Our Ref: 29N.

PA0043
P.A.Reg.Ref:

An Bord Pleanala

Your Ref:

Elida Maiques
22 Cameron Square
Kilmainham
Dublin 8
6th October 2015

Re: Health Infrastructure Development comprising National Paediatric

Hospital, Innovation Centre and Family Accommodation Unit at St
James' Hospital Campus, Satellite Centres at Tallaght & Connolly
Hospitals and Construction Compound at Davitt Road, Dublin.
Dear Madam,
An Bord Pleamila has received your recent submission in relation to the above mentioned proposed development and will
take it into consideration in its detennination of the matter. A receipt for the fee lodged is enclosed.
The Board will revert to you in due course with regard to the matter.
Please be advised that copies of all submissions I observations received in relation to the application will be made
available for public inspection at the offices of Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County
Council and at the offices of An Bord Pleamila when they have been processed by the Board.
If you have any queries in the meantime please contact the undersigned officer of the Board. Please quote the above
mentioned An Bord Pleamila reference number in any correspondence or telephone contact with the Board.
Yours faithfully,

n Somers
tive Officer
Direct Line:Ol-8737107
Encls.
ADHOC/PA0043/0I

fell {01) !!~K !IIIMI Tel

Glau f.oritiil IK'lO ~H 175 Lt>Call

Sr:iitl 1\.l;~uolhhritlc.
ll.ulc f.tha Chulh I

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!Juhlin I

Our Ref: 29N.PA0043

P.A.Reg.Ref:
Your Ref:

Paul O'Neill
National Paediatric Hospital Development Board
C/0 G.V.A. Planning & Regeneration
Floor 2, Seagrave House
19-20 Earlsfort Terrace
Dublin 2
5th October 2015

Re: Health Infrastructure Development comprising National Paediatric

Hospital, Innovation Centre and Family Accommodation Unit at St
James' Hospital Campus, Satellite Centres at Tallaght & Connolly
Hospitals and Construction Compound at Davitt Road, Dublin.
Dear Sir,
Enclosed for your information is a copy of submission(s) received by the Board in relation to the above mentioned
proposed development.
If you have any queries in relation to the matter please contact the undersigned officer of the Board.
Please quote the above mentioned An Bord Pleamila reference number in any correspondence or telephone contact with
the Board.
Yours faithfully,

Encls.
PAOS.LTR

Tcil tUI 1!!5!! XHMl Tel

Gl.u Ai1i1iil l!!'IU 275 175 LnCall

1>-1 Sniid 1\lanllhhruk.
Baile Atha Clialh 1

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Kinrnhphtl\1 IM>r<f(1i pkanahuc (m;ul

<>-1

:.tnrlhnrnu~h

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Duhlin I

Our Ref: 29N.PA0043

P.A.Reg.Ref:
Your Ref:

Chief Executive Officer

Dublin City Council
Civic Offices
Wood Quay
Dublin 8
5th October 2015

Re: Health Infrastructure Development comprising National Paediatric

Hospital, Innovation Centre and Family Accommodation Unit at St
James' Hospital Campus, Satellite Centres at Tallaght & Connolly
Hospitals and Construction Compound at Davitt Road, Dublin.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Enclosed for your infonnation are two copies of submissions received by the Board in relation to the above mentioned
proposed development.
Please ensure that a copy of each submission is available for public inspection at the offices of the planning authority.
If you have any queries in relation to this matter please contact the undersigned officer of the Board. Please quote the
above mentioned An Bord Pleanala reference number in any correspondence or telephone contact with the Board.
Yours faithfully,

Encls.
ADHOC/PA0043/02

Tctl (UI l X~ X KHMI li:l

Gl:tt> ,\ititiil IK'IO 17~ 17~ LnC.dl
f>.l

Sr~td ~l.omlhhride.

