A proactive approach is needed from the Minister to ensure the Tara area is protected, writes Prof Gabriel Cooney
As an archaeologist researching and teaching in the Department of Archaeology, UCD I have been frequently asked where I stand on the M3 and Tara issue.
I am in principle opposed to the siting of the motorway through the Tara/Skryne valley to the east of the Hill of Tara, more properly titled the valley of the river Gowra. It could be strongly argued that sufficient weight was not given to the iconic significance of Tara in the decision-making process. Undoubtedly the motorway will have an impact on the wider landscape setting of both the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne.
But it has to be recognised that an extensive planning process, stretching back several years, has been properly undertaken as the mandatory background for the construction of what is considered to be a key infrastructural development.
In the directions issued by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche, to Meath County Council, detailed comments made by the director of the National Museum, Dr Patrick Wallace, have been taken into account and additional assessment of sites prior to excavation will take place.
Explicit provision has been made for extra time and resources to be provided where required for the satisfactory completion of excavations. All this is to be welcomed, but it seems to place the focus very much on the removal of the archaeology from the ground. It is crucial that this work is conducted within a clear and coherent research strategy, so that the maximum amount of knowledge comes into the public domain.
Alongside the archaeological work, it is now imperative that the landscape character of the valley is protected from secondary development. As acknowledged in his press statement, the Minister (and/or Meath County Council) also has the power under the Planning and Development Act 2000 to proactively sustain the character of the wider Tara landscape. This could be done by the Minister directing the local authority to designate it either as an Area of Special Amenity or as a Landscape Conservation Area, as set out under sections 202 and 204 of the Act.
But how is this landscape area to be defined? Landscape issues have been at the nub of the debate about the impact of the motorway on Tara. The inspector appointed by An Bord Pleanála was satisfied that the route would not have a significant impact on the archaeological landscapes associated with the Hill of Tara or with the Hill of Skryne. However, definition of these landscapes was primarily based on the concentration of archaeological features on both of these hills. What came into focus in the debate is a very different sense of what the Tara landscape is.
I think all sides could agree that the core areas of the archaeological landscape at Tara are the hill-tops of Tara itself and Skryne. Around these is a wider zone which provides the setting for these core areas. Changes in this buffer zone can detrimentally impact on the character of the landscape, historic and modern. This is explicitly recognised in the Meath County Development Plan 2001 where the Hill of Tara was identified as an area of high amenity. A wider zone around it, called the Tara and Dunsany District was recognised and defined as a distinct area of visual quality (Area VQ9), extremely sensitive to all categories of development as they would detract from the appearance, character and quality of the area. This was the basis for the local authority's refusal to grant planning permission for a golf course after An Bord Pleanála had approved the motorway route. The area forms part of a Strategic Green Belt in the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area.
Hence there is an existing landscape designation in the county development plan which can be further detailed in the new plan currently in preparation.
Allowing a major national infrastructural project as a transport corridor within the buffer zone might be deemed to be acceptable. However, given the very strong and clear recognition of the landscape sensitivity in the development plan, there should be a full and clear statement and commitment from the NRA and Meath County Council on the measures they are planning to take account of the particular character of the landscape in the design of that section of the route.
A proactive approach and direction by the Minister under the planning legislation would give much needed reassurance that the motorway will not become the gateway for further development and that there will be an active policy to maintain the character of the buffer zone as an appropriate setting for the Hill of Tara.
Prof Gabriel Cooney, Department of Archaeology, UCD, IRCHSS Government of Ireland Senior Research Fellow 2004-5