for Dundrum Village itself.
• An Bord Pleanála’s formal Opinion requires the developer’s initial proposals to be given “further consideration and amendment” if they are “to constitute a reasonable basis for an application for strategic housing development”. Have the plans lodged on April 5th significantly changed from the developer’s initial proposals?
• Apparent over-riding of County Development Plans. The plans appear to ignore both Dundrum’s Major Town Centre zoning and the Special Local Objectives (SLOs) for the protection of Dundrum Village set down in the County Development Plans.
• The height and design of new buildings on Main Street are of concern. How do these decisions and the choice of mainly 5-storey buildings respond to the County Development Plan’s requirement to respect the character and scale of the historic Village streetscape?
• Destruction of Main Street heritage. How can the demolition of many of the existing buildings on Main Street (West) conform with their Architectural Conservation Area status granted in the County Development Plans?
• Reduction in retail provision on Main Street. How can this contribute to revitalising the Street as a lively public space conducive to sociability and connection?
• An almost entirely residential development. How can this provide the level of retail and non-residential provision appropriate to the long-standing Major Town Centre zoning of the Village, and the “civic, cultural and community “ facilities, spaces and services called for in the County Development Plan?
• Overall height and density. Dundrum Village and its surroundings form a human- scale environment, and at first sight the heights and density planned for this small site are shocking. How can they be in accordance with the context of the immediate and medium-distance built environment and the need to provide sustainable housing for future generations?

In short, the developer’s vision of Main Street as a community and a built environment is radically different from the vision Imagine Dundrum has developed over the last five years in consultation with local people. Help us campaign for a future Dundrum which is recognisable and authentic, which is thriving and inclusive, and which is a place we all want to belong to. Watch this website, sign up to our mailing list, come to the public meeting on Wednesday April 27th, and make your submission TO An Bord Pleanála in good time!