Headed Items
CONFIRMATION AND REAFFIRMATION OF MINUTES - FOR APPROVAL
(a) - April Council meeting – 12th April 2021
FILLING OF CASUAL VACANCY ON SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL IN ACCORDANCE WITH S.19 OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2001 FOLLOWING THE RESIGNATION OF COUNCILLOR C. O'BYRNE
REPORTS OF AREA COMMITTEES - FOR NOTING
a) Rathfarnham/Templeogue/Firhouse/Bohernabreena Area Committee
Dealing with Public Realm, Water & Drainage, Housing, Community, Planning, Economic Development, Libraries & Arts, Corporate Support, Performance & Change Management
(No Reports)
b) Clondalkin Area Committee
Dealing with Public Realm, Water & Drainage, Housing, Community, Planning, Economic Development, Libraries & Arts, Corporate Support, Performance & Change Management
(No Reports)
c) Tallaght Area Committee
Dealing with Public Realm, Water & Drainage, Housing, Community, Planning, Economic Development, Libraries & Arts, Corporate Support, Performance & Change Management
(No Reports)
d) Lucan/Palmerstown/North Clondalkin Area Committee
Dealing with Public Realm, Water & Drainage, Housing, Community, Planning, Economic Development, Libraries & Arts, Corporate Support, Performance & Change Management
(No Reports)
STANDING COMMITTEES ORGANISATION, PROCEDURE & FINANCE - FOR APPROVAL
(No Reports)
STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEES - FOR NOTING
(No Reports)
REPORTS REQUESTED BY AREA COMMITTEES - FOR NOTING
(a) Report from Lucan/ Palmerstown/ North Clondalkin ACM April
REPORT FROM JOINT POLICING COMMITTEE
Questions
To ask the Chief Executive that, in light of the obvious and increasingly heavy usage of public bins in our parks and areas of food outlets in our villages because covid restrictions has led to public and open spaces seeing greater usage, can SDCC outline if there are plans to increase the schedule of maintaining and emptying these bins and to provide a report on this matter.
To ask the Chief Executive how many applicants were there for Homeless Hap 2019 v 2020 and how many were awarded Homeless HAP 2019 v 2020
To ask the Chief Executive for an update on the Tender for Dog Pound Services.
In relation to the attached question (item 69490), to ask the Chief Executive for the year of each contract & how much each contract was/are worth? Additionally, to ask for a break down in table format how many people were employed/will be employed in total for each development?
To ask the Chief Executive what type of monitoring goes on to see if contractors are fulfilling their obligations in the Social Clause under the Council's corporate procurement plan?
To ask the Chief Executive how many applicants were received in 2020 for the Trading on-online Voucher Scheme, and did it increase significantly on applications received in 2019.
To ask the Chief Executive to give an update on the tender process for the dog pound facilities and what was the basis/scoring for awarding the successful applicant. Also how many tenders were lodged and unsuccessful?
To ask the Chief Executive what is the estimated number of private houses with the county who are exempt from Property Tax and what is the estimated revenue shortfall to the council for same.
I notice that the % of unaccounted water is close to 40% in the County. The council issued figures a few years ago to say we were one of the better Local Authorities for water leakage and our average was below 20%. Can I ask the Chief Executive to confirm with Irish Water if the "unaccounted for water" figures have deteriorated and what measures if any are there in place to improve this figure.
To ask the Chief Executive on progress made by the Vacant Homes Officer to help bring vacant homes back into use within the area of South Dublin County Council in recent years?
To ask the Chief Executive for the amount of monies spent emptying public bins in 2020 across South County Dublin?
To ask the Chief Executive to provide a full list of all casual trading and outdoor trading sites in the county, the date established for each site and the intended plans to inaugurate new such sites, including farmers' markets.
To ask the Chief Executive about the number of apprenticeships operated by the Council every year for the past ten years and the functions performed, and if there are any plans to increase the number of apprenticeships operated by the Council in the coming years, as part of the National Action Plan for Apprenticeships.
To ask the Chief Executive as to what Strategic Infrastructure projects the Council will be applying for central government funding for over the coming three years.
To ask the County Council for the number of claims filed against the Council each year for the past three years, broken down by year and the reason for which the claim was filed.
To ask the Chief Executive about whether or not a database exists providing the background to the choice of name for housing estates in the County and if it might be made available to the public.
To ask the manager to provide a report on whether or not placefinders are still in operation within SDCC and if not, why not - when did it cease, what plans are there to provide this service in the future and can the manager give a statement on this matter.
With regards to the recent tendering for the provision of dog pound services by South Dublin County Council, will the Chief Executive provide a report on the outcome of the tendering process. Also, did South Dublin County Council department officials visit on site properties within all applications made? Furthermore how long is the contract being awarded and what safeguard checks and measures are in place to ensure that lease holders / owners of the property can adequately meet the full term of the contract?
