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CONTINUOUS BUS LANES along the main routes in and around Dublin city centre are part of an ambitious plan to transform public transport in the capital – and property owners affected by the plan are set to be fully compensated to the tune of €25,000 each.
Yesterday, the National Transport Authority (NTA) launched a public consultation for the first four bus corridors in this plan – linking the city centre with Clongriffin, Swords, Lucan and Blanchardstown.
Alongside the continuous bus lanes will be dedicated cycle routes but – to make way for these – it will necessitate the cutting down of trees, a loss of parking spaces and some property owners will lose a bit of their front garden.
From Clongriffin to the city centre, the NTA said that 120 properties would be impacted. From Swords, there would be 110. From Blanchardstown, there would be 100 and from Lucan, there would be 15.
Across the 16 proposed corridors that would provide continuous bus lanes, the NTA said yesterday that around 1,300 properties would be affected.
In a lot of cases, most property owners will only lose around 1-2 metres of land. “But it’s fair to say that others are affected slightly more,” NTA deputy chief executive Hugh Creegan said yesterday.
And, on average, property owners will receive €25,000 in compensation but they may be entitled to more.
The NTA has pledged that where lands are acquired, it will ensure new landscaping and replanting of gardens and reinstatement of driveways.
In cases where private and public walls or fencing is removed, this will be rebuilt and/or replaced.
The cost of providing all of this will be separate to the compensation provided.
In terms of the trees that will be cut down, a “comprehensive replanting programme” will be initiated with the aim of planting more trees than were removed.
Planning process
This will be a lengthy, costly process.
Details on the other 12 corridors will be announced next year, but the estimated cost of the first four was announced yesterday:
The NTA has written to property owners in these areas to inform them that they may lose part of their front gardens to the plans.
It said yesterday that it marked the beginning of a dialogue with those impacted that would carry on into and throughout 2019.
It won’t be until 2020 that planning applications will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála for the project.
That process, pending approval, will be followed by the acquisition of the land needed from 2021 onwards via compulsory purchase orders and the construction of the new corridors by 2027.
Creegan was asked yesterday if agreements need to be reached with the owners of all property along a corridor before construction can start.
“No. It goes through a planning process,” he said.
Once completed, the NTA envisages that this will radically cut commuting times for many, as buses can use continuous, dedicated lanes all the way to the city.
“With the city set to grow by 25% by 2040, the level of congestion will increase, and people’s quality of life will be eroded unless we take the appropriate actions now,” NTA CEO Anne Graham said.
The creation of the corridors – going by NTA current timelines – will conclude far later than the planned redesign of the bus route network which is currently scheduled to be implemented in 2020.
These plans would see the current route numbers scrapped in favour of new “spine routes” that go more frequently through the city centre as well as “orbital routes” that mean many don’t have to go through the city centre to reach their destination if they don’t need to.
But, after a public consultation drew over 30,000 submissions, the revised plan will not be published until “sometime” in 2019.
“It’s going to take us many months to go through those submissions before we have a revised network,” Graham said.
With reporting from Cónal Thomas
I just give up. The length of this State’s existence should be measured in scandals, not the Gregorian Calendar. It is never ending.
How careless and convenient.
What will it take for FF to bring FG down?
They don’t realise that FG new leader could be popular enough ( I don’t understand how with both ministers records of record homeless & hospital lists)to gain a few more seats leaving FF second fiddle again. Unless FF get a decent increase in min wage & social welfare than last year’s insulting pittance in the budget there be no gains for them whilst God forbid FG could be around for a second “supply & confidence” deal
@abcyz: You argue about these parties as if there is a difference between them. There isn’t, their granddads were on opposite sides of a civil war and that’s about it. Both are centre-right and both are beholden to corporate stoogery.
I wish we had a genuine alternative in this country, but we don’t. As a centrist I’d be happy to skew left if it meant a change a paradigm but, as an example, the AAA lunatics advise me we need a revolution, not an election. How can you argue with that nonsense, or remotely support it? Travesty all round.
@John Considine: Who will be properly fairer? Who will build social housing? Will will increase the recover as much as poss the slashed social welfare to the disabled? Who will give more than 10c increase to the min wage? These are the ordinary citizens concerns but Apples etc seems more important. Why??????
Is the retention of documents not normally 7 years? These reports are 20 and 22 years old. I’m not really surprised they’re gone at this stage, how long can you expect to keep a report?
@Y U no spell good?: No it’s not. A report is meant to be kept for ever. The 7 years you mention refers to the length of time raw research data such as completed questionnaires are usually retained by universities. Reports written on the basis of such data should never go missing or be destroyed. So, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe Leo’s first act as taoiseach will be to educate yfg bots.
@Anne Marie Devlin: Well all accounting and compliancy documents are only held for 7 years also so it’s an understandable question.
@Cian O Donoghue: I agree and many have the view that as soon as a document expires it is removed permanently
@Anne Marie Devlin: thanks for your wonderful help Anne Marie, you seem like a great person. I think my asking a question was an indication that I didn’t know the details and didn’t require you pointing it out as nicely as you did
So many people think they are out of range with the possible of having government corruption or poverty ( due to the way banks treat people) inflicted on them, needs to think again! Im sure the rescue helicopter crew flight 116 never though their lives would be lost due to ducking cut backs, something both of these guy’s will continue!
