PREPARING A SPECIAL PLANNING SCHEME FOR O’CONNELL STREET

Dublin City Councillors agreed at our monthly meeting in April to initiate a public consultation to review the Scheme of Special Planning Control for O’Connell Street & Environs 2016 and to prepare an updated scheme to be considered later this year.

First introduced in 2003, the current Scheme of Special Planning Control (SSPC) for O’Connell Street & Environs has been in force since September 2016. It is proposed to update the current SSPC to ensure that it remains fit for purpose with a view to the future, following disruption to some land uses during the Covid 19 pandemic, and having regard to changing retail patterns, and the need to promote upper floor uses.

The purpose of the SSPC is to guide investment toward the creation of a busy thriving commercial area in O’Connell Street and environs, while protecting and enhancing architectural, historical, cultural and civic character of this nationally important civic thoroughfare.

The SPPC sets out objectives and development management measures to enhance the character of the street, protect existing uses of special significance and discourage the emergence of less appropriate uses for the area. In policy terms, the SSPC sits in the context of the Dublin City Development Plan 2016 – 2022 (the Development Plan) and associated Retail Strategy. The Retail Strategy broadly identifies streets in the area according to Category 1 and 2, with related land-use requirements/restrictions associated with these categories. The SSPC therefore supplements the above, providing more refined guidance. It is essential that Dublin City Council (DCC) has the right land use policies in place to protect the character of the O’Connell Street area and facilitate compatible land uses to support the growth of the area.

Please find below a copy of the report considered by Councillors at our April meeting, which you can access here:

I will circulate details of the consultation process once it has been launched by Dublin City Council in the coming days.