Month: April 2022

This post provides guidance on the content of an observation to An Bord Pleanala in respect of the Bartra appeal against the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown CoCo refusal of planning permission for the Western Marine boatyard site and of the BHPA appeal in support of the DLR decision. Our previous post provides guidance on how to make an observation online or by letter. Remember that you can make observations on both appeals in one submission.

Observation on the BHPA appeal

We suggest that in drafting your observation you first discuss the appeal by Bulloch Harbour Preservation Association (BHPA):-

1. Support the decision by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to refuse permission. 

2. Support the appeal by BHPA which seeks to strengthen that decision by adding further reasons for refusal.

3. Support BHPA’s request for an oral hearing by the Bord.  This is important as an oral hearing before the Bord will enable us to better explain the overtopping, environmental and other issues unique to the Western Marine boatyard site.

Observation on the Bartra Property (Dublin) Ltd Appeal

Bartra Property (Dublin) Ltd has appealed against the DLR refusal of planning permission.  In writing your observation on their appeal you could repeat any observations that you made to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s planning department on the planning application.  You could also address various misleading points made by Bartra in their appeal document, as set out below:-

4. Bartra presents the flooding problem at Bullock as being just a question of dealing with high levels of surface water.  They do not address the real nature of overtopping and ignore the violence of the waves and the inundation by enormous powerful bodies of seawater landing from overhead directly on the sites for the new houses during storms.  These are likely to damage property and endanger residents.  The Appeal only refers to what they call ‘sea spray’ landing on the site.  You could describe your first hand experience of these.  

The updated Coastal Flood Risk Maps published in 2022 now show the whole Western Marine site to be at risk from over-topping, which previously had applied only to the rocky areas outside the boundary wall.  The first reason given in the DLR Refusal is that the site is potentially liable to flood events and significant wave overtopping.

5. Permission should not be granted to a development which depends on an emergency evacuation or isolation plan for the safety of its residents.

6. The proposed residences are out of scale with the adjacent small buildings in the harbour.  This relates to both the height and the bulk. The design and height of the quayside apartment block is too dominant.  The three houses behind are each over 400 square metres of floor area.  With all three buildings bunched together, they will present as a single large mass.  The development will change the character of the harbour and block views of the rocky landscape and seascape.

7. The appeal presents the proposed development as “mixed use”.  In fact, the majority of the development is residential (72%) which is contrary to the SLO which stresses marine based uses. The inclusion of nominal community/commercial uses is a minor and under-developed element.

8. Bartra persists in claiming that Bullock Harbour is under-used and has few visitors.  This is laughable.  In recent years there has been a significant increase in kayaking and paddle boarding from Bullock.  Your first hand knowledge of Bullock as a well visited and well-used harbour would be valuable. 

This post mainly covers the process of making an observation to An Bord Pleanala.  We are still formulating our guidance on possible points to make but thought it would be useful to supporters to understand the observation process.

The deadline for receipt of observations is 5.30pm  on Monday 25^th April 2022.  Your observation has to be received by An Bord Pleanala by that time.  If submitting by post, allow sufficient time for An Post to deliver by then. 

Observations must be made in writing. They can be submitted by post or handed in at the ABP counter at 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, or made online.  This online option is a new development.  The ABP online instructions are here. Making an observation costs €50.  Your postal submission needs to include a cheque made payable to An Bord Pleanala for that value. 

Your written submission needs to clearly signal the subject of your observation.  Include the following:

• An Bord Pleanala Reference: ABP-313146-22
• DLR Planning reference:D22A/000
• State that the observation relates to Bartra Property (Dublin) Ltd’s application for the former Western Marine site at Bullock Harbour, Dalkey, County Dublin

Make it clear that you are making observations on the appeals lodged by Bartra Property (Dublin) Ltd and Bulloch Harbour Preservation Association clg.

Observation on the BHPA appeal

We suggest that you first discuss the appeal by Bulloch Harbour Preservation Association (BHPA) first.  State that you support the decision by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to refuse permission. That you support the appeal by BHPA which seeks to strengthen that decision by adding further reasons for refusal.  And that you support BHPA’s request for an oral hearing by the Bord.  This last point is important as an oral hearing before the bord will enable us to better explain the many problems with the boatyard site.

Observation on the Bartra appeal

Then move on to make your observations on the appeal by Bartra.  They are appealing against the DLR decision to refuse planning permission.  If you submitted an observation to DLR on the planning application, you can repeat your observations made then. Alternatively, wait until we publish our guidance on possible contents. We are still examining the very long Bartra appeal document and are formulating guidance. We will post this in coming days.  

Both Bartra Development and Bullock Harbour Preservation Association have appealed to An Bord Pleanala (ABP) following the decision of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Planners to refuse permission for Bartra’s latest planning application for Bullock Harbour. Bartra’s appeal is seeking to have permission granted for their proposed development, while BHPA has appealed specifically to add further reasons to the refusal of permission.  This move by BHPA is in light of ABP’s decision to grant permission for Bartra’s previous very similar application.

It goes without saying that BHPA and all our supporters were delighted with the refusal this February by the Planners of the latest proposed Bartra development at Bullock Harbour. However in light of Bartra’s previous appeal to ABP and the Bord’s rejection of the very many observations from members of the public and ourselves in BHPA, of the recommendations of their own inspector, and – very particularly – of the very strong observation from the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s drainage department, BHPA believes that it is important to strengthen the DLRCC reasons for refusal of this latest Bartra planning application. The reasons given by DLRCC Planners for refusing planning permission included the risk of flooding and the lack of compatibility of the proposed development with the heritage character of the harbour. We are asking for the following further reasons to be added to the decision to refuse permission:

1.     ABP was not prepared to defend the environmental issues raised by us in the Judicial Review of the previous application (2018 – 2020 approx) and on which the High Court quashed the Bord’s decision granting permission. We believe these same environmental grounds should be reflected in the reasons for refusal of permission given that they have still not been adequately address in this most recent application.

2.     The planner’s report also contains several DLR departments strong objections to the scale and height of the proposed development,  However these crucial points have not been referred to in the reasons for refusal.

3.     The proposed development would obliterate the views of the rocks to the rear of the site from the harbour (a protected structure) and from Ulverton Road.  It would also interfere with the views of the harbour from the sea which is in breach of several Objectives in the County Development Plan. This has not been reflected in the reasons for refusal.

4.     The proposed residential development would contravene materially a development objective indicated in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Development Plan 2022-28 for the zoning of land.  Objective W is “to provide for waterfront development and harbour related use where residential use is neither permissible nor open for consideration.” This should be a further reason for refusal.

We believe that by making a formal appeal to ABP, our reasons for rejection of this latest application will have to be considered on the same footing as Bartra.  As an observer our reasons would not carry the same weight, as was seen when ABP granted permission for the very similar application in 2018.

We will be writing again with advice to supporters on whether and how to make “observations” to ABP in relation to these two appeals.