Poolbeg Housing For Votes Scheme Being Managed.

As soon as all the heat on the Dublin Docklands Developers Autocracy (DDDA) dies down Tammany Hall will be back in business at the Irish Glass Bottle Site.   

As of now the politicians are waiting for the honest NAMA scheme to replace the honest independent DDDA's schemes.  The local boundaries have already been honestly gerrymandered by a totally independent quango, absurdly dividing Sandymount in two. A major benefit for local politicians is the reinforcement of the class division between Ringsend & Sandymount.   The blatant divide & conquer gerrymander facilitates the vote-management by established ward masters. At €500 million of taxpayers money the votes from IGB are a bargain.

DDDAs so-called public consultation process for their developers Poolbeg Plan was a total circus, which they now indirectly admit.  During the consultation circus their brass-necked employees vehemently denied any conflicts of interest.  They also 're-purposed' curiously flawed work from DCC and pulled lots more strokes.  Judge McKechnie condemned DCC's work as "massaged" and "undue influence".  DDDA itself has been judged to have acted illegally ("ultra vires").

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Dockland homes plan put on hold

By Cormac Murphy
Monday April 05 2010

AMBITIOUS plans by Dublin docklands chiefs for a new urban quarter in Poolbeg are on hold.
The scheme, which would have seen 10,000 new homes being built, was to be constructed on lands including the controversial Irish Glass Bottle site.
However, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) is conducting a re-evaluation of the project, delaying it significantly.
The Glass Bottle site was bought in 2006 for €412m by Becbay, a consortium headed by developer Bernard McNamara, who has since been hit by severe financial difficulties.
A neighbouring 12-acre site is owned by Fabrizia Developments, a company run by effectively insolvent developer Liam Carroll.
Labour's Kevin Humphreys, who is a DDDA council member and city councillor, said the entire Poolbeg scheme was "under review".
"I don't think anything is going to happen with that until the land is under one owner (NAMA)," he added.
However, he said the Glass Bottle site is the most likely one to be developed once the economy recovers, given its proximity to the city centre.
The DDDA told the Herald the preparation of the "Draft Poolbeg Planning Scheme and Environmental Impact Statement continued during 2009".
"Following the consultation period, 111 submissions were received which are under consideration," it stated.
It stated: "In light of the 2008 High Court judgment against the authority which inter alia addressed its dual mandate as a development and planning agency, the executive board have commissioned a review of the scheme specifically in regard to the procedure applied in its preparation and the development concept proposed."
As well as the thousands of new homes, the new quarter would have accommodated 16,000 workers in office space.
The proposals would have to be ratified by the Minister for the Environment.
comurphy@herald.ie

- Cormac Murphy