Homeowners in Dartmouth Square have urged An Bord Pleanála to block the proposal put forth by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) for the establishment of a Metrolink terminus station in Charlemont nearby. They believe that their Victorian-style homes would be subjected to “severe” damage according to the current proposal.
At a planning hearing on Tuesday, Leo Crehan, a resident and chartered civil engineer from Dartmouth Square West, requested An Bord Pleanála to eliminate the Charlemont station from the approved Metrolink project due to potential harm to residences on Dartmouth Square.
Crehan, citing the statements of a structural engineer at an earlier An Bord Pleanála hearing, stated that the construction of the terminus station could lead to severe damage to Dartmouth Square residences, possibly making them uninhabitable. He explained that the ground movement predicted by TII, considering the vintage and characteristics of Dartmouth Square homes, would lead to substantial damage.
Crehan criticised the applicant for disregarding the potentially devastating impact on adjacent homes and blindly proceeding with the station construction plans. Dartmouth Square residences, classified as protected structures by Dublin City Council, are not typical homes, he remarked.
Crehan suggested that the terminus doesn’t need to be located where it could cause severe damage to protected structures in an architectural conservation area. These protection designations aren’t granted lightly and were given to prevent acts of architectural desecration by property holders, developers, and state agencies, he highlighted. He questioned, “Why are we even discussing the acceptability of a potential development that could demolish a strip of protected structures?”
Crehan, in his plea to An Bord Pleanála to cancel the Charlemont project, alluded to the razing of 16 Georgian buildings on Fitzwilliam Street in the 60s to accommodate a purpose-built office block for the ESB headquarters.
One of the residents of Dartmouth Square, John Conway, has appealed against the decision to permit Charlemont Dartmouth Square to turn into another planning catastrophe like ESB Fitzwilliam Street, insisting on the removal of the station at Charlemont from the approved proposals.
The proposed Metroklink rail line, stretching 18.8km, is geared up from the north of Swords, past Dublin Airport and onto Ballymun, Glasnevin, O’Connell Street, and St Stephen’s Green, finally terminating at Charlemont. Route involves 16 stations, and estimated duration of a journey from Swords to Dublin city, is 25 minutes. The project comes with an approximated €9.5 billion price tag.
John Conway, a resident of Dartmouth Square, is concerned about the rail project as proposed by TII. He fears the Victorian Square’s western side “won’t survive”, severely affecting its overall structure. This has led him to contemplate the sale of his property at Dartmouth Square.
He pleaded with An Bord Pleanála to acknowledge Charlemont’s inadequacy as the rail line’s terminus. Responding to this, Jennifer Harmon, TII’s noise and vibration expert has assured that the authority has mindful considerations of noise impacts and has adopted numerous measures to minimise their effects.
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