Uimhir Thagarta Uathúil: 
CVQ-1146
Stádas: 
Submitted
Údar: 
Shirley O,Brien
Líon na ndoiciméad faoi cheangal: 
1
Teorainneacha Gafa ar an léarscáil: 
Níl
Údar: 
Shirley O,Brien

Observations

Masterplan Brewery and Variations to Development Plan

Caibidil: 

Dear Sirs,

I object to the Abbey Creative Quarter Masterplan being voted on as it stands, I object in principle on the following grounds;

I also object to any variations to the County Development Plan as it does not follow due process as set out in the recommendations of the Re-Visioning document;

Premature Pending EPA Sign Off

The site has not yet had been signed off by the EPA and is therefore not decommissioned and signed over to the county council so it is therefore premature.

Premature Pending New CEO

With a new CEO and senior executive team coming in to position in the next few weeks it is only right and proper that they have an opportunity to analyse and evaluate the existing masterplan and and proposed variations to the County Development plan as they will be responsible for delivering these projects. I believe that it would be irresponsible of the County Councillors to vote on this draft plan at this stage.

Premature Pending Adoption of Masterplan

It is a recommendation of the re-visioning document produced by the planning department see page number 76 recommendation number 5 that "The proposed Variation to the City and Environs Development plan will not commence until the Masterplan for the area has been finalised and approved by elected members of Kilkenny County Council, this process is not following through on that recommendation and is therefore flawed. I submit that this recommendation should be followed.

Footnote 63 of document named Proposed Variation No.1 of Kilkenny City and Environs Development plan 2014-2020 puts the Masterplan on a statutory footing and this again goes against recommendation No.5 of the Re-Visioning document.

At the County Council meeting of July 20th 2015 a motion was put forward to the Council for representatives of minority sports to make representation to the county council, this motion was supported unanimously by the elected members and Cllr Andrew McGuinness pointed out that a commitment had already been made by the Borough Council to provide a rink as part of the plan, this needs to be further explored before the Masterplan is put on a Statutory footing in the County Development plan

Full Archaeological Excavation is Required

To date there has been a very high level of public engagement in terms of consultation both through engagement in the re-visioning workshops and written submission, unfortunately the recommendations from the public do not appear to be taken on board within the new version of the Masterplan (See Re-visioning document for details). For example the resounding opinion of the public which included Councillors, business people and citizens alike had an almost unanimous view that there should be a comprehensive archaeological excavation on the site, however the terms of reference of the Archaeological strategy set out by the council executive falls far short of this and contains the excavation to 3 specific areas of the site. Comprehensive archaeological investigations should be completed at the first stage of the development to inform what construction could take place on the site.

The view from Michael Street to St Francis Abbey should be included as a protected view.

In conclusion, I respectfully submit that it is premature to vote on this Masterplan document at this time, it should be deemed unwise and irresponsible to vote on a plan of this scale which will have have such significant consequences for many generations to come without much more discussion, consultation and the exact implications of any such vote, it is rare that such a plan would come before any council and caution, due process, deep and careful consideration of the implications of the plan should be at the forefront of each of the Councillors minds before voting on this.

Faisnéis

Uimhir Thagarta Uathúil: 
CVQ-1146
Stádas: 
Submitted
Líon na ndoiciméad faoi cheangal: 
1
Teorainneacha Gafa ar an léarscáil: 
Níl

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