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Duhltn I

An Bord Pleamila

Our Ref: 29N.PA0043

P.A.Reg.Ref:
Your Ref:

Chief Executive Officer

Fingal County Council
County Hall
Main Street
Swords
County Dublin
5th October 2015
Re: Health Infrastructure Development comprising National Paediatric
Hospital, Innovation Centre and Family Accommodation Unit at St
James' Hospital Campus, Satellite Centres at Tallaght & Connolly
Hospitals and Construction Compound at Davitt Road, Dublin.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Enclosed for your information are two copies of submissions received by the Board in relation to the above mentioned
proposed development.
Please ensure that a copy of each submission is available for public inspection at the offices of the planning authority.
If you have any queries in relation to this matter please contact the undersigned officer of the Board. Please quote the
above mentioned An Bord Pleanala referencenumberin any correspondence or telephone contact with the Board.
Yours faithfully,

itm

~Somers~
: cutive Officer
Direct Line:O 1-8737107
Encls.
ADHOC/PA0043/02

Tcol (CIIIX~XHIIIU Td
Gl.on \o11111l IX')() 17~ ~ LnC.oll

r..t Sraid ~l:onilhhndc.

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l;iolhn:.on Gn!.l\;olfl \\\\\\ rlcan:ol:o IC \\ch

IHnmhrhn'l hnrM rkan:ola IC r:maol

h-1

Marlhnmu~h Sorccl

Dublin I

Our Ref: 29N.PA0043

P.A.Reg.Ref:

An Bord Pleam1Ia

Your Ref:

Chief Executive Officer

South Dublin County Council
County Hall
Tallaght
Dublin 24
5th October 2015

Re: Health Infrastructure Development comprising National Paediatric

Hospital, Innovation Centre and Family Accommodation Unit at St
James' Hospital Campus, Satellite Centres at Tallaght & Connolly
Hospitals and Construction Compound at Davitt Road, Dublin.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Enclosed for your information are two copies of submissions received by the Board in relation to the above mentioned
proposed development.
Please ensure that a copy of each submission is available for public inspection at the offices of the planning authority.
If you have any queries in relation to this matter please contact the undersigned officer of the Board. Please quote the
above mentioned An Bord Pleamlla reference number in any correspondence or telephone contact with the Board.
Yours faithfully,

ran Somers
cutive Officer
Direct Line:Ol-8737107
Encls.
ADHOC/PA0043/02

Tcil (UI l !15!1 KHKl Tel

Gl;t<> Ailitiil IXCJU275 175 !.nColl
"""' (1111
(M Sr.il<l Manilhhri<lc

ll,oilc Ath:o Chath I

xn ~~.~~~

F:u

Lt<thrc:in Gre:t,.iin "ww.plcan:tl:l ic Wch

Riumhplu"t hunl@ plc:tn:ol:t ic Em:nl

(M :O.Imlhnrnugh Street.
Duhhn I

AN BORD PlfJ\
TIME_

OctobES~ ,

- 1 OCT 2015
LTR-DATEO
FROM
PL
----

Submission from :
Fee enclosed :
Address for correspondence:

Q(

Elida Maiques
50
22 Cameron Square,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8
County Dublin

As a resident of Kilmainham I would like to express my concerns and those of other

neighbours about the proposed development of the National Paediatric Hospital (NPH) on the
st James's Hospital Campus in Dublin 8; for which we would like to receive your reasoned
answers. Our concerns regard both the hospital as a service to sick children from all over
Ireland, as well as the pennanent damage it could cause to the local community if planning
permission on such site were granted. We would like to highlight the following aspects of the
planned NPH:

