Limerick City Council

An Bord Pleanála

Inspector’s Report

File Reference: 30 HA 0030 / 30 KA 0017.

Proposed Development: Coonagh Cross to Knockalisheen Road Development

Inspector: Daniel O’Connor.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION p 03

2.0 COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER p 04

3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS - Non Technical Summary p 05

4.0 REPORT ON ORAL HEARING p 08

5.0 ASSESSMENT p 41

6.0 RECOMMENDATION – Proposed Road Development p 48

7.0 RECOMMENDATION– Compulsory Purchase Order p 49

8.0 Appendices – I List of Items handed in at hearing p 50 II List of Objectors p 51 III Environmental Impact Statement p 52

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The proposal is for the construction of a total of approximately 2.6 kilometres of Dual Carriageway road, the upgrading of 1.8 kilometres of single carriageway road and the construction of 600 metres of single carriageway link road in the administrative areas of Limerick City and Clare County Council. The proposed road development includes five new roundabouts, two bridges over the Limerick – railway line and dualling of 300 metres of existing single carriageway road, together with ancillary works.

1.2 The proposal is being dealt with as an application by Limerick City Council to An Bord Pleanála for approval under section 51 of the Roads Act 1993 (as amended by section 9(1) (e) of the Roads Act 2007). Letter received on 8th September 2010 refers. Three copies of an Environmental Impact Statement were submitted with the application and copies of newspaper advertisements of 11 th September 2010 () and 10 th September 2010 (Clare champion) were also submitted. Details of notification of prescribed bodies were also included. Correspondence regarding the Compulsory Purchase Order was submitted separately.

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2.0 COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER

2.1 The Compulsory Purchase Order was made by Limerick City Council on 16 th October 2009 and is entitled “Limerick City Council N22 Coonagh Cross (Coonagh Cross to Knockalisheen) Compulsory Purchase Order 2009” The owners or reputed owners, lessees or reputed lessees and the occupiers of the land re set out in Schedule Part I

2.2 The description of public rights of way proposed to be extinguished is set out in Schedule Part II.

2.3 Limerick City Council applied for confirmation of the Compulsory Purchase Order by letter dated 6th September 2010 and enclosed supporting documentation.

2.4 The permanent land take which is subject of the CPO is 37 hectares as indicated at oral hearing –transcript p53 and comprises generally lands adjoining the proposed road network.

2.5 Temporary land take is also proposed in the vicinity of the two proposed railway bridges and the road widening at Coonagh Cross.

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3.0 IMPACTS IDENTIFIED

3.0 Introduction and Background

The Environmental Impact Statement is in one volume, consisting of: -

• Non-Technical Summary (separate document including figures / drawings with text of NTS included in main volume) • Part I - Background Information and General Description • Part II - Significant Environmental Effects & Proposed Ameliorative Measures • Part III – Figures 1.1 to 10.4

The document is dated June 2010 and the Statement Authors and Scheme Designners are given as Malone O’Regan Mc Gillicuddy – Roughan & O’Donovan. The impacts are identified in the Non Technical summary (NTS)

3.1 Non – Technical - Summary. (Introduction)

The NTS states the proposed development is required to overcome the inadequacies of the existing road network in facilitating travel in the northern parts of Limerick City. Referring to need it states the scheme would provide an essential link road to the Moyross area. Photo 2.1 is an aerial view Moyross showing the Cratloe road in the centre of the photo with Moyross to the left and the in the background.

It gives a description of the scheme which is illustrated with photos: • 3.1 East side of coonagh Cross shopping Centre • 3.2 View to north on Cratloe Road close to proposed point of Intersection with proposed scheme • 3.3 View of Watch House Cross junction looking south on Knoclalisheen Road

3.2 NTS - Project Description

It lists particular elements of the scheme including the rationale for the particular element: -

• Widening Existing road at Coonagh Cross Shopping Centre to facilitate a dual carriageway • Cratloe road roundabout to give connection to the Cratloe road • Moyross Link road , single carriageway of 600 metres to give access to Moyross

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• Ballygrennan railway bridge is a proposed new bridge over the Limerick-Ennis railway line between the Moyross link road and Knockalisheen Road. • Castle Park Roundabout to facilitate access to Castle park estate lands and possible future access to lands to the west of the distributor road. • Knockalisheen road Roundabout, to link the proposed distributor road to Knockalisheen Road.

3.3 NTS – Alternatives Considered

The NTS describes the process followed including: • Constraints study • Route Selection Study • Preliminary Design of the Preferred Route Option • Environmental Impact Assessment. In relation to traffic, the NTS states the scheme would lead to a noticeable decrease in traffic on the Cratloe road, Ennis road and Shelbourne road.

(Shelbourne road is not shown in any of the figures and runs north-south from the intersection with the Cratloe road and the ennis road approximately 3kms to the east of the proposed distributor road)

3.4 NTS – Identification of Significant Effects

In relation to Human Beings , the impact is described as highly positive and it lists reduction in severance and reduction in social exclusion with increased safety listed in relation to the Knockalisheen Road.

With Reference to Ecology , the NTS notes the Knockalisheen Marsh pNHA and Lower River Shannon sSAC which is bounded by the scheme. The EIS was written prior to the amendments made to the route to reduce impacts on the designated site.

Noise impacts are stated to be mitigated by barriers in the vicinity of the Cratloe road roundabout and it is proposed to use low-noise road surfacing throughout. It is stated that air quality standards would not be exceeded and impact on climate would be negligible.

It states that impacts on soils and geology would not be significant.

With reference to Landscape , the NTS states that in the context of the LAP, the proposed new road would be an acceptable change in the receiving environment and would be compatible with the identified landscape values.

The NTS states that the scheme would have a significant positive benefit for material assets in the area. In relation to cultural heritage, six areas of archaeological potential are impacted including wetland and architectural heritage impacted include the ground an walls and gates of Castle Park Estate.

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The NTS states the consruction phase would be 18-24 months.

Mitigation measures listed are:

• Barriers during construction to minimise impacts on Lower River Shannon cSAC and Knockalisheen Marsh pNHA • Pre-construction surveys to establish locations for mammal underpasses, etc. • Landscape planting to be undertaken • Low –noise road surfacing to be used • Pollution control measures to be provided to protect the Lower River Shannon flood plains. • Traffic management measures to minimise traffic disruption.

Reference is made in the main volume of the EIS to surface water drainage.

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4.0 REPORT ON ORAL HEARING

4.1 Introduction

The hearing commenced at 10.00 a.m. on Monday, 21 st March 2011 in the Clarion Hotel, Steamboat Quay, Limerick. It concluded on the same day.

The summary of the proposed scheme, as taken from the EIS was noted by the inspector as comprising 2.8 kilometres of dual carriageway, 600 metres of single carriageway and 1.8 kms upgrading of an existing road, together with a number of new roundabouts and bridges.

The Council were represented by Mr. Gerald Kiely, Senior Counsel who was instructed by Mrs. Wallace Reidy Solicitors. He said the proposed roadway went from the Coonagh Roundabout to the Knockalisheen Road and provided greater access to the Limerick/Shannon Road through that roundabout. He said it would also open up the Moyross area and provide greater access to the people there. He said at the present, the Moyross area was in effect a cul-de- sac with only one access in and out. He said the proposed roadway would open it up as one of the link roads through the roadway would run through the Moyross area.

Mr. Kiely said it would also provide greater access from the Knockalisheen Road area to the Limerick/Shannon Road and would cut journey times considerably at both the Limerick and Shannon and other points of that roadway.

Mr. Kiely said the purpose of the CPO was to give effect to the objectives contained in the Caherdavin Local Area Plan 2005-2011 and it was also consistent with the Limerick City Development Plan of 2004-2010.

Mr. Kiely said what was also significant was the regeneration programme for the north area of the City. He said that identified the importance of vehicular access and general connectivity to the social and economic development of those areas and the Plan was ordered by the Regeneration Agency.

Mr. Kiely listed the witnesses as follows:-

• Mr. Kieran Reeves, Senior Executive Planner with Limerick City Council – dealing with the overall scheme. • Mr. Cathal Sheehy, Consulting Engineer – dealing with the primary design of the scheme. • Mr. Seamus MacGearailt, Consulting Engineer – dealing with traffic, noise and air impacts. • Miss Sinead Gavin, Ecologist – dealing with environmental aspects of the EIS. • Mr. Rob Goodbody, Building Conservation Architect – cultural heritage with particular reference to Delmege Estate/Castle Park.

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• Mr. Jim Kelly, Landscape Architect – dealing with landscape and visual aspects. • Mr. Brendan Kenny to speak on behalf of the Limerick Regeneration Agency.

The list of those objecting was called and it was explained that not being present at that particular point in the hearing would not preclude a person making a submission or objection at a later stage in the hearing. It was noted that the NPWS and the OPW would not be sending representatives.

Mr. Peter Sweetman, on behalf of An Taisce stated that it was particularly relevant that note should be taken of the European Court Judgement 2009/C50 which required the Board to carry out an assessment under Article 3 of the Directive. He said he wished to put that matter on record.

4.2 Direct Evidence of the Local Authority

The witnesses on behalf of the Local Authority gave their evidence.

4.2.1 Mr. Kieran Reeves gave evidence on the overall scheme as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 7-12)

Mr. Reeves commenced by stating that since he wrote his report on 2 nd July 2010, the Limerick City Development Plan was adopted on 25 th July 2010 and came into effect on 23 rd December 2010.

Mr. Reeves said with respect to the Strategic Context, the strategy diagram illustrated on Page 14 of the CDP, illustrated the strategic objective of providing a new access road connecting from the Road through Moyross to the N18.

He said with respect to transportation he would refer to Chapter 5 of the CDP and in particular Policy TR5 (Page 37) which covered the commitment to plan transportation infrastructure and provide new road infrastructure and to provide linkages where necessary to the national and regional roads network. It also provided for working with the Department of Transport, NRA, Clare County Council and the to provide a northern distributor road for Limerick City with facilities for car-based freight, public transport, cycling and pedestrian traffic.

Mr. Reeves said it was also the objective to deliver all road objectives shown on Map 3 of the Transportation Objectives in Appendix 1. He noted that there was a copy of the Roads Objectives Maps at the end of his Brief of Evidence.

Mr. Reeves referred to regeneration and policy RG.1 relating to the implementation of regeneration. It states that the policy of Limerick City Council to support the implementation of the regeneration programme in a coordinated and sustainable manner and to cooperate with the Regeneration Agencies and other agencies in the region to deliver the goals and objectives set out in the regeneration programme.

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Mr. Reeves said the Plans were to be set in the context of the Mid-West Regional Planning, Economic, Retail, Housing, Strategies and the City Centre Strategy and the Mid-West Regional Recreational Strategy when that was prepared.

Mr. Reeves said in the context of Moyross the objectives were to protect the integrity of all Natura 2000 sites in the vicinity. He said in that regard the development proposals would be subject to Appropriate Assessment and SEA. He said there was an objective to develop a large public park that connected the River Shannon, Moyross and Caherdavin for a range of active and passive recreational uses.

He said there was also a policy to create a civic area of suitable scale in Moyross that could act as a focal point for community, civic and educational facilities including a rail station.

He said it was planned to promote Watch House Cross as a district centre for the area of Moyross, Kileely, and in accordance with the Mid-West Retail Strategy.

Mr. Reeves said it was also the intention to complete the northern distributor road and to provide access from it to Moyross. He said this was to provide for greater linkages between Moyross and the adjacent areas to the west including the educational institutions. Mr. Kiely said it was considered that the proposed CPO was in accordance with the policies set out in the City Development Plan 2010-2016 and therefore in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

Mr. Kiely asked Mr. Reeves to outline what the regeneration programme was dealt with and Mr. Reeves said the Masterplan as published clearly stated the need for the link road. He said that had been copper fastened by the plans of the Regeneration Agencies that were currently being prepared and would be incorporated into the City Development Plan.

It was confirmed that there was a Section 86 agreement entered into between Limerick County Council and Limerick City Council in respect of a small portion of the lands to the north-east of the proposal.

4.2.2 Mr. Cathal Sheehy gave evidence to the hearing as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 12-47)

Mr. Sheehy stated he was a Consultant Engineer with MRG Consulting Engineers of and the firm had provided for limited design services in conjunction with Roughan & O’Donovan.

Mr. Sheehy said the purpose of the proposed Coonagh-Knockalisheen distributor road scheme was to provide a high quality distributer road along the north-western outskirts of Limerick City in accordance with national and local development objectives. Mr. Sheehy’s Brief of Evidence is tabbed LA02

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and this includes a number of slides which he referred to in the course of his presentation. He referred to the Caherdavin area along the north-west part of the City which the scheme was proposed to serve. He said the distributor road development was required to overcome the inadequacies of the existing road network in north-west Limerick City. He said it was a key element in the proposals by Limerick Regeneration Agency to address the social exclusion and physical isolation of the Moyross area which was identified in brown on Slide no. 1. He said the development was intended to form a potential initial phase of a future Limerick northern distributor road which would extend around the north of the City to link up to the east side.

Mr. Sheehy referred to the inadequacies of the existing road network including the R445 Ennis-Limerick Road and the Cratloe Road as well as the Knockalisheen Road. These were illustrated in Slide no. 2.

Mr. Sheehy said one of the key issues was that the Moyross area was essentially a cul-de-sac which was accessed via the Knockalisheen Road. He said there was no access to the northern end of Moyross.

In relation to the history of the scheme, he said the 2005 Caherdavin Local Area Plan of 2005-2011 included as an objective the provision of a distributor road which would extend from Coonagh on the Ennis Road northwards to the Cratloe Road and on to link to the north side of the Moyross area with a potential further extension to link to the Knockalisheen Road.

Mr. Sheehy said in 2007, the FitzGerald report which was commissioned by Government addressed the issues of social exclusion in Moyross and that recommended that the distributor road to the north of Limerick City be progressed to develop economic activity and end the economic isolation of that deprived area. He said the report further recommended that the Coonagh- Knockalisheen scheme would link the Moyross area to Coonagh and would be progressed as a matter of urgency. He said the report also lead to the establishment of the Limerick Regeneration Agencies which commenced activity in mid-2007.

Mr. Sheehy said in 2008 the Limerick Regeneration Agencies developed a Masterplan or an initial draft Masterplan in which the road proposal formed the key element. He said in 2008 the Limerick City boundary was extended to include the Caherdavin and other areas of the north-west of the City which had been previously in the County Council area.

Mr. Sheehy said in 2010 the Limerick City Council developed the Draft Limerick City Development Plan for the period up to 2016 which also included the development of the distributor road as a key objective . He noted the Limerick CDP of 2010-2016 was adopted in January 2011.

Mr. Sheehy described the Design Brief of the consultants from 2008 including noting that it could form an initial phase of the future Limerick northern distributor road. He said it also included the improvement of the

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Knockalisheen Road and this is shown in Slide no. 5 of Mr. Sheehy’s presentation.

Mr. Sheehy showed on Slide no. 6 the features in the area which includes the residential developments of Ferndale, Shannonvalee, Clonile and Moyross. He also noted the Limerick – railway line which runs partially through the Moyross area. The slide also shows the Castle Park Estate lands including a period house.

Mr. Sheehy said that house was now derelict and had some outbuildings in approximately 80 acres of parklands which were partly in agricultural use and partly wooded. He noted on the east side of the Knockalisheen Road is a tract of land which was designated an SAC and includes a wetland marsh area on the opposite side of the road to the Castle Park Estate.

Mr. Sheehy noted that in addition to the roads already mentioned, the Pass Road was a side road of the Cratloe Road and the R464 Long Pavement Road connects with the Knockalisheen Road at Watch House Cross. He said one Hd to come into the city to cross the area laterally.He referred to the Constraints Study (2008) and the route selection exercise and gave details of the objectives of the Regeneration Scheme which were to improve connectivity of the local and network in the northern part of Limerick City, and included also reduction of travel times for commuters in the north of the City and to facilitate the development of an effective public transport system to serve north-west Limerick City.

He said in the context of Moyross the Regeneration Scheme would help reduce social exclusion and improve local connectivity and permeability for residents with upgraded pedestrian and cyclist facilities and give new access points for emergency and policing services and would provide a potential future railway station and park and ride facilities as well as facilitating improvements in public transport in the Moyross area.

Mr. Sheehy outlined the need for the scheme and gave the general context and the local context and stated that at a more local level the need for the scheme was supported by the poor lateral connectivity between radial routes such as the Ennis Road, Cratloe Road and Knockalisheen Road.

Mr. Sheehy showed a slide (no. 11) which gave an aerial view looking in over the north-west of Limerick City and he described the indicative route for the proposed distributor road linking the Coonagh Roundabout to the Cratloe Road and onwards into Moyross and also to the Knockalisheen Road with the improvement of the Knockalisheen Road as far as Watch House Cross.

Slide no. 12 is an aerial view from the north of the City looking in over the Moyross area in particular. This slide has the Cratloe Road/Pass Road at the bottom centre of the aerial photograph and shows the lack of lateral connectivity on the northern section of the City. Mr. Sheehy said the study area of the Regeneration Agency includes the Limerick Institute of

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Technology lands and also the SAC to the east side of the Knockalisheen Road.

Mr. Sheehy showed a number of slides (14-17) which indicate the poor condition of the Knockalisheen Road.

Mr. Sheehy referred to his Brief of Evidence which had the policy context in local and national policy items identified.

Mr. Sheehy went on to provide a description of the scheme. He said the preliminary design fitted into the existing landscape and he said the Coonagh - Knockalisheen Road would be an urban style dual carriageway construction over a length of 2.6 kilometres. He said the new link road into Moyross would be a single carriageway of 0.6 kilometres and widening an improvement of the Knockalisheen Road would be over a length of 1.8 kilometres. He said there would be new roundabout junctions provided near the Coonagh Shopping Centre replacing the existing roundabout, a roundabout at the Cratloe Road, a roundabout at the Moyross link road intersection and a roundabout at the northern end of the Castle Park Estate lands with a further roundabout at the intersection of the Knockalisheen Road. (See Slide 23).

Mr. Sheehy said the Scheme would also feature 2 railway crossings with one on the distributor road at Ballygrennan and one to replace the existing bridge on Knockalisheen Road at Ballynanty.

Mr. Sheehy outlined the cross-sections for the dual carriageway and the distributor road section and noted that the dual carriageway would feature two 7 metre carriageways with two traffic lanes in each direction and a 3 metre median with a 1.5 metre wide verge on each side. He said it would also include a 2.5 metre 2-way cycle track on each side of the road and 2 metre wide footpaths on each side of the road construction also. He said the Moyross link road would be a 7 metres wide single carriageway and he said the improved Knockalisheen Road would also be 7 metres wide and would be a single carriageway.

Mr. Sheehy gave further details of the various sections of the Scheme starting with the Coonagh Roundabout of the shopping centre (Slide no. 29) and he said the existing road from Coonagh to the rear of the shopping centre would be widened to accommodate the dual carriageway. He said the inner roundabout at the back of the shopping centre would be replaced with a larger roundabout to accommodate the dual carriageway. He outlined the alterations required to accommodate the existing access/exit to Ferndale.

The area of the Cratloe Road and the Pass Road is described in Slides 33-36. Mr. Sheehy said there was a gap in the development where they intended to tie-in at the distributor road. He said a dwelling at that location was included in the CPO for the scheme due to its proximity to the new roundabout. He noted that the diversion of the Pass Road would run behind the Country Club premises and would be on the north side of that premises. Mr. Sheehy said the

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Cratloe Road would be improved over a length of approximately 600 metres which would include resurfacing of the carriageway.

Mr. Sheehy noted that there had been submissions in relation to the Cratloe Road particularly relating to the houses which were approximately 2 metres lower than the road. He said at that time the sites were part of low-lying land area that were served by a network of drains and he considered the general soakage characteristics and runoff characteristics to be poor in the area.

It was confirmed that the objectors who had made submissions were Miss Gabrielle Kilgarriff and Mr. O’Loughlin.

Mr. Sheehy said that now that these properties had been taken into the Limerick City area there was a desire that the scheme would try and incorporate some sewer facilities to serve the houses in the future. Mr. Sheehy said that on Slide no. 36 it indicated pedestrian facilities and that there would also be noise barriers.

