COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
HEADED ITEM NO.18
UPDATE ON THE PLAY SPACE PROGRAMME 2014 - 2018
- The purpose of this report is to review The Five Year Play Space Programme 2014 – 2018 that was approved by the Council at the end of 2013. It is now important to:
- take stock on the implementation of this programme,
- to learn lessons from the implementation programme in 2014,
- to update the newly elected members on the purpose and intent of the programme itself
- to listen to the feedback from the Elected Members
2. Terms - Play Spaces and Playgrounds
We are calling our local play areas “play spaces” rather than playgrounds. We feel that the term playground gives an impression only of a collection of formal play items with safety surfacing in an enclosed area. The word Playground often has a connotation in the minds of residents with anti social activity.
The play spaces will be far more informal, often without formal play equipment or fencing and often not concentrated in one location. They can also be referred to as Natural Play Spaces.
For Neighbourhood and Regional play areas the term playground still applies and they will have a combination of both natural play opportunities and formal equipment.
2.1 Natural Play Spaces - Local
The Council is proposing to build predominantly natural play spaces as part of its playground Construction programme in local areas. Natural Play can be defined as, ‘The freedom to access, explore and engage with the natural environment with the primary purpose of having fun’.
A natural play space is an area where children can play with natural elements such as sand, water, rocks, wood and living plants. There may also be some formal play items.
Today, many children lack the time and opportunity to engage in natural unstructured play. Planned, adult-coordinated activities during and after school, as well as electronic games and television, limit a child's ability to engage in exploration and free expression. Research indicates that this ability, along with access to natural settings, is critical to children's development in every major way: intellectually, emotionally, sociallyand physically. Benefits of increased unstructured free play and access to natural areas include improved concentration & impulse control, emotional coping and stress reduction, stimulation of creativity, reduced symptoms with ADD and ADHD, and improved motor coordination.
Natural play spaces focus on creating settings to enable the type of play most important to our youngest children: social play (pretending) and constructive play (building). Natural Playgrounds encourage children to use their imaginations while simultaneously experiencing the smells, textures and wonders of the natural world. Natural Playgrounds are typically very safe because they include few or no tall structures and no equipment with moving parts. In addition, natural Playgrounds can be relatively inexpensive to build by usingnatural materials and avoiding often costly catalogue structures.
3. Consultation Process
One of the lessons learned during the consultation process is that the process takes much longer than was originally anticipated and is not simply “a once only meeting” exercise.
The consultation process involved initial scoping with key players in each area including the Elected Members, Community Groups and Residents Associations. These scoping exercises invariably lead to more than one meeting before the full consultation meeting. In virtually every case residents requested a design to be provided so that they could understand what exactly was being proposed. The requirement to have a design worked out is especially important where residents are opposed to the provision of traditional playgrounds due to a history of vandalism and anti social behaviour. It has to be clearly demonstrated how our proposals will address the specific site conditions in each given location.
In many cases the proposals have been accepted as they were natural play spaces rather than “playgrounds”.
After the issues of contention have been identified it is then possible to proceed to a full public consultation meeting and to which the Elected Members are also invited. If the proposals are rejected at this stage there is no point in proceeding any further with the proposal. If the proposal is passed at the public meeting it still cannot be taken for granted that the proposal will proceed. It has been our experience that residents who have not attended the public meetings often raise objections afterwards. This has lead to numerous follow-on meetings and design amendments.
The issue of anti social behaviour is a very real concern in virtually all parts of the County. Residents in areas where anti social behaviour is not a major issue are concerned that a play space would attract it. In other areas residents feel that it would increase the anti social behaviour levels.
Following agreements with stakeholders each approved site has gone to tender. In each case the tender analysis has been done with the participation of local stakeholders. This gives people an appreciation of the issues involved and keeps local people involved in the decision making process. This has been a very successful procedure and it is proposed to continue it in subsequent years.
In order to expedite the 2015 programme it is proposed to commence consultation on this programme in November 2014 and after the Elected Members have been briefed on the current programme through the Area Committee meetings.
4. The Five Year Play Space Programme 2015 - 2018
A total of 10 sites throughout the county were included in the 2014 Play Space Programme. Two other sites at Hermitage Park in Lucan and Ballycragh Park in Firhouse were separately funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. One site at Tymon Park (Tymon North side) is separately funded through the Council’s Capital Programme.
Of the 13 sites listed contracts have been issued for 8 sites, 1 site is out for tender, 1 is ready to go to tender and it was not possible to reach agreement on the remaining 3 sites.
The proposed play spaces for Lucan are shown in the table below. A review of progress in the 2014 programme is summarised at 4.1 below
| 4.1 Lucan | ||||
| Location | Type | Timescale | Update | |
| Woodfarm Acres | Local | 2014 | Substituted | |
| Riversdale | Local | As substitute for Woodfarm Acres | ||
| Griffeen Avenue | Local | 2014 | Tender due on 28.10.14 | |
| Waterstown Park | Regional | 2015 | Local support expressed | |
| Griffeen Valley Park | Regional | 2015 | ||
| Sarsfield Park, Lucan | Local | 2015 | ||
| Ballyowen Park | Neighbourhood | 2016 | ||
| Lucan Demesne | Regional | 2016 | ||
| Finnstown | Local | 2016 | ||
| Willsbrook Park | Neighbourhood | 2017 | ||
| Hillcrest Estate Lucan | Local | 2017 | ||
| Glenaulin Park, Palmerstown | Neighbourhood | 2017 | ||
| Beechpark | Local | 2018 | ||
| Hillcrest Estate Lucan | Local | 2018 | ||
| Esker Park | Neighbourhood | 2018 | ||
| Grange Park | Neighbourhood | 2018 |
4.2 Summary of progress in 2014 in the Lucan Electoral Area
Woodfarm Acres – No agreement could be reached here and it was substituted with Riversdale. A contract has been issued for Riversdale and works are due to commence on 5th January.
The play space at Riversdale contains no play equipment but deals with the specific play needs of this community. The estate has very many small areas to play but it lacks a safe place for children to run freely and cycle their trikes in a traffic free environment. The proposed area contains a trike track, a labyrinth and small mounds for play. It is surrounded by a low fence and hedge and has a dog grid to keep animals out. It looks more like a garden than a playground and should be a great addition for children in the area.
Griffeen Valley Park extension- Tenders due back on 28th October. The proposed site has been discussed with the local residents associations and a natural play space will be provided. As the site is within one kilometre of Griffeen Playground the design brief asks for a playspace with minimal if any equipment. Tenderers have been asked to use the existing landscape as much as possible in creating opportunities for play. This is the first time a playspace in Ireland has had such a strong natural play brief and we are therefore expecting some very unique proposals.
Hermitage Park- Contract issued and works due to proceed November 2014.
The design of this playspace is based on the Esker Riada, after which the area is named. The Esker a glacial feature which stretches from Lucan to Athenry in Co Galway. It was the main road between the east and west of Ireland for millennia and crossed the Shannon at Clonmacnoise.
The esker is represented by a large earthen mound stretching through the play area. There area various ways to climb up and slide down and tunnel under this mound. At its centre is a tower representing the monastery at Clonmacnoise. There area boulders, logs, sand planting, a wheelchair trampoline and a very exciting rope swing feature. There has been a huge amount of local involvement in the project. It is a very unique play area and is much anticipated locally.