@collette Kearns,no point using rescue 116 to try and further your point.Cutbacks didn’t cause that tragedy.
@Teddy: was the cover that 116 was providing not supposed to be an air corp fixed wing role? Would have been a casa only that such flights had to be cutback?
Aircorps only have an inter service agreement to provide cover when they can. They are not required to provide cover. on the night in question, they couldn’t, so CG did what they’ve always done when the AC didn’t have anything available, they provided top cover to themselves with a second heli. In reality, the CG should be properly funded and have is own fixed wing aircraft. The AC are supposed to be military and surveillance assets, not rescue.
If the reports had positive results for the air corps I bet they wouldn’t be lost
@Liam Burke: Reports were ordered shredded by Air Corps Health & Safety when an NDT technician turned yellow.
The issue here is a systematic failure by the military authorities to address the Health and Safety issues affecting Aer Corps technicians over many years. Now, quite typically the authorities are moving to protect the system at all costs. Similar incidents of the destruction or loss of documents regarding for instance medical negligence cases are common place once legal action is initiated. The time limit for the retention of documents for 5-7 yrs applies to many types of documents, however it is not uncommon for such unique reports as the air quality report to be held indefinitely as a reference document or as part of an ongoing safety file. This country needs to lose its adversarial approach to this issues where in effect the state has damaged its employees health in breach of SHAWAWA.
@Robbie Masterson: @Robbie Masterson: There was a further serious failure by the Military Medical Corps who didn’t spot that 3 serving personnel in the same very small Avionics / ERF building suffered Hodgkins & Non Hodgkins Lymphoma at the same time with 2 deaths. Also 2 heart attacks of 2 men in their 20s from the same Apprentice class in the same small building as the Hodgkins issue with 1 death. Also a death from a brain tumour and Crohns of men in their 30s in same small building.
This all within 5 years of a report commissioned by a still serving and now Lt. Col that discovered Dichloromethane in the same building at 175ppm when legal limit is 50ppm.
The missing Carbon Monoxide report is also significant as Dichloromethane turns to CO in the bloodstream but can cause Carbon Monoxide poisoning if high ambient CO is also present. Dichloromethane was also used in hangars as a paint stripper, was banned in 2012 but Air Corps still had some in 2016. With jet blast exhausting towards same hangars it was a recipe for serious illness.
This is the part of the building that killed people l. Note photos was taken in 2007
http://www.accas.info/?page_id=142
Green area is where the building was located, note its size compated to cars parked in the vicinity. http://www.loc8code.com/NS4-04-YP7 Viewing the same location in Google Earth history will allow you to see the actual before it was demolished in 2008 The building is also about 8m downwind from the 3m high exhaust stack of the spray painting facility which sent Isocyanate fumes in the doors and windows of Avionics / ERF.
Building was demolished when former personnel started to request their medical files.
Paddywhackery explained through greasy lips
How convenient. I find it very hard to believe that there are absolutely no copies of this report in existence! Someone is attempting to cover arse here! It stinks!
@Edmond Mc Grath: CLARIFICATION The Department of Defence, the Defence Forces and the Irish Army Air Corps are saying they cannot locate THEIR copies of the documents.
Previously they denied even the existence of the documents.
I hate this state for what they have done to people over the years. But this is not something that can be blamed on the state. Their is thousands of airmen and women working in far worse conditions around the world and there fine. This is just a way for a small group of people to blame someone for what is actually happening every day in jobs all over the world. There’s 3 girls in the past 4 years in an office I worked in that had cancer. It’s just life.
@Rockhopper617: Research before you mouth off. 1989 Health & Safety legislation was ignored by Air Corps and won’t be fully implemented until December 2017. Multiple reports commissioned by Air Corps showed air quality exceeded legal limits but were ignored. Staff were not given any training in chemical handling nor given or trained in PPE. 20 adults dead, 5 children dead and an autism cluster as a result and approximately 60 with life changing illness. http://www.accas.info
@Chemical Brothers: Regardless of what you decide to do in life you ca
@Rockhopper617: can’t blame others for what happens naturally in life.
@Chemical Brothers:
The 1989 SHWAA was repealed by 2005 act and is no longer applicable. Chemical agent regulations 2015 (most recent version) allow a 2 year introductory period for the changing of packaging and labelling to GHS standard, so aren’t enforceable until next month. As for your reference to “autism clusters”, unless you have discovered a “cause” of autism, something which has eluded many great scientific minds for decades you have zero proof for your “autism cluster” claim.
I have no doubt that Are Corps personnel were exposed to levels far in excess of OEL’ s permitted and that those exposed were subject to Ill health as a result. However if you’re going to have a pop at someone for not doing their research you should reference the correct legislation and regulations. Also if you’re making claims of ill health you should refer to the percentage of those illnesses in the broader population (e.g. 25-30% ratio of cancer in the general population and increasing) and avoid using terms like “autism clusters” .
Reports say the toxicitie is flowing from the govt jet, any reporter commenters any clue as. To
What it my be??
Apologies for stating the obvious and i feel a great sense of anger for the people concerned. But surely copies of said reports should have been help by the people reporting this very serious issue.
@Eddie Byrne: Reports were commissioned by Engineering and Health & Safety officers. Results were not shared with enlisted personnel working with the chemicals and were ordered destroyed by same officers.
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