Mr. Sheehy said that Slides no. 37-39 gave the detail of the Moyross link where he said that the Moyross housing estate currently ended in a cul-de-sac ad Delmege Park and there was student village compound and the Thomond Rugby Club grounds which are included in the CPO. He said the new scheme would feature a new link road on the new roundabout to end the cul-de-sac arrangement in Moyross. He said the road would link with an improved road system through Moyross to be provided as part of the regeneration. He said the existing telecom masts at that location could be retained.

Mr. Sheehy described the area to the north-east of the Scheme and the joining with the Knockalisheen Road. He noted there were Department of Defence lands at this end also.

Mr. Sheehy said the proposed layout would feature a new roundabout which was included to facilitate access to the Castle Park Estate lands which under the 2008 Draft Regeneration Masterplan was proposed to be developed as a business park. He said under the current regeneration proposals the proposal to develop that as a business park had been omitted and the land was zoned agriculture in the Limerick City Development Plan so that in effect the roundabout was included for a purpose that is no longer needed.

By way of clarification to the Inspector it was stated that the need for the roundabout was in the Regeneration Plan and wasn’t carried through to the City Development Plan. Mr. Sheehy said there had been submissions that express concern in relation to that roundabout. He said he would say from a road engineering point of view it was not necessary but was included as a policy decision to facilitate access to the business park.

Mr. Sheehy said that moving south from the new roundabout at the tie-in to the Knockalisheen Road the Castle Park Estate lands were on the west side of the road and on the other side was the Knockalisheen Marsh SAC. He said

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there were two low points on the road which were prone to flooding and there were existing culverts at the northern end of the estate. He said there were proposals to reinstate the entrance walls to Castle Park.

Mr. Sheehy said when the original scheme design was presented there were some minor encroachments on the SAC as it entered the housing area but it was noted that the NPWS had made a submission in relation to the scheme design and asked for it to be reviewed with a view to minimising the impact on the SAC and the encroachment on the Castle Park lands as well. Mr. Sheehy referred to Slides no. 46-48 which covers the housing estates of Sarsfield Gardens and the Castle Park Housing Estate. He said there was some roadside parking on Knockalisheen Road which served the houses that front onto the road at Moyross. He said an alternative parking area would be provided.

Mr. Sheehy said further south along Knockalisheen Road there was an enterprise centre on the east side while on the far side was Hartigan Villas. In relation to the enterprise centre, he noted that most of the front units were owned and partly occupied by the Department of Justice. He said the building at the rear was occupied by Speedline Enterprises which was a metal works business. He said the existing railway bridge was immediately to the south of the enterprise centre. He said the proposed scheme would involve replacement of the bridge and the replacement bridge would be 2 metres higher than the existing. He said that the existing accesses to the Hartigan Villas Estate and to the enterprise centre would remain as they were. He noted submissions in relation to the enterprise centre with concerns about the impact of the scheme on the site.

Mr. Sheehy referred to the end of the scheme tying into the Long Pavement Road at Watch House Cross and this is covered in Slides 52-54. It is noted from Slide no. 54 that the Knockalisheen Road would be realigned as it approaches the R464 Long Pavement Road. He said that would facilitate an increased stagger between the existing junctions at that location. He said it would also facilitate the introduction of turning lanes on the Knockalisheen Road as it approached the Watch House junction and of turning lanes on the Long Pavement Road which would greatly help to improve circulation at that location and reduce queuing. He said it would assist in regeneration proposals for improving accessibility into the Moyross area and would also improve the junction which was the junction of the spine road into Moyross. Mr. Sheehy said the benefit of the arrangement was that the access road into the shopping centre would increase the length and stop the queuing that was there at that time.

Mr. Sheehy went on to refer to surface water drainage and stated that parts of the scheme were drained by the OPW in maintained channels in low-lying ground at the end of the scheme near Coonagh Shopping Centre. He said this was shown on Slide no. 58 and the existing OPW channels run from the approximate location of the roundabout for the Castle Park industrial lands to a point on the Cratloe Road outside the limits of the scheme with a spur - reference OPWC7/2/3 - running from the location of the Moyross link road roundabout to the north to join the channel with reference OPWC7/2. Further

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channels Ref. C7/5 and C7/5/1 and also OPW C2 run in the vicinity of the Coonagh Roundabout and also cross the Ennis Road.

Mr. Sheehy said the existing network of open channels and watercourses would be culverted under the new road construction to ensure that connectivity of the existing drainage system was not affected by the works. He said there would be localised diversion of existing open channels to facilitate the new road. Mr. Sheehy referred to Section 50 and Section 9 of the Arterial Drainage Act and he said that consents had been granted by the OPW in respect of any new culverts and open channel diversions proposed for the scheme. He said the culverts were designed to convey the flow generated from a 1 in 100-year return period storm. He said the two existing culverts crossing the Knockalisheen Road (Culverts no. 9 and 10 on Slide no. 63) would be retained but new structures would be provided there.

Mr. Sheehy explained (following questions from the Inspector) that the Meelick Creek is a high level drainage channel taking drainage from lands upstream into over the Cratloe Road and discharging into the Shannon. Slide no. 61 is an aerial photograph which shows the Meelick Creek or Crompaun River discharging into the River Shannon to the west of the Ennis Road and it also shows the OPW channels referred to earlier discharging in the same area. Mr. Sheehy said that this channel system drained back into the creek as it approached the Shannon.

Mr. Sheehy said the new system of surface water drainage would incorporate a sealed collector pipe with a kerb and gully system on the road. He said on the embankment verges there was a combination of filter drains and open channels and the road drainage system was designed in accordance with the NRA Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. He said surface water from Knockalisheen Road would be collected via the existing drainage outlets at Culverts nos. 9 and 10 already referred to. He said also that Limerick City Council and the OPW had asked them to design the attenuation ponds to retain water for a 12-hour period so as to cater for high tide levels at the Shannon. He said he understood it was previously a planning requirement that in general attenuation would be designed for a 6-hour holding period but for that Scheme they had been asked that it be increased to 12 hours to give an increased level of safety. He said all outfall locations would be provided with hydrocarbon interceptors.

Mr. Sheehy referred to Slide no. 63 which shows all the culvert crossing locations on the new Scheme. This was stated to be in Figure 3.14 of the EIS. In relation to attenuation on the Knockalisheen Road, Mr. Sheehy said this was provided by increasing pipe sizes and was not an actual pond facility.

Mr. Sheehy said the key services to be taken account of were the ESB, Bord Gáis and sewerage. He said that in relation to sewerage, submissions had raised concerns from local people on Cratloe Road that they would incorporate facilities for potential future connections to the Limerick City public sewer. He said the existing public sewer connection or the nearest feasible one was on the Ennis Road approximately 2 kilometres away. He said they had carried out

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feasibility studies and consulted Limerick City Council in relation to how they might go about providing links and this would require a combination of pumping and pipe lying along the Cratloe Road. He said he understood that that would be within the construction of the scheme.

Mr. Sheehy referred to alternatives considered and referred to Slides no. 65- 69. At this point of the presentation, Mr. Sweetman asked was there any consideration of any route going outside the SAC. Mr. Sheehy referred to discussions with the NPWS and it was decided to return to the topic during questions.

In relation to alternatives, Mr. Sheehy said that they had looked at a single carriageway solution and he said it did not work in terms of traffic modelling. He said there would be a 15% cost saving and that it would be much better value to construct the dual carriageway scheme both from a cost point of view and also for the benefit in terms of public transport.

Mr. Sheehy said that route selection had three routes for the northern half of the Scheme but for the southern half of the Scheme there was not really an alternative to the route shown to connect into the Cratloe Road at suitable locations.

In relation to the Knockalisheen Marsh and the Castle Park Estate where they have been asked by NPWS to review the design with a view to minimising the impact on the SAC area. He said the initial design resulted in some minor impact along the SAC area and there was some impact along the front boundary wall of the scheme of the Castle Park Estate.

He said in consultation with Limerick City Council they had come up with a proposal whereby the cycle and pedestrian facilities would all be taken to one side of the road. He said the alignment was reviewed such as they hoped to completely omit the encroachment on the SAC area so that there would be no encroachment on the SAC along the frontage of Knockalisheen Marsh. He said the impact on the Castle Park frontage could not be avoided. He said they had managed to save quite a number of trees even within the CPO area. (Mr. Sweetman said this was not clear).

Mr. Sheehy said that the road was not impacting the SAC designated area. Reference was made to Map 7.23 of the EIS and it was confirmed that the road had been moved from that location. Mr. Sheehy confirmed to Mr. Sweetman that the design had been tightened up as requested by the Department.

Mr. Sheehy said to finish the point the submission from the Department of the Environment also asked that surface water drainage during construction stage would be intercepted and they had asked for settlement ponds and drainage. He indicated this on Slide no. 73 which refers solely to the Knockalisheen Road.

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4.2.2 (Continued) Mr. Sheehy gave further evidence in relation to the CPO aspects of the scheme as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 52-60)

Mr. Sheehy returned to the Brief of Evidence and this aspect of the evidence is covered in Slides no. 83-91.

Mr. Sheehy said the CPO had been implemented in order to secure lands required to facilitate the scheme and to realise Development Plan objectives. He said it would necessitate the permanent acquisition of approximately 37 hectares of land which were both necessary and sufficient to construct the scheme as outlined in the EIS. He said temporary acquisition of some lands was proposed and was intended to facilitate the construction of certain elements of the scheme including two railway bridges.

Mr. Sheehy said the CPO includes for extinguishments of rights-of-way rendered under it by the scheme. He said the scheme had been designed to minimise insofar as was practicable the impact on affected landowners.

Slide no. 85 indicates the overall area of land required to be permanently acquired and this was shown in red. Mr. Sheehy said that included some existing road bed particularly along the Cratloe Road and along the Knockalisheen Road. He noted that three areas of land were to be temporarily acquired (shown in blue on Slide no. 85) and at the southern end and there is a strip of land to construct the road and also at the two railway bridges.

Mr. Sheehy went into more detail on the sections of the scheme and in relation to Slide no. 86 which showed the Coonagh Shopping Centre , he said sufficient lands would be purchased to widen the road and to incorporate a dual carriageway cross-section. He noted the temporary acquisition of a strip of land to facilitate temporary access. He said the lands to the north of the shopping centre were zoned mainly for residential use but also some open space as well as some agricultural use.

Mr. Sheehy said that moving towards the Cratloe Road on Slides 86/87 there were agricultural lands both north and south of Cratloe Road which were in agricultural use. He said there was a strip of land at the Country Club which was needed to be acquired and there was also a dwellinghouse on the west side of the roundabout which was included in the CPO. (It was noted that the objection in the name of the representatives of John Allen were withdrawn).

Mr. Sheehy said there was also a public right-of-way over the existing Pass Road over the portion highlighted to be extinguished which would be superseded by the new road diverting around the back of the Country Club.

Mr. Sheehy said towards Moyross on Slide no. 87/88 land was to be acquired at the north of Thomond Student Village which was part of the Thomond Club grounds. He said areas next to the railway line would be temporarily acquired to facilitate the construction of the new bridge to carry the distributor road across it.

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Mr. Sheehy said approaching Knockalisheen Road on Slides 88/89, there were further lands in agricultural use which were not zoned for any type of commercial development. Slide no. 89 includes the roundabout which was to service the formerly zoned Castle Park lands which was now re-zoned. He said (part of) the Department of Defence landholding to the north was required to accommodate the new roundabout construction.

Mr. Sheehy described lands required along Knockalisheen Road which were indicated on Slides 89, 90 and 91. He said at the area where the Castle Park fronts the Knockalisheen Road on the SAC area on the east side, the CPO included for acquiring a strip of land on both sides of the road there. He said there would be no encroachment on the SAC area and the encroachment would be concentrated on the opposite side of the road at Castle Park.

In relation to the CPO and possibly modifications, Mr. Sheehy said it was possible to delete a strip but Limerick City might want to hold onto it for maintenance reasons. It was clarified that there was some of the SAC included in the CPO as published. Mr. Sheehy said they hadn’t a modification but they had prepared a drawing for submission to the Department of the Environment which shows where a permanent fence-line would be at that side of the road. Mr. Kiely asked Mr. Sheehy to confirm the extent of the encroachment on Knockalisheen Marsh with the CPO and Mr. Sheehy said that would be of the order of 10 metres.

It was confirmed that the roundabout at the top of Knockalisheen Road encroached on the SAC. Mr. Sweetman said that area did not appear as a particularly sensitive area. Mr. Sheehy agreed that this was so. Mr. Sweetman said the area on the Knockalisheen Marsh mattered more.

Mr. Sheehy described the last section of the road towards Watch House Cross and there was a strip of land on the east side of Knockalisheen Road which would be acquired from the zoned lands north of the enterprise centre. He said on the west side of the road there would be no impact on private dwellinghouses along that stretch of road. He noted the temporary acquisition at the Ballynanty railway bridge.

Mr. Sheehy said the CPO was quite wide at the enterprise centre to facilitate construction and this arose because of the height of the new railway bridge.

Mr. Sheehy said that at Watch House Cross there was no acquisition from the shopping centre but some encroachment into the SAC at that point. Mr. Sweetman noted that that did not appear to be a priority habitat at that point.

In reply to a question from the Inspector about alternatives at that junction, Mr. Sheehy said there were several options looked at 20 years ago by the City Council and roundabout solutions were looked at. He said they all ended up with some encroachment so this was the one that seemed to suit best.

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4.2.3 Mr. Seamus MacGearailt gave evidence to the hearing as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 47-60)

Mr. MacGearailt stated that he was a Director of Roughan & O’Donovan Consulting Engineers and his presentation referred to the traffic evaluation. His Brief of Evidence was covered by Slides 76-82 of the main Brief of Evidence which is tabbed LA02.

Mr. MacGearailt said there were three (separate) model scenarios covered namely do-nothing, do-something no. 1 which was essentially the scheme as proposed heading as far as Knockalisheen Road and no further and then a do- something no. 2 which took account of the possibility of eventual continuation of the Limerick northern distributor road across to /.

Mr. MacGearailt said in the do-nothing scenario , Slide no. 79 showed the areas with increased traffic. He said in 2008 the was not open but the model took account of the impacts on the base year traffic of 2008. He said on the old N18 there was a major reduction in traffic on the Condell Road with increases on the Cratloe Road and lesser increases on the Knockalisheen Road. He said without a new distributor road, all the traffic arising from the development in that part of the City would be forced to rely on the existing limited radial network and would add to the congestion that currently existed in the northern part of Limerick City.

Mr. MacGearailt described the do-something no. 1 scenario with the new road from Coonagh through to Knockalisheen. He said there would be a significant attraction of traffic off the radial routes and onto the new distributor road. He said the traffic added to the Cratloe Road and the previous slide would now have a way down to get to the wider road network to the Ennis Road and onwards to the southern ring road. He said there would be a relief effect of traffic going to Limerick IT which comes in along the Ennis Road and there would be a big drop-off in traffic north of the Cratloe Road. He corrected a typo in the slide and stated there would be a slight decrease in the traffic on the Condell Road as a result of the scheme.

Mr. MacGearailt said the traffic model indicated that on the southern section of the Scheme traffic flows would be of the region of 20,000 vehicles per day with a lesser demand of 5,000 vehicles per day on the northern end and that was because of the planned eventual continuation of the route to bring more traffic to that section.

Referring to Scenario no. 2 , this is illustrated on Slide no. 81. Mr. MacGearailt said that this would be if and when the Limerick and northern distributor road was continued through County Clare to Castletroy. He said there would be a greater attraction of traffic on the northern section of the scheme. He said the project had no planning approvals but it was included in the Clare County Development Plan and it was at an early stage in its own planning process with constraints and mapping completed and a route selection process being underway. He said there was a separate public consultation process entrained for that project. He said it was included because

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it was important for proper consideration of the current scheme that the potential traffic impacts arising from the continuation of the route would be taken into account.

He said in the EIS the table showed a small increase in the flows on the busier section of the route of roughly 3,000 vehicles a day and an increase in the order of 10,000 – 14,000 a day on the section past Moyross. He said there were other reductions in other roads in the City and if you had a proper northern distributor road you would get improvement in the Parteen area and down to Corbally.

Mr. MacGearailt said that the distributor road would provide improved access to the Moyross area. He said it would reduce traffic pressure on existing roads with notable decreases in flows on the Cratloe Road, the Ennis Road and Shelbourne Road and also beneficial effects on City Centre traffic. He said the model did not indicate that a further northern distributor road would have a significant impact on traffic bypassing the City via the southern ring road.

Mr. MacGearailt said the reason for that was the southern ring road had a speed limit of variously 80-120 kilometres an hour along its length in a free- flow arrangement with no at-grade junctions. He said the northern distributor road was planned and is stated to be an urban style dual carriageway with a speed limit of probably 60 kilometres per hour on the section under consideration because of numerous roundabouts. He said it was a longer route with much slower traffic flow conditions and it should not compete significantly at all with the southern ring road despite the toll being on the southern ring road.

4.2.4 Ms Sinead Gavin gave direct evidence on ecology as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 61-69)

Miss Gavin stated that she was an Environmental Scientist with Roughan & O’Donovan Engineers and was a full member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. She confirmed to Mr. Kiely that she drafted the EIS . Miss Gavin had a Brief of Evidence which consisted of 30 slides.

Miss Gavin said the ecology was largely made up of low-lying land of neglected pasture with occasional scrubby hedgerows. North-east over the Limerick-Ennis railway line she said the topography became more undulating with smaller fields separated by tree lines and dense hedgerows of Castle Park Estate. She said the Knockalisheen Road was low-lying land bordered to the east by the Knockalisheen Marsh which was a proposed NHA and part of the Lower Shannon cSAC.

Slide no. 9 of Ms Gavin’s presentation showed the areas to be impacted as a result of the proposed development. She said at the roundabout at the end of the Knockalisheen Road, there would be 0.4 hectares of land which was largely improved agricultural grassland. She said none of the habitat types in the area would be considered qualifying interests for the SAC. She said the

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second section in the middle is wet woodland about 20 metres in width and extended the length of the SAC and was largely made up of willow and ash and alder. She said it was permanently waterlogged so it wouldn’t necessarily be considered to be an annex habitat. Miss Gavin said there was some confusion as to whether it would be related to Annex I habitat for wet woodland but it’s understory was dominated by dogwood which suggested it would not be, and the area was 0.03 hectares .

In reply to a question from the Inspector Miss Gavin said the 0.03 hectares area was after being revised following meetings with the NPWS and prior to that it was 0.4 hectares. This represented about 90% reduction in the area of SAC affected.

Miss Gavin said the final section (of SAC) at Watch House Cross was 0.39 hectares and that was of scrub and swamp mainly and not a qualifying interest for the SAC. Slide no. 10 showed an example of the wet woodland showing dogwood as the main understory shrub.

The second photograph on Slide no. 10 was of the Knockalisheen Road facing south which indicated that the SAC was to the left of the picture.

Ms Gavin said fencing during construction phase would minimise the impact on the Knockalisheen Marsh and the woodland at Castle Park Estate. She said other mitigation would include settlement ponds for containment of accidental spillage, ecological supervision of all site works, and landscape planting in accordance with NRA Guidelines.

Miss Gavin said additional mitigation would consist of mammal passage facilities at culverts , badger proof fencing and the felling of trees to take place in the autumn months of September/October when bats were less likely to be using trees. She said felling of trees and removal of ivy clad trees would be supervised by a bat specialist.

In relation to noise and vibration, Ms Gavin said two scenarios were examined namely one with the Coonagh - Knockalisheen distributor road on its own and the second one with the extension to the N7 Dublin Road at Castletroy. Ms Gavin said low noise surfacing was assumed in all scenarios and provides of reduction of 3 decibels when compared with hot rolled asphalt. Ms Gavin said that the nearest sensitive receptor from the road for noise would be at the Cratloe Roundabout and there were three acoustic barriers proposed in the vicinity of the Cratloe Roundabout and these would be between 1.5 and 2 metres. She said the first one was on the south-east and it would be 140 metres in length and 2 metres in height and the second two barriers were on the north and south and west side. Slide no. 17 showed the barriers on the north side of the Cratloe Road roundabout and Slide no. 18 shows the barriers on the south side of the roundabout. The types of barriers are indicated by Ms Gavin on Slide no. 19.

