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On Monday, 6^th June, 2005 the Irish Times published an article penned by the SaveAirfield Campaign.  The text of the article submitted to the paper is given below.  The Irish Times added the headline Time for the Airfield trusteeship to resign.

 

Reading Arthur Beesley’s article on the Airfield trustees’ renewed attempts to sell the Overends’ land (May 14^th), one is tempted to exhort them in the words of the late Mr O. Cromwell.  “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing.  Depart, I say, and let us have done with you.  In the name of God, go!”  

 

In 1993, on the death of Miss Naomi Overend, the trustees took charge of fifty acres of fertile land, a large but not pretentious house sited in a wealthy area of South County Dublin and an equally large portfolio of investments and cash.  They now state that “the Trust does need to realise a significant capital injection to overcome the ongoing financial crisis facing Airfield.” The farm area is reduced to 38 acres and losses are said to be running around €840,000 p.a. (before taking into account investment income of €440,000).  How could affairs at Airfield have come to this? 

 

Log on to Airfield Trust’s website www.Airfield.ie and you get no information about the trustees.  The way in which Airfield has been managed during their tenure gives rise to grave concern among many who remember with affection the Misses Letitia and Naomi Overend and the love they had for the estate.  One of their neighbours records that Miss Naomi would, in her later years, assert that “not a stone will ever be built upon a stone at Airfield” so confident was she that the trust would protect it.  Her confidence was misplaced.  

 

The sisters enlarged the estate during their lifetime buying up any land that came up for sale in the locality, increasing the acreage from the original 8 their father had purchased.  They viewed with jaundiced eyes the onward march of suburban development and sought to keep it at arm’s length.  They appear to have disposed of only three parcels – a site for the Children’s Sunshine Home in Leopardstown in the 1950s, the site for Taney School in 1967 and, in 1969, the house and most of the land at Rockfield (which was probably sold to buy another field for the estate).  They aimed to protect Rockfield by insisting on a restrictive covenant in the conveyance.  All attempts to get them to sell sites for houses and all overtures from builders were resisted.

 

Miss Letitia died in 1977 and Miss Naomi in 1993, at which point the trust became active.  What has happened since?  The house’s furniture, paintings and library were sold at auction in 1995;  seven acres have been lost to what is now the Gannon apartments at Riversdale;  the restrictive covenant on Rockfield was lifted by the trustees,  the house burned down shortly after and it too is covered in apartment blocks;  the house at Riversdale also burned down shortly after it had left the trust’s ownership ;  the Victorian greenhouse was restored at great expense and is again falling down;  more land was lost to the construction of the Wyckham Bypass Extension.  There has been a significant turnover of both trustees and staff, some of whom have left with less than happy memories of the estate. Granted, not all these events were under the control of the trustees but they give a picture of what has been happening.   On the positive side, Airfield is now open to the public, there are fine educational programmes and other courses, the land is being farmed, the restaurant seems always full.

 

In 2003 the trustees first sought Neighbourhood Centre zoning for Dudley’s Field and they are doing so again.  At that stage the Chairman, John Edmondson (Irish Times 13 December, 2003) stated that they were running at a loss, which he said was “not sustainable”.  However, reference to the CRO shows that in the year ended 31^st October, 2003 the trust had actually generated a surplus in excess of €850,000 (and in excess of €840,000 in 2002).  Edmondson now states in again seeking NC zoning that it will allow “the possibility of commercial gain without being high rise”.  “Neighbourhood Centre” zoning permits the following, inter alia:   “Advertisements & Advertising Structure, Bed & Breakfast, Betting Office, Carpark, Enterprise Centre, Funeral Home, Garden Centre, Industry-Light, Offices, Petrol Station, Public House, Public Services” and leaves the following open for consideration:  “Cash & Carry/Wholesale Outlet, Discotheque/Nightclub, Discount Food Store, Heavy Vehicle Park, Hotel/Motel, Household Fuel Depot”.  It places no height restriction on buildings and encompasses the Residential zoning which allowed the Gannon apartments.  The Overends would not be amused by Neighbourhood Centre zoning!

 

On their own admission the trustees have failed to make Airfield viable.  This in spite of the fact that in Ireland and the UK there are many vibrant, successful city farms, e.g. An Tairseach in Wicklow town, Mudcote Park and Farm and Spitalfields City Farm in London.  Other people can make farms, educational establishments and restaurants pay.  Why not them?

 

The people are heartily sick of the trustees’ proposals to sell Airfield land if they get the zoning they require and with their thinly-veiled threats to dispose of the whole estate if they do not get their way.  We feel the time has now come for them to consider resigning their trusteeship so that the estate may pass to those in whom the public would have more confidence.  Much thought would have to go into the new structure, so that Airfield would be preserved for its own sake and for the people, as the Overends intended.   The Office of Public Works could be the body to give the long-term stability we wish to see.  And the Camphill Community at Greenacres, with their excellent record in curative education, might just be the people to manage it on a day to day basis.  Whatever vehicle is chosen for the governance of Airfield it must ensure the estate becomes as safe as Dun Laoghaire People’s Park, St. Stephen’s Green or the Phoenix Park.  Could they ever fall victim to “Neighbourhood Centre” zoning?  We sincerely hope not.

