asked the Minister for Local Government if in respect of the current planning appeal before him from the Dún Laoghaire Borough Corporation's decision refusing permission for the erection of a department store service station, site development and car park at Frascati Park, Blackrock, and also refusing outline permission for an office block and hotel in this park, he will indicate when he expects to reach a decision in this matter; and if in any decision he will bear in mind the preservation of the existing 18th century residence of the Irish patriot, Lord Edward Fitzgerald.
Written Answers. - Blackrock (Dublin) Development.
277.
Frascati Estates Limited appealed to me on 15th December, 1971, against decisions of Dún Laoghaire Borough Corporation, as planning authority, refusing planning permissions for proposed developments. They requested an oral hearing of their appeals and this was being arranged for 8th February, 1972, in the Courthouse, Dún Laoghaire, at 10.30 a.m. However, on 21 January, 1972, the developers wrote, through their solicitors, to my Department to the effect that they had discussed the matter with the planning authority and had decided to make fresh applications to the planning authority which they hoped would satisfy the planning authority's grounds of objections and remove them. They accordingly asked that the oral hearing being arranged for 8th February, 1972, be postponed. I considered it best to await the outcome of these fresh applications to the planning authority and accordingly I have postponed the oral hearing.
I would remind the Deputy that the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, and the regulations thereunder indicate the matters which I should take into account in determining a planning appeal and the procedure to be followed before a decision is taken. In particular, the regulations indicate that, where on oral hearing is being held, a relevant matter to be taken into account should be put to parties to the appeal so that there is an opportunity of considering the views of all parties on it at the oral hearing. I trust that on reflection the Deputy will agree that it would be more appropriate if the consideration he mentions were put to the local authority in the first instance and, in the case of an appeal, raised through the appeals procedure rather than through the procedure of parliamentary questions.