Submission to Meath County Council

Dunboyne is a village to be preserved, protected and enhanced. The environment of Dunboyne is unique, inherited and which the present community is obligated to sustain. Dunboyne wants development but not of the kind that will damage its historical characteristics, the quality of life of its community or the irretrievable loss of its environment. Development is not just about expansion and adding yet more material structures and substructures. Development must no longer be developer lead. Professional Planners and elected politicians are obliged by the dictates of democracy and the European Principle of subsidiarity to attend to the voice of the communities they represent - communities that are most affected by the decisions taken.

Dunboyne Combined Residents Association (DCRA) has sixteen affiliated Residents Associations representing 1,345 households amounting to approximately 4,000 plus people which is more than 80% of the present population.

This community expressed its ideas for the development of Dunboyne when DCRA submitted last July to Meath County Council its document entitled "Towards a Dunboyne Development Plan 2000" and its supplementary document entitled "Survey of Trees with Special Amenity Value" which was submitted in February 2000. Having further consulted with our membership on the County Draft Development Plan for Dunboyne we are now pleased to submit this further statement of our expectations for our village.

DCRA is in full agreement with MCC Draft Development Plan when it says:- "Given the recommendations of the Strategic Panning Guidelines for the Greater

Dublin Area it is envisaged that this (i.e. the future development of Dunboyne) should be directed at the consolidation of the town and addressing key housing needs local to the area rather than absorbing the town into the metropolitan area of the nearby Fingal area."

Change "…on the north side of the Fair Green" To "on the north side of the Village

Green"

Planting and banking is required along this route as a barrier to noise pollution for residents in the immediate area.

If it is not possible to construct this road in the short term then steps must be taken to divert heavy traffic from the centre of the village.

proposed.

DB16: We demand that the area designated green belt in the 1994 County Meath Development Plan be now designated Strategic Green Belt in compliance with the Strategic Development Plan for the Greater Dublin Area. (Refer Below: Reasons Why the Dunboyne Green Belt Must be Retained)

1. That Dunboyne Castle and lands be developed as a public park for amenity, tourist, community and leisure purposes.

2. That the footpath from Garnet Hall be extended to the soccer pitch on the Summerhill Road. The reason for this is that the road is very narrow and is used frequently by pedestrians, cyclists and especially by young people traveling to play soccer.

3. That a footpath be extended on the Rooske Road to Rooske Graveyard.
4. We object to the proposed high density building on the 25 acre residential development at Courthill unless 25% of the area is designated as open space for amenity and community use. This development should not proceed until a rapid transport facility is available to the village.
5. The triangle at the junction of the Rooske Road and Station Road was formerly the site of a listed building that was destroyed by fire and later reduced to rubble. A letter to Mr. John Bruton TD dated 3^rd February 1999 from Mr. D. Foley Administrative Officer MCC stated: "The planning Authority considered that this site is at a critical and strategic location in the village and that any development on this site should provide for a civic type building for the benefit of Dunboyne and its residents." A Heritage Centre would be an ideal facility to locate here. Such a centre would function not only as a local facility but could make a contribution to Meath tourism by directing tourists further into Meath. It would also contribute significantly to maintaining the identity of Dunboyne as a Meath town whose origins go back to pre-christian times. Because of Dunboyne's proximity to the Dublin Metropolitan border we regard the provision of a Heritage Centre as essential and fully support the provision of such for Dunboyne.

