IRELAND - The soon to be opened Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) has been granted, (22 July), an extension for its licence to use the local discharge network.
According to the national newspaper, The Irish Times, the €380m venue, which is the country’s first international convention centre and is planned to launch on 7 September 2010, did not have proper sewerage facilities and the construction of the required sewage pumping station had yet to begin.
“There has been some speculation around the sewerage facilities at The CCD and I want to confirm that The CCD’s discharge licence for the operation of the venue has been extended," says The CCD's chairman, Dermod Dwyer. "We, Spencer Dock Convention Centre (SDCC) (trading as The CCD) are satisfied that this licence extension to discharge sewage from The CCD will ensure that the venue can continue to operate and, as scheduled, formally open in September."
Currently, the venue is connected to a local drainage network that will need to be removed by the end of July due to its temporary licence and would not be able to sustain the 8,000 visiting delegates the venue hopes to attract simultaneously.
The newspaper reported that the delay in building the proper station was due to a dispute over planning issues between Treasury Holdings and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. "In addition, SDCC has formally committed to build the pumping station and provide agreed funding on receipt of planning compliance approval from the Dublin Docklands Authority," Dwyer adds.
The statement released by the Dublin City Council says: "In accordance with the Development Agreement for the building of the pumping station for the Spencer Dock area, a further extension of the discharge licence for the operation of the Convention Centre will be granted. This will facilitate completion of the compliance process and commencement."
