Sir, – Joe O’Flynn (Opinion, August 6th) refers to an article by Frank McDonald on the proposed demolition of Liberty Hall and its replacement with a high rise building of approximately twice its volume (Opinion, July 19th). Mr O’Flynn considers a comment in the article, relating to findings by me, to be “wholly unfounded as there was only one landscape and visual assessment carried out.” Three separate assessments of the impact of the proposed high rise building were carried out: 1. An assessment entitled Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment by Mitchell and Associates. 2. Assessment of the Impact of the Proposed Development by David Slattery. 3. An assessment by Richard Coleman entitled Heritage, Townscape and Visual Appraisal.
All three of these assessments related to the same specific views and all three assessed the visual impact of the proposed development. As I outlined in my written appeal and at the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing, when I analysed the findings, I found that the conclusions reached by the three assessments diverged widely and that the assessment of the impact of the proposed development on the architectural heritage showed surprising inconsistencies.
Frank McDonald’s comment is, in my view, accurate. – Yours, etc,