1. Poor access:
The NPH should serve first the children, their parents and visitors, and should
help doctors, nurses and all hospital staff heal those children. 75% of
seriously ill children live outside the MSO. More than 90% of children are
driven by car to hospital. It would seem logical not to force driving parents to
come into the metropolis and try to park in an area that is already built up and
not so easy to navigate.
2. Very limited green space:
The planned hospital contemplates no ground-level green space. Long- and
short-term ill children need nature to heal, so do their guardians, siblings and
visitors. It is not explained why the NPH should be constrained into the st
James's site, instead of using the much bigger, green space in the Connolly
Hospital in Blanchardstown.
3. No co-location with maternity hospital:
If a children's hospital should be associated with another hospital it should be
with a maternity hospital, so that our sick new born children can get
immediate attention when they need it. There is no obvious space on the st
James's site for a maternity hospital and planning pennission for a maternity
hospital has not been sought. An Bard Pleanala should not give planning
permission for a children's hospital ahead of planning being granted for a
maternity hospital.
4. Either Maternity Hospital or Outpatients wing:
No room for the Maternity Hospital without demolishing part of the adult
Hospital (the Outpatients). No planning pennission has been sought for this
so far.
5. No room for expansion:
If the new hospital is expanded it would overshadow and affect deeply the
Cameron Square area, for a second phase of the construction (on top of the
ten years requested in the planning pennission application). The very NPH is
taken up the already limited expansion space of St James's Hospital, and
even looking into demolishing part of it.
Page 1 of 4

6. Costs:
Clearing the site prior to development and moving the laundry and the
ambulance centre to Davitt Road are really high extra costs, an alternative
location, like the one in Connolly, Blanchardstown would not involve such
costs, since building from a green site is a lot cheaper.
7. Environmental cost:
Cost of generating tons of rubble, not treating it to extract the raw materials
and diminish the tonage going to landfill. All the noise, dust, vibration pollution
are also very high environmental costs.
8. Subsidence:
Risk of subsidence to adjacent houses. At least one garden in Cameron
Square had subsidence problems, falling onto the garden below it. With such
terrain and precedents of subsidence also in Ceann Fort, how can you ensure
houses will keep their integrity?
9. Diminishing sunlight and privacy for residents:
The height (7 or 8 storeys above ground level, depending on the source) and
scale of the NPH as planned will overwhelm the two-storey houses in the
vicinity. The view from their windows would have less portion of visible sky,
less sunlight and less privacy.
10.Diminlshing warmth and daylight, attached costs:
Houses on Cameron Square, Ceann Fort and South Circular Road will lose
daylight. Gardens will lose daylight and warmth. Houses will be colder and
more costly to keep warm.
11.Additional traffic (both construction and permanent):
Cycling on South Circular Road is quite difficult even with light traffic. It will be
impossible with the extra traffic from ambulances, delivery trucks, patients
and visitors. Not to mention driving.
12.lnsufficient parking:
Just 420 new spaces as part of the development as an existing 540 spaces
currently serving St James Hospital and the Trinity Research Centre are to be
removed as part of the demolition works required to prepare the site to
receive the new National Children's Hospital. The neighbourhood will be
swamped with parking from visitors. Cameron Square has already cars
parked on the pavement (to allow for cars to go through). Extra parking would
also stop the bin collection trucks from coming in and collecting {it has
happened already).
13.Construction site at Davitt Road:
Extensive to and fro traffic, road surfaces damaged by the extra stress of
heavy trucks.
14.Costs of sewer diversion:
High cost to divert Drimnagh Sewer.
15.Noise pollution:
The noise pollution from construction and later on from traffic and machines
operating will make the backyards unpleasant. It will also drive away the
remaining birds and other fauna, which are a factor contributing to our health
and wellbeing. Noise pollution will also be disruptive of sleep patterns in the
neighbouring areas, thus affecting the health of residents on a daily basis.
16.Helipad noise pollution:
Noise and vibration coming from the helipad will be a permanent disturbance
to residents, patients and remaining local birds and wildlife.
17.Height of Parent's Hostel:
The residents have been shown plans with a 3-storey building, the same
building was described later in the press as a 4-storey building. Please,
clarify. In both instances, it will block sunlight and ventilation for the houses in
the vicinity.

