COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 11, 2009

MOTION NO. 11

MOTION: Councillor M. Murphy

That the Manager agrees to expedite the playground program to bring it back on schedule.

REPORT:

The Five Year Playground  Construction Programme was adopted by the Council in December 2006 and arises from the Council’s Play Policy –    Developing Play in South Dublin County 2006 – 2009.

The details of the playground programme, as approved by the Council is set out below:

Location	Electoral Area
Griffeen Valley Park	Lucan Clondalkin
Rathfarnham Castle Park	Terenure Rathfarnham
Rathcoole Park	Tallaght
Sean Walsh Park	Tallaght
Tymon Park	Tallaght
Corkagh Park	Lucan Clondalkin

 Two of the playgrounds listed on the programme have been completed and are now in public use. 

The playground at Rathfarnham Castle Park was provided and opened in May 2008 and work was recently completed on the playground at Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght which opened for use in March of this year.

 The provision of new playgrounds at Griffeen Valley Park, Tymon Park, Rathcoole Park and Corkagh Park are at various stages.

A Part 8 proposal for the development of the Griffeen Valley Park (Grange Lands) was advertised and adopted in June 2006. This proposal included for the provision of a playground as part of the overall development of the Grange section of the park. Design work on playgrounds at Corkagh Park and Rathcoole Park is subject to identification of suitable sites. Design work on the proposed new playground at Tymon Park is scheduled to take place over the coming months. 

All of these projects are subject to the identification of finance as part of the Capital Programme. 

In addition to the above programme, playgrounds have also been provided under successive RAPID Playground Programmes at Quarryvale, Collinstown Park, Killinarden, Fettercairn, Jobstown, Brookfield, and Kiltalown. Unfortunately, the playground at Collinstown Park was subject to continuous  vandalism and had to be removed. A new playground was also provided as part of the new swimming pool project in Clondalkin in 2008.  

It should also be noted that a number of playgrounds have also been provided in the county by private developers as part of new residential developments e.g. at Adamstown, Balgaddy and Ballycullen. 

The Council's Play Policy is due for general review this year and the experience gained to date, particularly in relation to unsupervised playgrounds, will be taken into account in this review. Consideration will also be given to the type of play facilities provided for children and also the provision of exercise facilities for adults. As part of this review, the Five Year Construction Programme will also be reviewed and updated. It is hoped to present a draft Play Policy to the Members later in 2009.

The typical time frame for development of a major new playground from design stage right through to children playing in a completed facility takes on average, between 12-18 months. This timeframe includes bringing proposals to the Members for consideration, the consultation process with local children and residents, statutory time periods required by the Part 8 public consultation process and the procurement process as well as unpredictable delays such as adverse weather conditions during construction. 

It was considered at the time that to build six major new playgrounds over five years was an ambitious target. The programme is now a little over two years underway and with two major playgrounds already provided, it is considered that significant progress has been achieved having regard to the  other smaller playgrounds also provided during the period.