Dublin Airport operator appeals council refusal to demolish spiral ramps

Gordon Deegan

Permitting proposals to demolish spiral parking ramps now at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 1 “will unlock a critical development opportunity at the core of the Dublin Airport campus”, according to daa Chief Commercial and Development Officer, Vincent Harrison.

He has told An Bord Pleanala that the airport's operator considers that "the removal of redundant, deteriorating structures within the airport campus is a necessary and strategic confirmation of the importance of unlocking future airport development potential”.

Mr Harrison states that “what is clear is that the application site, lying as it does centrally between two national airport terminals and at the heart of the eastern campus, makes it an extremely valuable site, particularly in the context of a limited and finite land resource”.

He said that as airport operator “daa needs certainty that they can be removed in order that development opportunities can be explored”.

Mr Harrison makes his comments in a planning daa appeal contesting Fingal Co Council’s refusal of the application last month.

The Council refused planning after concluding that the application has failed to show an appropriate rationale or justification for the demolition of the spiral ramps which the council consider to be of technical and architectural interest.

In the accompanying statement to the appeal, Mr Harrison points out that the spiral ramps have been redundant from their original operational purpose - public parking access - for almost 50 years.

Mr Harrison also stated that the site on which the vehicle ramps are located is a strategic one, albeit the ability to use it in future has now been cast into question by the recent Fingal Co Council refusal.

He states that daa was surprised to learn of the heritage value, given that the ramps did not feature in the recently reviewed Record of Protected Structures.

He said: “In our view, given the spirals have limited current use, no future use once the T1 facade project is complete, and that the site is not immediately required for airport purposes, permission for demolition of these structures is required now.

He said that the site of the ramps “occupies a highly sensitive location within a heavily trafficked and constrained area, and it will take time and careful planning to remove them”.

Mr Harrison said the demolition of the spiral ramps is supported by prevailing policy guidelines at the highest level,l and in the absence of any significant heritage values, demolishing them will not detract from the airport’s identity as a national gateway.

Planning consultants for daa, Coakley O’Neill Town Planning point out that the application did not draw any objections from the Dept of Heritage, The Heritage Council or An Taisce and only one submission from the general public.

A decision is due by An Bord Pleanala in late July.