The new Rathmines Leisure Centre, including gym and swimming pool, will be fully open to the public from Monday 27th September onwards.

This is great news, and an excellent development for the village and the surrounding areas.

For more information on the facilities and prices, please see this leaflet (pdf).

The proposed amendments to the Draft Dublin City Development Plan 2011 – 2017 will be on public  display from 18th August 2010 to 15 September 2010 at the following locations in the South East Area during normal office opening hours:

• Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8
• Ringsend/Pembroke Area Office, Portview House, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4
• Rathmines Pembroke Community Partnership, 11 Wynnefield Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6.

The proposed amendments to the Draft Dublin City Development Plan 2011 – 2017 will also be on display at the following libraries in the South East Area from 18th August 2010 to 15 September 2010:

• Pearse Street Library
• Pembroke Library
• Ringsend Library
• Rathmines Library (temporarily located at Unit 1, Parker Hall, off Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin 6.

Today’s (Monday’s) Irish Times carries an opinion piece I wrote on the need for local government reform in Dublin.

You can read it below and on the Irish Times website.

Ending the Department of the Environment’s stranglehold over local government is the key to effective reform, writes DERMOT LACEY

FOR IRELAND’S sake, Dublin needs to run Dublin. The present situation – in which an array of uninterested quangos, largely unaccountable State bodies and often disconnected departments interfere in the affairs of the county without any appreciable knowledge or sympathy for the region – cannot continue. Quite simply, Dublin deserves better.

The situation whereby more than 40 organisations have responsibility for traffic is the most obvious example of this. But there are more.

Read the rest here.

The closing date for submissions from members of the public on the Draft Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017 is tomorrow, Friday 12th March.

The remaining stages in the process are as follows:

• The Manager’s Report on submissions received is circulated to City Council by 24th May 2010
• Consideration of the Report by the Members to be complete by 16th August 2010
• The Members have the period between 24th May and 16th August to consider the Manager’s Report, the issues raised in public submissions and the Manager’s Recommendations. The process for this is the same as for the preparation of the Draft Plan – i.e. Members submit Motions on the Manager’s Report and a series of Statutory City Council meetings will be held to consider the Manager’s Report and Councillors Motions
• After the 16th August, the Material Amendments arising from the Councillors consideration are made and prepared for public display
• The Second Public Display – Material Amendments will run from 6th September to 4th October, 2010
• The Manager prepares a report on submissions received and circulates this to Members by 1st November, 2010
• The Members must consider the report and decide on the material amendments by 13th December, 2010 at which time they make the Plan
• The Plan becomes effective from the 10th January 2011

If you have any comments to make on the draft development plan, you can do so through the link above before 12th March, or alternatively get in touch with me and let me know your thoughts.

Regular readers might be interested in the motions I put down at today’s South East Area Committee of Dublin City Council.  The motions, and the City Manager’s responses, are below:

Item 1

Motion from Councillor Dermot Lacey

This Committee requests the Manager to arrange a clean up and tidy up of the old graveyard adjacent to the Tara Towers Hotel and in particular to arrange to have the offensive graffiti removed from various head stones and a programme of action to save some of the broken head stones that are now scattered around.

Report

A clean up of the graveyard will be undertaken over the coming week to bring the site up to the required standard of maintenance. There was no evidence of graffiti on the gravestones however there was evidence of lichen and fungal growth which is normal for such old headstones. I propose to arrange a meeting with the City Archeologist and the heritage officer in the near future to discuss how to deal with the headstones using national ‘best practice’.

Item 2

Motion from Councillor Dermot Lacey

To ask the Manager, further to numerous previous questions from this Councillor on the last City Council, what arrangements have now been agreed with the owners at Milltown Park, Ranelagh in relation to the decision on P.A. 5393/06 and An Bord Pleanala decision PL 29S.221293 condition number 1 requiring “agreement in writing with the Planning Authority on appropriate measures to restrict access to emergency services and deliveries only” and in the event of such an agreement being in place to provide a copy to this Councillor and to outline how it is enforced. If such a written agreement is not in place to clarify how the development was allowed to proceed and to outline what steps will now be taken to enforce the relevant condition.

Report

Planning permission was granted on 23 May 2007 for the demolition of Cherryfield Nursing Home at Milltown Park, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 and the development of a new Nursing Home and accommodation building at Milltown Park, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 (planning register reference 5393/06 refers).

Condition 1 of the permission stated

“Access onto Cherryfield Avenue shall be restricted to emergency services and deliveries only. Details of appropriate measures to restrict access shall be agreed in writing with the planning authority prior to the commencement of development.

Reason: To clarify the permission and in the interest of traffic safety and proper planning and sustainable development.”

Following receipt of a complaint that this condition had not been complied with, a Warning Letter pursuant to Section 152 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 was served on the property owners. In response, proposals to comply with the condition were submitted on 6 June 2008. These were deemed in compliance with the requirements of the permission on 11 July 2008.

Regular monitoring by the Area Enforcement Officer through 2008 and 2009 has not shown any evidence of use of this access outside the terms of the permission. Nor has there been any complaints received of unauthorised use.

Compliance details were received on June 6th, 2008 in respect of Condition Number 1 attached to a grant of permission under An Bord Pleanala ref PL.29S.221293.

Scott Tallon Walker Architects confirmed arrangements for access to the nursing home and to the site during construction phases. On completion of this development they confirmed that access to the Milltown development will be from the main Milltown road. Access from Cherryfield Avenue was to be restricted by a mechanically operated gated system, to emergencies and deliveries only. The Architects have also submitted an ‘as built’ drawing showing the current arrangements.

The Planning Enforcement Section dealt with a complaint regarding alleged unauthorised use of Cherryfield Avenue in February 2008 during construction of this development. There have been no complaints submitted to this Department since then.

Item 3

Motion from Councillor Dermot Lacey

To ask the Manager to ensure the reinstatement of the Disc parking spaces at 38, 40, 62 and 64 Heytesbury Lane removed during road works in 2008 and on which a commitment was given that they would be replaced on numerous occasions since, including a formal reply to this Councillor in January 2009 and on which no subsequent action has been taken

Report

This matter has been referred to the Area Traffic Officer for inspection and when his report is received a detailed report will be provided to the Councillor.

If you have a matter that you’d like raised at the monthly City Council or Area Committee meetings, please let me know.