Safety regulations concerning a new offshore oil depot currently under construction will not impact on Ceannt Station or the new Docklands development, despite "scaremongering" by city councillors.

Harbour Master Brian Sheridan.

That's according to Harbour Master Brian Sheridan, who said that the new depot would provide greater safety precautions for all those living in the city. He was responding to claims by many city councillors, including Catherine Connolly and Daniel Callanan, that new regulations set out in the Seveso report would interfere with plans for a high-rise residential building at the Docks and a new transport hub at Ceannt Station.

Following a fire at the Buncefield oil depot in Hertfordshire in 2005, it is expected that strict planning regulations are to be implemented within 400m of all depot sites. However, Mr Sheridan said that these restrictions would not pose a problem when it comes to the Docklands development.

"Final discussion are currently ongoing with parties from both of the existing oil depots, with a view to moving them out to the new EnWest development. If this goes ahead, it will offer huge untold safety pluses. It has gotten approval from the Health and Safety Authority, the Fire Chief and the city council and set up with modern safety measure that will outstrip any other in the country.

"The people who are saying that this will interfere with development in the city are just scaremongering. The planning restrictions would only interfere if you were building a hospital or a stadium as big as Croke Park – and there are no plans for that!"

City Councillor Daniel Callanan had previously criticised the council for their "short-sightedness" when it comes to planning in the city, saying that they had not taken the regulations into account when granting planning permission for the new depot.

"I have to question why it wasn't shoved out further because now we could be exposed to complications in relation to high rise buildings at the Docklands. We have to start thinking long term. The council knew of the Seveso directives before this was approved, so you have to wonder what they were thinking," he said.

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