Brewery Masterplan-An Taisce Submission

Movement – revised

1. Vehicle Movement

‘ …provision must be made for limited vehicular access’.

We recommend that the conditions around vehicular access should be specified at this stage, and we suggest that delivery vehicles be 2-axle only, and residential car parking be located away from all contact with children’s play areas and front of dwelling houses.

The Street from the CAS to Bateman’s Quay has the potential to disrupt the peaceful space around the Abbey and the Park. We do not approve of a continuous street and believe that the area to the East of the Abbey should be limited to cyclists and pedestrians and should not be traversed by vehicles.

Vehicle access to the entire area must be strictly limited and if parking is required for any businesses on site, then it must be provided elsewhere.

‘Key to the delivery of a successful cycle network is the provision of a complete supporting infrastructure. This includes providing secure cycle parking facilities at popular destinations  ’. We recommend that this proposal be expanded as follows:

….such facilities will include covered cycle parks (such as that very recently constructed at County Hall), and will provide maximum efficiency in use of space and security measures (such as enclosed lockable pods).

1. Public Transportation Strategy

‘Public transport policy is primarily bus and taxi service…’.  However, at present in the city, potential bus passengers need to be psychic to understand where bus

4.2.   Urban Design Strategy.

4.3.3 Linear Park Strategy

It is important that a balance is struck between the city ‘River Garden’ concept, and the protection of the natural habitats at the rivers edges. There is value in having formal gardens, but it must not be at the expense of the riverside wildlife and habitats. At present swans are nesting on the River Nore west bank at the Smithwicks’ bottling plant, and there have been kingfishers nesting at the same location in very recent years. Exiting trees should be retained if possible.

For safety reasons there should be separation of pedestrians and cyclists in the riverside park.

The skatepark location will be vital to getting buy-in from young people to the whole diversity and integration of the site. Their views should be sought on location, design, and facilities.

4.3.5 Public Park

There is a dearth of large trees in the city centre and this park should be designed to incorporate trees (e.g. oak, beech, horse chestnut & Scots pine) which will grow to a much larger size than the linear garden may be able to accommodate.

1. New Building Strategy

We note the commitment to ‘Compile an Architectural Design Guide specifying the building design requirements for each plot within the masterplan area’. Good architectural design is desirable for all structures onsite, as its absence in the recently constructed Lady Dysart pedestrian bridge is obvious.

We are concerned that it is proposed to put all Community Housing on Plot 1. If this is done we urge that the houses be arranged in groups around communal green spaces that may be used as safe children play areas and garden production units, with only pedestrian/cycle circulation allowed. Vehicle access roads and communal parking spaces should be provided to the rear of the dwellings (see example from 1973 at Newpark Lawn Estate designed by Burke, Kennedy and Doyle). The recent tragic Jake Brennan case has highlighted the risks associated with poor design of housing estates in Kilkenny. The design for social housing provided in Section 5.3 (Stage 3) does not address this issue at all.

The value of shared garden production units (much smaller than allotments and thus suitable for the city centre) for social integration of the resident community should be recognized – ‘Without common land no social system can survive’ (C. Alexander, Appendix F).

City centres can be very suitable places for sheltered residential accommodation especially for the elderly. Consideration should be given to the provision of this, possibly on Plot 2 of the site, if the noise and nuisance of the CAS can be effectively mitigated.