COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

MOTION NO.4

MOTION: Councillor C. Bond

That this Council recognises the need to provide adequate sanitation in Public Parks.

That this council will draw on best practice from other local authorities either in Ireland or Abroad in providing suitable bins for members of the public to dispose of litter and dog waste.

That this council will introduce such facilities on a trial basis in select parks in each area committee district.

REPORT:

The Council has provided 67 litter bins in the principal public parks in the county. in addition there are a further 600 litter bins located on public streets throughout the county, all of which are available on a daily basis for the disposal of litter and dog waste. Litter bins are provided close to generators of litter and waste. As a result, the majority of the Council's litter bins are located on street in the vicinity of litter generators such as shops, pubs, bus stops and schools. Public parks are not litter generators. The litter that arises in public parks is generated by park visitors bringing in items which generate waste. The Council acknowledges this issue by providing litter bins in destination parks.

While litter bins have also been provided in the past in some Neighbourhood and Local parks, it has been the experience of the Council that such litter bins, located in proximity to housing areas, are subject to illegal dumping and disposal of domestic waste. It is also the experience of the Council that even where litter bins have been provided, litter problems continue to arise in the immediate vicinity as the certain elements of the public choose not to use them.

Litter bins are provided in the following public parks:

Corkagh Regional Park

Griffeen Valley Regional Park

Tymon Regional Park

Liffey Valley (Lucan Demesne)

Liffey Valley (Waterstown Park)

Lucan Village Park

The litter bin provision by the Council in the main public parks in the County is not dissimilar to the arrangements in place in surrounding authorities such as Fingal, Dun Laoghaire and Dublin City. The City Council has a practice of providing litter bins on street at the entrances to public parks rather than in the parks themselves. This means that the litter bins are available for use outside of park opening hours, thereby maximising the availability of the bin.   In view of the above, it is the view of the Council that there are adequate arrangements in place in relation to sanitation for the public parks in the county. 

It is acknowledged that in relation to dog waste, some of the neighbouring authorities have provided dedicated bins which are exclusively for the disposal of dog waste. The Council has considered this and as a matter of policy, it was determined that there is no necessity to segregate dog waste from general waste. All litter bins in the county, regardless of where they are provided area available for the disposal of dog waste and there are no plans or proposals to introduce a segregated waste management system for such waste.