The proposed eastern site for the second terminal at Dublin airport provides the most viable and deliverable location for the development, a senior planner told the An Bord Pleanála hearing into the new terminal yesterday.
"Deliverability was a critical consideration, having regard to the pressures on the existing terminal facilities and the timescale laid down by Government," said Seán Ó Faircheallaigh, senior planner with Fingal County Council.
He said the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan envisaged that the development of a terminal on the eastern campus would provide the necessary capacity for short-term requirements.
Last week, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said the Dublin Airport Authority's (DAA) plans for the second terminal, known as T2, violated Fingal council's Local Area Plan and that T2 was "the wrong design in the wrong location at the wrong price" and that location on the north apron should have been considered.
However, Mr Ó Faircheallaigh said the site identified for a possible northern terminal was not considered capable of timely redevelopment because of the need to relocate extensive hangar facilities. Mr Ó Faircheallaigh said he could not understand comments about the "excessive distance" between existing facilities and the proposed T2.
"The distance between the existing Terminal 1 and the proposed Terminal 2 is significantly less than the distance between Terminal 1 and a possible northern terminal," he said, adding that locating the proposed terminal close to the existing one would facilitate flexible usage and transfers between transatlantic and European carriers.
Residents' groups also criticised the proposed terminal. Matthew Harley of the Portmarnock Community Association, said the DAA had carried out no cost-benefit analysis on the proposed expansion which he said would be a waste of €4.5 billion of public and private assets. Sheelagh Morris, secretary of St Margaret's Concerned Residents, said the development would bring increased traffic, noise and pollution and lead to the demise of the village of St Margaret's.
Concern was also voiced about the fact that consultants Arup, who had worked on T2's design, was also advising Fingal County Council on the road network around the airport. An Taisce heritage officer Ian Lumley called it "an irreconcilable conflict of interest".
