High-Rise In The City Centre

Sir, - Donagh O'Grady (August 29th) is worried about the built environment but does not consider the issue of height in the city…

Sir, - Donagh O'Grady (August 29th) is worried about the built environment but does not consider the issue of height in the city of any concern. Indeed he applauds An Bord Pleanala for allowing miscellaneous heights on our "drab" skyline. All I can say to Mr O'Grady is that it is commonplace in other countries that you do not build high buildings in the low-rise historic core of cities. In this regard he might check out Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Prague, etc.

Outside the historic core things may be slightly different. La Defence in Paris is an example of strategic planning for controlled high-rise development. My letter, to which Mr O'Grady responded only selectively, indicated that An Taisce would not be opposed to strategically planned, high-quality, high-rise developments, well served by public transport, in brownfield sites such as Dublin's Docklands.

Mr O'Grady makes a silly point when he claims that An Taisce would have opposed the Four Courts. The Four Courts formed an integral part of Dublin's quays. Strategically, like the Custom House, they fitted in magnificently as set-pieces contrasting with the individual houses which originally ran up and down the rest of the quays. This could not be said of the 12-storey Zoe scheme proposed for Abbey Street, the seven-storey Hilton Hotel which has been permitted for the edge of College Green, or the 20-storey block proposed for Sheriff Street, which Mr O'Grady by implication applauds. Nor could it be said of Liberty Hall, O'Connell Bridge House or Hawkins House - all of which Mr O'Grady obviously endorses.

Mr O'Grady's allegation that An Taisce is not concerned with urban sprawl is wide of the mark. The whole thrust of An Taisce's national policy is against bleak urban sprawl. Does Mr O'Grady not know that, despite extremely modest resources, we are the only national body that systematically opposes suburban sprawl? In his own area of Lucan, An Taisce is opposing the Laraghcon development and appealed the Finnstown development to An Bord Pleanala (twice) - despite the fact that there is no association of An Taisce in Lucan. For Mr O'Grady's information the Dublin City Association is concerned with Dublin city, not with Lucan.

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An Taisce tries to represent the common good in planning and protection of our heritage. I believe that posterity will be kind to An Taisce. Our often unpopular stances on controversial issues such as Georgian Dublin, Wood Quay, Temple Bar, ribbon development, Mullaghmore, urban sprawl, etc. have largely been vindicated.

There is no reason to think posterity will be any more thankful for the current round of city-centre high-rise buildings than it is for their 1960s and 1970s predecessors. - Yours, etc.,

Chairman, An Taisce Dublin City Association, Tailors Hall, Dublin 8.