Dealing with air quality, Ms Gavin said that AWN Consultants carried out a detailed appraisal of the air quality in the area and the proposal in relation to

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air quality was determined using the UK DMRB air dispersion model and guidance from the UK Highways Agency and the NRA. She said that NO x and VOCs showed a negligible impact as a result of the scheme. She said CO 2 emissions were considered insignificant in terms of ’s obligation under the Kyoto Protocol. Ms Gavin said a Dust Minimisation Plan would be put in place to mitigate the impact from dust during construction and a Liaison Officer would be provided as part of that Plan.

Dealing with soils, geology and hydrogeology, Ms Gavin said the scheme lay within the floodplains of the River Shannon, a low-lying area with flat gently sloping ground, gradually increasing in altitude to the north-east. She said the geology of the region was largely underlying by undifferentiated limestone of the Carboniferous Age. Soils were made up of marine/estuarine silts and clays and the groundwater maps indicated that vulnerability was high to low and extreme where rock was near the surface.

Miss Gavin said there would be some monitoring of wells in the area prior to construction and mitigation in this respect would be reuse of material for fill and landscape as appropriate and embankments would be topsoiled and seeded to prevent deterioration due to weathering.

Ms Gavin dealt with material assets and said there were 14 farms impacted by the scheme with a total of 20 hectares of agricultural land and one farm would have a major impact, 2 would have a moderate impact and 11 would have a minor impact.

Miss Gavin said one residential dwelling would be acquired as part of the scheme. She said there would be temporary disturbance during the construction phase and in the operational phase there would be improved pedestrian and cyclist facilities and an opportunity for new residential development in the area.

Ms Gavin said the impact on businesses would involve temporary disturbance.

In relation to archaeology on Slide no. 30 Ms Gavin said there were no national monuments impacted by the scheme. She said there was one RMP site that was directly impacted by the scheme and that was a possible settlement located on the old Cratloe Road. She said there were four sites of possible archaeological potential which had been identified and they were recommended as part of the geophysical survey. Ms Gavin said mitigation included topsoil stripping, archaeological monitoring of groundworks and test trenching at known and potential sites.

4.2.5 Mr. Rob Goodbody gave evidence in relation to architectural heritage as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 69-79)

Mr. Goodbody said that he was a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Irish Planning Institute and was an Architectural Heritage

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Consultant. Mr. Goodbody read from his Brief of Evidence which was tabbed LA04 .

Mr. Goodbody referred to Castle Park, which he said was a medieval site originally and there was the remains of a tower house on the site with a mid- 18 th century house built onto it about 1750. He said it stood in a large demesnen of about 28 hectares.

Mr. Goodbody said the evidence he had related to the assessment of the existing architectural heritage along the route of the proposed Coonagh – Knockalisheen distributor road and the Knockalisheen Road upgrade. He said during the proprietary work for the EIA a paper survey and field inspection were carried out along the line of the proposed road and its ancillary works. He said these identified 21 sites of potential architectural heritage interest and two of potential industrial heritage interests on or near the proposed route. He said one of those namely Castle Park was added to the Record of Protected Structures in 2010 and the features associated with it and its domain are within its curtilage and are therefore protected. He said none of the other features identified were subject to any form of statutory protection or record in the Record of Protected Structures for Limerick City.

Mr. Goodbody referred to the legislative situation regarding architectural heritage and the Planning and Development Act 2000 and he said several of the structures identified along the route that would be directly affected by the scheme were not considered to be of special interest under any of the categories listed. He pointed out that not being of “special interest” from an architectural heritage point-of-view would not indicate that they were in any way inferior or of lower value.

Mr. Goodbody said as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment, buildings and other structures identified were each assigned a reference number. He said several of the sites were identified through the presence of structures shown on the first addition OS 6 inch map of 1840. He said sites numbered AH4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 17 and 18 were not discussed in the evidence as no structures remain on the site today. He went through the other sites as follows:-

• Site AH1 – at the Cratloe Road at Clonconane and this is a stonewall with gate piers from the 18 th or early 19 th century – not considered to be of special architectural interest. • Site AH2 – dry stonewall of the Cratloe Road and not considered to have a special architectural interest. • Site AH3 – boundary wall of the demesne at Castle Park within the of Ballygrennan. – Broken down in a number of places and not in good condition. The wall runs along the western boundary of the demesne only and does not continue to the northern boundary, which is marked by a drainage ditch and a line of hedgerow trees. It recommended that the wall is recorded by means of photographs before being removed and that the northern boundary be reinstated on its new

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alignment by means of a ditch with a bank planted with hedgerow trees alongside it. • Site AH6 – stonewall along Knockalisheen Road – not considered to be of special architectural interest. • Site AH9 – house and demesne of Castle Park. The house is well setback from both the proposed Coonagh – Knockalisheen distributor road and the proposed upgrade of the Knockalisheen Road and is well screened by planting on all sides. It is not considered that the house would be affected adversely by the scheme. (Established that Figure 10.3 of the EIS shows the location and Mr. Goodbody said the maps were extracts from the Archaeological Report in the EIS ). • Site AH10 – pair of stone piers and a gateway on the Knockalisheen Road. • Site AH12 – pair of stone gate piers. • Site AH13 – collapsed remains of a gate lodge. • Site AH14 – stone entrance walls of the principal gateway to the demesne. • Site AH20 – demesne wall on the road frontage, that runs down Knockalisheen Road.

Mr. Goodbody said to implement the upgrade scheme for the Knockalisheen Road a choice must be made between encroaching on the NHA and the SAC on the eastern side or on the demesne with its roadside features on the western side. He said that the scheme would necessitate the removal of the features on the road frontage of the demesne. He said while they were part of the surviving elements of the demesne the features themselves as an assemblage were so degraded that they were unlikely to be reinstated in any way in the future.

Mr. Goodbody said the nature of the structural planting within the demesne was such that the removal of the strip of land about 30 metres wide along the road frontage would not cause a significant adverse effect on the essential character of the demesne. He said it was recommended that the demesne wall and gateways should be surveyed prior to removal and reinstated on the margin of the new road.

Mr. Goodbody went on to list the other sites as follows:-

• Site AH15 – on the western side of the road at Ballygrennan is the remnants of a building that was heavily overgrown but appears to have been a house. – Appears to have no architectural significance. • Site AH16 – at the western side of the road of Ballygrennan is a gateway with two gate piers of rubble stone not considered to be of architectural significance. • Site AH19 – alongside the Cratloe Road – remains of structures on this site, mostly built of mass concrete and now derelict and overgrown and not considered to be of architectural heritage significance. • Site AH21 – house dating from the 1930s on the Pass Road located some distance from the proposed distributor road though facing towards it

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across the fields – not considered that the house is of special architectural significance. • Site IA1 – Industrial Archaeology – culvert beneath the railway embankment. At a distance of approximately 160 metres from the distributor road and not effected in any way by the scheme. • Site IA2 – Ballynanty Bridge running over the railway line at Ballynanty Mor. – Stone bridge with a segmental arch formed with rock-faced ashlar. Mr. Goodbody said if possible the bridge should be left in place with additions as appropriate to achieve the necessary road width for upgrading the Knockalisheen Road. Prior to construction works the bridge should be fully recorded for photographs, written description and measured drawings.

Mr. Goodbody said the Limerick – Ennis railway itself is an industrial heritage feature but it was not considered that there would be any adverse effect on the heritage character of the railway.

In conclusion Mr. Goodbody said great care would be taken to ensure that no inadvertent damage occurred to structures adjoining the proposed route and he said the evidence had shown that there would be some impact on the architectural heritage of Castle Park and Ballynanty Bridge while no other sites of architectural heritage significance would be effected.

Mr. Goodbody confirmed to Mr. Kiely that the house at Castle Park was built in about 1750 and was occupied until the middle of the 1980s and then there was a fire and was now derelict. He confirmed that the photographs show the wall on the Knockalisheen Road which in effect was reduced to rubble. He said the wing walls leading to the entrance area at full height but the wall on the road frontage was broken down at that point. He said it was in a better condition north of the main entrance than it was to the south.

4.2.6 Mr. Jim Kelly gave evidence in relation to landscape and visual impacts as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 80-86)

Mr. Kelly stated he was a Chartered Landscape Architect and his report relates to anticipated landscape and visual impacts associated with the proposed road and is tabbed LA06 .

Mr. Kelly referred to Chapter 10 of the EIS where the methodology is given. He said the description of the receiving environment included reference to the Caherdavin Local Area Plan and the Moyross Regeneration Plan in which significant urban village development proposals are aspired to for the area. He noted that the distributor road was listed as part of the plans.

Mr. Kelly said the nature of the local landscape was rectangular shaped field patterns bound by ditches and hedgerows and this was recorded. He said it was noted that the new road would ultimately lie within the expanded Caherdavin suburb. The significance of Knockalisheen Marsh and Castle Park House and Demesne were also highlighted.

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Mr. Kelly said landscape values which affect the assessment include the conservation and enhancement values . He said the conservation values referred to local habitats and vegetation while enhancement values related to the regeneration objectives for Moyross, the development of Caherdavin as an urban village and the policy to develop the northern distributor road as key infrastructure.

Mr. Kelly said the assessment set out a visual envelope and Viewpoints 1 – 9 refer to the map contained in his report. He said all of these were in the EIS. He said 6 of the 9 viewpoints assessed had initial high adverse impacts but those reduce in the medium to long-term.

Dealing with predicted landscape impacts, Mr. Kelly said the alignment had been selected to minimise the impact on the most significant landscape features such as Knockalisheen Marsh and Castle Park Demesne. He said the road would generally provide a beneficial addition to the landscape as part of the wider residential, urban and infrastructural development. Mr. Kelly said on balance the proposals were deemed to be compatible with the receiving environment.

Dealing with mitigation measures, Mr. Kelly said these included provision of tree planting and screening. He said there would be tree surveys to be undertaken to assist retention of mature trees. He said mitigation to the north- west of Castle Park Demesne would include the reconstruction of a section of earth embankment and the planting of native tree and understory shrub species which would include oak, ash, willow, blackthorn, hawthorn, honeysuckle and beech.

Mr. Kelly said planting in the vicinity of roundabouts would vary somewhat to help foster a sense of local distinctiveness. He said the median strip between carriageways would also be planted with trees.

Mr. Kelly said Section 4 of his report related to the submission from the DoEHLG in respect of Castle Park Demesne. He said 4 additional viewpoints along the road were provided as outlined on the map and a summary of the impacts was shown in the table provided which ranged from two high and beneficial short-term impacts and two which had high adverse initial impacts which reduced over time as mitigation came into play.

Mr. Kelly said in conclusion, that the visual impacts associated with the upgrading of Knockalisheen Road related to the sense of disruption that would be experienced in the landscape setting. He said the impact would be mitigated as replacement hedgerow planting establishes and matured to provide a sense of definition and enclosure that currently prevailed along each side of the road.

He said at Castle Park Demesne the new boundary stone would visually enhance the setting and transform the sense of decline that currently prevailed along that section of the road. He said the loss of some mature trees from the

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boundary would be mitigated by the significant backdrop of tree cover that prevails in the demesne lands.

Mr. Kelly said the designated SAC site would remain unaffected by the proposed upgrading while the mature popular trees which border the site would require a full condition survey while vegetation along the eastern side of Knockalisheen Road would substantially remain in place.

In relation to mitigation, Mr. Kelly said avoidance and reductive mitigation measures were integral to the design process and that included the careful positioning of the road to avoid impact on Knockalisheen Marsh SAC. He said that would facilitate retention of existing roadside hedgerows further north along the eastern verge of the road. He said remedial mitigation measures included Castle Park Demesne boundary wall and access gateway. He said the existing boundary stonewall would be demolished and rebuilt to provide a new 2 metre high wall while the gateway would be dismantled and rebuilt and set slightly back from its current position.

Mr. Kelly said that it was proposed to replace any trees that were lost with semi-mature trees of similar species which would be 5-6 metres tall with 20- 25cm girth. He said a replacement hedgerow would be planted along the western side of Knockalisheen Road. He saida light standard ash trees of 8- 10cm girth, bare rooted would be planted within the hedge line at 10 metre spacing.

4.2.7 Mr. Brendan Kenny, Chief Executive of the Limerick Regeneration Agency gave evidence to the hearing as follows:- (Transcript Pages 87-96)

Mr. Kenny said following a report by Mr. John FitzGerald, former Dublin City Manager, two Regeneration Agencies were set up in June 2007, one for the north side and one for the south side. Mr. Kenny said he was Chief Executive of those agencies. He said the original report made it clear the importance of the road and to how it would open up Moyross which was in a natural cul-de- sac and that it was essential to the future regeneration and transformation of the Moyross area and would form an integral part of the regeneration process.

Mr. Kenny said the main reasons for support for the scheme was for the opening up of Moyross . He said it was cut off from other communities on the north side of the City and from the region.

Mr. Kenny said in June 2010 the Government approved the first phase of the implementation of the Masterplan and permitted an investment package of €37 million. He said there were 26 different projects listed and the no. 1 project on 18 th June 2010 was a northern distributor road and its connection to Moyross.

Mr. Kenny confirmed to Mr. Kiely that there was a report dated 26 th October 2010 which was submitted and this stated that the Limerick Regeneration Agencies supported the application made by Limerick City Council to An

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Bord Pleánala for approval in relation to the proposed road development in the north of the City linking Coonagh Roundabout to Knockalisheen Road including a link road into Moyross and an upgrade of Knockalisheen Road.

He said the application supported many of the initiatives contained in the Limerick Regeneration Programme 2009-2018 which was unveiled in October of 2008. He said they had set out a map extract from the Masterplan review and implementation report for Moyross prepared by the Agencies. He said the map outlined the route of the Moyross link road and the point of connection between it and the Coonagh- Knockalisheen Road.

He said Map no. 2 was an extract from the Masterplan review and highlighted the key land use proposals for the Moyross area within the context of the proposed road scheme. He said the Limerick Regeneration Agencies strongly supported the proposed road scheme for the following reasons:-

• Limerick City Council had identified the need for the provision of a northern distributor route. • The proposed scheme would provide a link road to Moyross and upgrade the Knockalisheen Road. • The need for the scheme has been identified as an important element of the Moyross regeneration.

Mr. Kenny said there was only one access road into and out of Moyross so only people who either work in Moyross or live in Moyross go to the top end of Moyross.

The Inspector posed a question as to whether the link road to Moyross would induce traffic to travel from the distributor road to Watch House Cross via or through Moyross. Mr. MacGearailt said that as Mr. Kenny had outlined it was a sense of isolation in Moyross and a certain amount of through traffic and passing traffic was a good thing from a consultant point-of-view but on the other hand the Masterplan envisaged that the civic centre of the regeneration area would be aligned on the main boulevard so it would be a bit like the road through Ballymun in Dublin.

He said it needed to be there as a place to be with some sense of animation and passing traffic but it also needed to be a safe and high quality environment for its other purposes. Mr. MacGearailt said there would be a relatively small amount of traffic that would wish to make the end to end journey. He said the idea was that the longer northern distributor road when provided would naturally provide a better route. Mr. MacGearailt said the internal planning of the Moyross area was not something that was addressed as part of the project.

Mr. Vincent Murray Senior Engineer, Limerick City Council, said the central road through Moyross was being planned by the National Building Agency which was doing the Masterplan for Moyross. He envisaged traffic calming and an urban boulevard with probably 30kph speed limits .

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Mr. Kenny said they were very keen to have activity in Moyross and keen to have traffic in Moyross and he said that was the key message he was getting from the community as well. He said as Mr. Murray had stated they had plans and the first phase was the implementation of a boulevard going all the way from the City Centre towards the LIT to Mayorstone but it was key to get access to Coonagh as it opened up Moyross in order that that part of Moyross which had been affected probably more so than the rest of Moyross would benefit.

4.3 QUESTIONS AND SUBMISSIONS

Questions were put by third parties and by the Inspector and submissions were made in relation to the proposal. These questions and submissions are listed in the order in which they occurred at the oral hearing.

4.3.1 Question and submission by Mr. John Quinn, Architect for Moyross Development Company as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 97-99)

Mr. Quinn said the Moyross Development Company were generally supportive of the road but their main concerns were the extent of the land-take. He pointed out that it had been referred to in evidence as an enterprise centre but he felt it was really a kind of community centre. He said it dealt with 500 people a week and the Department of Justice was involved because the nature of the projects that took place related to probation, service and prevention.

Mr. Quinn said the initial view was that the land-take was such that it rendered an extension of the units impossible. He said that an alternative site encouraged by Limerick Generation was sought for the Moyross Development Company activities.

Mr. Quinn said there were several meetings which took place between the Moyross Development Company and Limerick City Council and the consultants for the road. He said the principal item that remained was the fitting of the proposed extension to what remains of the site. He said Limerick City Council had agreed to fund a short study to examine whether a redesigned building could be accommodated on a smaller site. He noted that the consultants pointed out that the wall separating the new road from the site would require a 5 metre way-leave for maintenance. He said that would mean that the building instead of being setback in the way it was at that time would be brought more or less onto the road in a semi-urban way.

Mr. Quinn said the loss of space also meant that one of the units (Unit no. 7) which was closest to the railway tracks would need significant improvements and adjustment to make the scheme work.

He said overall that Moyross Development Company was satisfied as long as they could get clarity about the site that would be available for the building. He said they would contend that if the scheme was done in the way they would

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like to do it there would be no maintenance ever required for the wall because it would become part of the structure in the same way as many buildings adjoin pavements in towns and cities throughout the country.

4.3.1 (Continued) Mr Quinn made a further submission:- (Transcript, Page 101)

Mr. Quinn said with regard to the two units that the Department of Justice had acquired, it took 10 years to acquire the space in front. He said if the impact of the road widening resulted in the scheme not being possible to build which could be affected by the 5 metres, the Department of Justice might not buy the other two units and the whole scheme could fall.

4.3.1 (Continued) further information was given in relation to the Enterprise Centre on Knockalisheen Road as follows:- (Transcript Pages 118-123)

Mr. Reeves, on behalf of Limerick City Council set out the situation regarding the planning permission for the enterprise centre. He said the permission for an extension for the Moyross Development Company was an outline permission granted in 2007. He said as an outline permission the application for permission consequent to the approval must be made within 3 years of the grant of outline. He said the net effect of it was that the permission had effectively withered and any proposed changes would require a new grant of planning permission. He said it should be noted that one of the conditions on the grant of outline included that it would be set-back in accordance with the requirements of the road scheme at the time.

In relation to the height of the road, Mr. Sheehy said at the entrance to the enterprise units, the road levels would remain unchanged. He said as one approach to the railway bridge it would be 2 metres higher than the existing road which was to facilitate the headroom requirement by Iarnród á Eireann.

In reply to a question from the Inspector, Mr. Sheehy said it was a relatively short stretch and in terms of forward visibility the design was at the limit. He confirmed that the access would be exactly as it was at that time.

Mr. Murray responded to Mr. Quinn’s question about the proximity to the centre of the road. He said they were looking for a 5 metre way-leave but the Moyross Enterprise Company were proposing to build their new building next to the new road. He said there was an engineering solution to that and he felt they could come up with an engineering design that would allow the building to be built closer to the road but it would have to go through the planning process.

Mr. Quinn said he would like to say that whether the outline planning had lapsed or not to him it was immaterial. He said the point he was making was that the encroachment on the site to build a road was such that they did not appear to have enough space for their building.

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Mr. O’Halloran asked about the traffic arrangements during construction and said they had 30 cars and trucks going in every day and he asked what facilities were going to be made available. He asked would he have to go back out to Coonagh to come back in. Mr. Murray said during the construction period it was going to be necessary to demolish the existing rail bridge and he said as part of that it would be proposed the scheme would be constructed in two phases so the dual carriageway road will be built first. He said secondly the Knockalisheen Road would be upgraded and the bridge taken out. He said there would be 3-4 months that the bridge would be out of commission. Mr. Quinn said it would be 3-4 kilometres around trip and he supposed that during construction period you could go through Moyross. Mr. Murray said they would be consulting with everybody as part of the construction space if the scheme was to proceed.

