I have received a letter from Fingal CC informing me that Uxbridge Properties have withdrawn their application to undertake a major building project in the centre of Castleknock Village in the lands behind the ‘Flower Shop’.

Along with myself, many residents objected to the plans on various grounds including the scale of the proposed development and the impact that the major increase in traffic would have on the village.

I hope that any future proposal to develop these lands will be designed in such a way as to compliment the current character of Castleknock as a village area.

Uxbridge Properties have submitted ‘additional information’ to Fingal CC about their proposed development on the lands behind ‘The Flower Shop’ in the centre of Castleknock Village – Application F08A/0892.

The additional information deals with the 11 areas where Fingal CC were seeking clarification from the developer. Among the points the developer has:

- Set back the upper floors of a number of the blocks
- Submitted a report on the impact of overshadowing on surrounding properties
- Submitted a report on drainage and storm water management on the site
- Improved the number of trees that will be planted around the site

However, the developer has made it clear that he will not reduce the large number of car-parking spaces (345) currently provided for under the planning application.

The deadline for making submissions on this additional information is close of business on Monday 26th January

24/08/08

Green Party Castleknock Ward candidate, Roderic O’Gorman has called for major changes to be made to the proposed development of lands behind the Ashleigh Shopping Centre in Castleknock village. It was commenting after submitting a planning objection to the proposed development on behalf of the local Green Party.

“I’ve submitted an objection to this proposed development as I have serious concerns about certain aspects, specifically the residential element, the large number of parking spaces provided and the overall height of the buildings”.

“I would have a major worry about the height of some of the proposed buildings. While I accept that the Castleknock Urban Centre Strategy (UCS), which was recently adopted by the Council, suggests an indicative height of 4 stories for buildings in this area, I would argue that this is inappropriate in an area which still has a typical village setting. I would say that at most, buildings should not exceed 3 stories and that the proposed development should be amended to reflect this”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

O’Gorman was also critical of the number of car parking spaces proposed for the development. The planning application provides for 336 car parking spaces in a basement car park, comprising 89 residential spaces and 277 commercial spaces.

“Provision for such a large number of cars is obviously going to have a big impact on traffic in the centre of Castleknock village. I believe that the proposed number of spaces is too great. As I point out in my objection, the amount of parking contained within the proposed development is significantly more than the amount which the Castleknock UCS suggested would be appropriate. I would propose that the number of parking spaces be reduced in line with what the Castleknock UCS suggests, in order to reduce the traffic impact on the village. Castleknock Village will soon be served with a significantly upgraded bus corridor. As such, the use of public transport should be encouraged as much as possible – creating large commercial car parks acts as a disincentive to this”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

O’Gorman also called for a reduction in the number of small one and two bedroom apartments in the scheme and for more family friendly 3 bed apartments.

“Out of the 49 proposed apartments in the development, only one is a 3 bed, all the rest are 1 or 2 beds. As such it is clear that there is a significant undersupply of large, family friendly 3 bed units and an oversupply of 1 bed units. In a development that is being promoted as a model of new urban design, we think it is highly inappropriate that so many small apartments should be constructed. This would also be in keeping with the Castleknock UCS, which suggests limiting the number of small apartments”.

“While I would welcome certain aspects of this development, such as the idea of an extension of the existing streetscape and the plans for new civic spaces, I hope Fingal County Coiuncil will take on board the reservations myself and residents have on the issue outlined in our objections”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

Ends

Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777
rodericogorman@gmail.com

Planning Objection lodged by Dublin West Green Party
Senior Executive Officer,
Planning Department,
Fingal County Council,
County Hall,
Swords,
County Dublin.
13/08/08

Re: Objection to Development F08A/0892

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to lodge the following objection on behalf of the Dublin West Green Party to development F08A/0892 – in Castleknock, Dublin 15.

Yours sincerely,

____________________________

Roderic O’Gorman

Introduction

We welcome elements of the proposed development, in particular the idea of an extension of the existing streetscape and the plans for new civic spaces. However, we have significant concerns about the residential element, the large number of parking spaces provided and the overall height of the buildings.

Residential Element

We believe the current residential element of the proposed development does not comply with the mix suggested by the Castleknock UCS.
P 29 of the Castleknock UCS states:

All apartment schemes shall contain a mix of dwellings types and sizes and therefore shall comply with the following standards:

Maximum 20% of 1 bed
Minimum 45% of 2 bed
Minimum 15% of 3 plus bed

The proposed development contains the following residential mix:

One bed 11 (22%)
Two bed 37 (75%)
Three bed 1 (2%)
Total 49 (100%)

As such, compared to what is outlined in the Castleknock UCS, it is clear that there is a significant undersupply of large, family friendly 3+ bed units and an oversupply of 1 bed units. In a development that is being promoted as a model of new urban design, we think it is highly inappropriate that so many small apartments should be constructed.

