COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, April 11, 2011

MOTION NO. 7

MOTION: Councillor J. Lahart

That the Council consider some positive and proactive steps which can be taken in association with Residents Associations and Community Organisations in order to address some of challenges that adverse weather conditons causes to residents of estates, particularly in high lying areas

REPORT:

The benefits gained from the implementation of the SDCC Winter Maintenance Plan agreed with the Elected Representatives before the commencement of the season in October 2010 were significant.  Feedback from stakeholders has indicated that the service delivered by the Council was generally appreciated and well received.  This included an early warning system to ensure that our response to Dublin Bus was prioritised and that additional salting of major bus routes in our County was completed in a timely fashion.

The Council’s Traffic Management Centre provided a vital “eyes on the street” function which enabled it to perform the function of a control centre from which operations could be managed.  In particular it was possible to closely monitor on an ongoing basis those locations in the County which require a tailored response.  The Council’s communications system enabled a timely and almost immediate response to be delivered.  The co-ordination of the intra agency and inter agency responses was also possible from this centre. In addition, the expansion of the use of social media was successfully trialled and implemented. The public and business community were kept advised of the ongoing situation using the Council’s Website, Customer Care Team, Twitter, Facebook, E-Mail, SMS text and regular press releases.

Nonetheless the scale, nature and characteristics of the weather events under report severely challenged the response ability of the Council given its existing resources. Perceptions did develop however among the general public which generated unsustainable demands to clear internal estate roads and associated footpaths.

While the Council has mobilised all available outdoor staff to the clearing of footpaths it is important to appreciate that, exclusive of the scheduled routes above, there is a local road and estate road network of 500 kms and a footpath and cycle track network of over 1,000 kms in the County which cannot be addressed in any meaningful way by resources at our disposal during a Severe Weather Event as experienced last winter. Council staff will continue to deploy any additional available resources in the vicinity of hospitals, towns and villages.  In addition, we acknowledge the work done by Businesses and Residents in clearing footpaths outside their premises and the Council recommends the expansion and continuation of this practice in dealing with Severe Weather Events such as these.

A further internal review and evaluation of our roads and transportation responses is underway and areas highlighted for consideration include non scheduled roads. Generic advice sheets are in the course of preparation and when proofed will be made available for issue to residents, businesses, residentas associations and community groups when similar weather events occur in the future.

In addition, the Community Services Department met with the C.E.O. of the South Dublin Volunteer Centre to consider what options may be available to further help communities to deal with such conditions whenever they arise in future. Many volunteers expressed an interest in “doing something” to help out in their community, but were unable to find a formal or official way of being involved.

2011 is the European Year of Volunteering, and it was decided that a Volunteer Corps would be established. This Volunteer Corps would make themselves available to assist at various events and / or emergencies in the County.

The Volunteer Corps has been set up as a pilot project being run jointly by South Dublin County Council and South Dublin County Volunteer Corps. 

The Corps is being set up to respond to various extreme weather events as well as responding to calls for large groups of people to volunteer at community events such as concerts, environmental events, sporting events and community events. Roles may include community clean-ups, tree-planting, stewarding, crowd control, snow clearing plus much more. It is expected that much of the work will be outdoor and include some physical activity. It is important to note that the Corps will not be asked to engage in any fund-raising roles for organisations. 

The recent St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations held in Tallaght Stadium was the first event for the new Corps and sixteen volunteers turned up to help out on the day. Issues such as insurance and Garda vetting of Volunteers have all been discussed and addressed as appropriate, and it is hoped that the new Corps will play a very useful part in dealing with severe weather emergencies as well as a whole range of community activities.