Page 2 of 4

AN BORD PLEANALA

TIME _ _ _BV_ _ _-t

18.Steps from Cameron Squa e to MountJr~1 2015
Repair work on the steps fro
WN.O.Q Square
unt Brow will have the
residents' access to that sid
t'dWrf,';ind phi
off for a tong
period. If the steps were clo ft. for lon er than a ear the
of way could
be lost, with the owner of th
19.New pedestrian traffic around Cameron Square:
Once the repair work on the steps from Cameron Square to Mount Brown is
finished, this will be a pedestrian entrance to the hospital, with a pathway
around the back of the houses, thereby compromising our security and a
potential extra noise disturbance.
20.Remaining local natural spot will disappear:
The main entrance of the new hospital, as planned, will swallow the patch of
grass next to the Rialto Luas stop. On a map this spot of grass may look
small, but it is used intensively, and on a daily basis, by families with children,
old people, teenagers and dogwalkers. Its disappearance would further
deteriorate the area and the quality of life of residents. Also, trees and bushes
absorb much of the noise from road and Luas, thus ameliorating the noise
pollution. Their disappearance would mean the area would be a lot noisier.
21 .Dust:
Laundry will have to be taken indoors to dry, if by tumbledrying, it would cost
extra money. Windows will be constantly dirty. Plants in the backyard will
suffer. Edible plants would be affected by fumes and dust.
22. Vibration:
The backyard plants and human beings will suffer from vibration from drilling
during construction. Roots of trees will be affected.
23.Air pollution:
The air we breath will be polluted by fumes from all extra traffic, especially
during construction, but also later on. In October 2013 air pollution was
classified by the World Health Organisation (United Nations) as carcinogenic;
being more hannful than passive smoking.
24.Drainage:
Local system is currently overloaded.
25.Rats:
There will be an invasion of rats once excavation of drains and the
construction of a 3-storey basement commence.
26. Traffic:
Permanent extra traffic will destroy the possibility of going for a pleasant walk
in the area.
27.Destruction of social cohesion:
Extra traffic will mean local children will have less opportunities to meet and
play outdoors together. Children and their families will be more isolated from
one another, the community will be further atomised, divided in household
units. Less social cohesion means worst social and mental health, if the
community is damaged, so are the individuals that comprise it.
28. Tenants forced to move out:
The perspective of spending at least 6 to 10 years living next to a huge
construction site will push current home owners to sell and many tenants to
move out. In the current situation they will be forced to move further out from
town, thus incurring in transport costs, also being uprooted from their
neighbourhood.
29.Home owners forced to sell:
Again, the perspective of living next to a monstrous construction site may
force people to sell against their desire (it is already happening: when the
planning permission request was made public, "for sale" signs went up). Who
is going to buy such houses? Whoever has the money to pay and wait it out.
This is an indirect way of gentrifying the area . Weakening the link of
individuals to the land they inhabit affects their social life, the health of the
community and the mental health of its members.

Page 3 of 4

We understand the residents are being asked to make sacrifices for a greater good. If the
NPH were actually going to serve its purpose well, across the decades, we would be happy to
put up with much disturbance; however, the planned NPH is being shoehorned, with great
difficulty, into the St James's site, for reasons unknown to us.
We would like to know why it is so important that the NCH is located in the St James's
Hospital location. The Connolly site in Blanchardstown seems to solve many of the problems
above listed, it would offer:

Good access, nationwide

Unlimited parking
Ground helipad (that would take coastguard helicopters)
Significant expansion space (it is 145 acres)
Rotunda hospital scheduled to re-locate there
Superb parkland environment
Low planning risk
Better, Cheaper, Quicker to build at Connolly

Signed

Elida Maiques

AN BORD PLEANALA
liME

-BY_____,

-l OC1 20\5

LlROAiEO____ FROM _ ___,

l

PL

Page 4 of 4