Councillors meet behind closed doors next week to debate a redevelopment plan that has divided a community, writes Fiona Gartland.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillors are to meet behind closed doors next week, in a bid to settle one of the most controversial planning issues in the area in recent times. Everybody agrees the town's derelict baths must be redeveloped, but the long-running question is how.
In the wake of 50 other proposals that have been rejected over the years, the plan - produced by council architects - that is currently before the councillors is ambitious and stylish with a large element of public amenity, as well as 180 private apartments in an eight-storey block. The council argues that to fund the former, the latter is essential.
Opponents say the view will be ruined, there are other ways to fund public amenities and "privatising" the seafront does not have to be one of them.
The private meeting, described as a "workshop", will take place before the public consultation process is complete and a week ahead of a formal public council meeting, when councillors are expected to vote on the controversial waterside plan.
The issue has been divisive in Dún Laoghaire, with councillors struggling to balance the commercial realities of developing public facilities with local residents' strong sense of ownership of the seashore. For some representatives, their individual position on this issue could be sink or swim.
The €140m proposal includes an indoor swimming and leisure complex and a maritime park on five acres of infilled seashore, as well as the 180 apartments, of which 36 have been earmarked as social and affordable, over retail units and restaurants. The design also includes a 10-storey circular glass tower with a viewing platform, a plaza for open-air events and a promenade to link the Forty Foot in Sandycove with the East Pier.
The Kingstown District Council built Dún Laoghaire Baths between 1905 and 1911, replacing the Royal Victorian Baths constructed in 1843, on a rocky escarpment fronting on to Queen's Road and opposite the People's Park. The baths were closed in the 1980s and since 1997, 48 individual plans and two architectural competitions to develop the site have been rejected on various grounds including privatisation and height.
The director of the council's culture, community development and amenities department, Charles McNamara, says the new plan is deceptive in terms of height.
"Although it is eight storeys, some are sunk below the level of the road and so do not appear so high," he points out. "The listed views, protected in the County Development Plan, are not interfered with." He says the council would not make a profit on the private apartments but would simply "balance the books".
Some councillors have already made their views known, while others are walking the thin line between the vocal opposition of voters and groups such as Save Our Seafront (SOS), and the desire to see the site successfully developed.
LABOUR COUNCILLORS ARE divided on the issue. An Cathaoirleach, Cllr Niamh Bhreathnach, has been supportive of the plan, saying that it presents a "once in a lifetime opportunity to give Dún Laoghaire what it deserves; leisure and recreational amenities that would make the area a destination for locals and visitors alike". Her party colleague Jane Dillon Byrne has joined forces with the Labour TD for the area, Eamon Gilmore, to oppose it. She says she has not had so much correspondence opposing anything since "contraception in the 1970s".
Green Party councillors in the area are against it, calling for a more modest development in keeping with the character of Dún Laoghaire.
Minister for Education and local Fianna Fáil TD Mary Hanafin maintains the scale and height of the plan is unsuitable for the location, while her colleague, Barry Andrews TD, says local people would benefit from the new facilities and it would be a major attraction for visitors. Fianna Fáil councillor Cormac Devlin says he would be willing to discuss credible alternatives.
Progressive Democrats councillor Mary Mitchell O'Connor says she wants to see amenities for young people but has major reservations about the plan. And her party colleague, Fiona O'Malley TD, describes it as "all wrong and wholly inappropriate" for Dún Laoghaire.
Fine Gael councillor John Bailey says he will not vote for high rise on the site and Cllr Eugene Regan suggests a hotel might be more appropriate.
Business interests in Dún Laoghaire are also keen to see the site developed and would like a hotel. However, many local people have expressed their opposition to the plan, both through SOS and directly to their political representatives.
Councillors will also have to consider the current zoning for the area, which allows for waterfront development but includes residential only as "open for consideration". They will have to take into account the Glasthule Battery on the site, which is proposed for National Monument status, and that the planned infill is part of a proposed Natural Heritage Area.
BUT IT'S NOT just up to the Dún Laoghaire councillors. While they may have a free hand to oppose the plan, the whip may be applied outside the ward, with an agreement made to ensure that a sufficient number of other councillors vote for the proposals. But given the strong opposition, it is more likely that a compromise may be found, with a smaller private element and a consequent reduction in height.
If the councillors do accept the proposals, the plan will go through the formal process of application to An Bord Pleanála, with a more detailed public display and a possible oral hearing.
Though no vote will be taken at next Tuesday's private meeting, discussions there could well determine the future of Dún Laoghaire Baths.
The Dún Laoghaire Baths development plan will be on display Tues-Fri from 10am to 7pm in Dún Laoghaire County Hall