COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE-TERENURE AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

HEADED ITEM NO.19

Proposed Part 8 Public Consultation for the development of Mt Carmel Park, Dodder Valley

This is a proposal to develop and enhance a section of the existing parkland at Mt. