Dublin City councillors are to vote next week on proposals to stop the city manager from removing some 500 listed buildings from the Record of Protected Structures (RPS). Olivia Kelly reports.
The management of the council is seeking to delist a number of mainly Victorian houses in the city on the grounds that they do not have "special significance" from an architectural, historic or artistic point of view.
However, the Georgian Society of Ireland said delisting would leave them "hugely vulnerable" to destructive changes that could irrevocably damage the streetscape of the city.
"These are good, solid, mainly Victorian houses, which add so much to the city. Once they are delisted they will become hugely vulnerable to planning applications for extensions, porches, removal of railings . . ." Ms Mary Bryan, chief executive of the society, said.
The houses affected are concentrated in Clontarf, Ranelagh, Donnybrook and Rathmines. Their removal from the RPS would mean works could be carried out on them without the special permission needed if they remained listed. The sort of works include changes to window styles, extensions to porches and some internal refurbishments. It would not mean developers could tear them down, however.
A review of listed buildings became necessary to separate out which buildings were of "significant merit" and which were not, according to deputy city planner, Mr Jim Keogan.
Prior to the 2002 Planning Act, buildings were given either grade one or grade two priority based on their level of importance. However, the Act amalgamated both lists which meant all listed buildings had the same priority.
"What we're saying is these buildings have merit, but they don't have special merit to keep them on the list."
Fine Gael councillor, Dr Bill Tormey, and Sinn Féin's Cllr Killian Forde have tabled motions to stop the delisting of the 500 buildings. A number of other councillors are seeking the protection of particular streets in their electoral areas. Mass delisting should not be part of the development plan, Cllr Tormey said. "If people want a particular building delisted it can be done on a case by case basis if necessary."