Groups see Dublin plan as charter for skyscrapers

Dublin Corporation's draft development plan "poses unprecedented risks to the fabric of the city", particularly from unrestricted proliferation of high-rise buildings, according to three leading conservation bodies.

An Taisce, the Irish Georgian Society and the Dublin Civic Group issued a joint statement yesterday calling on the corporation to reinstate the 14 criteria contained in the current city plan for assessing the impact of high-rise buildings.

"The last thing we need at this stage is a relaxation of standards," said Mr Michael Smith of An Taisce. He called on the corporation to carry out a detailed planning study of the "carrying capacity" of certain areas before any further schemes are approved.

Though all three bodies would be joining in an appeal to An Bord Pleanala against the corporation's decision to allow the skyscraper scheme for George's Quay, he stressed high-rise buildings would be "acceptable" in the Docklands area.

The important consideration, as far as they were concerned, was that Dublin should be following the examples of Paris, Rome and Helsinki by imposing "strict limitations" on building heights to preserve the characteristic low-rise nature of the city's historic core.

Prof Kevin B. Nowlan of the Dublin Civic Group said this was one of Dublin's main selling points, which was internationally recognised, yet there was not even a definition of "high buildings" in the latest draft city plan. "Tourists won't come here to see Frankfurt or Manhattan."

He pointed out that the current city plan, adopted in 1991, defined a high building as "a building that is significantly higher than neighbourhood or surrounding development". However, this definition had been dropped from the latest plan, now under consideration.

"To have a series of enormous buildings overwhelming Trinity College, the Custom House and the Georgian squares would present a totally different reality to the history of Dublin. Yet there is pressure to facilitate development which fits in with the `Celtic Tiger' scene." Ms Mary Bryan of the Irish Georgian Society said there was a "huge money factor" involved. "People making decisions about our buildings are paying too much attention to the `Celtic Tiger', which has very greedy paws, and not enough to the goose that laid the golden egg."

Mr Smith cited several major schemes - none of them skyscrapers by any definition - which would damage the city's skyline, including the Westin Hotel plan for the edge of College Green and a cinema and shopping complex planned for the Carlton site in O'Connell Street.

The three bodies also want many more buildings listed for preservation, including important interiors. They said the draft city plan had not included a single additional interior, despite a "very expensive" study by the UCD school of architecture.

They also want more area action plans that would set down a full range of "quality standards", with an in-built mechanism to review their effectiveness over time. This type of approach could have averted the spread of "megapubs" in Temple Bar, Mr Smith said.