With the permission of the House, I am sharing my time with Senator Conroy and, if he appears, Senator Cosgrave.
The matter on the Adjournment is the need for the Minister for the Marine to hold a public inquiry into any proposed infill and housing development at the West Pier, Dún Laoghaire.
I have had this matter down for the Adjournment for some time, indeed for nearly a year now, because of the horrific proposal which I became aware of last year to infill 70 acres of the sea at Dún Laoghaire.
The first thing I should say to the Minister is that the local reaction to this proposal has been instant and extremely vocal and very widespread. The reaction of the local people who set up an association to counter this proposal, the Seapoint and Salthill Association, was to collect 16,000 signatures opposed to the proposal. That by any standards, and these were the signatures of people who live in the area, is a very large number opposed to this proposal. The proposal, as I understand it, depends on the particular area of the sea of which we are speaking being re-zoned to being harbour related. At the monent the 70 acres proposed for infill are coastal amenity zoned, and the proposal to change it to harbour related will come up before Dún Laoghaire Corporation fairly shortly. Harbour related is a very broad term, virtually allowing the corporation to do as they wish with the area involved. If this area is re-zoned as harbour related the next proposal will be to build a complex to the west of the west pier. Such development would destroy the environment and destroy the area irreparably. The proposals are to infill the 70 acres and build houses, car parking, supermarkets and a whole complex, a new small town or village in Dún Laoghaire, which would destroy not only Dún Laoghaire but would ruin Dublin Bay itself. Dublin Bay is obviously in constant danger from property developers and this proposal would simply open the floodgates to infilling along the bay in a way which would be totally unacceptable to environmentalists. There have been serious objections to this proposal, not only by the residents whose environment would be damaged by it but by other groups of whom this House and the Government should be very conscious and to whose concerns they should be sensitive. I mention in particular the Irish Wild bird Conservancy who have objected strongly to any interference with the environment here let alone a 70 acre infill. I should qualify that by saying I do not think anybody objects to a small infill in this area to allow a marino of two or three acres. Nobody is taking a totally intransigent stance on this issue but the Irish Wildbird Conservancy, because this area is a particularly important area of wetland, because it actually houses migrating birds during the winter, are adamant that it should not be interfered with, that it should not be destroyed. It is listed as the fifteenth most important area of this sort in the world. To tinker with the environment and with migrating birds in this way is totally unacceptable in the new environmentally sensitive world in which we live.
There are also serious scientific questions from leading hydrologists about this lunatic proposal. It seems to me that what has happened is that the corporation are entertaining this idea because they are not properly advised at this stage about this proposal. A leading hydrologist, Dr. Peter McCabe, has said at public meetings time and again that if the sand from the west pier has to be moved — which this proposal would involve — it might well have the effect of silting up the mouth of Dublin Bay. This proposal does not appear to have been properly considered by Dún Laoghaire Corporation.
It is not just for technical reasons that we should object to the proposal. I do not think it is a primary reason that it is not feasible. It is for environmental reasons that this idea should be summarily thrown out by the corporation under pressure from the Minister. A public inquiry would reveal the warts of the proposal. The area is a primary area for sea anglers, for canoeing, for bait catching. It is an amenity area and always has been. To put housing in the sea in this small area would clog up the area even more with traffic. Houses have been built in the last few months on the basis of the wonderful view from them of Dublin Bay, that they are in a wonderful environmental position. To establish this extraordinary complex in this place would destroy that view. I cannot understand what the thinking behind this proposal is, what the thinking behind even accepting such a proposal from property developers is, when there is plenty of land in south Dublin and in the Dún Laoghaire area where building could take place. If there is such a demand for houses they must be put elsewhere. One of the things we do not lack in Ireland is space for housing. I ask the Minister to intervene as soon as possible by making a public gesture to put a stop to this appalling proposal.