Mr. Kiely asked Mr. Murray to give details on the second roundabout which was the roundabout servicing the Castle Park lands. Mr. Murray said because the proposed zoning did not materialise the roundabout was not the priority that it was originally envisaged. He said they did feel it would probably be prudent for further zonings or further development of the area that the land be acquired to build a roundabout but it was not a priority that the roundabout be built as the initial part of the scheme but it could be built in 10 or 15 years’ time if appropriate zonings were given to that land and justify the construction of a roundabout at that time. Mr. O’Halloran said he wished to comment on that and he felt it gave an unfair advantage to that area because there were Council lands further into the City and about the same amount of land was there if an industrial park was to be opened. He said he thought it would be better if there was a roundabout in towards the City.

4.3.2 Mr. Ray O’Halloran of Speedline Engineering asked questions and made submissions as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 100-101)

Mr. O’Halloran said in the Enterprise Centre he owned two of the units involved with the Moyross Development Company which was represented by Mr. Quinn. He said the taking of the land had a huge impact on his units also.

Mr. O’Halloran said he had full planning permission for a 20,000 sq. ft. training centre in the area. He said as a result of the land being taken it brought all that into question even though he was fully supportive of the road scheme.

Mr. O’Halloran raised the question about the second roundabout at Knockalisheen Road which was established was the one to service the previously commercially zoned Castle Park. Mr. O’Halloran said Limerick City Council had 70 acres of land and if in the future the land was to be opened up for industry he would have assumed that the roundabout would have been on Knockalisheen Road. He said he was wondering why it wasn’t there in the first place because it’s agricultural land. He said he was given the impression that the roundabout was being taken out of the scheme but he wondered why it was there in the first place.

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4.3.3 Mr. Michael McLoughlin asked questions and made a submission as follows:- (Transcript, Pages 101-115)

Mr. McLoughlin said that the basis of his submission followed from the coming together of the residents of the Pass Road, the Cratloe Road and the two willow groves on the south side of the Cratloe Road. He said they had sent a petition to Limerick City Council and he was part of the committee. He said he had a number of questions. These were as follows:-

• To ask about the provision of sewerage facilities to link with the main system.

Mr. Sheehy said there had been a Feasibility Study carried out in relation to the foul sewer and the nearest practicable or feasible location to connect the foul sewer was along the Ennis Road at the Greenhills Hotel. He said it was about 2 kilometres from the Cratloe Road. Mr. Sheehy said in order to get foul sewerage from that location as far as the Ennis Road it would involve putting in a sewer that would fall outwards from the top of the hill at the Country Club and would have to be pumped back almost as far as the Country Club where it could be brought by gravity along the new distributor road by Coonagh Shopping Centre and down the Ennis Road.

Mr. Sheehy said his understanding was that as part of the distributor road construction they would put in the pipework that would facilitate the future connection with foul sewer facilities. He clarified that this would be as far as the gravity would extend which was at the top of the Country Club. He said they would incorporate as much infrastructure as they could into the new scheme that would facilitate the future connections. Mr. McLoughlin asked how this could be organised as there were roughly 60 houses on the Pass Road and on the Cratloe Road.

It was suggested that discussion would take place between Mr. McLoughlin and Mr. Sheehy and the City Council over the break to see if further clarity could be achieved on this matter. Mr Mc Loughlin’s concerns were outlined as follows:--

• Mr. McLoughlin’s first concern and those of his next door neighbours, the Kilgarriff’s and the Dawson’s was that in heavy rain they got a lot of flooding or water running off the road onto the driveways and it was a major cause of concern.

Mr. Sheehy said that as previously described that the Meelick Creek was lifted to prevent flood levels from the Shannon tides coming back up the river. He said there was a separate drainage system that served the land at the back of Mr. McLoughlin’s house and further into the Caherdavin area and these drained all the lands out under the Meelick Creek upstream and then discharges downstream.

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Mr. Sheehy said at Limerick City Council’s request and in response to the submission previously by Mr. McLoughlin and his neighbours, they had surveyed the matter. He said they did establish that the open drain system at the back of the houses would accommodate gravity drainage from the sites but that it was not maintained. He thought it was in private ownership. Mr. Sheehy said a lot of the drains appear to be clogged up. Mr. Sheehy confirmed to Mr. Kiely that Section 9 consent had been obtained from the OPW in relation to the culverts and watercourses involved in the proposed scheme.

Mr. Sheehy said the second issue related to surface water drainage and the road drainage itself. He said it was a fact that the existing road drainage because of the rural nature of the road that gullies drained as far as he could determine sideways off the road and into the lands at the back of the houses. He said due to the lack of records and possible low maintenance on those, there was a possibility that some drains were causing problems by discharging water into the lands at the back of Mr. McLoughlin’s house.

Mr. Sheehy said he had looked at the feasibility of trying to incorporate a surface water sewer as far as the open drain at the side of the Meelick Creek. He said it would require significantly deep excavation and he was not sure it was something they could extend their scheme into. It was established that the properties on the north side of the road were up to 2 metres below the road.

Mr. Sheehy said that the road drainage at that point in time had pipes running sideways and he was sure they were old County Council drains. It was noted that the county boundary had moved in 2008 and it was now in Limerick City Council.

Mr. McLoughlin said just before Christmas of 2010, he noticed there was an open grate near his house and it was closed and a manhole put beside it. He asked how the heavy rain would impact on his house and the two on either side of him. Mr. Sheehy said they had not been able to find the ends of any of the drains. They had spoken to a lot of people and from what they have understood it would seem to make sense that they discharge the open drains to the back of the houses which eventually discharge into the OPW system but that all the open drains were completely overcome with vegetation and not effective anymore.

In reply to a further question by Mr. McLoughlin Mr. Sheehy said they had been asked by the Council to investigate the problem to see what solutions they could come up with.

The Inspector sought clarification on the impact of the road works on the drainage system.

• Mr. McLoughlin asked about recent surveys carried out.

It would appear that the surveys carried out related to the drainage and this matter was answered by Mr. Sheehy in relation to the surface water drainage.

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• Mr. McLoughlin asked for clarification on the CPO as being from the centre of the road to the boundary wall and would disaffect the boundaries. Mr. Sheehy said all road bed was being taken so they were not taking anything that would be considered existing property inside the boundary wall.

• Mr. McLoughlin noted that the road development on the old Cratloe Road only extended beyond his house and he asked about road widening from there to the county boundary. Mr. McLoughlin said he was not convinced that traffic which currently went up the old Cratloe Road would transfer.

Mr. MacGearailt said that all the roads in the area carried what they would call frustrated traffic movements and he said that the traffic would certainly find its way onto the new distributor road and fan out onto more appropriate routes. He said it would not make much difference to people living in Meelick West or Cratloe as they would use the existing road as a way in towards the City.

Mr. McLoughlin said that people coming from Shannon took a turnoff at the Meelick roundabout and came onto Road. He said he was not convinced that they would stop doing that with the Coonagh roundabout. Mr. MacGearailt said there was no doubt that traffic heading towards the Ballynanty area and towards the LIT would want to avoid delays on the Ennis Road in peak hours and they use the Cratloe Road. He said one of the advantages of the new link road is that it would facilitate traffic staying on the Ennis Road dual carriageway into the Coonagh Cross roundabout and then use the new road to get where they want to and they would be less likely to use the section of the Cratloe Road on that side of the City.

Mr. Murray for Limerick City Council said the upgrade of the road out to the county boundary would be done as a separate scheme and the proposal was that it would be resurfaced but with no road widening or anything substantial happening but just standard road resurfacing or road maintenance that they went through ever 10 or 15 years anyway. He said there was no aspiration to widen that road because there were properties all along the front of it.

Mr. Murray added in relation to road improvements that they would take the drainage back towards the new road. He said it would involve deep excavation for it but they would do it. He said they would clarify that issue.

4.3.3 (Continued) Mr. Murray responded in relation to drainage at Cratloe Road:- (Transcript Pages 117-118)

Mr. Murray said that following discussions during the break, Limerick City Council would be satisfied to put in drainage to alleviate the flooding issues at the properties. He clarified that it was the proposal in Limerick City Council to incorporate drainage into the scheme from the boundary of the scheme to the City/County boundary.

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4.3.4 (Continued) The Inspector asked questions as follows:- (Transcript Pages 115-117)

In relation to a question on the proposed roundabout at Castle Park , Mr. Murray said that when the scheme was designed it was proposed to zone the lands of Castle Park and there was a proposal to build a business centre there so a roundabout was included to facilitate that development but in the new Development Plan the land wasn’t zoned because the need for the business park did not materialise. He said while they had shown a roundabout on it, it was not necessary to build the roundabout at that time because it wouldn’t be servicing any land but agricultural land. He said it could omitted from the original construction of the scheme and could be built in 10-15 years’ time if the land became zoned.

The Inspector asked a question about shortcutting of traffic through Moyross and if it was considered at the initial stages to use an improved Moyross road with service roads off a main road. Mr. Murray said there was a consideration given at a very early stage as to what should happen in Moyross. He said if you looked at 2007/2008, people living on Knockalisheen Road would know there was a lot of lorry traffic and trucks coming from quarries in south-east Clare. He said it seemed then that if Knockalisheen Road wasn’t upgraded back into Watch House Cross a lot of that traffic would start to divert onto the new road and come through Moyross. He said it wasn’t desirable for safety of children and people and calming of the area and creating the type of environment that regeneration had in mind. He said working with the National Building Agency, they saw the central spine road at Moyross being a traffic calmed modern European type boulevard with low traffic speeds and the main traffic volumes staying on the Knockalisheen Road.

4.3.4 (Continued) the Inspector asked Mr. MacGearailt questions:- (Transcript Pages 123-127)

In reply to a question from the Inspector, Mr. MacGearailt confirmed that the projected traffic on the Coonagh side of the proposed road was approximately 20,000 AADT. He confirmed that from the Cratloe roundabout to Knockalisheen Road would be about 5,000 AADT. He confirmed that 5,000 AADT would not normally justify a dual carriageway and if there were no plans to extend the road onwards as part of a northern distributor road for the whole city it could easily drop down to a single carriageway at the Cratloe roundabout. ( and onwards to Knockalisheen Road ) He confirmed that the scheme was planned only as far as the Knockalisheen Road.

The Inspector asked was it a danger that by building the road the traffic would be induced which would be more than the improved Knockalisheen Road could handle. Mr. MacGearailt said that if there were significant destination points in that direction, this would be a possibility but it is a very rural hinterland with scattered development on it. He said the primary use of that road would be for commuter traffic that came from the south-east Clare area.

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He said he did not see it being at risk of any additional traffic generated towards Knockalisheen Road because there is so little out there.

In relation to the (proposed ring) road beyond the Knockalisheen Road roundabout, Mr. MacGearailt confirmed that his firm was involved in route selection process for Clare County Council. He said it was going through the constraints study and route selection phase at that time. He thought the publication of the route and its associated public consultation process was scheduled for spring 2011.

In relation to crossing of the SAC, Mr. MacGearailt said the issue arose during the planning of the scheme and that Clare County Council already had a line shown coming out onto the Knockalisheen Road but not quite where the roundabout was. He said there was no certainty that the two routes would necessarily connect directly. He said they had to go through their own process and there could easily be a staggered arrangement at the Knockalisheen Road.

Mr. MacGearailt said the SAC issue had to be dealt with in its own right and the Department of Defence lands were not Annex I habitat but associated buffer zone to the marsh.

Mr. MacGearailt said that there were sensitivities there that had to be addressed and there had been initial submissions that perhaps the follow on road should be further out to the north of Meelick and so there might not be a continuous arrangement. He said that did not necessarily matter because the function of the road was to provide a fairly low grade connectivity.

The Inspector asked was there a presumption of having to go through an SAC. Mr. MacGearailt said the section in the proposal stayed as close to the City as possible and while it was not traversing the Castle Park Estate which was a major constraint in its own right, it did go a little bit further out than might be desirable for a purely local function. He said they could not be influenced by the follow-on route because they did not know what they were dealing with and it was very difficult further out between Parteen and Ardnacrusha.

The Inspector asked a question about the cost reduction for a single carriageway as being indicated to be only 15% less than a dual carriageway , given that there was 300 metres of road which would not be needed at Coonagh Cross if a single carriageway was adopted. Mr. Sheehy said that all of the road was on a raised embankment and a substantial element of cost was actually quantities of imported fill. He said across the first section of the scheme there was a build-up of 4 metres and more. He said as you went to the low-lying land and up over the railway bridge there were huge volumes of fill. He said the actual difference in that element between the dual carriageway and single carriageway was quite small and he felt that went a long way towards explaining the 15% figure.

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4.3.4 (Continued) Mr. Sheehy responded to the Inspector in relation to questions raised:- (Transcript, Page 138)

Mr. Sheehy said for comparison purposes the houses at Cratloe Road were 30 metres from the road but there were noise mitigation measures there. He said generally the distance was in excess of 50 metres for houses from the road.

Mr. Sheehy stated also that the gradient at the Ballynanty Bridge was 5% on both sides of the bridge and at a 50kph speed limit.

4.3.5 Mr. Sweetman asked questions:- (Transcript, Pages 127-139)

Mr. Sweetman asked questions about the source of materials required for the scheme. Mr. Sheehy said there were a number of quarries in reasonable proximity to the site in the south-east Clare area. Mr. Sweetman said the traffic importing the fill would have a direct effect on the building of the road and Mr. Sheehy agreed that there was a certain amount of traffic that would be generated during the construction phase.

Mr. Sweetman stated that many of the quarries are illegal and there are not many fully legal quarries in Ireland.

Mr. Murray stated that he would not comment on whether the main quarries were legal or illegal. Mr. Sweetman it had nothing to do with planning but the Environmental Impact Assessment under the European Directive. He stated that the quarry being referred to would not be a fully legal source of material.

Mr. Sweetman said that the Board would have to do an Environmental Impact Assessment, particularly relevant to the Judgement of 3 rd March 2011 which states that Ireland has not done an Environmental Impact Assessment up to now. He said he thought that might be shocking but it has never been done. Mr. Sweetman referred to Article 3 of the Directive and states that the Board must assess. He said assessing whether or not the EIS fulfils the Regulations was not an assessment of the likely significant effects of the development. Mr. Sweetman said that what been seen in terms of assessing EIS’s for legality should have been assessing the development under Article 3. He said this was a submission point and he handed in a copy of the Judgement of 3 rd March 2011, tabbed OBJ01 with a reference case C-50/09.

(The quote from this Judgement is as follows:-

The Court hereby declares that:

• By failing to transpose Article 3 of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 th June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EEC of 3rd March 1997 and by Directive 2003/35/EEC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 th May 2003.

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• By failing to ensure that where Irish Planning Authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency both have decision-making powers concerning a project, there would be a complete fulfilment of the requirements of Article 2-4 of Directive 85/337, as amended by Directive 2003/35 and

• By excluding demolition works from the scope of its legislation transposing Directive 85/337, as amended by Directive 2003/35.

Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under that Directive .

In response to a further question on the origin of raw materials, Mr. Sheehy said there would be no significant element of cut within the scheme. Mr. Sweetman said the actual source of the material and quantities of material was lacking and was one of the few things that had not been dealt with in the EIS so the Board could not make a decision on that.

Mr. Sweetman asked about the 12-hour holding ponds relative to the tide. Mr. Sheehy said the attenuation ponds would only discharge the collected surface water back into the existing drainage system at existing Greenfield rates. Mr. Sweetman referred to the DOE submission and Mr. Sheehy said that that concerned the control of surface water at the construction stage and asked for information in relation to the size of settlement ponds during construction stage.

Mr. Sweetman raised the question of the EIS and the statement by the Planner that adverse effect on the hydrological integrity of the SAC was not expected. He said it should be more definite when one considers the Waddenzee Judgement which states that it is a requirement for the Board to find with scientific certainty that it would not affect the integrity of the site.

Mr. Sweetman raised the question of culvert designs and Mr. Sheehy said there were two culvert crossings on the Knockalisheen Road which can take water in either direction and he gave the size as being one metre high and 1.5 metres wide which was a rectangular culvert.

Mr. Sweetman asked about the protection in the culverts about Annex IV species and Ms Gavin said the culverts were oversized and they would have a ledge for mammal passage.

Mr. Sweetman asked about cultural heritage and stated that a photographic record or preservation by record was in fact destruction by documentation. He asked about further archaeological investigation and Ms Gavin said a geophysical survey had taken place and she handed same to the hearing. (This is tabbed LA08).

Mr. Sweetman asked who did the bat survey and in response Ms Gavin said this was done by Mr. Conor Kelleher of EirEco Environmental Consultants and she said that they didn’t feel it necessary for Mr. Kelleher to be at the

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hearing because it was determined that the only really suitable habitat was around Castle Park and there were only temporary roosts there.

Mr. Sweetman asked about otters and Miss Gavin said otters were using the streams and that the otter survey had shown there were no otter holts or couches in the immediate area. Mr. Sweetman stated that it was not just where the otters lie upward or holts it was the otter that is protected. He asked was it certain that no otter was going to be killed on the road.

Ms Gavin said that there was fencing along the roadway and the passage would have been maintained and as much as possible she could say that unless something freakish happened otters would not be killed. She said the otter proof fencing would be along the Knockalisheen Road on the east side and on the west side near Castle Park the boundary walls would be reinstated.

In relation to attenuation ponds, Mr. Sheehy said there were no attenuation ponds but storage would be in larger or oversized pipes. He also confirmed to the Inspector there would be hydrocarbon interceptors.

Mr. Sweetman said relative to the European Court Judgement, the point about the EPA did not arise in the Martin Judgement. He said the point was that the Inspector advises and the Board must make an assessment of the likely significant effects of the development prior to granting a consent. Mr. Sweetman submitted that he wished the Inspector to advise the Board of their obligations under that Judgement.

Mr. Sweetman asked Mr. Reeves when he reported that the development was compliant with the Development Plan. Mr. Reeves said that was in July 2010 and it was confirmed that the modifications to the road line of Castle Park had not been made at that stage. Mr. Sweetman submitted that at that point the scheme did not comply with Policy LVR.7 and LVR.8. He quoted Policy LVR.8 which states that it was the policy of Limerick City Council to apply the Precautionary Principle to the proposed development in environmental settings to ensure all potential adverse impacts on the designated Natural Heritage Area and that any Natura site arising from any proposed development or land activity are avoided, remedied or mitigated. Mr. Sweetman suggested the policy did not comply with European law.

Mr. Sweetman said it appeared the development as now proposed was in compliance with the Development Plan.

4.3.6 Mr. Kiely made a closing submission:- (Transcript, Page 138)

Mr. Kiely, on behalf of the Local Authority, said that the evidence had all been given. He said what had been heard was the objectives of the scheme and the purpose of the CPO which was to give effect to the objectives contained in the Limerick City Council Development Plan 2004-2010 on the Draft Limerick

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City Development Plan 2010-2016 and was also in accordance with the Regeneration Programme as had been stated.

Mr. Kiely submitted correspondence from the DoEHLG (NPWS) which is tabbed LA11 and also a copy of the Section 85 agreement between Limerick City Council and Clare County Council which is tabbed LA07.

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5.0 ASSESSMENT

5.1 INTRODUCTION

The proposal is for the construction of the following:

• 2.6 kms. new dual carriageway (Coonagh Cross to the North east section of Knockalisheen Road) • 600 metres single carriageway link road to Moyross (from a roundabout on the dual carriageway to Moyross) • 250 metres widened road close to Coonagh Cross Shopping Centre. • 1.8 kms improved single carriageway Knockalisheen Road • 5 No. new roundabouts (all on the dual carriageway section) • 2 No. new bridges over the Limerick – Ennis railway line. • Reconfiguration of junction of Watch House Cross with Long Pavement Road. • Reconfiguration of Pass Road / Cratloe road junction layout.

5.2 OVERVIEW AND NEED FOR THE SCHEME

5.2.1 Introduction and Context

The need for the scheme has been advanced based on current and projected traffic volumes, Government policy documents including the NDP (2007- 2013), NSS, Transport 21, Limerick City Development Plans, Caherdavin Local Area Plan and Limerick Regeneration Programme.

The EIS sets out the need for the scheme and was elaborated upon in evidence given at the Oral Hearing held on Monday March 21 st , 2011.

