COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

HEADED ITEM NO.11

Allotments - Griffeen Valley Park

Further to Motion 16 as discussed at the Lucan Area Committee meeting in September 2011, the development of allotments adjacent to the new parks depot in Griffeen Valley Park is something that is being factored into the overall design and layout of the park.  This provision of allotments was also suggested by way of submission from the South Dublin Conservation Society in response to the Part 8 Consultation process for the Griffeen Valley Park in 2006.  There are currently 143 people on the allotment waiting list in the Lucan, Palmerston and North Clondalkin areas.  While the provision of allotments in Griffeen Valley Park will not be of a scale to cater for this demand it is acknowledged that a demand for such a facility exists and therefore the park is being assessed with this in mind. 

Part of the allotment provision will include an allotment for the pursuit of education associated with local schools.  It is envisaged that the allotments will be in keeping with allotments provided throughout the county i.e. approximately 100 sq meters in size.  As the allotments will be in a Regional Park which is opened and closed in accordance with official park opening hours, access to the site will be restricted to these times unless the allotments can be accessed directly from Haydens Lane.  For this reason the western side of the park in the vicinity of the proposed Parks Depot is currently the most favoured location.  This would also allow the provision of up to four football pitches as per the original design in the remaining sections of the park.  The main constraint with this location is the proposed depot which should hopefully commence construction later this year.  It would not be possible to provide allotments until the development works have been largely completed as the disturbance to the surrounding lands would likely impact on any chosen site. 

In summary, the provision of allotments in Griffeen Valley Park is being factored into the overall design of the park.  The timeframe for delivery will be determined by progress on the park depot but it is likely to be towards the end of 2013 at the earliest.  The provision of allotments will be subject to the identification of a suitable source of funding to deliver the project.