COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

MOTION NO. 4

MOTION: Councillor A.M. Dermody

"That the Manager to review the protracted correspondence relating to the issue of overgrown trees in Delaford Grove (sent by email), in particular reference to trees both to the front and rear of Delaford Grove (please remove all reference to the specific location).  Please assess and confirm the average time it is taking the Council to attend to such matters.  This Resident states that this issue was reported to Parks as far back as 2010 with no progress to date.  Please explain the delay in this case."

REPORT:

Correspondence was received by the Public Realm Section in recent months via the Customer Care System ( CCID 961144, CCID Membersnet 970071 and CCID 973099) from a resident living in Delaford Grove regarding the condition of a street tree planted  along the road and a shrubbery/planted area located to the rear of houses at Delaford Grove along the Firhouse Road. In response to these customer care enquiries and attached letters, attempts were made to contact the customer by phone without success. A  letter of response dated 19/11/13 was subsequently issued via membersnet system which dealt with the issues raised. Due to the ageing tree population in the Rathfarnham area, significant numbers of requests are received for tree works and as these must be prioritised based on the resources available to deal with them. As a result there may be some delay in dealing with specific requests, due to the volume of queries received on an ongoing basis.  However, in view of the circumstances of this case and in the interest of clarity, arrangements will be made in the future to issue hard copy letters directly to customers, where it does not prove possible to make contact with the customer by phone or e-mail.

The tree works programme for the Rathfarnham area was approved by the Rathfarnham Area Committee at its meeting on the 8/10/13 last. This programme was devised and based mainly on requests received during the year  from the public and the elected members through the Membersnet and the Customer Care System. Unfortunately the pruning/removal of street trees at Delaford Grove was not included in this programme or in other programmes undertaken in recent years in the Rathfarnham area. The pruning of a shrubbery at Delaford Park which adjoins Delaford Grove and the Firhouse Road was included in this years programme. In view of the long-standing nature of the particular resident's request, the removal of the tree at this address and the pruning/thinning of the shrubbery to the rear of Delaford Grove, will be carried out as soon as possible as part of the current tree works programme for the area.