Gulag #4 Sandyford Co. Dublin

When I was a student in Edinburgh many moons ago I read Alice Coleman's book Utopia on Trial, which castigated "utopian" planning and architectural thinking. This could be seen walking around socially deprived areas (as they were back then) such as Wester Hailes. Particular criticism was directed toward streets in the sky - deck access, and the security risk they posed. Today I walked around Sandyford, a former industrial estate being transformed as a new urban centre in DunLaoghaire Rathdown. And well, its just like a modernist housing project from 60s. James Sterling would be proud of these guys.

Gulag #5 Sandyford Co. Dublin

Limerick Regeneration Hits a wall

The Irish times reports today that "Limerick’s regeneration project is in jeopardy due to a scarcity of public funding and locals in the city’s most disadvantaged estates are becoming disillusioned". The funds referred amount to a staggering €3bn.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0209/1224264025064.html

Talk about throwing good money after bad. What the regeneration agencies want to do is bulldoze down one new town project and replace with in another one, on the presumption that we're so much smarter now that we were 30 years ago (NAMA anyone?).

According to the issues paper for the Limerick City Plan 2010-2016, The City Plan 2004 expected the population of Limerick City and Suburbs would increase from 92,000 to between 97,000 and 101,000 by 2006. It was also expected that the population of the area within the City Boundary would rise to over 55,000. However,the population within the City Boundary fell from 54,000 to 52,000 and the population of the City and Suburbs rose to a little over 95,000 persons. i.e. in a very short period 6,000
persons left the City to elsewhere in the Region and very little of this migration
settled in the suburbs of Limerick City. In fact there was also net outmigration from
the City and suburbs of about 4,000 persons.

Somebody do the maths? They're want to spend €3bn rebuilding a failed new town,for a population of approx. 6,000 when 6,000 have just left the city centre? Just imagine what half of €3bn could achieve in terms of investment, jobs, and city confidence if invested in micro-schemes throughout the city of Limerick.

Design by example?

Everybody loves this picture of Borneo-Sporenburg in Amsterdam (particularly people writing masterplans and guidelines). Not least because its ideal to have access to a boat for climate change.

West8's masterplan achieved something unique in the rules and challenges placed on the architects for the individual units. Theres good and bad things about this.
1)Good: The masterplan provided a strict code within which architects could express their design skils. The design model was based on the grain of traditional row housing.
2)Good: It shows how architects obsession with form to provide visual variety, looses site of the importance of elevational detail. Whether the detail is traditional or modern, it is this level of thought and design that is profoundly human, and one which we can relate to.
3)Bad: This development is from 1993-1996. Despite being included in just about every guideline and urban design book since, I haven't seen anybody else copy the idea.
4)Bad: Most of us don't live facing water (for now)- getting the street facade right while less dramatic, is more important.

Theres something in the water......

The DoEHLG issued a new circular PSSP 1/10 on 5th January advising Local Authorities and An Bord Pleanala to implement the new EPA Code on septic tanks (Code of Practice
Wastewater Treatment and Disposal Systems Serving Single Houses (p.e. ≤ 10)). This has been undertaken in response to the European Court of Justice Ruling against Ireland C-188/08 on the implementation of Articles 4 and 8 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC.

This highlights that the planning system's abject failure to redress sporadic housing in rural areas, is potentially to be brought under control by alternative legal mechanisms. European environmental legislation is slowly but progressively adding a bit of bite to the issue. The Water Framework Directive and Environmental Liability Regulations provide a new dimension to rural development equation. However, County Councillors don't appear to care about the impact of bungalow blitz on ourcountryside and communities, so bit of extra nitrogen in the drinking water is hardly going to worry them.

Dick Roche's legacy as Minister for the Environment is nowhere better incapsulated than in the 2005 Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines. The above map from the 2008 EPA Annual Report highlights the impact of this policy, with 96,000 units granted permission between 2005 to 2007. This Guideline needs to be reviewed by Minister Gormley, and subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment.

NAMA Board

The announcement of the Board for NAMA on 22nd of December gave a clear indication of the tone of the new superpower of Irish Development. Its composition is made up of civil servants, financiers and accountants. Any Planning input will only come in an advisory capacity. If not unexpected, it is highly disappointing. While all the Board members are no doubt highly capable and successful in their own fields of expertise, they are not qualified or experienced as a group or individually to manager or develop what will be one of Europe's largest property portfolios.

Frank Daly, is a former head of the Revenue Commissioners,, Eilish Finan is a former CFO of AIG Global Investments. Michael Connolly is a former member of Bank of Ireland senior management team. Peter Stewart is Managing Director of O’Donovan Stewart & Company – firm of chartered accountants, and Brian McEnery is senior partner in Horwath Bastow Charleton specialising in corporate finance and Corporate Recovery. And finally, Willie Soffe is Chairman of the Dublin Transportation Office and former County Manager of Fingal County Council.

Hopes that NAMA may represent an opportunity for a proactive pubic sector body to take a proactive role in development have not got off to a good start. We await with interest to see how planning advisors will be brought into the loop, and if they'll be from outside the DoEHLG/DTO.

Where's Swords!?