5.2.2 Traffic Volumes

Traffic volumes given at the oral hearing indicated an AADT of approximately 20,000 at the Coonagh Cross end of the scheme. (Transcript, p 50) This traffic level would justify a dual carriageway, which is the chosen cross section.

The traffic predicted for the northern end of the scheme i.e. from the Cratloe Road to Knockalisheen )was given as approximately 5,000 AADT for what was described as Scenario 1, namely the situation with the proposed road in place, but without a complete Limerick north ring route.

An AADT of 5,000 would not justify a dual carriageway based on likely traffic volumes. A critical issue would be the likelihood of the scheme continuing into County Clare and more particularly, the likely timescale for such extension of the scheme.

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It is considered that, if there is a substantial delay in provision of a further northerly extension to the route, that there would not be a justification for extending the route from the roundabout from the Moyross link road to the Knockalisheen Road roundabout. It is possible that an alternative line to avoid impact on the SAC could emerge in the course of the overall ring road planning and this route could join in at the Moyross roundabout.

5.2.3 Junction Strategy

The proposal is for a total of 6 roundabout junctions on the distributor road. This includes the existing roundabout at Coonagh Cross.

At the oral hearing it was noted that the Castle Park Lands had been re-zoned and that development of the lands were not likely to take place for 10-15 years (page 115, transcript). Against that timeframe, it is considered that it would not be appropriate to include that roundabout in the scheme.

For the scheme as proposed, excluding the Castle Park roundabout, the junction strategy appears reasonable.

5.2.4 Route Selection for Road scheme

The alternatives considered were outlined at the hearing and the rationale was explained. The moving of the route marginally to avoid Knockalisheen Marsh arose from the discussions with the DEHLG (NPWS).

The outstanding issue regarding route selection concerns the possible extension of the scheme as part of a North Limerick Relief or radial route. It was explained at the hearing that a parallel process was being followed with Constrains Study and Route Selection (transcript, pages 124 -126) regarding the planning of a further stage of the route eastwards. It is noted that to continue the route eastwards from the Knockalisheen Roundabout would cut directly through an SAC. It was explained at the hearing that the route could veer north at that point and that the proposed route was not a high-speed route and therefore it was not imperative that it continue on from its current proposed end-point. It is considered that to finish the route at the proposed Moyross Link road roundabout would allow more flexibility in route selection on any future extension. Given also the low traffic projected for the North- eastern section, it is considered prudent to end the current scheme at the Moyross link road roundabout.

5.2.5 Overall Justification for Scheme

On traffic and congestion grounds it is considered that there is justification for a dual carriageway to run from Coonagh Cross to the Moyross Link Road. While north of the Cratloe road junction, the likely traffic volumes would not

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justify a dual carriageway, the need to provide a second link to Moyross would justify continuing the scheme to Moyross. Beyond the Moyross link road roundabout, the proposal is considered premature, pending the clarification on both the preferred route for an extension of the road and some timeframe for its provision.

In relation to the Knockalisheen Road, it is considered that the need for a reconfiguration at Watch House Cross has been justified. The upgrading of Knockalisheen Road is considered to be justified from Watch House Cross to the northern end of the current housing development, but is premature from there to the proposed roundabout at the northern end of Knockalisheen Road.

5.3 SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS

5.3.1 Human Beings. A major positive benefit is seen to be the achievement of a second connection to Moyross and its direct connection to the Coonagh Area and beyond. The scheme, as recommended to be modified, achieves this aim. An interim problem would be associated with through traffic in Moyross. Mention was made at the hearing with achieving a boulevard effect similar to Ballymun in Dublin. It is considered that, in an interim situation, which would appear to be for a 10-15 year time span, a situation similar to Ballymun would be appropriate, where traffic calming was applied to through traffic.

5.3.2 Ecology

Following the modifications agreed prior to the hearing with NPWS the ecological mitigation measures generally are considered to be appropriate. It is noted that at Watch House Cross an area of 0.39 ha is involved (transcript p 62-63) and this encroachment is considered unavoidable and it is noted that the evidence is that the impacted habitat is not a qualifying interest of the SAC. In the middle section of Knockalisheen Road the impact is on 0.03ha which is reduced from the previous 0.4ha. While at the northern end the area involved is 0.4ha but none of this area is considered a qualifying interest for the SAC.

Notwithstanding the fact that the area at the northern end of Knockalisheen is not a qualifying interest for the SAC, it is noted that the impact could be perhaps be avoided if a different route was to be considered.

5.3.3 Geology, Hydrogeology and Groundwater The evidence given was that the scheme lies within the floodplain of the River Shannon (transcript p 66) . The OPW were not in attendance at the hearing but a submission was made (see file ref OPW letter of 8/10/2010)

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The impacts on geology / hydrogeology and groundwater are considered acceptable. The issue of drainage and flooding arising from the evidence and the OPW submission is discussed under Drainage below (5.3.4)

5.3.4 Drainage The OPW submission deals with approvals under the Arterial Drainage Act and the evidence at the hearing (transcript , pages. 107 – 108 ) was that Section 9 consent had been received from OPW in respect of the drains affected directly by the road.

The low-lying nature of the ground is noted and the impact on the OPW drainage layout is clearly shown in Fig 3.14 in Section III of the EIS. The proposed road development impinges on the OPW system between Coonagh Cross and the Cratloe road and also between the Moyross link road roundabout and the Knockalisheen road.

Having regard to ‘The Planning system and Flood Risk Management - Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ of November 2009, while it is clear the OPW have been involved in relation to the drainage proposals, to ensure that regard is given to the Guidelines, pre-construction consultation by the Local Authority would appear to be necessary to ensure that impacts by the road on floodplains are avoided and that the road itself would not be liable to flooding. Accordingly, road levels should be agreed with OPW and road drainage details should also be agreed with the OPW.

5.3.5 Landscape and Visual

The concluding evidence at the hearing (transcript, pages 82 -83) was that on balance the proposals were compatible with the receiving environment. Having regard to the proposals for landscaping, the proposal is considered to be acceptable from a landscape and visual aspect.

5.3.6 Socio-Economics

While not directly referred to, it is considered that, particularly because of the proposed Moyross link road, the socio- economic benefits would be positive for the area.

5.3.7 Cultural Heritage

The proposed mitigation measures relating to archaeology are considered acceptable. The Archaeological Assessment of Targeted Geophysical Survey report is noted and tabbed LA 08. Impacts are noted in relation to the architectural heritage at Castle Park and while the recommendation in this report is to omit the section of road that impinges on Castle Park, it is

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considered that the roadway would be acceptable from an architectural heritage point of view.

5.3.8 Air Quality, Noise and Vibration

The EIS is noted as is the evidence at the hearing. The provision of acoustic screens at the Cratloe Road roundabout is noted. Impacts in relation to air quality, noise and vibration are considered acceptable.

5.4 ASSESSMENT OF INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSIONS AND OBJECTIONS

5.4.1 Objection of Mr Peter Sweetman on behalf of An Taisce Mr Sweetman asked questions during the course of the hearing and referred to a number of legal cases in his submission. It is considered that the objection does not give grounds for rejection of the proposed development.

5.4.2 Objection of Mr. Quinn on behalf of the Moyross Development Company (4.3.1 above). The Local Authority have been in discussion with Mr Quinn on issues relating to the detail of the boundary treatment etc. and they outlined their approach to Planning issues. It is noted that Mr. Quinn stated that the Moyross Development Company were generally supportive of the road. It is considered that Mr. Quinn’s objection does not give grounds for rejection of the proposed road development or CPO

5.4.3 Objection of Mr. Ray O’Halloran, Speedline Engineering (4.3.2 above). Mr. O’Halloran raised the issue of the location of a roundabout to serve lands at Castle Park and suggested an alternative access point for the lands. He also raised issues regarding access during construction and issues regarding his premises. The Council undertook to have consultations in respect of the construction aspects and. It is considered that Mr O’Halloran’s objection does not give grounds for rejection of the road proposal or the CPO.

5.4.4 Objection of Mr Michael Mc Loughlin, Cratloe Road (4.3.3 above). Mr Mc Loughlin had a number of questions and concerns and represented the views of his neighbours as well as his own. His major concerns were the possibility of a sewer connection and more directly the impact of flooding. Mr Murray on behalf of the Local Authority made commitments in relation to the handling of road drainage and outlined the possibilities which might be pursued in relation to foul sewerage.

The sewerage issue is outside the scope of this proposal but it is noted that the Council proposes to incorporate as much infrastructure as they can to facilitate future connections (transcript page 105 )

In relation to the surface water issue, the commitment (transcript, page 118) is to incorporate drainage into the scheme from the boundary of the scheme to the city boundary. It would be desirable that details of this drainage be agreed with OPW as the particular area also has OPW culverts.

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It is considered that the objection raised by Mr Mc Loughlin does not give grounds for rejection of the proposed road development or CPO.

5.4.5 Submissions of OPW. Written submission was made by letter dated 08/09/2010. This letter indicated the existence of OPW culverts in the area and a map was included (6” to one mile) showing the extent of the benefitting land. The OPW comment is that those areas could be viewed as a start point in the analysis of flood risk within a catchment. The letter set out the procedures pertaining to Section 50 of the Arterial Drainage Act of 1945 and Section 9 of the Arterial Drainage Act 1995.

The OPW did not attend the hearing. It is clear from the evidence at the hearing and the maps included in the EIS that discussions have taken place between Limerick City Council the OPW. However, in view of the 2009 Flooding Guidelines and the proposals in relation to the residents on the Cratloe Road, there should be formal sign-off by OPW on the details of the surface water proposals.

It is considered that the Local Authority have demonstrated as required in the Overview to the Guidelines (Point 10, page V) that there are ‘no suitable alternative sites available in areas of lower (flood) risk’ and that the further agreement with OPW recommended relates to ensuring the detail of the proposals is agreed formally.

5.5 SUMMARY. The overview is that the section of road between the Moyross link road and the Knockalisheen road is premature , by reason of the following: 1. Traffic volumes predicted do not justify a dual carriageway cross section and it would require the completion of a substantial portion of the northern ring route to generate sufficient traffic. In the interim it is considered that a link through Moyross could accommodate through traffic to Watch House Cross. 2. The continuation of the route is at constraints study and route selection phase (transcript page 124) with public consultation not yet started. As the EIS indicates the route continuing (Fig 3.5, Part III, EIS) through the Lower River Shannon cSAC (Fig 7.2.3) it is considered that there is insufficient flexibility in choosing a route and there would appear to be ways to avoid the SAC without having to offset the alignment. This can be done by terminating the dual carriageway section at the Moyross link (Ch 1600) 3. The evidence at the hearing indicated that development of the lands at Castle Park could be 10-15 years distant and that the Castle Park Roundabout would not in fact be constructed at this stage.

The objective quoted in the Caherdavin Local Area Plan of 2005 namely ‘ A distributor road from Coonagh Roundabout heading north through the of Cloncane and Ballygrennan. This

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road will cross the existing Cratloe road at a new junction location and will terminate at a new junction location in the Ballygrennan townland with a link to the Moyross area of Limerick City’ would appear to be satisfied by terminating the dual carriageway at chainage 1600.

It follows that if the dual carriageway terminates at Moyross link chainage 1600, then the upgrading of the Knockalisheen road past Castle park would not be required. It is considered that the need to upgrade Knockalishhen Road from Sarsfield Gardens to Watch House Cross has also been established. Therefore it is recommended that approval not be granted for the upgrading of Knockalisheen Road from chainage 0 to 800 and that the upgrading should cover only the section from chainage 800 to 1800.

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6.0 RECOMMENDATION - PROPOSED ROAD DEVELOPMENT ( File Reference number HA0025)

I recommend that the Board should approve the proposed Road Development under section 51 of the Roads Act (as amended), subject to a number of conditions which are set out below:-

Conditions

1. That the section of dual carriageway between chainages 1600 to 2600 be omitted from the approval.

Reason: By virtue of the section being considered premature

2. That the upgrading works on the Knockalisheen Road between chainages 0 and 800 be omitted from the approval

Reason: By virtue of the section being considered premature.

3. Prior to commencement of works on site, details of finished road levels and surface water disposal arrangements be agreed with OPW and that a record of this agreement be made available for inspection at the offices of Limerick City Council prior to construction of the road development.

Reason: To ensure flood risk has been adequately mitigated.

REASONS AND CONSIDERATIONS

Having regard to:

(a) the Environmental Impact Statement and the evidence tendered and submissions made during and prior to the Oral Hearing in relation to the likely effects on the environment of the proposed road development, (b) provisions of the Limerick City Development Plans, Clare county Development Plan2005 -2011, south Clare LAP 2009 -2011 and the Caherdavin Local Area Plan 20052011, (c) the National Spatial Strategy, National Development Plans and Transport 21. (d) Limerick Regeneration Programme 2009 -2018. (e) the existing and likely future traffic flows on and in the vicinity of the proposed road development.

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It is considered that, subject to the conditions above that approval should be granted to the Coonagh Cross Knockalisheen distributor road as proposed by Limerick City Council.

7.0 RECOMMENDATION – COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER (File Reference KA0014)

Having regard to the prematurity of the proposed road development between chainages 1600 and 2600 on the dual carriageway section and chainages 0 and 800 on the Knockalisheen Road, it is considered that the proposed Compulsory Purchase Order be amended in accordance with the modifications set out below: Modifications

As the recommendation in relation to the Road Development is that a substantial part of the road development should be rejected, I recommend that An Bord Pleanála request Limerick City Council to amend the proposed Coonagh Cross to Knockalisheen Compulsory Purchase Order, 2009. CPO to reflect the changes and include only the lands necessary to construct the amended road development proposal.

______Daniel O’Connor Engineer Gd I 09/06/2011

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APPENDIX 1

Items handed in at Oral Hearing

A. Local Authority

LA 01 Brief of Evidence of Mr.Kieran Reeves, Senior Executive Planner, Limerick City Council LA 02 Brief of Evidence (91 powerpoint slides) of Mr Cathal Sheehy, MRG Consulting Engineers, incorporating Brief of Evidence of Mr Seaamuf Mac Gearailt, Roughan & O’Donovan, Consulting Engineers LA 03 Brief of Evidence of Ms Sinéad Gavin on EIS generally and ecology LA 04 Brief of Evidence of Mr Rob Goodbody on Architectural Heritage LA 05 Report by Mr Goodbody on Castle Park LA 06 Brief of Evidence of Mr Jim Kelly on landscape and Visual Assessment LA 07 Copy of Section 85 Agreement of July 2008 between Limerik City Council and Clare County Council LA 08 Report of Mr Colm Flynn on Archaeological Assesment of Geophysical Survey LA 09 Bat survey of impacted trees by Mr Conor Kelleher LA 10 Drawings showing alternative layout Knockalisheen Road Ch 0-960 LA 11 EirEco response to DAU on behalf of Limerick City Council on effects on SAC

B. Statutory Bodies

Sub 01 Copy of map submitted prior to hearing by OPW Sub 02 Submission of Limerick Regeneration Agencies

C Objectors

Obj 01 Objection of Mr Peter Sweetman re case C-50/09 ECJ

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APPENDIX II

List of Objectors

Name Address Objection Comments Ref in report Barriscale K’lisheen Widening No submission Patk Road Bridge At hearing O’Halloran Speedline Access Submission at 4.3.2 Ray Engineering Construction hearing 5.4.3 Impacts Moyross Rep Mr Planning Submission at 4.3.1 Dev Co Quinn issues hearing 5.4.2 Ml Mc Cratloe Road Drainage Submission at 4.3.3 Loughlin Sewerage hearing covered Ms 5.4.4 Kilgarriff objection HSE Tom Boland Written submission OPW Written submission 5.4.5 An Taisce Mr Peter Submission at 5.4.1 Sweetman hearing DEHLG Written submission CPO only LPR John Clonconane Withdrawn – house Allen Redgate to be acquired

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APPENDIX III – ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

1.0 – Introduction (6 pages)

The EIS for the proposed Coonagh – Knockalisheen distributor route was prepared by Malone O’Regan, McGillicuddy - Roughan & O’Donovan Consulting Engineers with assistance from a team of specialists. It states the EIS is presented in one volume which contains the main text including the non-technical summary and all associated drawings. It lists these under Part 1 as being background information and general description, Part 2 being significant environmental effects and proposed ameliorative measures and Part 3 is figures. In Paragraph 1.2 it notes the purpose and context of the scheme and refers to Figure 1.1 which is in Part 3 of the EIS and gives the Scheme Location Plan.

The EIS sets out the national context including reference to the following policy documents:-

• National Spatial Strategy (NSS) • National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013 • Transport 21 – aims are listed as:-

1. Increase accessibility 2. Ensure sustainability 3. Expand capacity 4. Increased use 5. Enhance quality of life.

The EIS states the context of whether proposed Coonagh/Knockalisheen distributor route is significantly influenced by the wider national objective of improved transportation facilities.

The EIS describes the local context including the following:-

• Limerick City Development Plan 2004-2010. It refers to goals including TR1, TR2 and TR3. • Draft Limerick City Development Plan 2010-2016.

The Council identifies specific objectives in relation to the Caherdavin area as follows:-

1. To secure the completion of the northern reef road from Coonagh to Moyross. 2. To ensure the provision of infrastructure appropriate to the needs of the area and the emerging intensification of use. 3. To ensure that an appropriate transportation system serves the area.

• Caherdavin Local Area Plan 2005-2011.

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An extract from the Plan states “a distributor road (north ring road) from Coonagh Roundabout heading north through the townlands of Cloncane and Ballygrennan. This road will cross the existing Cratloe Road at a new junction location and will terminate at a new junction location in the Ballygrennan townland with a link to the Moyross area of Limerick City”.

• Limerick Regeneration Programme 2009-2018.

This Programme identifies as a weakness the social isolation of Moyross from the rest of Limerick. It states access into Moyross Estate is currently limited and the lack of connectivity to the remainder of the City effects the ability of the area to attract business and residents. It states that the scheme would cater for a large proportion of general traffic to and from the area and would also cater for pedestrian and cyclists.

• Clare County Development Plan 2005-2011 – the Planning Authority has identified the Limerick northern distributor road as a key network element necessary to achieve objectives of the Plan.

• South Clare Local Area Plan 2009-2011.

It states the Limerick northern distributor road is recognised as a required future infrastructural development for the northern environs of Limerick City. It states the Coonagh – Knockalisheen distributor road is identified in the South Clare Local Area Plan Map and is a fundamental link to the northern distributor road.

The EIS refers to the legal requirements and describes the requirements of the Roads Act 1993 and 2007 and that as the road is of 4 or more lanes and more than 500 metres or more in length in an urban area it required an EIS.

The EIS refers to public consultation under Section 51 of the Roads Act 1993 and Section 215 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

2.0 Background to the Road Development (5 pages)

Photograph 2.1 shows the Knockalisheen Road looking south and photograph 2.2 indicates the old Cratloe Road and this would also appear to be looking south.

Section 2.2 refers to the need for the scheme and states that the development would be in accordance with the Limerick County Council Development Plan, the City Development Plans, Caherdavin Local Area Plan, Clare County Development Plan and the South Clare Local Area Plan.

In describing the background, Section 2.3 refers to the Caherdavin Local Area Plan and the specific reference to the proposed new route.

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Photograph 2.3 shows an aerial view of Moyross from the north which shows the Cratloe Road in the centre of the photograph and the Limerick-Ennis railway line is towards the left hand side of the photograph. The cul-de-sac nature of the main spine road through Moyross is clearly seen in this photograph.

Section 2.4 describes the function of the proposed development as follows:-

(a) – Support proposals for regeneration adopted within the Caherdavin Local Area Plan and the Limerick Regeneration Programme. (b) – Reduce social exclusion of the Moyross area by improving access to the tracking investment. (c) – Improve local connectivity for residents of Moyross. (d) – Improve pedestrian and cycle facilities. (e) – Improve connectivity of the regional road network. (f) – Promote balanced regional development in Limerick county and region. (g) – Provide a framework for future development for a future Limerick northern distributor road. (h) – Reduce travel times for all communities in the north of the City. (i) – Improve access to and from the Shannon and Ennis regions.