To ask the Chief Executive to confirm the number of applications made to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to housing projects over the last 12 months following the increase in the discretionary funding limit to €6 million
To ask the Chief Executive to detail the number of new housing homeless applications he has received so far in this calendar year and will he confirm how these matters are being dealt with in the context of the current restrictions and will he make a statement.
Too ask the Chief Executive if he has any concerns about the current levels of water supply to our County and will he detail contacts he has had in the matter and make a statement
To ask the Chief Executive to confirm his plans to provide further facilities for young people across the County and will he update members in this regard.
To ask the Chief Executive to confirm actions proposed to deal effectively with grass cutting/ tree maintenance programme which have been affected by the current restrictions and will he make a statement
This committee asks that Chief Executive provide a report on costs involved to implement one solar bin in each electoral area. To request that the report also includes the benefits of advertisements.
To ask the Chief Executive to report on the councils pollinator plan. To include the areas/estates that have been selected and to advise how these areas where selected.
Approximately this time last year a Covid19 committee was set up in SDCC. This committee provided regular updates to all members. Could the Chief Executive confirm what has happened to this committee since and if the Chief Executive could confirm if this committee is still in existence.
To ask the Chief Executive for a report into how many 4 bed council houses are planned for this council term and how many are on the 4 bed list by area ?
To ask the Chief Executive for a report into how he plans to address the issue of tree and hedging been lost due to building and development and how this will be monitored? Will he consider the additional planting of more than current targets due to the Climate Emergency we face ?
To ask the Chief Executive for a report into how he proposes to deal with the important issue of increasing recycling banks, what can be done to increase banks and how can SDCC promote and sell the importance of them to the public in our fight to combat climate change ?
To ask the Chief Executive for a report into what additional assistance SDCC can provide to businesses post Covid 19 ? What supports are being considered to restart Business ?
To ask the Chief Executive for a report into how many housing associations that the council deals with? and to detail locations and amount of housing they look after? How do Council check the credentials of these housing associations?
Headed Items
DECLARATION OF ROADS TO BE MADE PUBLIC ROADS - FOR APPROVAL
(No Reports)
PROPOSED DISPOSAL OF PROPERTIES/SITES - FOR APPROVAL
(a) Proposed disposal of fee simple interest in 15 Ashwood Road
(b) Proposed disposal of plot of land to Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) to facilitate a new District Regulation Installation (DRI) unit at Old Nangor Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
(c) Proposed disposal of substation site to the ESB - Kiltipper Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24
H-I 9 (a) Proposed disposal of fee simple interest in 15 Ashwood Road
H-I 9 (b) Proposed disposal of plot of land to Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) to facilitate a new District Regulation Installation (DRI) unit at Old Nangor Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
H-I 9 (c) Proposed disposal of substation site to the ESB - Kiltipper Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24
MANAGERS REPORT - FOR NOTING
DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT 2020 - FOR APPROVAL
PARKING BYE-LAWS - FOR APPROVAL
DECARBONISATION ZONE - FOR NOTING
KILTIPPER PARK PHASE 2 UPDATE - FOR NOTING
Correspondence
CORRESPONDENCE
(a) Correspondence from Cork County Council re. Abuse of Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr. Hazel Chu
(b) Correspondence from Roscommon County Council re. National Fund for Cemeteries
(c) Correspondence from Donegal County Council re. Period Poverty
(d) Correspondence from Limerick City & County Council re. various passed motions
(e) Correspondence from Sligo County Council re. various passed motions
(f) (i) Reply from the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment re. CETA
(f) (ii) Letter from SDCC
Motions
Noting the imminent easing of Covid 19 restrictions around the Country, that this County Council agrees to create "social distancing pods" in our County's parks and elsewhere as well as looking at other innovative ways that this Council can create a safe environment for citizens to enjoy the County during the summer months
To ask the Chief executive that going forward staff responsible for the removal of dead dogs and cats from public areas be equipped with scanning equipment so microchipped animals can be scanned and identified and owners notified that they are deceased
That the Chief Executive considers installing a public noticeboard/public digital noticeboard on the main street of each of our historic villages, and also in the principal shopping areas where population growth has occurred outside of the historic villages. The purpose of these noticeboards would be to draw the attention of the public to pending public consultations, details of Council and local services, and important public events.”
I am calling upon South Dublin County Council to consider and prioritise the installation of these traffic safety dividers when installing bicycle tracks. Dublin City Council and DLR have successfully implemented these barriers to ensure extra safety of cyclists and school children when travelling to school whilst travelling alongside motor vehicles. I think we can massively increase the usage of these tracks by school aged children and workers giving both of them and parents peace of mind that the tracks are safely and physically separated from the traffic. I have attached photos showing these in action in DCC.
