Airport will become a liability BY JOHN MANNING - Fingal Independent 1 Nov 06
That was the sensational claim of UPROAR's Matt Harley in his address to last week's conference on airport sustainability. Mr Harley said that a proper cost/benefit analysis had not been conducted on the second runway project and that the real cost to the taxpayer would be enormous. UPROAR, the Portmarnock-based group opposing the second parallel runway, claims the new runway will use hundreds of acres of land and restrict development on hundreds of acres more. Mr Harley told the conference that the minimum cost to the state based on the 'opportunity value' of land that will be used up by the project is at least €2.6 billion. He said that a 'conservative value' of the land that the runway project will use or 'sterilise' for the development, would be €1 million an acre. He rejected the argument that the land-bank is zoned for airport use anyway and not available for commercial development, saying that Fingal County Council had already rezoned airport land to facilitate commercial development around the metro. _________________ Village in Terminal decline now: locals By John Manning RESIDENTS of St Margaret's have said the destruction of their village has moved one step closer with the announcement that Terminal Two at Dublin airport will go ahead. Members
of the St Margaret's Concerned Residents Group made up a huge Adrienne McDonnell, spokesperson for the group said: 'This is just the icing on the cake for what seems to be a done deal between DAA, Fingal County Council and the Department of Transport. 'It is very obvious that DAA is trying to plough head with their plans for the second terminal, new runway and a new network of roads to service both, to complete their carefully concocted master plan, without any consideration or who or what gets in their way.' Ms McDonnell said the second parallel runway and T2 projects show a 'blatant disregard' for the people of St Margaret's, many of whom have farmed in the area for generations. The group has written to the Fingal County Manager to demand that the council removes two indicative roads from the Airport Masterplan whuch they say 'dissect' Kilreesk Lane in St Margaret's. They said residents in the area were being 'bombarded from all angles' by the masterplan and the ongoing expansion of Dublin Airport. One of those Kilreesk residents who lodged an objection to the project was Declan McDonnell who said residents in the area would 'suffer major changes which will totally change the character of our homes and our surroundings'. He said the network of roads needed to serve the new terminal would 'decimate our homes, our lives, past and our future'. __________________________
THE decision to grant permission for T2 is likely to face several appeals with Ryanair and Uproar already declaring an intention to appeal. They are likely to be joined by others given that 28 objections were lodged to the original planning file for the project. Of that number, 18 objections came from the St Margaret's area from residents primarily around the Kilreesk area who believe the ongoing expansion of Dublin Airport will wipe them off the map. Joining them was Uproar, the Portmarnock-based group who believes a nationwide study of the airport needs of the whole country should be conducted before any further expansion is allowed at Dublin Airport. There were also headline-grabbing objections from Ryanair and Ulick McEvaddy who have plans for their own competing terminals at the airport. An Taisce also has a problem with the development, calling it 'premature' in its objection and saying the expansion of Dublin Airport was being done without 'adequate strategic environmental assessment'. Several
residents in Cloghran, including the Turnapin Residents Association,
also lodged objections saying the resulting road works would impact
on their quality of life, severely. |