Designs fell short on parking and transport access
While most of the reasons given for refusing permission centred on the height and scale of the proposed building and its impact on the visual streetscape around it, the An Bord Pleanála inspector who examined the application also found the traffic management arrangements severely flawed.
She said she did not consider it reasonable to assume that only 13% of trips made by staff would be by car or that staff would limit themselves to parking in the proposed staff-only areas.
The adjacent Mater Hospital provided parking on the assumption that 36% of staff trips would be by car and Dublin City Council’s roads department used a standard measurement of 34%.
She also criticised the proposal to designate just 30 parking spaces for use by parents accessing the emergency department, given that it was estimated 180-190 patients would attend the department each day.
“I do not consider that dedicating 30 spaces for use by parents accessing the emergency department is adequate to cater for what is likely to be the most sensitive user of the facility,” the inspector said.
She also said she had concerns about confusion about accessing the site for motorists unfamiliar with the area and noted that while people on the northside of the city were well served by bus routes passing the site, bus access from the southside was “poor”. She noted that access to the site from the M50 would take up to an hour in peak times.
She also highlighted the lack of any firm plans to provide a helipad for emergency transfers by helicopter, something she considered a “critical element” of the project.
“I would recommend in that regard that if the board are minded to permit the proposed development that a condition is attached to any permission requiring that a helipad is operational within the campus prior to the opening of the subject proposal,” she said.
She expressed concerns that part of the rationale for locating the children’s hospital on the site was that it would be co-located with a proposed new maternity hospital intended as a replacement for the Rotunda Maternity Hospital.
She said of the maternity hospital proposal: “No plans have been produced nor are there any timelines for same.” She said there were also “glaring differences” between estimates of the space required for the complementary projects.
On the numerous issues raised about the scale of the project in a largely Georgian streetscape, the board agreed with the inspector that it contravened the local area plan and the architectural and design standards set for the area.
They concluded: “Notwithstanding the general acceptability of the proposal in terms of medical co-location on this inner city hospital site, it is considered that the proposed development, by reason of its height, scale, form and mass, located on this elevated site, would result in a dominant, visually incongruous structure and would have a profound negative impact on the appearance and visual amenity of the city skyline.”
* 2001: Government’s Health Strategy “Quality and Fairness – A Health System for You” has among its goals a review of paediatric services.
* 2006: February — Children’s Health First, a report by McKinsey Consultants, recommends one national tertiary paediatric centre in Dublin. The board of the HSE signs off on the report which doesn’t select a site, but says it is preferable to co-locate with an adult hospital.
In May, a joint HSE/Department of Health taskforce chooses the Mater. Cabinet endorses this. Six months later RKW consultants are commissioned by the HSE to produce a framework brief for the new hospital based on the Mater site.
* 2007: Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children withdraws from engagement but later re-engages following assurances from health minister Mary Harney that if RKW said the Mater site was inadequate, she would have the location re-examined.
National Paediatric Hospital Development Board set up by statute. It takes two years before Crumlin agrees to nominate a representative.
* 2010: In July, heart surgeon Maurice Neligan, now deceased, publicly criticises the Mater site. In October, Philip Lynch, chair of the NPHDB resigns after raising concerns about finance and location. He also claims the decision to select the Mater was politically motivated. Ms Harney denies this.
* 2011: Fine Gael pledges to review the hospital project during its election campaign. Following his election, new health minister Dr James Reilly confirms he plans to press ahead with the review. John Gallagher, new chair of the NPHDB, resigns shortly after. He favours the Mater site but is concerned about the board’s ability to oversee such a large project.
* May 2011: It emerges that Eilish Hardiman, chief executive of the NPHDB has applied for the post of chief executive of Tallaght Hospital and is the preferred candidate. Within 24 hours, Dr Reilly announces the terms of reference of a new review examining the difference in cost between building at the Mater or elsewhere.
* July 2011: The review — both clinical and financial — finds in favour of the Mater. Health Minister Dr James Reilly says he is “now fully satisfied” that the Mater is the right location. An application for planning permission is submitted directly to An Bord Pleanála under the Strategic Infrastructure Act. However Dr Reilly says that the Government’s final decision on proceeding with the project will depend on its overall review of capital spending, which will be completed in advance of the December budget.
* October 2011: An Bord Pleanála hold a five-day oral hearing on the planning application with supporters and objectors setting out their views.
* December 2011: In his address to the nation, Taoiseach Enda Kenny commits to investing in “crucial projects like the National Children’s Hospital”.
* February 2012: An Bord Pleanála refuses planning permission.
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