That this council agrees that in response to the trading restrictions imposed by government, that holders of casual street-traders licence should be offered reduced fees of 50% or more for the coming year. This motion takes cognisance of the fact that Dublin City council have already agreed to such a measure and this motion is also considered, in light of, the council's response to question 6 at Council meeting Jan11th 2021. Also, that such measures remain in place whilst trading restrictions are imposed by government and that the council seek a similar response from government on behalf of licence holders as those business that have been compensated by way of rates waiver.
That this Council writes to the Minister for Justice to express its support for the renewal of the Offences against the State Act this year by the Oireachtas and the continued operation of the Special Criminal Court to tackle terrorism and organised crime.
To ask the Chief Executive if he will introduce a freepost system for people wishing to write to South Dublin County Council, to encourage greater participation in local democracy, for people returning official documents, such as grant applications, housing applications sending in submissions on planning applications etc.
South Dublin County Council calls on the Minister for the Environment Eamonn Ryan T.D to amend the Litter pollution Act 1997 and the waste management act 1996 to provide a clear statutory framework for the use of CCTV by local Authorities to deter and prosecute litter offences within their administrative areas.
That this Council writes to the Government welcoming the decision to introduce and progress legislation to deal effectively with the ongoing menace of the illegal use of Quads/Scramblers which has been raised many times on this Council's agenda and the Joint Policing Committee and will the Chief Executive take the opportunity to update members in respect of his efforts to deal with the matter.
This council calls for the introduction of minimum standards for cycle parking and cycling facilities for various land uses in South Dublin County, in all public buildings and in all new developments; and for the publication of a manual of these standards.
That this Council adopt the 'doughnut' economy as a policy to be applied, whenever possible in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, given that the Doughnut Economy is based on the premise that "Humanity's 21st century challenge is to meet the needs of all within the means of the planet. In other words, to ensure that no one falls short on life's essentials (from food and housing to healthcare and political voice), while ensuring that collectively we do not overshoot our pressure on Earth's life-supporting systems, on which we fundamentally depend - such as a stable climate, fertile soils, and a protective ozone layer.
That this committee calls on the Chief Executive to fully implement all available mechanisms at his disposal to call to account developers that do not fully comply with their grant of planning permission. And that where there are protection orders on trees these sites will be inspected during the construction phase and building halted if the developer is in breach of the terms of the agreement.
That this Council commits to a timeline for the full phase-out of 'kissing gates' from parks and public spaces in South Dublin County. These gates are intended to deter scrambler bikes and quad bikes, but also deny access to users of wheelchairs, prams and bicycles. In view of new powers available to An Garda Siochana to act on the use of scramblers and quads in public areas, kissing gates can no longer be justified as a deterrent. This Council will adapt or replace all kissing gates to facilitate universal access to our public realm.
Following on from a question regarding the number of Maintenance calls received the during the period 4th January 2021 to 14th February 2021, I understand that 911 maintenance/repair requests for central heating systems, were received. Customers are informed at time of complaint that repairs may take up to ten days. This is not an acceptable level of service to customers, many of them in their very senior years, and needs to be urgently addressed, especially during the very cold weather spells, which are now more frequent, and this Council calls for a review of the age and status of the heating boilers in its Housing stock and that an immediate programme of Service and Replacement be put in place and that Councillors should be given updates on progress, on a quarterly basis.
This council agrees that SDCC conduct a pilot project to map discarded drug litter caused by the use of Nitrous Oxide AKA “silver bullets” across the County. Furthermore, that this council write to the Minister for Public Health, Well Being and National Drugs Strategy, urging that he rolls out a Nitrous Oxide 'National Awareness Programme' and to engage the industry with responsibility for this product as part of the solution.
That this Council will conduct a feasibility study and work with the appropriate SPC(s) to look at the setting up of at least one Library of Things and Repair Cafe in the county.
That the Manager, wherever possible, acquires properties for social housing through Part V under all current and upcoming SHD developments, rather than agreeing to lease properties, and presents a report on the implication of Build to Rent planning permissions in relation to the delivery of social housing under Part V.
That the Chief Executive reports on the availability of interest-free/Islamic financing models supported by SDCC in terms of its own incremental tenant purchase schemes and Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan schemes; and, if facilitating same for residents of our county requires Departmental approval, to write to the Minister for Housing asking for such schemes to be facilitated at the earliest opportunity, with all due diligence applied.
That the Chief Executive undertakes to prepare a review of the Casual Trading bye-laws 2016 in light of the significantly increased use in our parks across the County.
That the Council calls for a County Outdoor Trading Strategy, including but not limited to, a revision of the casual trading sites and process in the county, streamlining of the application process, provision for extra litter bins and litter bin collection and how businesses can be supported in harnessing the potential of outdoors trading.