Press Release: Rezoning of RTÉ Lands not a Foregone Conclusion
“Reports that the RTE lands at Donnybrook are to be rezoned should not be taken as conclusive” according to former Lord Mayor of Dublin and local City Councillor Dermot Lacey.
“While the text of RTE’s submission to the Draft City Development Plan has been released following a formal request submitted by me that is all it is – a submission.
By and large the local community has accepted RTE’s expansion beyond the initial Montrose complex and despite the lack of any real neighbourly relationship the community has not in any way impeded RTE’s use of the site.
However the attempt to change the Zoning from Z15 Institutional and Community use to Z10 that would allow “for mixed use development on which office, retail and residential would be the predominant use” would be a major challenge to the interests of the local area and will have to be examined in huge detail before any such rezoning could be contemplated.
The current RTE complex covers the original Montrose House estate (once home to the Jameson Family and at one stage lived in by Marconi the reputed inventor of radio), the former Sports Grounds of St. Andrews College in whose outdoor Swimming pool I swam as a child and parts of the Belville and other lands.
Given the importance of the new City Development Plan for the future wellbeing of Dublin it is heartening to see the National Broadcaster take such an interest in this. It will be even more heartening if this is followed up by an ongoing coverage of the Development Plan process to facilitate the greatest possible engagement of the people of Dublin in developing the Plan”