1. The Strategic Planning Guidelines (SPG) say that development in the Hinterland Area is to be concentrated into designated "Development Centres". Elsewhere development is to be strictly limited to local needs as opposed to regional needs.
2. To develop on the lands east of the old railway line between Dunboyne and Clonee is contrary to the SP Guidelines because the location selected was designated as the Green Belt in the County Development Plan '94. This should now be regarded as 'Strategic Green Belt' in order to prevent precisely the sort of development that is proposed.
3. The proposed development of the lands east of the old railway line is contrary to the logical development of the village. The clearly defined features that should form the 'stop lines' for development are the old Dublin-Navan Railway to the east and the proposed Clonee By-Pass Extension and R.157 Relief/ Ring Road to the west. Once the boundary of the old railway line is breached the pressures to extend development further with each subsequent development proposal, would result in the total abolition of the Green Belt. This would result in Dunboyne becoming absorbed into the metropolitan area of the nearby Fingal Area contrary to 13.1.7 of the Draft Development Plan. As a consequence the planning principle of providing a division between settlements would be abandoned as per the Strategic Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area.
4. The proposed development of the lands east of the old railway line is contrary to the policy statements in the speech made by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government when introducing the guidelines "---- The local Authorities will need to put mechanisms in place to ensure that there is a clear distinction between urban and rural areas so that these Green Belts will be respected. This means resisting dormitory settlements along transportation routes." The Draft Development Plan for Dunboyne (13.1.3) acknowledges that Dunboyne is tending to develop as a dormitory town. This should now stop.
5. The proposed development of a number of infill sites in the village, together with the suggested rezoning of 25 acres at Courthill, plus other lands already rezoned from the 1997 Dunboyne Development Plan, gives the potential to increase the present population from 5,000 to 7,000 - an increase of 40%. This is sufficient to cater for local needs for at least ten to fifteen years. Any additional rezoning beyond that for local needs would be contrary to the SP Guidelines.
6. It should be noted that the recent Government audit has said that enough zoned and serviced sites are available to satisfy housing requirements. This is an added reason why County Meath should not rezone land to satisfy overspill from the Dublin Metropolitan Area.
7. The need for housing for people living in the rural areas surrounding Dunboyne is well catered for with the proposal to provide graigs/crossroads type clusters. To combine this excellent new initiative with the housing co-operative concept as mentioned in 3.3.5 of MCC Draft Plan would meet the needs of first time buyers who are unable to afford to purchase most of the houses recently built in the area. It would also make it unnecessary to rezone huge tracts of land just to satisfy the open housing market.
8. To rezone the Dunboyne Green Belt for building is contrary to the Strategic Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area - Review and Update 2000 - which says: "In overall terms the approach should be to accommodate population, household and employment growth in line with the Strategic Planning Guidelines, that is, within the Metropolitan Area and the designated Development centres."
9. The Strategic Planning Guidelines recognise that large parts of Greater Dublin Area will need to be protected from development other than development necessary to meet local needs. This need for protection will be greatest close to the Metropolitan Area and between that area and the principle 'development centres' of the Hinterland Area. Therefore, the Strategic Planning Guidelines call for the establishment of 'Strategic Green Belt' areas in Development Plans aimed at restricting land use within these areas and securing a clear distinction between urban and rural areas.
10. The boundary of the Metropolitan Area is clearly shown on the map on page 116 of Strategic Planning Guidelines and Dunboyne can be seen to be situated just within the Hinterland Area and in a location which the Strategic Planning Guidelines specifically identify as requiring special protection to prevent overspill from the neighbouring Metropolitan Area.
11. We would draw attention to the fact that in Section 3.1.1 of Meath County Development Plan 1994 entitled 'Pressure Areas' it is stated that 'it is intended that the area adjacent to the Dublin County boundary and indicated on Fig 4, will retain existing uses and will not be absorbed into the land use structure of the Greater Dublin Area'. The area shown on Figure 4 extends west from Clonee as far as the disused railway line at Dunboyne. We would therefore expect that this area would receive the special protection demanded by the Strategic Planning Guidelines and be clearly defined on future MCC Development Plans as 'Strategic Green Belt'.
12. The rezoning of the Green Belt is contrary to the principles of Sustained Development because it clearly represents urban sprawl and ribbon development. We refer again to the statement by the Minister regarding resisting the creation of dormitory settlements along transportation routes. The proposed development would create an increase in the demand for transportation that would inevitably be provided largely by private cars. This would add substantially to local commuter traffic and add significantly to existing congestion. We have calculated that some thirty square miles of coniferous forests would be required to remove the carbon-dioxide generated by the commuter traffic concerned.
13. The reason put forward for the rezoning of the Dunboyne Green Belt is "future development" (DB16). This is a meaningless planning criterion. This is development for the sake of development.

