UPDATE - 15/05/2009
Submission to An Bord Pleanala
from Cllr Emer Costello and Joe Costello T.D.
RfR have received a copy of a submission from Joe & Emer Costello to An Bord Pleanala.The submission is reproduced below:
JOE COSTELLO TD & CLLR EMER COSTELLO
DAIL EIREANN
DUBLIN 2
T: (01) 6183896 M: (086) 3831805
E: JOE.COSTELLO@OIR.IE / EMERCOSTELLO@EIRCOM.NET
Bord Pleanala
Marlborough Street
Dublin 1
29 October 2008
RE: METRO NORTH RAILWAY ORDER APPLICATION
Dear Bord Pleanala
As public representatives for the North Inner City and wider Dublin Central Constituency, we wish to make the following submission in relation to the Railway Order for Metro North:
Firstly, we wish to state that we support the Metro North Project and we believe that it will bring much needed public transport to the North Side of the City, which has long been neglected in terms of public transport provision.
Residents for Realignment (RfR) have made a submission on behalf of the residents of Drumcondra. We would point out that RfR held a large number of public meetings and consulted extremely widely throughout the community in formulating their submission. Indeed without Residents for Realignment there would be no adequate level of public consultation for residents along the entire route. Moreover, RfR are responsible for the Independent Expert being appointed for all residents for the duration of the Project.
We share the concerns for RfR and other residents in relation to the shortcomings of the EIS. We also believe that many of these concerns affect not only residents in Drumcondra, but affect residents along the entire route.
RfR have a large number of concerns in relation to omissions from the EIS which have been outlined in detail in their submission. We fully support their request that the additional information requested be provided in full before the Railway Order is granted.
Residents are also concerned that there is an absence of monitoring of air quality, dust, noise, radon levels along with a lack of adequate monitoring of the impact of the construction, and the operation of the ventilation shafts.
We are aware that residents along the length of the route have experienced significant difficulty in their consultations with the RPA throughout the preparatory phase and found that they had many difficulties in their communications with the RPA. We believe that good communication between the residents and the RPA is crucial to the success of this project. Residents have requested a Residents Charter which would protect their interests. We would request that the RPA signing up to the Residents Charter which would serve all residents along the route of Metro North should be a condition of the Railway Order.
We are also aware of the work undertaken on a voluntary basis by the committee of Residents for Realignment. The Committee in the course of their work has incurred much legal expenses. The work that they have carried out has benefited many residents groups along the route. We would support the RfR request to be compensated by the RPA for their legal costs.
RfR have also suggested that as a matter of goodwill, the RPA award Metro Passes to residents whose houses are directly over the tunnel. We would support this proposal and request that this should be a condition of the Railway Order granted.
We would also like to support the concerns of residents of Glengariff/ Phibsborough and BLEND in relation to this project. Residents at the Mater stop have requested that the RPA plan two entrances/exits at this stop. The RPA announced that while they originally intended to construct two entrances, that they are not now in a position to do this as the footprint of the New Paediatric Hospital has not been determined. We do not accept this explanation and a second entrance/exit for the Mater Station at Eccles Street should be a condition of the Railway Order. A second entrance is necessary to deal with the volumes of people who will be using this station. The proposed entrance to the Metro Station on the North Circular Road will be located in a residential area. Many of the people using the station will be attending events in Croke Park and/or will be frequenting pubs on Dorset Street. A station entrance on Eccles Street would alleviate the noise and litter pollution issues on the North Circular Road. It would also bring much need life and animation into Eccles Street in the evenings. We believe that it makes no sense for a multi-million euro project such as Metro North to plan just one station entrance for one of the main commuter nodes
We are also aware that the Rotunda and Mater Hospitals have concerns in relation to the construction of the Metro. These institutions are particularly sensitive to noise, vibrations and dust levels which may have an impact on the laboratory and surgical work carried out in these hospitals. We also wish to support the request of the Rotunda Hospital that the stop at Parnell Square should be called Rotunda.
Finally we wish to support residents’ request for an oral hearing into this Railway Order.
We trust you will take the above concerns into consideration. We would appreciate it if you could keep us informed of developments.
Yours sincerely
Joe Costello TD & Cllr Emer Costello
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