3.0 Description of the Scheme:- (14 pages)

Section 3.1 gives a general description of the scheme and notes the total length of the new dual carriageway would be approximately 2.6kms. It lists the elements from south-north as follows:-

1. The widening of the existing road for 250 metres along the east side of the Coonagh Cross Shopping Centre. 2. A 4-armed roundabout junction at Cratloe Road link to the distributor road dual carriageway to the Cratloe Road. 3. Realignment of the Pass Road to a new junction with the Cratloe Road 180 metres to the west of the roundabout. 4. 600 metres of single carriageway link road into Moyross at approximate chainage of 1600. 5. New bridge carrying the road over the railway at Ballygrennan. 6. New roundabout at Castle Park to facilitate access to the Castle Park Estate lands and possible future access to lands to the west of the distributor road. 7. New roundabout at the northern end of the route adjoining Knockalisheen Road.

The EIS notes that 1.8 kilometres of Knockalisheen Road would be improved and there would be a new bridge over the railway line at Ballynanty.

The EIS notes that the Clare County Development Plan and the South Clare Local Area Development Plan identify a future Limerick northern distributor road as a key infrastructural development in the northern environs of Limerick City. It states that the Coonagh-Knockalisheen distributor road is identified as

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a fundamental link and would form an initial leg of this route. It states the Knockalisheen Road roundabout is identified as a possible docking point for the northern distributor road.

Section 3.2 refers to a general description of the route of the proposed road and notes that drawings are contained in Figures 3.1 – 3.10. It also refers to photomontages of aerial views of the scheme in Figures 3.15 and 3.16. (Both photomontages give a very clear view of the proposals).

In the text of this section there are a number of photographs as follows:-

Photo 3.1 – Existing road at Coonagh Cross Shopping Centre.

Photo 3.2 – View to north-west from Coonagh Cross Shopping Centre towards the Cratloe Road.

Photo 3.3 – View to the north-west on the Cratloe Road which indicates the location of the crossing point of the new route at the end of the housing development.

Photo 3.4 – Is a view along the route of the distributor road in a north-easterly direction from Cratloe Road junction. The low-lying nature of the ground is evident from this photograph.

Photo 3.5 – View from Thomond Student Village with an indication of the approximate location of the proposed roundabout which would give access to the Moyross link road.

Photo 3.6 – View along the route of the distributor road indicating the railway embankment.

Photo 3.7 – View to the north-east of the route of the distributor road as it approaches Knockalisheen Road.

Photo 3.8 – View to the north on Knockalisheen Road.

Photo 3.9 – View to the south on Knockalisheen Road showing Watch House Cross junction with Long Pavement Road in the background.

Photo 3.10 – View to the south on Knockalisheen Road as it approaches the Ballynanty railway bridge.

Section 3.3 gives details of road alignments and it notes that at the southern end of the scheme at Coonagh Roundabout the road would tie into the existing road levels which were of the order of 4.0 metres OD. It states that from Coonagh to the Cratloe Road junction the road level would rise to approximately 8.0 metres OD. It notes the horizontal alignment of that section would be generally curved at a radius of approximately 1,000 metres. It notes that almost all of that section of road would be on substantial fill construction

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due to the low level of the existing ground which does not exceed 1.5 metres OD for much of the route.

The EIS states that from the Cratloe Road to the Moyross link road the road level would fall from approximately 8 metres to 5 metres OD. It states much of that section would be on filled embankment but not of substantial height as ground levels are more elevated in that area. It notes that these are generally above 4.0 metres OD but drop to 3.0 metres in some localised areas.

The EIS states that in the northerly direction from the Moyross link road roundabout the distributor road would rise from approximately 5 metres OD to approximately 13 metres OD at the bridge crossing over the railway at Ballygrennan. It notes it would fall again to a level of approximately 5.5 metres at the Castle Park Estate roundabout and it would rise to approximately 8 metres OD at the tie-in to the proposed Knockalisheen Road roundabout.

The EIS notes that the level of the Moyross link road would commence at approximately 5.5 metres OD at the junction with the distributor road and rise to a crest curve level of approximately 12.8 metres OD proceeding towards Moyross and falling to a level of approximately 10 metres OD as it approaches its tie-in near the entrance to Pine View Estate.

The EIS states that the Moyross link road alignment would result in cut embankments of approximately 2.5 metres below existing ground level as this road approaches its crest level. It notes that elsewhere the road would be generally at or slightly raised above the existing ground level.

The EIS describes the levels of the Knockalisheen Road and states that along the frontage of the Castle Park Estate lands existing road levels are as low as 3.5 metres OD and were liable to flooding. It notes that the minimum level of the improved road would be not less than 4.0 metres OD in that area.

The EIS notes that the level of the road as it crosses the railway bridge at Ballynanty would be approximately 13.4 metres OD while the road level at the ground of the existing bridge is approximately 11.6 metres OD.

Section 3.4 describes the cross-section details and gives photos of similar cross-sections from Bray and Graystones in .

Section 3.5 describes the bridge structures. Ballygrennan Bridge is proposed to have a clear span of approximately 22.5 metres which would provide space for a second future railway track and for future pedestrian/cycle pathways under the bridge linking lands to the east and west of the distributor road embankment. This refers to Figure 3.12 for typical elevation and cross-section. (From Figure 3.12 the distance between abutments is shown as 43 metres and there are 6.5 metre carriageways indicated either side of the railway at the same level as the railway).

In relation to Ballynanty Bridge, it notes that the replacement of existing bridge would present an opportunity to provide for a second railway track for

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the future and this also refers to Figure 3.13. (It would appear from this drawing that the existing appearance of the Ballynanty Bridge would not be maintained in a rebuilt form due to the requirement to have space for a second railway track).

Section 3.6 refers to earthworks and it notes that volume of fill for the scheme including embankment fill would be of the order of 550,000m³. It notes that embankments would be typically 3-4 metres in height between Coonagh Roundabout and the Cratloe Road and up to 8 metres above existing ground level on the approaches to the railway bridge at Ballygrennan.

Section 3.7 deals with surface water drainage and states that the drainage system would be designed in accordance with the NRA DMRB and current best practice guidance.

It states that the storage facilities in the pipe drainage would be designed to cater for surface water runoff generated by 1 in 100-year rainfall event for a minimum period of 12 hours in accordance with OPW and Limerick City Council requirements. It states that discharge from the storage areas would be to the River Shannon via a network of existing watercourses and culverts which are controlled with ______to minimise risk of backup from the Shannon during high tides.

It notes that pollution control for the distributor road scheme would be implemented through the provision of petrol interceptors. It refers to Figure 3.14 for the road drainage layout which indicates all the OPW culverts also.

The EIS notes that the distributor road traverses low-lying lands prone to flooding between the Coonagh Shopping Centre site and the Cratloe Road and also in areas immediately south and north of the railway line at Ballygrennan. It states these areas reframed by a system of open drains and watercourses, some of which are maintained by the OPW. It states the connectivity and maintenance of existing flow in any such drains or watercourses intercepted by the proposed road would be maintained by the introduction of a system of culvert crossings under the road embankment and open drains along the toe of the embankment. It states that all culverts and works to watercourses would be subject to approval from the OPW under the Arterial Drainage Acts. (The EIS gives Figure 1949 but this may be referring to 1945 and 1995).

The EIS notes that public lighting would be such as to minimise night time visual intrusion at adjacent houses and would be provided over the full length of the distributor road and the Moyross link road. It states that the existing lighting on the Knockalisheen Road would be replaced with a new lighting system which would be extended over its full length to the intersection with the distributor road.

Section 3.9 notes that services to be diverted include overhead electric lines, which would be undergrounded as far as possible and there would be a requirement on the Knockalisheen Road or service diversions and new ducts to be provided.

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4.0 Alternatives Considered – (6 pages)

The EIS sets out the procedure followed in developing of possible route options and refers to Figure 4.1 which indicates the constraints study area. It notes that the alternatives included do-nothing, do-something with the single carriageway and do-something with the dual carriageway. In relation to the single carriageway it notes that the option would provide sufficient benefits in the short-term to improve access to residential areas but in the medium-term the Traffic Assessment indicated the requirement of a dual carriageway and determined that a single carriageway would not be sufficient to cater for local development as well as regional traffic. It notes that the saving would be of the order of 15% or €5.5 million from using a single carriageway option. (This would indicate the overall cost of the scheme as €36.6 million).

The EIS states that for the dual carriageway option, a number of routes were examined and these were shown in Figure 4.2. It is noted that the variation in routes in the different options only arises in relation to the section between the old Cratloe Road tie-in and north of the Ballygrennan railway bridge and that the end point at Knockalisheen Road and at Coonagh Cross were considered fixed. Also it is noted that only one route was examined between Coonagh Cross and the old Cratloe Road.

The EIS gives the chosen option and refers to the non-statutory public consultations which were arranged and notes that a total of 27 completed questionnaires were returned. This indicated 60% supported the principle of the distributor road with 28% did not support the scheme. Of the primary comments from the public relating to the preferred route, one included a concern for the loss of amenity lands for local sporting clubs at the Department of Defence lands east of the Knockalisheen Road.

5.0 Transport Impacts – (5 pages)

The receiving environment is described by way of national and regional routes including:-

• N18 – Limerick-Shannon-Ennis-Galway. • R494 – Long Pavement Road – and north Limerick – Clare. • R445 Ennis Road – northern ring road (leads to Street North and to Thomond Bridge).

The EIS also refers to the distributor roads which form important links between local districts and includes the Knockalisheen Road, the old Cratloe Road and the Limerick southern ring road completed in 2010. It states that access into the Moyross Estate is currently limited and it is essentially a cul- de-sac.

Section 5.4 refers to the potential impacts of the proposal and notes the models which were constructed are as follows:-

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• Base year 2008 • Do-minimum for 2025 which gives the 2025 flows with no distributor road • Do-something Scenario 1 – 2025 flows with the Coonagh/Knockalisheen distributor road only and • Do-something Scenario 2 – 2025 flows with the northern ring road through County Clare from the end of the Knockalisheen Road.

These models are indicated on Figures 5.1 – 5.5 but no figures are appended and the increases and decreases of traffic flow are indicated by the thickness of the lines.

Traffic assignments are given in Table 5.1 which indicates that in 2025 for a do-something Scenario 2 the northern distributor road would have 13,200 AADT, the Coonagh-Knockalisheen Road would be at 23,700 while the Limerick by-pass (N7) would be 57,500 and the southern ring road would have a figure of 48,600 AADT.

Section 5.5 deals with construction impacts and the import of the 550,000m³ material required as part of the scheme. It states that estimates of imports show the movement of approximately 42 trucks per hour during normal working hours for a 1-year time period.

It states that to mitigate the potential impacts of the upgrade of Knockalisheen Road the proposed distributor road and Moyross link road should be completed first to provide traffic with an alternative route.

Section 5.6 gives the conclusions for transport impacts and these are as follows:-

• Limerick southern ring road would reduce the flow through Limerick City but has only a limited impact on flows in the northern part of the City. • The opening of Coonagh-Knockalisheen distributor road would lead to a notable decrease in flows on the Cratloe Road, Ennis Road and Shelburne Road (north-south which includes and the Long Pavement Road). • The proposed road is required to cater for the projected growth in traffic flows as well as local development of zoned lands. • Coonagh- Knockalisheen distributor road would expand the transportation network on the north of Limerick City and in particular provide improved access to Moyross. • The future northern distributor road extensions would carry flows of between 10,000 and 15,000 AADT with reductions in flow experienced on many limerick City routes.

6.0 - Human Beings – (11 pages)

The EIS states that the impacts for human beings are essentially related to the functioning of the community. It notes that Limerick county has a population ______30 HA 0030 An Bord Pleanála Page 60 of 83 Limerick City Council

of 184,055 in 2006 of which approximately 60,000 reside in Limerick City. It notes that as part of the growth of Limerick City, the boundary area for the City was enlarged in mid-2008 with an extension occurring in the area of the proposed route. It states the current City boundary for Limerick north side follows the county boundary for Limerick and Clare. It states the proposed distributor road is located approximately 3.5 kilometres away from the City Centre and directly north-west of residential communities making up the north side of the City. The townlands and immediate area of the proposed road include a Redgate, Clonconnane, Ballygrennan and Moyross.

To examine the impacts, the EIS states that these are considered in relation to the resident community, the working community and the visiting community. It refers to Figure 2.2 which shows the current zoning of the area.

Section 6.2.2 refers to the resident community.

Dealing with the resident community, the EIS states that the Moyross estate comprises 1,250 houses and is stated to have a number of social and economic disadvantages. The EIS refers to related objectives involved in social inclusion and refers to the FitzGerald report entitled “addressing issues of social exclusion in Moyross and other disadvantaged areas of Limerick City”. It notes that this report recommended that the distributor road from Coonagh Roundabout to Knockalisheen and including an access to and from Moyross should be progressed as a matter of urgency.

The EIS also notes that a number of communities are to the north and east of the proposed scheme namely Meelick, Pass, Parteen, and Clonconane.

The EIS describes the working community and the multi-national businesses and states that much of the subject area and the study did not benefit from the economic opportunities. It says Coonagh Cross had potential for employment opportunity for communities along with Limerick Institute of Technology. It states that Coonagh Shopping Centre when completed aims to provide over 950 direct employment opportunities with over 1,000 indirect employment opportunities.

The EIS states that Speedline Engineering located in the enterprise centre of Moyross is the largest local employer in the area. It states that further enterprise units are proposed for areas to the west of Watch House Cross.

The EIS refers to the visiting community and notes the proximity to and to Rugby Stadium. It also refers to the River Shannon and the SAC and also refers to Knockalisheen Marsh pNHA and the Crompaun River.

The EIS states that the type of impacts for human beings include reduced journey times, community severance and opening up of communities currently isolated by poor transport infrastructure. It also refers to impact upon accessibility of local services and commercial facilities.

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Section 6.4 deals with the potential impacts during the construction phase and also the operational phase. It states that in the operational phase the proposed development was likely to have a highly positive effect at a local and national level. It notes that rural communities along the Old Cratloe Road, the Pass Road and at Meelick would be impacted by the proposed development. It states that communities may experience a stronger sense of severance between the rural setting of communities in Clonconane and that of the urban environment that is situated to the south-east of the bypass. It states communities in the South Meelick region along the Knockalisheen Road may experience some community severance where the dual carriageway ties in with the Knockalisheen Road.

In relation to the working community, the potential impact in the operational phase is stated to include improved safety along the Knockalisheen Road and allow encouragement of industrial and commercial development in conjunction with the Moyross Regeneration Programme. It states that future zoning of the area includes industrially zoned lands to the east of Knockalisheen Road, a town centre connecting to the link road from Moyross and additional future zoning for business and residential. It states that the proposed route would also provide access to rail services that are proposed at Moyross.

The EIS states that in relation to the visiting community it states that it would have the potential to encourage visitors into the area for work, leisure and amenity use.

The EIS considers the do-nothing impact and refers to traffic congestion which would increase on and in Section 6.6 it refers to reductive or remedial measures for human beings. In the construction phase this involves traffic diversions and in the operational phase it is stated that there would be reductions in journey times and increased accessibility to lands and communities or route.

Section 6.7 refers to predicted impacts of the proposal on the community and it notes that there would be minor delays due to traffic management and diversions and also noise related impacts associated with construction works. It states that the potential impacts to individual properties in the operational phase would generally be outweighed by proximity to a significantly improved distributor route. It states that the proposed scheme would have a positive overall residual impact for the residential, working and visiting sectors of the community by reducing journey times and opening up lands for development.

7.0 - Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology – (Chapter 7.2, 19 pages and 13 pages of a Habitats Directive Article 6 Assessment)

Section 7.2.2 describes the receiving environment and the Lower River Shannon cSAC (site code no. 2165) is noted to include Knockalisheen Marsh. It notes that the junction of the Coonagh and Knockalisheen Roads would extend marginally into the cSAC as would the junction upgrade at Watch House Cross. At Watch House Cross, it is noted that there is an isolated

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triangular area wetland and this is indicated on Figure 7.2.1. The site synopsis for the pNHA and cSAC are provided in Appendix 7.2.2.

Table 7.2.1 gives the rare plants recorded from the 10 kilometre square and the EIS states that none of the species were likely to occur in the vicinity of the proposed road development.

In relation to protected fauna, it notes that a minor stream running into Knockalisheen Marsh from the north-west may support the Annex II listed Brook Lamprey. It notes that there are no records of the lesser horseshoe bat from the area.

The EIS notes the distribution of habitats along the proposed road are shown in Figure 7.2.2. It describes the habitats including grasslands, hedgerows and treelines, mixed broad-leafed woodland, wet woodland (this stretch of Knockalisheen Marsh abutting the Knockalisheen Road from chainage 400 - 880), reed and large sedge swamp and drainage ditches.

The EIS describes the fauna including otter, badger, fox, rabbit and brown rat. In relation to bats it notes there are limited locations that could potentially accommodate roosting bats and notes that the stretch of proposed route from the railway line east to Knockalisheen Road and south along the Knockalisheen Road as far as the Moyross housing estate is potentially valuable foraging habitat for bats.

The EIS states that the Knockalisheen Marsh would be expected to support a breeding population of common water fowl and in relation to fish it states the stream north of Castle Park Estate may support small populations of Mino, Three-Spine Stickleback and possibly also Brook Lamprey and freshwater crayfish. It notes it is unlikely to support trout due to its small size and limited catchment.

Under the heading of Evaluation in 7.2.3 the EIS notes that part of the existing Knockalisheen Road runs beside Knockalisheen Marsh, a proposed NHA and within the Lower River Shannon cSAC. It notes that the cSAC is rated of international importance. It notes the woodland and mature trees in the vicinity of Castle Park Estate are rated of high local value on account of their associated biota including potentially various species of bat. It notes also that fields to the east of the proposed Coonagh and Knockalisheen Roads and the small isolated triangular wetland immediately north of Watch House Cross are also within the cSAC.

The EIS states the stream feeding into Knockalisheen Marsh and its associated treeline on the Coonagh- Knockalisheen Road is also rated of high local value on account of the diversity of species they respectively support. It notes the dryer grasslands were generally of low ecological value along with isolated pastures of brier scrub and amenity grasslands around Coonagh and Moyross.

Under Section 7.2.4 the EIS describes the Impact Assessment for ecology .

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In relation to designated areas, the EIS refers to Figure 7.2.3 which indicates the extent of the SAC and also indicates the land to be acquired. It notes that at the roundabout at the junction of the Knockalisheen Road and the dual carriageway to Coonagh, approximately .5 hectares of land would require to be taken from the SAC. Between the chainage’s 400 and 880 on Knockalisheen Road, wet woodland extending to .478 hectares would be lost on the eastern side of the Knockalisheen Road. (In the text this is indicated as 0.23 hectares but on the Figure 7.2.3 its indicated as .478 hectares).

It notes also that approximately .46 hectares would be lost from the SAC at Watch House Cross. (At the oral hearing the extent of the land-take on the SAC in the vicinity of Knockalisheen Road was reduced from .4 to .04 hectares).

It notes that Appendix 7.2.1 gives the NRA criteria for assessing impact significance on a scale of A-E.

It notes the risk of siltation during the construction and operational phase along the Knockalisheen Marsh and also that impacts on water quality within the stream at chainage 2 + 340 could impact on fish species. It refers to the Appropriate Assessment in accordance with Article 6.3 of the Habitats Directive and this is in Appendix 7.2.3 which is at the end of Chapter 7.2 of the EIS.

The EIS describes the impacts on habitats noting impacts on the stream which feeds into Knockalisheen Marsh and also the loss of part of the woodland fringing the Castle Park Estate which would constitute a moderate negative impact. It notes the risk of impacts and vegetation from increased levels of oxides of nitrogen as a result of increased traffic levels.

Referring to fauna, the EIS notes the requirement for otters to be accommodated in the culvert design on the Knockalisheen Road and it also states there would be significant risk of mortality through traffic collision for larger mammals such as badgers, hares and hedgehogs.

It states that the loss of bat foraging habitat was not considered significant but there could be a loss of trees around the entrance to Castle Park Estate. In relation to birds, it states that once the site clearance works are undertaken outside the breeding bird season from March 1 st to August 31 st there was unlikely to be impacts associated with the proposed development on birds.

