#DunLaoghaire - Plans by the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company to build a 400m berth for cruise liners have raised the ire of local dinghy sailors - whose petition to save their sport has attracted nearly 1,500 signatures.
Now local resident Roger Bannon has joined the chorus of disapproval, expressing his confusion at the reasoning behind the harbour company's plans in his submission as part of the ongoing public consultation.
Read what he had to say in his letter below:
I am utterly confused by the rationale purported to underlie this proposal.
Dublin Port has already made the decision to significantly enhance its facilities for accommodating cruise liners.
Consequently, I fail to understand the business case for replicating such a facility so adjacently in Dun Laoghaire, a location with much inferior infrastructure which will require major dredging and construction.
Furthermore, it does seem strange that such a berthing facility could be regarded as a safe all-weather mooring for large vessels when the harbour is so exposed to north-easterly gales which can produce a significant 'scend' in parts of the harbour which are not protected by a breakwater.
The business community in Dun Laoghaire cannot identify any local commercial benefits arising from this proposal.
- Most visitors from cruise liners spend very little time ashore and in the case of Dun Laoghaire; the vast majority will get on the DART or a coach tour bus and head into Dublin for a few hours.
- There are no attractions in Dun Laoghaire which could justify trying to persuade liner passengers spending time in the area.
- The installation of the planned infrastructure to accommodate cruise liners would destroy much of the attractiveness of the harbour for both visitors and residents.
If this totally unsuitable development is allowed to proceed, the so-called economic benefits will be greatly outweighed by the loss of existing established economic activities generated by visitors to the piers and leisure boating users of the harbour.
Dun Laoghaire Harbour is an iconic, long-established community resource enjoyed by Dubliners for hundreds of years. It is not a commercial opportunity waiting to be developed by a QUANGO with no accountability to the local community.
It is a wonderful unique facility which would be envied by most other major cities but there seems to be a determination to desecrate it in the interest of generating an economic return.
Can the Harbour Board point to a precedent elsewhere in the world where the creation of major cruise liner berthing facility has worked to the benefit of a location and its community when immediately adjacent to a major city?
The truly successful facilities, such as Vancouver, Southampton, Sydney, etc have one major obvious attribute in common which is that the berths are all located virtually in the heart of the city, usually within a short walk or taxi ride of the city centre.
The days of Dun Laoghaire harbour being used as a commercial port are now over. There is no need for a Harbour Board and this master plan looks like an exercise in self-perpetuation of an unjustified bureaucracy.
- The maritime responsibilities for the harbour should be devolved to Dublin Port.
- The overall responsibility for the harbour should be allocated to the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
- All future development of the harbour and its environs should be for the benefit of the local community and the larger Dublin Metropolitan Area which regularly enjoys its traditional and relaxing charms.
- It is a national resource which should be treated, valued and preserved in a manner similar to the Phoenix Park.
- The entire plan is comprised of vague wishful thinking with no financial or economic validation.
- The local community, residents and businesses do not want it.
- The logic of going into direct competition with Dublin Port has not been justified.
- There are no drawings which illustrate the visual impact of the proposed development on the environment.
There is no meaningful evaluation of the impact of these proposals on the existing users of the harbour.