Reply - Q8 Liffey Valley Management Advisory Committee

COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 13, 2010

QUESTION NO.8

QUESTION: Councillor C. Jones

To ask the Manager for an update on the Liffey Valley Special Amenity Area Management Committee and if there are plans for this committee to meet?

REPLY:

a) Liffey Valley Management Advisory Committee

The Joint Fingal and South Dublin Liffey Valley Management Advisory Committee was formed in 1995 (after the S.A.A.O was confirmed in 1990).

Membership of the committee is as follows:

The Mayors of South Dublin and Fingal County Councils
The members of the Lucan / Clondalkin Electoral area.
The members of the Castleknock and Mulhuddart Electoral Areas
Three (3) non Councillor members nominated by both Local Authorities.

The first meeting of the Liffey Valley Advisory Committee was held on 1st March, 1995. Subsequent meetings were held as follows:

9th January, 1996
21st June, 1996
6th June 2001
22nd January 2002
31st March, 2003

There are no details to hand of scheduled meetings between March 2003 and 2009. There is record of an invitation from Fingal Mayor, Cllr. M. O’Donovan to the Mayor and Members of South Dublin’s Liffey Valley Committee to a site meeting in St. Catherine’s Park on Wednesday 4^th Feb 2009

3^rd February 2010 - SDCC attendees Cllrs. Guss O’Connell, William Lavelle, Derek Keating and Eamon Tuffy
31^st March 2010 - No SDCC attendees.

No date has yet been set for the next meeting of this committee.

b) Towards a Liffey Valley Park

The Office of Public Works (OPW), in association with Dublin City Council, Fingal, Kildare and South Dublin County Councils, commissioned ERM Consultants to draw up a strategy for the Liffey Valley. The report, Towards a Liffey Valley Park, was published by the OPW in November 2006. The report presented a regional vision for the entire Liffey area and outlined a strategy to achieve this vision.

While the OPW facilitated the production of the report the implementation steps to bring the park into existence are a matter for the Local Authorities concerned and the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government.

In 2008 in response to a request made by the Members of South Dublin County Council for designation of a new / extended SAA, the Minister asked for an evaluation to be carried out on lands between Palmerston and Lucan Bridge between the existing area of Special Amenity and the N4/ Old Hill Road.

A motion was passed in March 2009 requesting that the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government set up a joint working group composed of representatives of both the elected members and management of South Dublin, Fingal, Kildare and Dublin City Councils, with the objective of actioning the recommendations of the EMS Report on the Liffey Valley (given that the OPW have indicated that they are not to coordinate the work of promoting a Liffey Valley National Park). A reply to that letter was recently received and is included at Correspondence No 8 on today’s agenda. The response reiterates that the steps to bring the park into existence are primarily for the local authorities concerned.