We believe that there should be a decrease in the number of 1 & 2 bed apartments and an increase in the number of family friendly 3 bed apartments.

Parking

The proposed development provides for 336 car parking spaces in a basement car park, comprising 89 residential spaces and 277 commercial spaces.

Provision for such a large number of cars is obviously going to have a significant impact on traffic in the centre of Castleknock village. We believe that the proposed number of spaces is too great. In support of this, we note the table on P 27 of the Planning Support Statement supplied with the planning application. This draws a comparison between the suggested amount of parking contained within the Castleknock UCS, the actual amount provided in the proposed development and the suggested amount contained with the Fingal Development Plan. The amount provided for in the proposed development is significantly more than is suggested as being appropriate in the Castleknock UCS.

We would propose that the number of parking spaces be reduced in line with what the Castleknock UCS suggests, in order to reduce the traffic impact on the village. Castleknock Village will soon be served with a significantly upgraded bus corridor. As such, the use of public transport should be encouraged as much as possible – creating large commercial car parks acts as a disincentive to this.

Height

We are concerned about the height of some of the proposed buildings. While we accept that P 20 of the Castleknock UCS suggests an indicative height of 4 stories for buildings in this area, we would argue that this is an inappropriate height in what is a still a typical village setting. We would propose that at most, buildings should not exceed 3 stories and that the proposed development should be amended to reflect this.

18/08/08

Green Party Castleknock ward candidate, Roderic O’Gorman has called on Fingal County Council to swiftly draw up new planning guidelines concerning the size of apartments that can be built in the Fingal area.

“I am calling on Fingal County Council to introduce new guidelines on the size of apartments that can be built by developers. For too long, apartment developments in the Dublin 15 area have focused on large numbers of small one and two bedroom apartments. These ‘shoebox’ developments are not family friendly and this discourages families settling for long periods and in the long run, prevents communities from forming”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“Recently, Dublin City Council drew up a new set of guidelines for the city area. Developments built according to these guidelines will be far more conducive to families – for example they set significantly larger minimum floor sizes for apartments, place restrictions on the number of one bed apartments and require a minimum of 15% 3 bed apartments in all developments”.

“I believe that, in areas like Dublin 15 which have seen large amounts of intensive building, we have to make sure that any new apartment developments are of a much higher standard than those built up to now. In recent weeks we have seen a planning application in Castleknock village which includes 48 one and two bed apartments but only 1 three bed apartment. This sort of development needs to be changed”.

“At the recent meeting of Fingal County Council concerning the Kellystown rezoning, the Green Party councillors secured a commitment from Gilbert Power, Director of Services for Planning that the Council would quickly draw up new apartment guidelines for Fingal. I am calling on the Council to quickly act on this commitment”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

Ends

Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777
rodericogorman@gmail.com

24/07/08

The Dublin West Green Party has selected Roderic O’Gorman to contest the Castleknock ward in next year’s Local Elections. O’Gorman was nominated at a selection convention held in St Mary’s Parish Hall, Clonsilla on Wednesday evening.

“I’m honoured to have been chosen to represent my party in the Local Elections. The Castleknock-Blanchardstown ward has changed quite a bit since I ran in 2004, with the loss of Clonsilla village and the addition of parts of Mountview, Blakestown and Mulhuddart village. The key issues that I will be focusing on will be proper planning in Dublin 15, the delivery of schools, investment in community facilities, particularly for young people and campaigning for improvements in transport such as extra buses and trains and traffic calming measures where these are necessary”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“I know that I’m going to have a real fight on my hands if I am going to take a seat in the Castleknock-Blanchardstown ward. I expect to be up against four sitting councillors and possibly other well known candidates. But I think I have an advantage in the amount of door-to-door canvassing that I have been doing over the last four years. Myself and my team never really stopped after the General Election. People in the area appreciate active local representatives and that’s the type of service that I will deliver if I’m elected as a councillor”.

“Dublin 15 has never had a Green Party member of Fingal County Council. This has put us at a disadvantage in influencing many of the big planning decisions that have been made in the area over recent years. Further, the Fingal County Development Plan will be up for review next year. I will be asking people to give me their No.1 vote so I can be in there, putting a Green perspective on these key decisions”.

