LOCAL residents in Phibsborough
?¯are facing an anxious wait to see if the Local Area Plan (LAP) for their neighbourhood can be resurrected.
The LAP was seen as vital for the area as it would guide planning over what will be a crucial time for its development. Over the next few years Phibsborough will have a Luas line, a redeveloped soccer stadium at Dalymount Park and an influx of over 20,000 students at the DIT campus at Grangegorman.
However, the LAP, which took years to develop and was delayed a number of times, failed to get approval at a council meeting last month which was described as “a fiasco”.
Councillors tried to amend the plan, leading to some confusion, and eventually when it came to a vote the LAP wasn’t ratified, despite the amendment being approved.
A further meeting failed to have the vote ruled out so it could be taken again.
That means planning in Phibsborough will continue to be governed by the current city development plan, which could allow high rise buildings of up to 50 metres at the local shopping centre.
Fianna Fáil candidate for Dublin Central, Mary Fitzpatrick, described rejection of the plan as a major setback for the area.
“It was a body blow to the local community, to the many residents and voluntary groups who worked so hard for many years and it is also a huge waste of public funds,” she said.
“There is major upset in the area that this has happened.”
Councillors will now meet again this month to try to salvage the LAP but other areas in the city are also waiting for their plans to be adopted and Phibsborough
?¯is likely be put to the back of the queue.
If no agreement can be reached between councillors, planning officials and the council’s legal team, it could be two years or more before Phibsborough
?¯gets a LAP.
DCC officials say that following its rejection, the previous draft is gone and a new process could take 18 months.
However, local community activists and politicians could work on amending a previous draft of the LAP and have it ready by the end of this summer.
Coincidently, an official review of the Planning and Development Act that was published last month found fault with current LAP preparations. The report details investigations carried out by the Department of Environment into planning functions and cited a number of instances where councillors have failed to sanction draft LAPs.
“This is a part of the democratic process, but it can have the effect of leaving an area without the required local planning framework,” the report states.
“The Planning Authority has highlighted in its submissions that processes and procedures associated with the preparation of a LAP can be somewhat cumbersome and there may be a need for a lower level local environmental improvement plan.
“The review is of the opinion that there is a need for a mechanism to produce master plans, local environmental improvement plans and site design briefs which do not have to be the subject of all the requirements associated with the preparation of an LAP, yet do have some input and sanction by elected members in order to strengthen democratic oversight of the forward planning process.”