COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 09, 2008

HEADED ITEM NO. 5(d)

 

d) Nominations to Community Linkage Fund Assessment Panel, and SDCC Heritage Forum

Nominations to the Community Linkage Fund Assessment Panel for Tallaght Area and to the South Dublin County Council Heritage Forum

The following reports were presented to the Members at the Adjourned Organisation, Procedure and Finance Committee Meeting held on 5th June 2008:

1.            Nominations to the Community Linkage Fund Assessment Panel for the Tallaght Area

“The Community Linkage Contribution Fund (CLF) forms part of South Dublin County Council’s Integrated Area Plans (IAP) for Tallaght and Clondalkin. The purpose of the Fund is to assist the development, in the IAP designated communities, of projects and programmes which will address local community need and improve the quality of life for the residents of the areas.

Designated IAP Communities for the Tallaght area are as follows:

·Tallaght:   Fettercairn, Brookfield, Jobstown & Killinarden

The third round of Community Linkage Funding was launched in early 2008, for the Tallaght area with a closing date of Friday 28th of March 2008.  In line with the Fund guidelines, evaluation panel, for Tallaght will undertake the assessment of applications and make a recommendation to the IAP Monitoring Committees regarding funding allocation.  The Monitoring Committee will then make a formal recommendation to the elected Council of South Dublin County.  South Dublin County Council via the elected members will have the final say in the development of this programme.

An evaluation Panel will be formed consisting of the following membership: 

Accordingly, the following nominations are now before the elected members for consideration:

2 Public Representatives for inclusion on the Tallaght CLF Evaluation Panel

 Additional Information

Ø      Key criteria and guiding principles of the Community Linkage Fund

The core purpose of the Community Linkage Fund is to assist the development of projects and programmes to address local community need and enhance the quality of life for people living in IAP designated communities.

A number of key themes were identified by the IAP Monitoring Committees for the distribution of the Community Linkage Funding.  These are:

A.  Youth and Youth work, with a particular emphasis on…

B.  Community, with particular reference to…

·         Building civic education/awareness and responsibility

·         Supporting, strengthening and building community capacity to manage projects and programmes including the co-ordination of community facilities

·         Promoting the integration of non-nationals/migrants

·         Developing and resourcing the local economy

C.  Community/Personal Safety theme, primarily through supporting environmental projects that have as their focus personal and community safety

D.  Cross-cutting applications - Developing proposals which address more than one of the above

Ø      Background & Context

In 1999 the Council, in partnership with a number of local development groups, produced Urban Renewal Integrated Area Plans (IAP’s) for both Tallaght and Clondalkin. These plans were drawn up using the Urban Renewal Act of 1998. Both plans were produced in the context of addressing the physical, economic, social and environmental regeneration of the town centres and the neighbourhood centres in adjoining areas which are in need of investment.

The aim of the plans are to attract private investment into the areas by means of tax incentives. This is happening in the Town Centres and in the Designated Neighbourhoods in Clondalkin and Tallaght. One of the innovative aspects of the IAP’s was the inclusion of the Community Linkage Contribution - a mechanism to transfer some of the benefits from the successful Town Centre sites to the disadvantaged areas of West Tallaght and North and South West Clondalkin.  The Community Linkage Contribution, which is set at  €2.54 /sq. ft of development (excluding multi-storey or underground car-parking), is paid by investors/developers into a fund immediately prior to receiving their Final Tax Incentive. This grant scheme is as a result of these contributions.

The Integrated Area Plans were produced following a considerable amount of community participation. The CL Fund offers an opportunity for the local government, local development, statutory and social partner sectors to indirectly avail of the benefits of the tax incentive scheme and thus help address local community needs and improve the quality of life for residents of the area.”    End of Committee Report.

It was proposed by Councillor E. Maloney, seconded by Councillor C. Jones and AGREED:

“That Councillor M. Corr be appointed as one of the representatives on the Community Linkage Fund Assessment Panel for the Tallaght Area.”

It was proposed by Councillor C. Keane, seconded by Councillor J. Lahart and AGREED:

“That Councillor J. Daly be appointed as the second representative on the Community Linkage Fund Assessment Panel for the Tallaght Area.”

 

2. Nominations to the South Dublin County Council HERITAGE FORUM

“Heritage Officer

Dr. Rosaleen Dwyer was appointed the Council’s Heritage Officer on 3rd March 2008.  Dr. Dwyer, whose education and background is in natural heritage, had previously been Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s Bio-Diversity Officer.

Heritage Plan

The Heritage Act 1995 defines heritage as including monuments, archaeological objects, heritage objects, architectural heritage, flora, fauna, wildlife habitats, landscapes, seascapes, wrecks, inland waterways, geology, heritage gardens and parks.  Heritage is therefore all around us, reflecting that which we have inherited from preceding generations. 

A County Heritage Plan is a way to reach consensus on how local heritage can best be conserved and managed on a partnership basis, offering a broad context within which the efforts and initiatives of local groups and state agencies can operate.  It is an opportunity to identify heritage issues and heritage needs at a local level, and to address them locally, within a regional and national framework. 

