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Dermot Flanagan Counsel for FCC Snr. Counsel
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Seán O’Faircheallaigh Fingal Co Co Snr. Planner
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Rachel Kenny Fingal Co Co Snr. Planner
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Sean McGrath Fingal Co Co Snr. Ex. eng
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Christy O’Sullivan ILTP Transport consult
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Fionnuala May Fingal Co Co Snr Architect
(Heritage)
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Myles Farrell Fingal Co Co Snr. Exec. Planner
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Les Doyle Fingal Co Co Snr. Staff Officer
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Pat Finn Fingal Co Co Snr.Exec. engineer
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John Daly Fingal Co Co Snr.Exec. engineer
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Angela Ryan Fingal Co Co Clerical Officer
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Mary Garrick Fingal Co Co Snr.Ex. Solicitor
Appellants
Angela Lawton
Teresa Kavanagh (represented by Peter Sweetman)
Máire O’Brien
Bridget Byrne (represented by Brian Byrne)
An Taisce
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Ian Lumley An Taisce Heritage Officer
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Marina Mitrovic An Taisce Planning Manager
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Matthew Harley Portmarnock Comm. Ass.
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Joseph Fitzmaurice Portmarnock Comm. Ass.
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Frederic Walsh Acoustics consultant
Ryanair
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Martin Hayden Snr. Counsel
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Jim Callaghan Ryanair Regulatory Affairs
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Anthony Manahan Manahan Planners Town Planner
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Louise Congdon York Aviation Airport Planner
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Robert Kelly RW Kelly & Associates Engineer; Urban
Planner
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Tom Shearer Ryanair Regulatory Affairs
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Jenny Noctor A & L Goodbody Solicitor
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Lucy Nelligan A & L Goodbody Solicitor
Observers
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Trevor Sergeant Green Party
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Sheila Morris St Margaret’s Concerned Residents Group
Observers to EIS
Invitees
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Brian K Duffy DoEH&LG National Monuments Service
Chief Archaeologist
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Dr. Frederick O’Dwyer DoEH&LG Architectural Heritage Advisory
Service, Senior Architect
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Dr. Morris Aiken DoEH&LG National Parks and Wildlife
Service, ecologist
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Rory O’Connor Railway Procurement Project Director
Agency
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Ronan O’Dea National Roads Project Mngr. Engineer
Authority
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Derry O’Leary Dublin Bus BE; MSc; MBA
Other attendees
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Bridin O’Leary Comm. For Aviation Economist
Regulation
St. Margaret’s Concerned Residents who had missed the legal deadline for written appeal and observation was granted ‘observer’ status by the inspector.
Preliminaries
Following opening of the hearing (16/04/2007) and outlining minor amendments to the previously circulated format of the hearing the inspector invited parties to introduce themselves. This was followed by introduction of those invited by the inspector to provide expert opinion.
Mr. Sweetman stated that the planning authority documents showed no evidence that an assessment was carried out by the regulatory authority (in this case Fingal County Council ) as required by Article 3 of the EIA Directive. He further stated that as the DAA was an emanation of the state and as An Board Pleánala was also an emanation of the state direct effect of the Directive had to come into place. He inquired if the hearing a review as required under Article 10(a) of the amended Directive (2003/335).
Mr. Flanagan did not accept that there was not an adequate assessment of the EIS, and if there were such a view no doubt Mr. Sweetman would explain during the course of the hearing for the adjudication of the Board. He emphasised that as this was an appeal, the process was starting all over again.
Mr. Sweetman inquired whether the hearing was not a review under 10(a) and rather consideration of the application as if it was made in the first instance. The inspector confirmed that the application was being considered de novo.
Mr. Lumley stated that amendments to the format would cause inconvenience to third parties who did not have financial facilities at the same level as the others, and questioned why the format of the EIA Directive was not followed in the hearing. He asked whether Climate could be discussed under a separate module where specialist witnesses could be provided and others could be questioned. He also asked if ‘interactions’ would be discussed under ‘other’.
The inspector pointed out that the amendments were minor and that the inspector had discretion regarding the format of the hearing. Confirmed that ‘interactions’ would be discussed under each module, and that though it was intended that ‘climate change’ would be discussed in the same module as ‘air quality and emissions’, it could be discussed as a separate module to facilitate attendance of specialist witnesses.
Mr. Lumley requested that a video link be provided to facilitate expert witnesses. Inspector stated that such a facility was not being provided. Mr. Lumley inquired if there was a technical difficulty as the hotel did have such a facility and stated that absence of such facility would inhibit their ability to provide a witness. The inspector noted and stated that the matter would be brought to the Board’s attention.
Mr. Harley stated that the DAA has considered the hearing to be redundant as they had told to the Aviation Regulator that it was a government policy under Aviation Action Plan, and he should stop inquiries regarding costs. The inspector stated that the comments made outside were not a matter for consideration in the hearing. In response to the argument that the proposal constituted project splitting, the inspector stated that the issue of project splitting would be discussed in detail later.
Brief description of development
At the invitation of the inspector Mr. Alan Lamond (Director of Pascal Watson Architects, and lead architect for the T2 project) provided a brief description of the proposed development. (exhibit A- 16/04/2007)
They were applying for a ten year permission for a new terminal facility to be located to the east of the existing terminal building, incorporating the existing pier C. the site outlined was 33 ½ ha. The development consisted of
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A new terminal building to be completed in two phases (with an overall area of 92 000m2 and overall height of 35m.)
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A three storey pier building with 18m height and 23000m2 floor area to accommodate 19 air bridges
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2-storey over basement energy centre
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external service yard
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re-alignment of the external access
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re-configuration of the coach parking area
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re-configuration of the taxi pick-up and drop off areas
The proposal also included demolition of Corballis house, a Protected Structure
The primary functions at the departure level were check-in desks at 56 positions, security area and departure lounge with 5600m2 retail and 2700m2 catering facilities.
The arrivals level included baggage hall. Baggage handling etc, were at the apron level.
The design provided a simple but comparatively unusual approach to road systems.
There was a clear differentiation of traffic to T1 and T 2, and clear differentiation of departure kerb and arrival kerb
The design included future integration of underground metro station at the heart of the campus under the GCT
The building would have 75000m2 in the first phase and 92000m2 in the second phase. One unique feature was centrally located way-finding spine. The terminal incorporated the existing pier C.
The driving principle was to provide a passenger experience as enjoyable as possible which would be easily understood and as straight forward as possible.
There were no level changes at the arrivals hall where 75% of the passengers would move into car park / Ground Transportation Centre, while 25% dropped to forecourt.
For arriving passengers it provided a spacious and welcoming point of entry.
He described passenger experiences with the help of diagrams noting that it was radically different from T1.
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The building faced kerbside directly and with simple architectural treatment provided a welcoming environment.
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Following check-in the passenger would move comfortably through security and the to spacious departure lounge with spectacular views over the airfield and the landscape beyond.
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Pier E was a simple elegant building with 19 gates.
The landscape design with woodland, pools and lawns reflected the primary attributes of a modern airport complex and provided the setting for an elegant building with 2 curvelinear back-to-back elements. The high level bridge unified the two. The double curvature created a powerful experience and facilitated natural way finding.
The proposed development utilised the inherent characteristics of the setting but also refreshed the approach to T1, creating a headroom and easing the congestion.
This was arguably the most important public building to cater for 15 million passengers ( three times the population of Ireland) annually in an efficient, appropriate, sustainable and elegant building.
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