Residents in one of Dublin's most affluent neighbourhoods have asked An Bord Pleanála to reject Transport Infrastructure Ireland's proposal to build the MetroLink terminus station in Charlemont because it will inflict an ''intolerable burden'' on the community.
Property owners in Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh have strongly criticised the plans and have condemned TII for "dripfeeding" information and acting in a condescending manner in its dealings with residents.
Dartmouth has been described by estate agents as a ‘’renowned square of imposing Victorian properties, a prestigious sought after address’’ with the asking price for some properties of more than €2m.
Lorraine Power, a resident of Dartmouth Square West, made an impassioned plea to An Bord Pleanála inspectors, framing residents’ battle with TII over Charlemont as a David versus Goliath situation.
"This is not an over-exaggeration or overly dramatic," she said.
"There are scores of experts who could be described here as hired guns from TII with the sole mission of picking holes in the arguments being put forward by our community," Ms Power said.
"We do not have the resources that are available to TII to fight on a level playing pitch," she said.
Ms Power said Dartmouth Square is a quiet and peaceful residential area and is not a suitable location to bring in tens of thousands of passengers every day.
She said her family is not against the MetroLink and they are simply objecting to the terminus being located at Charlemont because it will have "serious implications for us as a family and for the city too".
"This is not some unfounded, uninformed or highhanded reaction by members of the [so called] leafy suburbs as it may be portrayed by some," she told An Bord Pleanála.
At the outset of her submission, Ms Power said she trusted An Bord Pleanála would not be influenced by the oversimplified characterisations of Charlemont as an easy choice for the MetroLink terminus and the "general dismissal of our concerns as 'NIMBYISM' in the media and public discourse".
Ms Power said she has four young children and fears their childhood will be impacted because of the "large building site outside their back door".
"We don’t know if we will even be living in our home over the next few years," she said.
Ms Power said she wanted her children to get to know people in the community rather than having to uproot and be "in a transitory situation living here and there in the years ahead".
She argued that the prospect of the works has meant her family’s enjoyment of their property which they bought five years ago as a "doer upper" has already been impacted.
"It is disruptive of their [four children] development and of the hopes and aspirations we had for our lives. That cuts very deep as a mother. I’m trying to raise my kids in the best way I can," she said.
"I have had many sleepless nights worrying about my family’s future," she told An Bord Pleanála inspectors.
"TII does not want to concede any of our issues," Ms Power said.
TII told An Bord Pleanála that "no trickery" has been engaged by the body in how it has dealt with the issues raised by Dartmouth residents including Ms Power.
"I certainly don’t believe myself that we’ve been involved in any trickery whatsoever," Project Director for TII Aidan Foley said.
Mr Foley said: "TII fully comprehends the impact of building the station in Charlemont location and the impact on people’s lives."
"It isn’t easy to build anything of this size without having impacts on the local community," he told the oral hearings.
"We believe we have been listening, perhaps not to the extent the local community would wish we would listen, but we have had over twenty meetings with local residents and residents groups," Mr Foley said.
TII said it held four meetings with Dartmouth residents in 2021 and 2022 which were designed to "describe the works as best we could to various residents in the community".
Property will be 'unsaleable' because of project
Another resident said the MetroLink project will make his property "unsaleable" for a period of more than eight years.
Ciaran Black lives on Dartmouth Road and like most of his neighbours, his house is a protected structure in an architectural conservation area.
Mr Black and his wife bought the property 24 years ago and his three children also live in the house.
He told An Bord Pleanála that his home will be in the "epicentre" of a major piece of infrastructure.
"We will be engulfed by the scale of the project," Mr Black said in an oral submission to An Bord Pleanála.
He described the decision to locate the MetroLink terminus at Charlemont as "wholly inappropriate".
Construction works will take place six metres from his front door and the property is located 27m from one of the proposed entrances to the station.
Mr Black said TII’s mitigation measures including erecting a 7m hoarding for Dartmouth’s three-stories properties are not enough to minimise the noise and human health impacts.
"It will be oppressive to be boxed into our homes. Too much is being asked of residents," Mr Black said.
Michael Furminger, a barrister representing Mr Black and other residents on Dartmouth Road urged An Bord Pleanála to consider the human aspect in granting permission to the rail project.
"Think about these two houses of the four people in front of you. Four ordinary people in two ordinary homes," Mr Furminger said.
He added that while his clients are broadly in favour of the Metro, they oppose the extension of the MetroLink to Charlemont in Dublin 6.
"My clients will bear excessive and disproportionate costs to any benefits to the common good," he said.
"Our case is that Charlemont is a stop too far, it is the weak link in this project," Mr Furminger said.
The barrister warned that the decision to end the metro at Charlemont ‘’would be the cause of the demise of this project as a whole".
"That is the risk the applicant [TII] runs by pushing the Charlemont station," Mr Furminger said.
"See it from the point of view of the families. These families are going to pay the cost," he said.
Mr Furminger said his clients bought the two properties as "family homes" and not as an investment properties.
He said the homes have been lovingly restored but the owners fear the value of their homes will plummet during construction of the MetroLink.
"These are very nice properties, ten minutes walk from St Stephen’s Green, nice homes," Mr Furminger reminded inspectors.
He claimed that the construction project will have such an impact on the properties that they will be reduced to "near nominal value".
Two homes are estimated to be some 25m from the southern entrance to the proposed station at Charlemont.
TII estimates that 35,000 passengers will arrive and depart the station over a 12-hour period.
"That’s the reality of this project. The only way for them to be closer is to be in the hole," Mr Furminger said.
TII accused of downplaying effects of noise
Mr Furminger said that TII has "downplayed" the noise effects coming from such numbers using the station, claiming that TII has "utterly disregarded pedestrians making noise".
"We know crowds make noise," he claimed.
TII estimate that approximately 15% of people using the Charlemont station will use the southern entrance, which is close to of the two houses.
Jennifer Harmon, noise and vibration expert for TII, said noise generated from the number of the projected passengers using Charlemont is "not comparable" to the noise coming from crowds of people attending a sporting event at the Aviva Stadium or Croke Park.
"These people [passengers] will be in transient mode," Ms Harmon said while acknowledging that there will be a general change in the soundscape of Dartmouth Road.
In response, TII Project Director Aidan Foley maintained that the body has listened to residents concerns.
Relocation is one of the options put forward by TII as part of the mitigation measures due to the "difficult location of the works in relation to the proposed works at Charlemont".
"We would like to meet with you," Mr Foley told Mr Black in order to further discuss other mitigation measures.
The impact on the road itself was also highlighted.
Dartmouth Road will be fully closed during civil works, a period estimated to take two and a half years with pedestrian access only.
"Even if the project has a net gain for Dublin that is too high a price to pay for the residents on Dartmouth Road," Mr Furminger said.
The oral hearings are continuing at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin until at least the end of the month.
