Spencer Dock scheme restricted further by planners

An Bord Pleanala's decision last week on the £1.2 billion scheme proposed for Spencer Dock in Dublin was even more restrictive than the recommendation made by its planning inspectors.

They advocated granting permission for an office block and power plant as well as the proposed National Conference Centre, but the appeals board decided to approve the conference centre alone and to refuse permission for everything else.

The inspectors, headed by Mr Des Johnson, outlined their conclusions in a 150-page analysis of the scheme, supplemented by a 449-page recitation of the 16-day Spencer Dock oral hearing held last March and a further 322 pages of appendices.

Their mammoth report, by far the longest ever produced since An Bord Pleanala was established in 1977, offers a unique insight into the thinking behind the board's decision in this highly contentious appeal and is being studied closely by everyone involved.

The board's ruling that the Spencer Dock scheme would "constitute an inappropriate urban form of development for Dublin" because of its scale, bulk, mass and campus-style layout closely followed the findings of the inspectors in their detailed analysis of the plan.

According to Mr Karl Kent, the inspector who dealt with its architectural aspects, the chosen design model, combined with the developers' requirement to achieve six million square feet of floorspace on the site, had produced a scheme of "excessive bulk and scale".

Given the considerable size of the Spencer Dock site, at 51 acres, and that it represents some 25 per cent of the land available for redevelopment in the Docklands area, he believed a better result would be achieved by having an overall master plan.

Mr Kent also criticised Dublin Corporation's decision last August to grant outline permission for 4.6 million square feet of floorspace, subject to further approvals, saying this offered no guarantee of a high-quality architectural/urban design solution for the site.

Mr Johnson also had "serious concerns" about the corporation's approach, saying it should have been "plan led" in line with "good planning practice", with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and the corporation working together.

Referring to the height and bulk of the 26 buildings proposed by the developers, led by Treasury Holdings, he said it was clear from a 1:1,000 scale model showing the scheme in context that it would "contrast sharply" with surrounding development.

Mr Johnson endorsed Mr Kent's conclusion that the case for a predetermined floor area on the site, largely owned by CIE, "is difficult to sustain if the overall design is not satisfactory"; as proposed, it would be "seriously injurious . . . to the city as a whole". The impact on the "Georgian Mile" was also a cause for concern. "A tall, slender, high-quality and elegantly designed building might be acceptable in this view, but the proposed development does not meet these criteria because of its height and bulk."

He also agreed with Mr Jerry Barnes, the inspector who dealt with the transport aspects of the scheme, that it would be premature pending resolution of the strategic issue of a new rail link downriver of the Loop Line; this was also cited by the board in its decision. Mr Barnes concluded that the number of morning peak-time car trips generated by the Spencer Dock scheme had been underestimated by at least 50 per cent and could reach a figure of 4,000-plus. This would result in serious traffic congestion in the area.

The board accepted these and other findings by the inspectors, but it departed from their recommendation that Campion's Pub, a listed building on North Wall Quay, should be retained. Its decision, made after obtaining legal advice, allowed for its demolition.