Headed Items
CONFIRMATION AND RE-AFFIRMATION OF MINUTES
Minutes of Meeting of South Dublin County Council 14th January 2013
(circulated herewith)
REPORTS OF AREA COMMITTEES
a) Rathfarnham Area Committee - 8th January 2013
- Dealing with Planning & Development, Corporate Services & Libraries, Community, Housing, Parks, Environment, Roads & Water Services
(no report)
b) Clondalkin Area Committee - 16th January 2013
- Dealing with Planning & Development, Corporate Services & Libraries, Community, Housing, Parks, Environment, Roads & Water Services
(no report)
c) Lucan Area Committee - 22nd January 2013
- Dealing with Planning & Development, Corporate Services & Libraries, Community (1 report - Community Grants), Housing, Parks, Environment, Roads & Water Services
(circulated herewith)
d) Joint Tallaght Area Committee (1) & Tallaght Area Committee (2) - 28th January 2013
- Dealing with Community (1 report - Community Grants), Housing, Environment, Parks, Planning & Development, Roads & Water Services, Corporate Services & Libraries
(circulated herewith)
STANDING COMMITTEES - ORGANISATION, PROCEDURE & FINANCE MEETING 24th JANUARY 2013
a) Calendar of Meeting Dates
b) Report on Conferences and Seminars
c) Report on Review of Tallaght Area Committee (1) & (2) Meetings
(all circulated herewith)
STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEES
(H4 no reports)
REPORTS FROM AREA COMMITTEES
(H5 no reports)
Questions
To ask the Manager to please outline the process by which reports logged under the fixyourstreet website are resolved. Could the Manager also indicate if there is a system for prioritising reports?
To ask the Manager if there are any provisions in place allowing for a review of the performance of Greyhound since the company took over the waste collection function of the County. Also to ask the Manager if there were any provisions in the contract which allows Greyhound to implement a charge for recycling bags as recently introduced?
To ask the Manager how the Budget for Roads is allocated - is it by mileage or road condition?
To ask the Manager for a report outlining age-friendly initiatives being introduced or implemented as a result of the South Dublin Age Friendly County Strategy?
To ask the Manager how many people have been attending the Operation Transformation Walks in Corkagh Park and when does registration begin for the 5k run?
To ask the Manager to give a breakdown of the number of horses that were disposed of in the county in 2012 under the Control of Horses Bye Laws? Can the Manager clarifiy what happens to the animal when it is deemed to be disposed of. Also can the Manager give a breakdown of which animals were destroyed and which were sold on in 2012?
To ask the Manager to provide a report detailing the exact cost of the full replacement of windows and front and rear exterior doors on a standard terraced three bed Council House and the exact cost of same in a semi detached three bed roomed Council house that was built in the 1980's. To further ask the Manager when the current contract for the windows programme is due for renewal with a view to cost savings and the possibility of an increased number of homes been reached under our scheme each year with value for money and good standard of work at the heart of the programme continuing into the future?
To ask the Manager to estimate the additional administrative costs to the Council of servicing an additional fourteen councillors as envisaged under Government legislation on the matter?
To ask the Manager whether any inspections of wheelie bins are undertaken by the council to ensure that the appropriate materials are being disposed of in individual bins by householders?
To ask the Manager whether she has considered the changes that would be necessary to the Council chamber in the event of an increase in the number of elected representatives to forty as envisaged by the Government and whether these changes have been costed?
To ask the Manager if she has given any consideration to the cost of an additional fourteen councillors, as proposed under Government legislation, in terms of administration and accommodation and so on?
To ask the Manager if she will outline some of the specific measures aimed at assisting Sole Traders in the county and to make a statement on the matter?
To ask the Manager for a report on recent unsatisfactory delays in responding to public lighting repair requests?
To ask the Manager to seek to arrange a meeting between the elected members and the National Waste Collection Permit Office regarding issues relating to the permitting of local waste collectors?
To ask the Manager for an up to date report on the operation of the Fisheries facility in Corkagh Park to include the current opening hours, how the service is provided, when the current contract comes up for renewal and if it will be able to meet the commitments set out in the current brochure targeted at tourists and the Gathering?
To ask the Manager if she can provide up to date additional information on the comprehensive Reply to Question 24 at the Council Meeting of 8th October 2012 on Permeability Projects and other projects in the County supported under the Smarter Travel Programme?
To ask the Manager to provide a Report on progress made in the Review of the Parking Bye-Laws in the County?
Noting the Reply to Question 27 at the Council meeting of 8th October 2012, to ask the Manager if the work on the production on an updated County Profile, which will in effect provide a current CODAN report, is nearing completion and if she will make a statement on the matter?
Headed Items
DECLARATION OF ROADS TO BE PUBLIC ROADS
(H6 no report)
PROPOSED DISPOSAL OF PROPERTIES / SITES
b) Proposed Disposal of 2.94 Hectares at Grange Castle Business Park
(circulated herewith)
a) Proposed Disposal of Affordable Dwellings
(no report)
PROCEDURE UNDER S.12 OF THE 2010 PLANNING ACT REGARDING LIFFEY VALLEY LOCAL AREA PLAN
(circulated herewith)
AUDITED AFS 2011 and AUDIT REPORT
(circulated herewith)
Correspondence
Departmental
(i) Circular Letter PL.1/2013, dated 21/01/13, from Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government, regarding publication of Development Contribution Guidelines for Local Authorities;
(ii) Development Contributions - Guidelines for Local Authorities.