 

Other Recent Media Reports:

Southside People – 9^th-15^th March, 2005

Irish Times – 21^st March, 2005

Irish Times – 28^th March, 2005 – article and editorial

Irish Times – 31^st March, 2005 – letter to the editor

Irish Times – 2^nd April, 2005

Irish Times – 5^th April, 2005 – letter to the editor

Southside People – 6^th April, 2005

Irish Times – 11^th April, 2005

Irish Times – 12^th April, 2005 – letter to the editor

Three Rock Panorama No. 4 April, 2005

Irish Times – 4^th May, 2005 – letter to the editor

Southside People – 4^th May, 2005

Irish Times – 14^th May, 2005

Southside People – 18^th May, 2005

Irish Times – 20^th May, 2005 – letter to the editor

Irish Times – 21^st May, 2005 – letter to the editor

Irish Times – 14^th June, 2005 – Opinion Page – reply to SaveAirfield article by John Edmondson

 

 

On 13^th May, 2005 the following Statement was issued by John Edmondson, Chairman of the Airfield Trust (italics are inserted by SaveAirfield Campaign!)

Airfield Trust runs Airfield House and estate, where the late Overend sisters lived, as a recreational and educational centre for the community. A wide range of educational programmes, cultural and recreational activities are carried out around the house, farm, gardens and other buildings. There are approx. 20,000 recreational visitors, 7,000 educational programme visitors, and 7,000 for cultural events visitors to Airfield each year.  Airfield has an investment portfolio of €14 million which generates investment income of €440,000 annually. When this income is added to revenue from admissions, restaurant etc, there is still an annual shortfall of around €400,000 compared to the costs of providing all these services. The trust’s capital is being inexorably eroded[1] and the trustees can not allow this to continue. 

Given the relatively fixed nature of much of the cost base, the trust decided to deal with this by extending the scope and range of its activities and cater for increased visitor numbers (much of the facilities are currently operating at capacity)

 

Airfield Trust planned to raise capital of up to €16 million; part to fund a careful programme over several years of enhancements and improvements and part invested to increase income and reduce the current operational deficit. It has recently appointed a new General Manager, Kathy Purcell, and she has masterminded a major extension of activities at Airfield. 

 

Dudley’s Field is peripheral(!) to the main estate, running alongside the new Wyckham Bypass Extension, and comprises 3.5 acres of the overall 38[2] acres of land with the estate. For some considerable time, the Trust has regarded the possible disposal of Dudley’s Field as a once-for-all solution to the financial difficulties facing the estate. To that end, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co. Council voted in mid-2003 to rezone Dudley’s Field from residential to Neighbourhood Centre.

 

Last year, the Trust was in advanced negotiations with a purchaser for Dudley’s Field which would have yielded €16 million and been a low-rise project. Unfortunately, in the run-up to the Local Elections in June 2004, the Co. Council rescinded this earlier decision of theirs and rezoned Dudley’s Field as open space. As a result, the deal fell through.

 

The financial crisis facing the Airfield Trustees has not gone away. In recent weeks, the Trust has had discussions with all the local TDs, including Ministers Seamus Brennan and Tom Kitt, as well as with the Minister for Education and the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works. All the Ministers and TDs supported the Trust’s general strategy, were very sympathetic to the plight of the Trust and made clear their willingness to support Airfield in every practical way.

 

However, what is clear from this round of discussions is that there is no prospect of securing a significant capital injection from the Department of Education, the Office of Public Works or from general Government funds.   The Trustees have had further approaches from developers in respect of Dudley’s Field, and other parts of the estate. The Trust believes that the sale of Dudley’s Field remains the key to resolving its financial crisis, allowing the rest of the estate to be fully used and protected in perpetuity for the community.

 

However, this is all dependent on a commercial development being permitted at Dudley’s Field. Following up on the round of meetings with local Ministers and TDs, the Trust is now planning to meet shortly with the six local Dundrum members of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co. Council, and with the Leaders of all the Parties represented on the Council.  We will be making our position very clear to them. We will be asking them to rezone Dudley’s Field again as a Neighbourhood Centre (which allows the possibility of commercial gain without being high rise[3]).

 

The Trust has never had any intention whatsoever of exploiting the current residential zoning of what are known as the Lower Fields at Airfield. If such an outcome can be reached on Dudley’s Field, it would be happy to see the rest of the estate revert to open space.   The overall outcome would be a win, win, win for all sides. It would copperfasten the financial wellbeing of the Airfield Trust going forward, meet the concerns of residents in the adjacent Holywell and Balally estates, and would underpin Airfield in perpetuity as a recreational and educational resource for the people.

 

Airfield Trust believes that while Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co. Council created the current problem last year, it now has an opportunity to reverse it. If the Trust cannot resolve the current financial crisis in this way, then it will have no choice but to take more drastic action. [4]

 

 

June, 2005:

Since the Trustees issued their statement on 13^th May, 2005 they have conducted (and apparently will continue to conduct) an intensive lobbying campaign of local politicians in their efforts to secure Neighbourhood Centre zoning for Dudley’s Field.  The campaign is being organised by PR consultants.

 

Council Vote on Proposed Sandyford Link Road

The vote on the Sandyford Link Road was not on the agenda for the Council meeting on 13^th June.  It is probable it will come before the Council in July.  While it seems that we now have a majority of councillors who are committed to voting AGAINST the road, we will continue to lobby them to vote for sanity on this question.

 

May, 2005.  The SaveAirfield Campaign was very happy to announce details of submissions sent to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council were as follows:-

 

Total:              1,203

            In Support:         202

             Against:             996 (including one petition with 960 signatures)

Unclear or making points for and against :   5

41 submissions were received after the closing date of the 6th May. All except 3 object to the road.

 

This gave the County Councillors a clear indication of the wishes of the people that they do not want the Sandyford Link Road to go ahead.