14. When the Ring Road is constructed there will obviously be pressure for development along its route.
15. On best advice from a Transport Planning Consultant, should a rail line be approved, it would reasonably take 15-20 years to implement. In any event it will not be implemented in the life of this plan. It would be premature to rezone before the railway line is provided. To do so would mean that people would have developed travel patterns mainly by car and eventually the rail line would not have the desired effect of reducing road traffic. The possibility of a rail line must not be used as a reason for rezoning lands in the Green Belt.
16. Lands, which may be required if ever the rail line is re-opened, will have to be acquired by compulsory purchase order if they are already zoned for development rather than for agriculture. This would add significantly to development costs of rail station and car-park facilities.
17. The additional population arising from the proposed development of the Dunboyne Green Belt would put intolerable pressure on the village's community facilities, especially on school accommodation, that would be detrimental to the education of the children of Dunboyne.
18. The recently published Bacon Report, which has been accepted by the Government, also suggested the creation of Special Development Zones which would deliver housing needs for the Greater Dublin Area which proposal obviously does not include Dunboyne.
19. DCRA fully supports The Board of Management of Gael Scoil in their objection to having their school located east of the old railway line.
20. It is the view of DCRA that the Draft Development Plan for Dunboyne is contrary to the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area and could leave it open to legal challenge.
21. The development of the Green Belt is contrary to the wishes of all the sixteen Dunboyne Residents Associations.
22. We wish to put it on record that, prior to the local elections, DCRA sought, and received, unequivocal commitments from each of the Councillors concerned that on being elected he or she would act in accordance with the expressed wishes of DCRA with particular reference to the protection of the Green Belt, and to the preservation of Dunboyne Castle Estate.

Conclusion:

A planning decision that

• irretrievably destroys a village identity,
• that permanently damages its landscaped environment,
• that brings about a deterioration of the life-style of its people,
• that can lead to the destruction of its traditional community life,
• that inevitably increases traffic congestion and consequent pollution and
• that ignores the will of the majority of its residents

The decision finally rests solely with elected representatives and, in the light of the public undertakings given by them, and the requirements of the Strategic Planning Guidelines, it is inconceivable that land east of the old railway line should be rezoned.

1. Because the proposed industrial development of the 250 acres north of Clonee and the further housing development of 20 acres south of Clonee village lie within the Dunboyne Green Belt many of the above points given under the heading "Reasons why the Dunboyne Green Belt Must be Retained" apply and therefore we object to both developments.
2. Clonee is neither a Primary nor a Secondary Centre for development as per the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area. The boundary of the Metropolitan Area is clearly shown on the map on page 116 of the Strategic Planning Guidelines and can be seen to be situated just within the Hinterland Area and in a location which the SPG specifically identify as requiring special protection to prevent overspill from the neighbouring Metropolitan Area.
3. In the light of the above it is quite impossible to reconcile the SPG requirement for a strongly directed development centre at Navan, providing high level employment activities, with Meath County Council's proposal for a major industrial development at Clonee.
4. The selected location for this proposed industrial development is clearly within the defined 'Strategic Green Belt' area for the region as indicated on page 91 of the Strategic Planning Guidelines.
5. It is surprising that no information is given under Objectives for the County at large in Section 3.2.3 Industry and Employment in MCC's Development Plan that would serve as an explanation for the proposed development or for the particular choice of location.
6. Since MCC recognise that the proposal is of sufficient importance as to merit an 'Area Action Plan' it is surprising that this had not been initiated before the proposal went on display.

Jim McGrath, Chairman,

Dunboyne Combined Residents Association,

9 Elton Drive,

Millfarm,

Dunboyne,

Co. Meath

Tel: 01.8252189.