Ministerial
Letter, dated 10/01/13, from Minister for Health regarding SDCC's motion passed in relation to ending of sponsorship from the drinks industry (M4/1012)
Ministerial
Letter, dated 11/01/13, from Minister for Environment regarding SDCC's motion passed in relation to the provision of early and/or postal voting (M5/1212)
Ministerial
Letter, dated 11/01/13, from Minister for Environment regarding SDCC's motion passed in relation to Residential Property Tax & Local Government Funding (M12/1112)
Ministerial
(i) Acknowledgement & Referral from Dept. of Justice to Dept. of Health regarding SDCC's amended motion passed in relation to legislating for abortion (M8/1112);
(ii) Letter, dated 23/01/13, from Department of Health regarding SDCC's amended motion passed in relation to legislating for abortion (M8/1112)
Letter, dated 07/01/13, from Donegal County Council regarding Members' concerns in relation to value for money aspect of approval for registration dates of "Tourism in Recessionary Times" conference
Letter, dated 23/01/13, from Limerick County Council regarding their motion passed in relation to governance of state-owned banks
Letter, dated 23/01/13, from Ennis Town Council regarding their motion passed in relation to constituency offices and commercial rates
Email, dated 30/01/13, from Clare County Council regarding their motion passed in relation to allowing Clare County Council to lessen the excessive burden of the cost of water on voluntary bodies.
Letter, dated 30/01/13, from North Tipperary County Council regarding their motion passed in relation to Minor Works Grants to Primary Schools
Letter, dated 05/02/13, from Nenagh Town Council regarding their motion passed in relation to the possibility of rolling out nationwide, the Community Intervention Team.
Motions
Mayor's Business
This Council views with grave concern the publication on 11 January of the Water Services Bill 2013, which removes water services from democratic accountability as a function of local government and, ultimately, from public control through the process of privatisation. We deplore the proposed draconian powers designed to impose water meters on all homes and to extract a further payment from already hard-pressed citizens and families. This Council further calls on the Government not to proceed with the Water Services Bill 2013, to retain water services as a function of local government, to undertake comprehensive measures to address the need for water conservation, co-ordination of services and to address the outstanding issue of local government funding on the basis of fair taxation and ability to pay.
Mayor's Business
That this Council affirms its opposition to the Government's proposed Property Tax and calls on the Government to instead develop strategies and policies that will properly fund Local Government and address the deficit in a manner that does not adversely and disproportionately disadvantage low and middle income earners which has been the Policy to date
Mayor's Business
That this Council calls on the Manager to provide a report (a) outlining the overall cost of the project of erecting thousands of 'L' Local Road signs throughout the County, (b) who received the contract for the signs themselves and (c) who received the contract for the many thousands of galvanised poles that accompany the signs. Understanding this project was not funded or proposed by SDCC, I believe the scale of the works and the apparent unnessecary erection of thousands of these signs indicating local Road numbers within Housing Estates where established street names have existed for decades seems complete nonsense and a complete waste of Public money in a time of deep hardship and recession.
That the Council congratulates students from South Dublin County who participated in this years BT Young Scientist Exhibition.
That this Council supports the need for a more targeted approach to achieving a modal shift from private car to public transport and therefore calls on the Minister for Transport and the National Transport Authority to promote and permit greater bus service competition on key city-centre routes from our county as well as on potential new orbital routes in West & South County Dublin; and further supports the extension of subvention to private bus operators.
That the Manager presents a report for discussion on the number of dog fouling bins in the County and confirms the number of dog licences issued in the County. Report to include details of the cost of individual bins and whether or not there is a provision in any Department’s budget for the inclusion of extra bins going forward. Report to state if it is possible to micro-chip such bins to allow for efficient emptying of such bins. As part of the Tidy-Towns Initiative currently underway within the County that there be provision made for extra bins to adequately cater for dog deposits. Currently what you have are law-abiding citizens collecting their dog poop in plastic (biodegradable) bags and some of those same citizens being forced to dump their dog’s deposit in the bushes of our parks and streets because of the inadequacy of bins. That Management from across all departments including Parks, Roads & Environmental Services provide a joined up approach to this issue, assuming of course that such an approach does not already exist.
That this Council being of the view that the Household Property Tax as set out will not be in the best interests of the Households of the County, that it will not achieve what it sets out to achieve and that it may well be perceived as another form of income tax, calls on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to revisit the fundamentals of the proposed tax so that: (a) The premise on which the Tax is based will be site valuation rather than the value of the home; (b) There is a transparent direct link between the household tax and the services and facilities it is funding in the local authority; (c) The amount to be levied, while based on a nationally determined formula, is a reserved function of locally elected members; (d) It is linked on ability to pay, with sliding scale for those experiencing difficulties; (e) There is a flexible method of payment; (f) The tax is payable directly to the relevant local authority in which the property is located but the householder can choose to have it stopped at source from their income if they so wish. That this motion if passed be forwarded to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.
That this Council notes the provision in Budget 2013 of funding for the creation of 3000 new Local Authority Social Employment Scheme Placements, supports initiatives and actions by South Dublin County Council to provide, and/or collaborate in the provision of, relevant training for job seekers specific to growing industries in the County and supportive of the Council's involvement in efficient energy use and other projects, including projects supporting disadvantaged communities and sports and recreation projects, and requests the Manager to make a statement on the matter.
That this Council notes the very serious problem on dog-fouling in our County and requests the Manager to present a detailed report, for discussion, on possible new and innovative measures to address this problem.
That this Council supports the need for negotiations between Vertex and the HSE for a fair price for the Cystic Fibrosis drug 'Kalydeco'
That this Council, bearing in mind that the only forseeable source of additional revenue to this Council (and other Dublin Councils) is revenue accruable from Property Tax (through an equalisation fund), recommends to the Minister for Environment & Local Government, that increasing the number of councillors to this Local Authority to forty, is not warranted at this time.