DUNDRUM TOWN CENTRE - URBAN STRUCTURE PLAN.

The Dundrum Town Centre is defined as the area between the LUAS line, the Dundrum Relief Road, the Taney Rd./Upper Churchtown Rd. junction and the Wyckham By-Pass Route. It is mainly zoned for Town Centre uses, but with some parts zoned residential.

1. THE FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE TOWN CENTRE

The new redeveloped Town Centre of Dundrum will be framed by a number of physical elements which will have a strong influence on its shape, growth and extent. These are shown on the accompanying Urban Structure Map and are

(a) the LUAS line with two stations and parallel cycle track on the east flank of the Town Centre;

(b) the Wyckham By-Pass on the southern side and the proposed Wyckham By-Pass Extension to the south-east:

(c) the River Slang and Dundrum Relief Route on the west;

(d) the existing Main Street/Sandyford Road which forms the heart of the Town Centre and

(e) the Ballinteer Road/Upper Kilmacud Road which forms an important cross-roads with the Main Street, the centre of gravity, as it were, of the Town Centre.

The above elements are discussed in more detail below:

(A) LUAS: There will be a new LUAS station on the site of the former Dundrum railway station with a new landmark bridge crossing the Upper Churchtown Rd./Taney Rd. junction. The LUAS station (which should be in operation by the end of 2002) will add vitality to the northern part of the Town Centre as well as helping the redevelopment of the shopping centre carpark site. The Balally LUAS station at the southern end of the Town Centre, opposite the Crazy Prices site, will be of a different character in that it will be the site of a Park and Ride facility and the focus of new road links. This LUAS station will be influential in helping to rejuvenate the southern end of the Dundrum Town Centre and good pedestrian links to the Town Centre will be required.

(B) The Wyckham By-Pass and Extension: The Wyckham By-Pass is currently under construction to Sandyford Road and will be finished in the Spring of 2001. It will act as a relief route taking traffic away from the Main Street, providing access to the LUAS Park and Ride, and providing a link southwards to the M50. The Wyckham By-Pass Extension will also take traffic away from the cross roads area of the Town Centre by connecting to Upper Kilmacud Road in the vicinity of Birch’s Lane.

(C) The River Slang and the Dundrum By-Pass: Together these will form the western boundary of the Town Centre. Cross-over facilities will be required, especially for pedestrians, to connect communities on the west to the Town Centre. Construction of the Relief Route will start in the Summer of 2000 and will be completed by the Summer of 2001.

(D) The opening of the Dundrum Relief Road will provide relief for the Main Street and the Sandyford Road section of the Town Centre. This will provide an opportunity to create a pedestrian-friendly and traffic-calmed environment along the Main Street. This in turn will help the revitalisation of the Main Street. New urban squares will be formed at the northern end of the Main Street which will be used as a new civic space and a bus-only set down area for the LUAS station.

(E) Particular design attention will be paid to the Dundrum Cross area as the heart of a revitalised Town Centre with strong pedestrian links to the new shopping and commercial areas and to the civic buildings.

2. TOWN CENTRE RENEWAL PLANNING PRINCIPLES

(1) Adherence to the 1998 County Development Plan policies and objectives (pages 74-5) which have a specific objective to upgrade the Dundrum town centre by:

" - the preparation and implementation of an environmental improvement scheme,

- the control of advertising and of building facades through the development control process,

- the transfer of through traffic from the Main Street onto the proposed Dundrum Relief Road Main Street By-Pass,

- ensuring that an appropriate mix of uses is provided on the "PYE" lands, including recreational and tourism related uses, the development of which will respect the industrial archaeological features on these lands including the Mill Pond and will incorporate these features in a manner which accords with the proper planning and development of the area. The Council in considering these proposals for development of these lands may take into account any negative impact on the shopping and commercial life and on the physical and social character of Dundrum Village, in deciding whether or not permission should be granted,

- ensuring that the planning and development of the Pyelands proceeds in line with the planning and development of the transportation infrastructure, and

- encouraging the construction of a new building under part of the proposed Taney Road Light Rail Transit (LRT) overbridge."

(2) The provision of a pedestrian-friendly and traffic-calmed environment along the Main Street with particular care being paid to paving materials, public lighting, seating and pedestrian priority measures.

(3) The provision of extensive off-street underground car parking facilities accessed from Relief and By-Pass routes in order to reduce parked and moving vehicles on the Main Street and to serve new uses.

(4) The provision of cycle facilities including a cycle network and cycle parking.

(5) The provision of a wide range of employment uses in the new Town Centre.

(6) The provision of leisure, entertainment, cultural and restaurant uses.

(7) The provision of residential uses in the Town Centre including "living-over-the-shop", stand alone schemes, schemes for the elderly and hotel uses. In this way the existing residential use in the Town Centre will be strengthened.

(8) The conservation, preservation and re-use of historic and interesting buildings.

(9) The reinstatement and strengthening of the urban fabric along the Main Street and the Sandyford Road including infilling gap sites. This applies especially to the northern part of the Town Centre where a strong commercial presence is required.

(10) The trees along the edge of the shopping centre carpark at the Main Street shall be retained in any new redevelopment in order to maintain high environmental standards in the new Town Centre.

(11) The provision of high quality landscaped open spaces, especially to the west of the Town Centre.

(12) The redevelopment of vacant land in the Town Centre shall incorporate a wide variety of land uses including shopping, offices, residential, cinemas, bars, supermarkets, departmental store, cultural buildings including a library, creche, hotel, clinic, leisure uses, multi-purpose meeting rooms/theatre, post office etc. These uses shall be linked along a new main pedestrian route which will connect the two LUAS stations, pedestrian bridges, footpaths and car parks. Lateral pedestrian routes will link to the main pedestrian route providing links between the Main Street/Sandyford Road axis and internal urban squares and places. Such squares will be sunny, sheltered and night-time friendly, with good supervision from surrounding buildings.

(13) Pedestrian movement across the Ballinteer Road from the two sides of the Town Centre shall be safe, easy and convenient. This crossing should encourage and facilitate ease of pedestrian movement between the northern and southern parts of the Town Centre.

(14) The Mill Pond and Mill House area shall be the focus of one of the main public spaces with new buildings set around it in an attractive manner. The reuse of the Mill House as a heritage centre/museum will be encouraged.

(15) All new buildings shall respect the scale and character of the Town Centre, be of attractive appearance and be visually interesting.