Section 7.2.5 describes mitigation measures and the proposal to erect a robust fence along the existing road edge at the Knockalisheen Road. It states that the NRA Guidelines on the crossing of watercourses would be used and design of stream culverts and construction method statements would be submitted to the NPWS for approval.

In relation to habitats, it notes the loss of semi-mature and mature trees at Castle Park Estate and states that where site investigation was required in the

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vicinity of treelines, woodland or any lands within or adjacent to the SAC, the works would be supervised by an appropriately qualified arborist or ecologist.

It states the landscape design would be in accordance with the NRA Guide to Landscape Treatments (2006).

The EIS refers to the impacts on the stream and the risk of potential indirect impacts on Knockalisheen Marsh. It states the boundary would be defined and there would be a mechanism for containment of runoff in the event of accidental spillage. It also refers to temporary storage of oil and diesel and the requirement for bunding as well as the use of temporary, contained chemical toilet facilities. It notes that adequate security measures will be put in place to prevent any acts of vandalism that might result in spillage or the discharge of pollutants.

The EIS states that all surface water runoff from the scheme would be fed through hydrocarbon interceptors and that landscape design would avoid the use of fertiliser, herbicides and pesticides within 10 metres of all surface waters.

The EIS states that the specification for otter passage and fencing would be in accordance with the Guidelines of the NRA from 2007 and that badger-proof fencing would be provided on the stretch of road between the railway and the Coonagh- Knockalisheen Road.

The EIS states that the felling of any semi-mature trees would be scheduled for the autumn months of September or October when bats were less likely to be using trees. It states to avoid disturbance to bats in the vicinity of the Knockalisheen Marsh and Castle Park Estate, lighting along that stretch of road would be cowled. It states that clearance of vegetation would take place outside the breeding bird season and that prior to any in-stream works being undertaken the stretches of stream being culverted would be surveyed for Brook Lamprey and freshwater crayfish and appropriate salvage measures would be employed under licence from the NPWS.

Section 7.2.6 deals with residual impacts and states that the loss of habitat arising from the road construction within the cSAC would be 0.66 hectares. (At the oral hearing this was reduced to approximately 0.4 hectares). It states that the loss of habitat would not have a negative impact on the overall integrity of the site and would not impact on any of the qualifying interests of the sites. It states there would be an increased threat of mortality to otter, kingfisher, badger, bats and other mammals resulting from traffic collision. It states there would also be a potential impact on bats due to the removal of semi-mature or mature trees that bats may use as roosting sites.

Appendix 7.2.2 gives the site synopsis for Knockalisheen Marsh, site code 002001 and the Lower River Shannon, site code 002165.

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Appendix 7.2.3 is a Habitats Directive Article 6 Assessment for the Lower River Shannon cSAC. This was carried out for Limerick City Council by Roughan and O’Donovan Consulting Engineers.

In the introduction it states that the report was prepared by Malone O’Regan, McGillicuddy – Roughan and O’Donovan Consulting Engineers, in conjunction with Paul Murphy of Eir Eco Consultancy Services to determine the potential effects of any, of the proposed Coonagh - Knockalisheen distributor road on nearby sites with European conservation designations.

Section 1.1 gives the regulatory context and Section 1.2 sets out the stages of the Article 6 Assessment with reference to the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC.

Stage 1 screening states that consultation and scoping had been undertaken and the report refers to Figure 7.2.1 of the EIS to indicate the Lower River Shannon cSAC. The report identifies potential impacts including a loss of habitat, disturbance to habitats, water quality, air quality and hydrological changes. The conclusion states that if the scoping fails it has been determined that there is potential for the proposed Coonagh - Knockalisheen distributor road to impact on the cSAC and therefore an Appropriate Assessment is required.

Stage 2 – Appropriate Assessment

Stage 2A is the analysis of the site and the reasons for the designations and the underlying trends effecting them.

The report refers to the Lower River Shannon cSAC and states that it has a total area of 72,138 hectares. It states that the site is selected as a cSAC for lagoons and alluvial wet woodlands as priority habitats listed in Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive. It also lists the additional habitats for selection and notes the Annex II species.

The Knockalisheen Marsh pNHA is shown in Figure 7.2.2 of the EIS.

The report states that the western edge of the Lower Shannon cSAC is impacted directly at three locations namely:-

• An isolated triangular area north of Watch House Cross which it is stated has large sedge and tall herb swamp surrounding a small eutrophic pond which is not part of Annex I of the Habitats Directive.

• A stretch of the Knockalisheen Marsh from Chainage 400 – 880 has a belt of wet woodland, dominated by willow and alder. It states the habitat type did not conform to any annexed habitat type.

• At the northern end of the scheme a roundabout is partially located within the cSAC and habitat type consists there of improved agricultural grassland used for grazing.

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The report notes the stream flowing in a north-south direction which would be crossed by the proposed dual carriageway approximately 220 metres west of the Knockalisheen Junction.

The report lists the conservation objectives of the Lower River Shannon cSAC which include:-

• Objective 1 - maintenance of Annex I habitat • Objective 2 – maintenance of Annex II species at favourable conservation status • Objective 3 – to maintain the extent, species richness and biodiversity of the entire site • Objective 4 – to establish effective liaison and cooperation with landowners, legal users and relevant authorities.

The report notes that in the absence of Conservation Management Plans for the pNHA, the conservation objectives for the Knockalisheen Marsh could be considered to include maintaining and restoring the favourable conservation status of the habitat and species for which the site was selected. It notes that the site was a good example of an unimproved grassland/wetland with high plant species diversity which was now considered scares habitat, especially close to a large city.

Stage 2B – analysis of the project including _____ components.

The report lists the various sections of the road including the widening at Coonagh Cross, the roundabout at Cratloe Road, the railway bridge at Ballygrennan, the Moyross link road, Castle Park Roundabout and the Knockalisheen Road Roundabout. It also notes the significant improvement works to the Knockalisheen Road.

Stage 2C – determining whether, in view of the sites conservation objectives, the Plan, “not in combination” with other plans and projects, would have an adverse effect on the integrity of the site. The report outlines the impacts at the three locations and notes that a total site area of 1.45 hectares would be acquired (reduced at the oral hearing) which would make up less than .00023% of the total cSAC. It states the areas of land to be acquired as part of the scheme are not listed as Annex I habitats nor are they listed as qualifying interests for the Lower River Shannon cSAC. It states that loss of the area of land is not considered as significant on the cSAC.

The report states the hydrological regime and the area is dominated by the fluvial and tidal influences of the River Shannon, the floodplain of which includes the Knockalisheen Marsh. It states that any changes in the hydrological regime of the marsh would be imperceptible and would not be significant enough to alter either the variety or mix of habitats available.

Stage 2D – analysis of “in combination” effects. The report refers to the South Clare Local Area Plan/proposed northern distributor road and also the north side Limerick Regeneration Masterplan.

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In relation to the South Clare Plan it states that the outlined route on the map was indicative only and would be subject to constraint studies, route selection studies, EIA and Article 6 Assessment prior to development. It states the proposed Coonagh - Knockalisheen distributor road had been identified as an independent scheme and as a route selection process for the northern distributor road had not been undertaken potential impact could not be assessed at that stage.

In relation to the draft Moyross Regeneration Plan, it states that the proposed road was a fundamental part of the Moyross Regeneration Programme. It states that the Masterplan did not have legal standing and was not currently endorsed by Limerick City Council. It states that pending revision of the Masterplan, and Article 6 Assessment would be carried out as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Directive requirements. It states the proposed scheme individually does not provide for future development that is likely to impact on the cSAC/pNHA.

The assessment of the in combination effects states that the Coonagh - Knockalisheen distributor road was considered independent of the other plans and should be considered alone as an individual scheme.

Stage 2E – impact mitigation. This lists the mitigation which is mentioned in the EIS with reference to mitigation in design in the construction works and during operation. Referring to residual impacts it states that the mitigation measures outlined would result in significant reduction in risks from pollution to the Lower River Shannon cSAC/ Knockalisheen Marsh pNHA. It states that the Annex II species would be facilitated by the provision of mammal fencing and underpasses. It notes that the scheme had been designed to minimise the impact on cSAC but the small areas of land would be lost as a result of the proposed scheme. It states that the loss of the habitats was not considered significant as it was unlikely to interfere with the functioning of the cSAC or its key relationships. It states that if required its conditions by the NPWS that compensation habitat be provided it would be done in consultation with and under the direction of the NPWS.

The conclusion of the assessment refers to the conservation objectives as follows:-

• Objective 1 – maintenance of Annex I habitat – no Annex I habitats are impacted by the proposed Coonagh - Knockalisheen distributor road. • Objective 2 – maintenance of Annex II species – it states that mitigation measures had been identified to minimise any impact on Annex II species. • Objective 3 – maintenance of the extent, species richness and biodiversity of the entire site – it states that as .00023% of the Lower River Shannon cSAC would be lost, the loss did not affect Annex I habitats and would not impact on the overall qualifying interests of the cSAC or species richness and biodiversity of the entire scheme.

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• Objective 4, liaison and cooperation with landowners – report states the objective was not relevant and would not be impacted on by the proposed scheme.

The overall conclusion of the report was that the proposed Coonagh - Knockalisheen distributor road would have no significant impact on the integrity of the Lower River Shannon cSAC. It states that the proposed mitigation measures would be included as part of the contractors requirements during the construction phase and will be outlined as requirements in the EIS.

8.0 Knockalisheen Road Surface Water Drainage Report (5 pages)

This report relates specifically to the drainage on the realigned and improved Knockalisheen Road over a length of 1.8 kilometres. It notes the total area of paved surfaces would increase from approximately 15,200m² predevelopment to 27,300m³ post-development. It notes the total area of the catchment is approximately 6.9km². It notes the Knockalisheen Road abuts the western boundary of the Knockalisheen Marsh NHA over a length of 500 metres from chainage 400-880. It states the culvert crossing at chainage 420 generally accommodates very minor flows from the marsh area acting as a form of overflow facility draining westward into Castle Park Estate. It states the proposed improvement works will include replacement of culverts no. 9 and 10 with larger culverts which would help to minimise the risk of blockage and facilitate passage of wildlife across the widened road construction. It states to the south of the river bridge at Ballynanty it is understood that existing surface water runoff from the Knockalisheen Road and verge areas drains via an underground pipe system to the River Shannon south of the Watch House Cross junction.

On a predevelopment scenario, the calculation is that the flow would be 0.27m³/sec design flow and in the post-development scenario the increase in surface water runoff would be of the order of 0.21m³/sec. Appendix A gives the calculation for the flood magnitude with a return period of 100 years and this is 16.526m³/sec. The predevelopment scenario in Appendix B of this report gives an outflow of 0.27m³/s and in a post-development scenario the figure is 0.48m³/s.

9.0 Noise and Vibration – (pages 7/12-7/22)

Section 7.3.1 of the EIS refers to the NRA Guidelines and the design goal of 60dBL den . It notes the requirements to be met before noise mitigation measures are deemed necessary.

Section 7.3.2 refers to methodology and states that environmental noise surveys were conducted to quantify the existing noise environment. Table 7.3.1 is entitled shortened measurement results and derived L A10 and L den values. 12 reference locations are given and the L den values range from 47-70. Table 7.3.2 gives 24-hour monitoring results at location S03 and Table 7.33 gives the monitoring results at location S10.

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Section 7.33 describes the operational noise impact and Table 7.3.4 gives the predicted noise levels for 2025 and a do-minimum and do-something scenario. 25 receptors are listed and mitigation is deemed to be required in four locations. It notes the closest noise sensitive areas would be the residential estates of Ferndale, Shannonvale, Clonile and Thomond Village in addition to individual properties along the Cratloe road and Knockalisheen Road. It notes that a low noise road surface would be used along the length of the new distributor road. it notes that Scenario 1 refers to the combined expected maximum traffic noise level from the proposed road scheme together with other traffic in the vicinity. It notes that Scenario 2 assumes that the link road would extend to the N7 Dublin Road at Castletroy.

Table 7.3.5 gives the predicted noise levels for 2025 for both scenarios considering mitigation measures. It notes that no mitigation would be required. It states that at Location R12 there would be a 1.5 metre barrier and this is indicated on Figure 7.3.1.

Figure 7.3.2 shows the barriers at Location R8 which is a 2 metre barrier and Locations R11 and R25 which are 2 metre high barriers. It notes that Location R12 would have a 1.5 metre high barrier.

Section 7.3.5 of the EIS refers to construction impacts and mitigation measures and states that the guidance would be as set out in BS5228: Part 1. Table 7.3.6 gives the maximum permissible noise levels at the facade of nearby dwellings during construction and mitigation measures are listed covering the precautions to be taken and the plant and equipment to be used.

Section 7.3.6 refers to residual impacts and notes that in the construction phase the noise levels would increase temporarily at nearby residential and business properties. It states that in the operational phase the mitigation measures had been assessed to comply with the adopted criterion. It states it may be concluded that the proposed road scheme complies with the appropriate guidance in relation to noise and the associated impact is considered acceptable.

Section 7.3.7 refers to vibration and Section 7.3.11 refers to the NRA Guidelines on the matter. It states that it may be concluded that the proposed road scheme would not be expected to give rise to vibration that was either significantly intrusive or capable of giving rise to structural or even cosmetic damage.

10.0 Air Quality and Climate – (pages 7/23-7/37)

Section 7.4.1 refers to the ambient air quality standards and refers to the Air Quality Standards Regulations of 2002 which incorporate EU Directives 1999/30 and 2000/69/EEC.

Section 7.4.3 notes that in 1999, Ireland signed the Gothenburg Protocol to the 1979 UN Convention on long rains trans-boundary air pollution. It notes that road traffic emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds were

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important accounting for 37 and 38% respectively of total emissions of those pollutants in Ireland in 2001. It notes that a national programme for the progressive reduction of emissions of the four trans-boundary pollutants is in place since April 2005.

Section 7.4.4 describes the receiving environment and refers to meteorological data, trends in air quality and notes that baseline monitoring was carried out to establish the baseline air quality.

The baseline modelling included NO 2 and Benzene. It states that the average NO 2 concentrations measured over a one month period were all well below the national EU annual limit value of 40UG/m³ reaching at most 13% of the limit. In relation to benzene, average concentrations over the one month period range from 0.6 - 0.7UG/m³. It states the average concentration measures reached at most 14% of the national and EU limit of 5UG/m³.

Section 7.4.5 refers to the EPA monitoring data and the most recent report on air quality which is the air quality monitoring report of 2007. It states that Limerick is categorised as Zone C and the summary given is that existing baseline levels of NO 2, PM 10 , PM 2.5 , CO and Benzene based on extensive long-term data from the EPA were expected to be below ambient air quality limit values in the vicinity of the proposed development. It notes that the Phoenix Park in Dublin had an annual average for PM10 in 2007 of 12UG/m³.

Section 7.4.6 refers to the predicted impacts of the scheme and states that if the dust minimisation plan is adopted, the air quality impacts during the construction phase would not be significant. In this regard reference is made to Appendix 7.4.1 at the end of this section which sets out the measures involved in a dust minimisation plan. These include road sweeping, covering of trucks, wheal wash facilities and speed restrictions on construction machinery.

In relation to the operational phase, the EIS refers to a screening model which it states allows the significance of the development with respect to both relative and absolute impact to be determined.

In relation to the do-minimum modelling assessment, the assessment for the various pollutants indicate levels of pollutants ranging from a 19-51% for the design year of 2025.

The EIS details the modelled impact of the do-something for both Scenario 1 and Scenario 2. For Scenario 2 which is based on the higher traffic volumes, the pollutant concentrations predicted range from 19-54% of limit values. It concludes that using the assessment criteria, the impact of the road development in terms of NO 2 is slight adverse at one receptor (receptor 4) and negligible at the remaining 9 worst-case receptors assessed. The same comment is made for carbon monoxide. In relation to PM 10 , the impact of the road development is assessed as negligible at all 10 worst-case receptors assessed. For PM 2.5 , the impact of the road development is assessed as slight adverse at receptor 4 and negligible at the 9 remaining worst-case receptors assessed.

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The EIS states on Page 7/27 that 10 receptor locations were modelled in the region of the distributor road but these are not indicated on any of the figures.

The summary of the local Air Quality Impact Assessment states that levels of pollutants with the proposed road development in place are predicted to range from 40-50% of the PM 10 annual limit values in 2025 and the impact of the proposed road development for PM 10 is deemed negligible for traffic scenarios 1 and 2. It states that the impact of the road in terms of benzene is considered negligible at all 10 worst-case receptors assessed. For PM 2.5 , scenarios 1 and 3 is slight adverse at receptor 4 and negligible at the remaining 9 worst-case receptors. The EIS states that in summary, levels of traffic derived air pollutants will not exceed the ambient air quality standards for the do-minimum and do-something scenarios from 2025.

The EIS refers to air quality impacts on sensitive ecosystems and this is illustrated in Table 7.4.1. This table gives the concentrations of NO x for scenarios 1 and 2 at distances from 10 – 200 metres from the road and compares this with the do-minimum concentration. The concentrations are in UG/m³ and the comparison between the do-minimum and the do-something is given. It shows that for traffic in Scenario 2, the impact of the proposed road would lead to an increase in NO x concentrations of less than 2UG/m³ within the Lower River Shannon SAC at distances up to 40 metres from the proposed Coonagh-Knockalisheen Road.

The table also refers to NO 2 dry deposition rate along the 200 metre transect and it states that this reaches only 3% of the critical load for inland and surface water habitats which is 5-10kg(n)/HA/YR.

The EIS states that the results of the screening model, indicate that the impact of the proposed road on Ireland’s obligation under the Gothenburg Protocol is negligible in the design year 2025 when considering regional air quality assessment. It states that the impact on national greenhouse gas emissions would be insignificant in terms of Ireland’s obligation under the Kyoto Protocol.

Section 7.4.7 refers to mitigation measures and states that a Dust Minimisation Plan had been formulated for the construction phase and that no mitigation measures are necessary in regard to climate for the construction phase.

In relation to the operational phase, the EIS refers to improvements in both engine technology and fuel quality. In relation to climate it notes that the CO 2 emissions for the average new car fleet would be reduced to 120G/KM by 2012 through EU legislation on improvements in vehicle motor technology.

The EIS states that the results of the air dispersion modelling study showed that the residual impacts of the proposed road development on air quality and climate would be insignificant.

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11.0 – Soils, Geology and Hydrology – (Pages 7/38 – 7/43)

Section 7.5.1 describes the topography of the area which states that the proposed scheme would pass through an area which lies within the floodplains of the River Shannon and as such the local topography is generally low lying and consists of flat to gently sloping ground with gradually increasing altitude as the study area moves north.

In relation to hydrology, it states the route is in the immediate vicinity of the River Shannon and there is a creek to the west of the scheme namely Meelick Creek and a number of smaller drainage ditches across the site. It states the largest of the drainage ditches is found north of Castle Park Estate where a small stream flows in a north-south direction across the proposed route approximately 220 metres west of the Knockalisheen Junction before crossing under the Knockalisheen Road into the marsh at Chainage 400.

In relation to bedrock geology, Figure 7.5.1 is taken from the GSI map and indicates the proposed route to be largely underlying by undifferentiated limestone of carboniferous age.

In relation to hydrogeology, it states that 12 wells were identified within 2 kilometres of the proposed route and these were shown on Figure 7.5.2. It notes the majority of those were greater than 1 kilometre from the proposed route. It refers to a well at Clonconane, north-east of the Coonagh Roundabout which lies approximately 200 metres from the route and another north of Ballygrennan has been identified near the route. It states all the wells identified are likely to be drilled to depths which penetrate the limestone bedrock below.

The EIS refers to aquifer vulnerability and states that the groundwater maps indicate that vulnerability of the general vicinity of the study area to be high – low and extreme where rock is near the surface. It says using the assessment criteria presented in Table 7.5.1 it would indicate that much of the route would be classified as being of moderate vulnerability. It states that in areas where the road may cross through zones of high aquifer vulnerability, specific road design measures for road drainage may be required to prevent surface activity from polluting the underlying groundwater.

Dealing with the impacts of development, the EIS states that no potentially significant impact would occur in relation to geology and that soil erosion could occur on the site slopes of overburden. It states that all topsoil and any pockets of organic material would be removed from the proposed route prior to construction.