“Obviously, this is the first election that I will be contesting as part of a party that is government. Myself and my local group have been canvassing door-to-door twice a week since March and the reaction has been extremely positive. The vast majority of people are pleased with the work that the Green ministers are undertaking in their departments, particularly the reforms that John Gormley is making to planning and environmental legislation. I’m looking forward to having a good debate with the residents of the Castleknock-Blanchardstown ward and the other candidates over the course of the next 11 months about the future development of the Dublin 15 area”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

Ends

Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777
rodericogorman@gmail.com

Editors Note
Roderic O’Gorman contested the 2004 local elections in the Castleknock ward, picking up 5.2% of the first preference vote. He was the Green Party candidate for Dublin West in last year’s General Election, wining 1,286 first preference votes. Originally from Mulhuddart, Roderic now lives in Blanchardstown village. A law graduate of Trinity College and the London School of Economics, he currently is a lecturer in Griffith College Dublin, teaching EU Law, Constitutional Law and Family Law.

The report of the Dublin & Cities Electoral Boundary Commission was published this afternoon and is available here.

On the positive side, it is great to see that the Dublin 15 area is being given an extra representative, which will mean we now have 9 councillors between the Mulhuddart and Castleknock wards. Our area was severely underrepresented compared to other parts of Fingal as pointed out in the submission I made to the Commission. It is good to see that this issue has now been addressed.

I was somewhat surprised to see the new boundaries that the Commission has created for the Mulhuddart and Castelknock wards. In particular, by adding all areas north of Lucan including Laraghcon to the Mulhuddart ward, the Commission has created a large and somewhat unwieldy ward, stretching all the way from the Ashbourne Road to the banks of the Liffey. Even though Mulhuddart is to receive an extra councillor, it is still going to be a large area for the elected representatives to cover.

Nevertheless, the key issue is that the boundary review has addressed the fact that Dublin 15 was severely underrepresented compared to the rest of Fingal and this has to be welcomed. It will be interesting to see what effects the new boundaries have on candidate selections over the coming months.

13/03/08

Dublin 15 Green Party representative, Roderic O’Gorman, has called on the Dublin and Cities Electoral Area Boundary Committee to add an extra seat to the Mulhuddart Ward as part of its review of boundaries in the Fingal County Council area.

“In light of our analysis of the population of the Dublin 15 area after the last census, we are recommending that the Mulhuddart ward gets an extra seat to bring it up to 5 councillors. From the census, the combined population of the Mulhuddart and Castleknock Areas is now 90,974. As Fingal has a population of 239,992 to be shared between 24 councillors, this gives a population of approximately 10,000 per councillor. Therefore, it is clear that the Dublin 15 area is entitled to an overall increase from 8 to 9 seats”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“In light of the massive growth in the population of the Mulhuddart ward, which encompasses areas such as Ongar and Littlepace, we believe an extra seat should be given to this ward. This would mean that the population per councillor in Mulhuddart would be -6.61% and in Castleknock +5.83% from the average population per councillor in Fingal. As this is well within the 10% limit prescribed by the guidelines, we would suggest that there needs to be no changes to the actual boundaries of the Mulhuddart or Castleknock ward”.

The submission from the Dublin West Green Party has further stated that the boundary for the Dublin 15 wards should not match the newly drawn boundary for the Dublin West constituency, which runs through the middle of Swords village.

“Like most people, we were shocked by the decision of the Constituency Boundary Commission to change the boundary of Dublin West to include a substantial section of Swords Village. We think this action was a mistake and will need to be revisited in future reviews of the Dail constituency boundaries. As such, we are firmly against any suggestion that the boundary of the Mulhuddart ward should be altered to include areas of Swords”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

Ends

Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777
rodericogorman@gmail.com

SUBMISSION FROM THE DUBLIN WEST GREEN PARTY TO THE DUBLIN AND CITIES ELECTORAL AREA BOUNDARY COMMITTEE

06/03/08

Green Party Dublin 15 representative, Roderic O’Gorman has called on the Health Services Executive to make funding available to supply autism outreach services in Castleknock Educate Together National School.

“After having discussed the problems being encountered in opening the special autism unit with the school management, I’ve written to the HSE to urge it to make resources available to Beechpark Services, which supplies outreach multi-disciplinary services dealing with autism, to Castleknock Educate Together. At my request, Minister Eamon Ryan has joined me in making these representations”, stated Roderic O’Gorman.

“It’s deeply frustrating that this newly opened school, which has a purpose built unit for autistic children, has been unable to operate this unit because the various health support services that these children require have not yet been made available through Beechpark. The school Board of Management has been faced with a difficult choice, but I understand the position that they have taken as these children have more than purely educational needs. As such, it is vital that specialist services are supplied at the same time as the educational services”.

“I would hope that in light of the obvious need for these services by children in the Dublin 15 area, the HSE will swiftly make the necessary funding available to Beechpark Services, which will in turn enable Castleknock ETNS to finally open its autism unit”, concluded Roderic O’Gorman.

Ends

Further Information
Roderic O’Gorman: 087 417 9777