Council proposing variation to Development Plan to better manage impact of transport noise

Fingal County Council is proposing a variation to the County Development Plan to facilitate improved management of the impact of noise from aircraft, trains and other vehicles on future housing and sensitive land uses

The draft variation to the 2017-2023 Development Plan has gone on public display and can be viewed at County Hall, Swords; Civic Offices, Blanchardstown; the ten Fingal libraries or on one of the Council’s four mobile libraries. It is also available at www.fingal.ie.

Submissions can be made online at consult.fingal.ie, by email to [email protected] or by post to Senior Executive Officer, Department of Planning and Strategic Infrastructure, Fingal County Council, County Hall, Main Street, Swords, K67 X8Y2. The deadline for receipt of submissions is 5pm on October 15.

Fingal County Council will host two information evenings for members of the public in order to set out the contents of the Variation and to provide background information outlining the need for it.  These evenings will be held in County Hall, Swords, on Wednesday, September 18 and the Radisson SAS Hotel in Dublin Airport on October 1.  Both information evenings will be from 4.30pm to 8pm. All interested parties are encouraged to attend the information evenings. 

Fingal County Council is seeking a variation in the Development Plan after it became clear during preparation of a draft Local Area Plan for Dublin Airport that management of noise from aircraft has moved on significantly since noise mapping for the airport was previously undertaken.

With MetroLink, Bus Connect and new link roads also in the pipeline across Fingal it was clear there was a requirement for updated mapping to aid land use planning. This information can be used to ensure development is guided away from the areas of greatest noise impact and future development is located in the most suitable areas to ensure noise impact is minimised. 

Fingal County Council’s Interim Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly said: “Fingal County Council is seeking to ensure that future developments in the vicinity of the airport, roads and railways are not unduly impacted by noise and that land use planning can inform and guide development to suitable lands to safeguard the national transport network and the airport.”

Director of Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Matthew McAleese said: “The variation is required to ensure that the draft Dublin Airport LAP is consistent with the objectives of the Development Plan as is required by legislation.  The draft variation to the Development Plan presents an important opportunity to ensure that land use planning in the county remains effective in minimising the impact from noise.”

Noise zones, as contained within a suite of Noise Action Plans, allow for easy identification of areas which are impacted by noise from transport movements.  The current airport noise zones have been contained in the Fingal Development Plan since 2005 and are used for assessing planning applications and guiding development away from areas of greatest impact.  

The requirement for the proposed Variation arises because of the need for the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan to be consistent with the objectives of the County Development Plan. This includes an updating of the existing noise contours shown in the Fingal Development Plan to reflect present methodology and forecasts and an updating of the rural housing policy as it relates to certain communities located in the inner noise zone.

Fingal County Council is also holding a separate public consultation process on the draft Dublin Airport Local Area Plan at the moment so it is important when making a submission to clearly state if it relates to the draft LAP or the draft Variation No.1 to the Development Plan.