Docks authority defends role in conference centre project

The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) has defended its handling of the proposed National Conference Centre, citing the developer's failure to provide adequate planning documentation as the primary reason for holding up the project.

In an escalation of the war of words with the consortium behind the project, Spencer Dock International, the Authority yesterday rejected claims that it was deliberately delaying the planning process.

Mr Lar Bradshaw, chairman of the DDDA, said it was "100 per cent committed" to the conference centre but that it had yet to receive detailed 3D models of the plan. Without such information, he said, any decision by the authority's governing council would be both illegal and technically incompetent.

"The DDDA wants and needs developers. We emphatically want to embrace their `can do' attitude and their creativity." However, he said: "We will not, nor can we, set aside the proper planning process. We will not ask the council to make decisions based on superficial documentation."

"To date, no detailed proposals or confirmation of the development have been provided to the authority to enable it to complete the ongoing planning procedure. I want to state clearly the authority will not be backed into a corner by any developer trying to ensure development permission from us without completing the due process."

He said the consortium, consisting of Treasury Holdings and Mr Harry Crosbie, the owner of the Point Theatre, had cancelled two meetings, including one scheduled for today, to discuss the details of the 28-acre site proposal. The most detailed information it had received to date was a two-page A4 document, he added.

Mr Bradshaw also rejected claims that the authority had agreed to withdraw any objection to the plan if the developer gave it £50 million. "It is entirely true, however, that the authority has at all times insisted on the provision on site of social amenities which would include a linear and urban park."

He said people were concerned from past experiences that the developer might drop the conference centre from its building plans, favouring more economical projects, adding "It would be a disaster if that happened".

A spokesman for Treasury Holdings Ltd last night rejected the DDDA's version of events, saying it was "a gross distortion of the facts to say all we have given them is two pieces of paper". He said the Authority had already seen the plan in 3D form, adding: "We object strenuously to the notion that the consortium is not interested in the convention centre."

He repeated the claim that the DDDA had sought an additional £50 million in funding for amenities as a means of overcoming the planning difficulties. He added the consortium had agreed to include within its plan a lifelong learning or Saol Scoil centre and a linear public park, albeit in a different location to that desired by the authority.