FINGAL County Council has approved a plan for a new £10 million county hall in the town park in Swords to replace its offices in O'Connell Street, Dublin.
The decision yesterday was made by 13 votes to seven, but with strong reservations being expressed by some members, particularly on transport grounds and a fear that Swords was not easily accessible.
Others said that while the new county hall should be built in Swords, it should be on a green-field site and be a structure of which they could be proud. One member said the building should be in Blanchardstown.
The councillors were given assurances that everything possible would be done to improve the parking in the area, that most of the trees in the vicinity would be retained and that there would be minimum disruption for nearby residents.
The move has been criticised by local residents concerned about the traffic, the loss of a large area of the park and the intrusion of a large building on their homes.
The plan for the building came as a result of an architectural competition. However, Mr Joe Higgins said the mistake the council had made was to specify only one site in the competition. By not suggesting three sites, it had set the process in the wrong direction.
Mr Sean Ryan TD and a number of other members said one of the last green areas in the centre of the town would he destroyed.
Mr Dave O'Connor, county architect, said the proposed building would have three office wings comprising 11,000 sq metres accommodating 450 staff.
Existing trees at the front of the building would be retained. Extensive additional planting would be carried out as appropriate, especially along the eastern perimeter. Car-parking, which would be in excess of that required for council staff, would be provided at the Roads Maintenance Depot site at North Street and close to the Seatown Road roundabout on the Swords by-pass. It was also intended to develop a car park at North Street to the rear of Swords Castle.
The county manager, Mr Davy Byrne, said he could not talk about compensation for the impact on nearby residents because he did not know what the impact would be.