A Heritage Plan is a cross-agency strategy for the county, facilitating the identification, protection, conservation, management, enhancement and interpretation of heritage.  It seeks to integrate the various aspects of heritage, looking at the historic, natural, cultural and social environments as a whole.  It is an agreed, realistic, and costed action plan, with reference to delivery and monitoring mechanisms.  It is, therefore, both a strategic statement about what the county wants to achieve in terms of heritage management and conservation over a 5 year period, while also being a list of achievable actions which will be undertaken to achieve strategic aims and objectives.

A Heritage Plan is not to be seen as an isolated document.  It works within the framework of other plans and objectives, both at a local and a national level.  At a county level, the actions listed in a Heritage Plan aspire to inform the decision-making process with regard to the policies of the County Development Plan and Local Area Plans.  It can also overlap with Local Agenda 21 Plans or complement the work of the County Development Board in its strategy for economic, social and cultural development.  A detailed local Biodiversity Plan for the county is also generally seen as one of the actions of the Heritage Plan.

Heritage Plan Programme

The Heritage Officer’s primary role and priority task for this year and for early 2009 is, in conjunction with Council staff and Members (Parks Department, Conservation Officer etc) and stakeholders, the production and launch of the county’s first Heritage Plan.  This Heritage Plan is expected to cover a five year period with actions on targets and objectives to commence later in 2009.  The Plan will focus on a number of heritage themes.  These are –

Natural environment

Public meetings will be hosted and written submissions on heritage issues will be invited from the public during June and July.  A first draft of the Heritage Plan is expected by next November/December.  Following public and Council consultation on the initial draft Plan, final amendments are expected in Spring 2009.  A public launch of the Plan is projected for early/mid summer of 2009. 

Once the Heritage Plan has been adopted the Heritage Officer will oversee the implementation of the actions and objectives set out in the Plan.  It is also envisaged that the Heritage Officer will provide assistance/advice on the heritage aspects of the County Development Plan Review and of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process, which has to be undertaken in conjunction with the preparation of the new County Development Plan. 

Next Steps

This Report is being presented to the three Area Committees of the Council – Lucan- Clondalkin, Tallaght and Terenure-Rathfarnham - and to a number of SPCs the Economic Development and Planning SPC, the Arts, Culture, Gaeilge, Education and Libraries SPC and the Sports, Recreation, Community and Parks SPC.

Heritage Forum

To initiate the process of preparing the Plan and to progress work on the Plan, a County Heritage Forum is required to be established.  This Forum will oversee and assist in the preparation and implementation of the Heritage Plan in conjunction with the Heritage Officer.  The members of this Forum will be drawn from elected members, Council staff, local heritage interest groups, business/commercial bodies, tourism, environmental NGOs, community fora, academia, and other relevant government agencies.  The recommended total number of Forum members will be between 15-20 individuals.     

Staff members on the Forum to assist it in its work will include

Heritage Officer, Conservation Officer and representatives

from Planning, Parks, Community and Libraries                                       6

1 Elected Member from each of the 3 Area Committees                            3

Suggested representatives from other agencies and groups include:       

Business/commercial sector/Chamber of Commerce                                  1

DoEHLG - Wildlife Ranger and Archaeologist                                           2

Coillte Teo.                                                                                         1

Waterways Ireland                                                                               1

Eastern Regional Fisheries Board                                                           1

NGOs e.g. BirdWatch Ireland/Irish Wildlife Trust/An Taisce                       2

Local historical and community groups                                                   2

Tourism interests - the Tourism Executive                                               1

Total                                                                                                 20

The Forum will operate as a Steering Group, to oversee the assessment of submissions from members of the public and to assist in the preparation of a draft heritage plan. 

To facilitate the Forum and the process of drawing up and agreeing the Heritage Plan, 4 Working Groups will also be established to focus on the 4 broad heritage themes of natural environment, archaeology, architecture, and culture.  Members of the Working Groups will be drawn from the Forum but can also include additional expertise from other individuals or groups where required. 

It is a matter for the Council to appoint three representatives to fill the positions as outlined above to the South Dublin County Heritage Forum and this is now before the Members for their consideration.”   End of Committee Report.

Tallaght Area Committee Representative

It was proposed by Councillor M. Corr, seconded by Councillor C. Jones and AGREED:

“That Councillor E. Maloney be nominated as the Tallaght Area Committee representative on the Heritage Forum.”

Lucan/Clondalkin Area Committee Representative

It was proposed by Councillor R. Dowds, seconded by Councillor C. Jones and AGREED:

“That Councillor E. Tuffy be nominated as the Lucan/Clondalkin Electoral Area representative on the Heritage Forum.”

Terenure/Rathfarnham Area Committee Representative

The following three nominations were put forward:

It was proposed by Councillor T. McDermott, seconded by Councillor C. Jones:

“That Councillor E. Walsh be nominated as the Terenure/Rathfarnham Area Committee Representative on the Heritage Forum.”

It was proposed by Councillor A. McGaughey, seconded by Councillor J. Daly:

“That Councillor C. Keane be nominated as the Terenure/Rathfarnham Area Committee Representative on the Heritage Forum.”

It was proposed by Councillor J. Lahart, seconded by Councillor J. Daly:

“That Councillor M. Ardagh be nominated as the Terenure/Rathfarnham Area Committee Representative on the Heritage Forum.”

Following a Show of Hands it was AGREED:

“That Councillor E. Walsh be nominated as the Terenure/Rathfarnham Area Committee Representative on the Heritage Forum.”