The EIS lists a number of quarries including:-

• Bunratty, 10 miles outside Limerick • Barrigone, located on the N69 between and . • Ballyneety • Clarina

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• Killyfinny, Adare. • Ennis.

In relation to impacts on hydrology, it is stated that there would be possible drawdown of groundwater during construction and that accidental spillage could contaminate an aquifer by direct percolation of via the superficial water network.

Section 7.5.3 lists mitigation measures which would be implemented which included use of suitable material, disposal of unsuitable material, top soiling and seeding of embankment slopes, use of oil interceptors and closed drains, directing of land drains into new pipes or ditches and a monitoring programme for groundwater monitoring.

Section 7.5.4 states that no significant residual impacts on soil, geology or hydrogeology are anticipated as a result of the development.

12.0 – Landscape and Visual Analysis – (Chapter 8, 18 pages)

Section 8.1.1 notes that the new road would be predominantly raised slightly above the local landscape from Coonagh-Knockalisheen. It states the visual impact could impact on road cuttings and embankments, junctions and would have impacts from lighting.

Section 8.2 is a description of the receiving environment and it states that the built up area of the south-east of the road corridor includes the established area of Redgate and the Moyross area which is the subject of a major regeneration programme. It refers to the Development Plan context including the Clare CDP, South Clare LAP, Limerick CDP, Limerick City Development Plans and also the Caherdavin LAP 2005-2011. In relation to the Caherdavin Plan there is specific reference to the distributor road network which describes the road and the new junction at the Coonagh Roundabout.

The EIS notes other aspects of the LAP including a self-sufficient “urban village” to be created which serves employment, facilities and service needs and that there is a presumption in favour of development in Caherdavin. It notes the recent research programmes having identified the estuary of the Shannon as a valuable source of archaeological evidence for past fishing practices. It notes that due to the low-lying nature of much of the topography in the Caherdavin area, and its propensity for seasonal flooding, it is only in recent decades that the area has opened up for development – driven by the expanding population of Limerick City and its environs.

The EIS refers to Caherdavin’s natural environment and the specific policies namely BN6 which is to promote the integration of the existing natural and landscape features into future developments and BN7 to protect where appropriate the existing stands of mature trees and field boundaries which contribute to the character of the area. It states there would be a presumption against removal of hedgerows within development sites.

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The EIS notes that Caherdavin has relatively large areas of low-lying land, which prior to the development of the district over the last 50 years or so would have been part of the floodplain of both the Shannon and local tributaries. It notes that that type of land places limits on what can be achieved both in terms of physical development and also has implications for the provision of space for active recreation such as playing pitches. It notes the evidence for this lies in the large amount of excavated drainage channels which still remain and also the vegetation, which is largely of wetland character. It notes that this too has implications for development in that it is important for potential developments to demonstrate, where they are permitted in former flood prone areas, that they would not have an adverse effect on flooding regimes within the area.

The EIS notes also the River Shannon and the Crompaun are of particular importance to Caherdavin due to the amenity and recreation value and the fact that the Crompaun provides a wildlife corridor and a feeding ground for wild fowl.

The EIS refers to the SAC and the two designated areas within the LAP area namely the Lower River Shannon SAC and the Knockalisheen Marsh NHA. The EIS describes the habitats within the Plan area and in relation to the flood risk area, it states that it is the policy of the Council not to permit the development, which is sensitive to the effects of flooding in flood prone or marginal areas, unless adequate mitigation measures, which may involve a Flood Impact Analysis, are proposed to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority.

It refers to Policy U6 of the Plan which states that appropriately designed development, not sensitive to the effects of flooding may be permissible in floodplains, provided it does not significantly reduce the floodplain area or otherwise restrict the flows across floodplains.

The EIS refers to the Moyross Regeneration Programme and Section 8.2.2 deals with the immediate site context in terms of land use, settlements and transport routes.

Section 8.2.3 considers landscape values and refers to conservation values, enhancement values and the visual envelope. In relation to the landscape impact, it states the proposed development is supported by local policy and the rezoned context which will entail substantial change to receiving environment. It states that landscaped design of the new road would need to consider the changing context on the character of the road corridor that is appropriate. In terms of conservation values, it states the road alignment has been selected to minimise impact on the most significant landscape features namely the Delmege Estate and the Knockalisheen Marsh. It states the local wetland character of the environment can be reflected in selected species as part of the landscape proposals associated with the new road. In summary, the EIS states that the road is a beneficial addition to the landscape as part of wider residential, urban and infrastructural development. It states that landscape

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proposals associated with the road should reflect the new urban context and the local distinctive wetland character of the Shannon region.

Section 8.3.2 deals with visual impact and Table 8.1 lists the viewpoints which are also indicated in Figure 8.1. (I note that the location of Viewpoint no. 3 is not on Figure 8.1 and also there is no photograph added in the text for Viewpoint no. 4. The viewpoints are as follows:-

• Viewpoint 1 – 0 from housing at Ferndale towards Woodcock Hill and Windgap. – Road on a low embankment, mitigation involving tree planting to integrate into landscape. • Viewpoint 2 - view to east from access road to commercial/retail area – the viewpoint is of low sensitivity being from a road leading to a commercial area – with mitigation the impact of the road would be negligible in the long-term. • Viewpoint 3 – new housing of the Meelick Road – looking north-west – mitigation by way of tree planting along the road to screen and integrate the landscape. • Viewpoint 4 – Meelick Bridge on Cratloe Road – no specific mitigation measure. • Viewpoint 5 – housing at Clonconane – view to the east from a property named Oakfield (understood to be on the Pass Road) – medium and long-term as adjacent lands and the viewpoints are developed, the significance would become negligible. • Viewpoint 6 – rural house at Ballygrennane – to the south towards the road corridor – states that other than the encroaching Moyross housing, the scene is very rural and green and the VIA result is stated that the development of the zoned lands when established would leave an impact of low and adverse. • Viewpoint 7 – view from rural house at Knockalisheen Road towards the south-west. – Seen as very rural and green – mitigation is given as screening of the road with tree planting/bunding. • Viewpoint 8 – enterprise centre, Moyross looking north-west along Sarsfield Gardens – mitigation stated that landscape works as part of the Regeneration Masterplan would create a new high quality landscape/streetscape. • Viewpoint 9 – enterprise centre, Moyross looking south-east – mitigation states that landscape works as part of the Regeneration Masterplan would create a new high quality landscape/Streetscape.

On Page 8/18 there is a summary of the visual impact for a short, medium and long-term for the 9 viewpoints and the long-term significance for the enterprise centre viewpoints are high and beneficial, for Viewpoints 2, 4 and 5 are negligible, at Knockalisheen Road, Ballygrennane and Ferndale is given as low and adverse and for new housing off the Meelick Road is given as medium and adverse. (The Meelick Road is not indicated on any of the figures and the wall shown in the photo in the text is similar to one on the Cratloe Road on the city side of the proposed roundabout).

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Section 8.4 gives conclusions which states that on balance subject to a careful application of the Caherdavin and Moyross Plans to ensure a different but high quality new urban environment and associated screening, bunding and streetscape development, the proposed new road is an acceptable change in the receiving environment and compatible with the identified landscape values. It lists mitigation as including urban streetscape creation, off-site planting, reinstatement in the use of native vegetation and the preparation of a tree survey to assess the northern half of the site at the Knockalisheen Road and detailed alignment of the route to assist retention of best mature trees.

13.0 – Material Assets – (EIS Chapter 9, 15 pages)

The introduction states that this section of the EIS discusses the impact of the proposed road on material assets which are property on land use. It states that a road construction scheme may affect assets if it involves the acquisition of land, the demolition of buildings or change in the development potential of adjoining lands or properties. It notes the principle land use within the scheme was agriculture.

Section 9.2 deals with the potential impact for agriculture including land-take, severance, farm size and type of farm enterprise. Table 9.1 gives the significance criteria used with reference to the EPA advice notes and Table 9.2 gives the significance criteria for overall impact on the farm holding.

Section 9.3 of the EIS describes the receiving environment for agriculture and notes that has a total Utilisable Agricultural Area (UAA) of 201,979 hectares while County Clare has 210,277 hectares. It states that the new road would pass through the electoral divisions of Ballygrennan and north Limerick. Table 9.3 gives the category of farming enterprise of the effected electoral districts while Table 9.5 gives the crop types in the study area and the national lands devoted to crops and grassland.

Section 9.4 of the EIS describes the predicted impacts on agriculture and states that approximately 20 hectares of land would be lost to agricultural production as a result of the scheme. It states there are 14 farms directly affected by the construction of the proposed road and an agricultural consultant contacted the landowners to carry out appraisal of the farm facilities and to gather data via a questionnaire to enable an assessment of the impact and mitigation measures required as a result of the road development. It notes the criteria used. Table 9.6 shows the summary details of the individual farm assessment and the anticipated impact of the road on each farm. It states that of the effected farms 79% would be less than 30 hectares. Two farms would have a major degree of impact and one farm with a moderate degree of impact. It states there are 10 farms which would have a minor impact.

Table 9.8 at the end of the section lists the farms with Ref. nos. 1-15, 18-20, 28, 34 and 40.

Section 9.5 of the EIS deals with mitigation measures for agriculture which includes accommodation works and these are noted in Table 9.8 also.

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Section 9.6 describes the residual impacts for agriculture and states that the residual impact would still be major on one farm after the recommended mitigation works were carried out. It states that two farms would have a moderate degree of residual impact and 11 farms will receive a minor impact and it notes there are no farms in which the residual impact would be not significant.

The EIS states that it is noted that while there is impact on 14 farms a number of the sites were currently zoned for development or are to undergo a change of zoning to allow for development as part of the Limerick Regeneration Plan. It states the future uses of those lands were likely to involve development. It notes that Table 9.7 shows the details of the individual farm assessments and a comparison of the overall impact with the anticipated residual impact.

Section 9.7 of the EIS refers to construction impacts which includes impacts from noise, dust, access, disturbance of drainage and of soil and provision of ducting.

Construction impacts are described and the mitigation measures are noted.

In Section 9.8 the predicted impact on residential community is noted which includes disturbance and that one dwelling may be required as part of the scheme. It states there would be significant positive impacts for residential development within Limerick City and its environs. It states the proposed route is a fundamental part of the north side Limerick Regeneration Plan and creates opportunity for rezoning of land. The EIS states the provision of a distributor road in northern Limerick results in access to new lands at a speedier route from the Knockalisheen Road and the Cratloe Road to Limerick and the south.

Section 9.9 describes the potential impact on north Limerick City which it states would result in positive impacts for economic development of north Limerick while tackling the problems associated with social exclusion.

Section 9.10 refers to proposed mitigation measures for residential property and these relate to compensation payments for loss of land and other injurious affection would be agreed with all residential property owners affected by land-take for the scheme.

It states where part of the property or land surrounding a residential property is to be acquired, agreement would be reached with the owner of the property on the type of boundary treatment that would be provided. It states that where an access to a property was affected the access would be reinstated to match the existing as far as possible and be consistent with the relevant County Development Plan. (There appears to be a typo in this particular sentence).

Section 9.11 states that the residual impacts for property would be reduced to not significant following mitigation.

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14.0 – Architecture, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage – (EIS, Chapter 10, 13 pages)

Section 10.1 gives the architectural and cultural heritage background as follows:-

• Prehistoric period – up to AD500. It notes that sea levels had fallen by the bronze age and evidence from the mud flats suggest that the local communities made use of the estuaries resources by means of a mixed farming strategy with cattle and sheep herded on the coastal marshes while fishing and hunting was also important. It notes Site 1 on Figure 10.1 is a prehistoric burial cairn, consisting of a circular mound of 23 metres in diameter and 1.5 metres high. It notes Site 3 is recorded as a possible enclosure in the RMP and such sites are generally prehistoric in date. • Early medieval period – AD500-1100. – The EIS gives the history including the Viking period. • Medieval period – AD1100-1550 – the EIS gives the history of the time including King John’s Castle and the capture of Limerick by Edward Bruce in 1316. • Post-medieval period – AD1550-1700 – including the . • Industrial Age – AD1700-1900 – it notes that in 1733, King George III approved the repair of the road from the of Limerick to Cratloe and Six Mile Bridge, now known as the Old Cratloe Road or Wood Road. It notes that a map of 1691 exists which illustrates the road to Six Mile Bridge and the Long Pavement Road and the study area is marked as one of marginal land. • 20 th century – by 1901 Limerick had a population of 38,000. It states that Knockalisheen Barracks was built during World War II to accommodate Irish army troops. It notes that in 1956 the barracks housed approximately 500 Hungarian refugees following the failed revolution of that year. It states that in 1950 the City boundaries were increased and Caherdavin, Clonconane, Coonagh and Ballygrennan which includes Moyross are now part of the City.

Section 10.2 is entitled Toponomy and refers to the various place names including townland names and derivations.

Section 10.3 refers to previous archaeological investigations and notes that in 1998 investigations took place within Site 3 in advance of the construction of the Clonile housing development immediately east of the proposed alignment on the northern side of the Old Cratloe Road. It noted the area of the possible settlement was particularly prone to flooding and it was concluded if there had been a settlement it was more likely to be on higher ground.

I noted that further investigations were undertaken within Site 3 prior to the construction of the Shannonville housing estate and archaeological monitoring of topsoil stripping and the excavation of 57 test trenches yielding nothing of archaeological significance.

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Section 10.4 refers to previous archaeological investigations in the surrounding area and refers to Site 1 (RMP no. L1005-005) which is the circular mound was previously considered to be an enclosure and the site was tested in 2003 and fragments of cremated bones were found in a discrete deposit, suggesting that the monument is a prehistoric burial cairn.

The EIS notes recent excavations in the nearby townlands as part of the Limerick southern ring road phase 2. The site investigation ______to be carried out in June 2008 and a total of 28 fields were inspected.

Section 10.6 refers to site types and these were described as:-

• Cairns • Ecclesiastical sites –site no. 2 – burial ground • Areas of settlement – identified through a combination of literary sources • Enclosures – circular enclosures which are no longer extant, may represent destroyed ring-barrows, ring forts or moated-sites. • Castles/tower houses – 12-17 centuries. • Country house and demesne – 18 th century saw the large-scale development of demesnes and country houses in Ireland • Railway bridge and culvert – generally dating from the mid to late 19 th century and of rusticated ashlar construction.

Section 10.6.2 describes landscapes of potential or areas of high archaeological potential. It notes the areas of potential are detailed in Tables 10.1-10.5. These include wetland areas and crop marks.

Section 10.7 refers to the status of sites and notes that Sites 1-5 are listed in the RMP which was established under Section 12 of the 1994 National Monuments (Amendments) Act. It states that Sites 1-3 and 5 are listed in the Caherdavin Local Area Plan while Castle Park House (AH9) is listed as a protected structure (Figure 10.3).

The NIAH or National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is referred to and notes that the inclusion of a structure in the NIAH does not in itself provide statutory protection. The EIS notes that Castle Park House is listed by the NIAH for Limerick. Table 10.1 is an Impact Assessment table for Sites 1-5 and Sites AH1-AH21 while industrial archaeological sites IA1 and 2 are noted and archaeological potential sites AP1-AP8 are also listed. TV1 is a townland and county boundary which is stated to have a direct impact.

Section 10.8.1 is entitled Discussion and it states that one RMP site namely Site 3 is directly impacted by the proposed scheme. It states that a number of sites of architectural heritage are impacted and these include Castle Park Estate (AH9) stone gate piers and walls, a dry stonewall, an estate wall, upstanding structure and also six areas of archaeological potential. It lists Ballynanty railway bridge as a site of industrial heritage and the townland

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boundary between Gortagarraun and Ballygrennan also serves as the county boundary between Limerick and Clare.

Section 10.9 refers to mitigation measures and states these are required to be undertaken in compliance with national policy guidance and statutory provisions. It notes that it is first recommender that all archaeological sites and their environs be avoided if possible. It states that a geophysical survey is recommended at Site no. 3 and sites of archaeological potential AP4-AP8. (This was submitted at the oral hearing and is tabbed LA08).

The EIS describes architectural survey which is recommended of structure AH15 prior to construction. It notes the recommendation for pre-construction written and photographic recording of all impacted demesne lands at Castle Park Estate and in this respect the report of Mr. Goodbody at the hearing and tabbed LA05 is noted.

The EIS recommends that archaeologically – direct topsoil stripping of a central strip of the length of the selected route option, including the Moyross link, with offsets should be undertaken prior to the construction phase. It states this would also be recommended for the Knockalisheen Road where space and vegetation are not constraints.

The EIS recommends in Section 10.9.3 that archaeological monitoring be undertaken during all ground works and demolition associated with the development and notes that work would be done under licence in accordance with the National Monuments Acts.

15.0 - Construction Phase – (Chapter 11, EIS, 3 pages)

The EIS notes that the chapter outlines the potential impact of construction works on the natural environment, residential developments, human beings and areas of heritage or archaeological interest. It estimates the overall construction period would be 18 and 24 months.

The EIS states there would be a main site construction compound with possible other satellite compounds and it notes the exact locations and motive operation would be selected by the contractor and would be subject to approval from Limerick City Council. It notes the impacts which have to be guarded against including accidental spillages. In relation to earthworks operations it states that the import of fill would result in the movement of approximately 42 trucks per hour during working hours on a 1-year period. It states in relation to the drainage system that no culverts would be required across streams of salmonid potential so no special measures would be required in that regard.

The EIS refers to temporary traffic management and temporary community severance and notes that in general permanent boundary treatment would be provided where possible prior to general construction activity.

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The EIS notes the alterations and diversion works would be required to the existing utility services as a result of the road scheme. It refers to the individual chapters for mitigation measures for construction operations.

16.0 – Interrelationships/Interactions – (Chapter 12, EIS, 1 page)

This page is in tabular form and Table 12.1 is described as a matrix to summarise interrelation of environmental topics and issues. It notes the key interactions or interrelationships and it states that this table provides a useful cross-reference for the items.

17.0 – Mitigation Measures – (Chapter 13, EIS, 8 pages)

The EIS states that this chapter gives a summary of the mitigation measures for the proposed scheme presented for each environmental topic. It refers for human beings to appropriate traffic management measures with the maintenance of 2-way traffic at the tie-in for the proposed road at Coonagh Roundabout with a one-way traffic shuttle operation for the Knockalisheen Road during the upgrade of that part of the scheme. It states that pedestrian and cycle facilities would be provided throughout the scheme to reduce any impact on community severance for the operational phase.

Dealing with mitigation measures for ecology, it notes the need to gain consent from the NPWS for any mitigation proposed to minimise or avoid impact on the Knockalisheen Marsh NHA or the Lower River Shannon cSAC. It also lists requirements for fencing, stream crossing mitigation, culvert design, specific issues relating to Castle Park Estate including the stream. It specifically refers to the risk of potential indirect impacts on the designated areas and refers to construction management techniques which would be required.

Section 13.3.2 refers to mitigation for fauna and in relation to otters it lists the requirement for pre-construction check for otter halts, monitoring during construction, protection of any halts discovered and the protection of the riparian habitat. Other mammals referred to include bats and the felling of trees would be scheduled for September/October.

In relation to birds, landscaping proposals would compensate for the loss of habitat for bird species and would primarily entail the use of native trees and shrubs. It states that prior to any in-stream works being undertaken, the stretches of stream to be culverted would be surveyed for Brook Lamprey and appropriate salvage measures employed under licence from the NPWS if present.

Section 13.4 refers to mitigation for noise and vibration refers to the three locations specifically mentioned in the individual chapter namely locations R8, R11 and 25 and/or 12. It lists 7 construction noise mitigation measures to be incorporated and details the normal working hours proposed.

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In relation to air quality it mentions a Dust Minimisation Plan and for soils and geology, a list of 12 items which were specifically mentioned in the particular chapter are also listed.

Section 13.8 gives mitigation measures for landscape and Section 13.9 is mitigation measures for material assets. In relation to archaeology, architecture and cultural heritage it mentions the preconstruction phase measures including the geophysical survey which was carried out prior to the oral hearing and also to the required archaeological investigative excavation which would be required. It repeats the requirement for topsoil stripping to be undertaken prior to the construction phase.

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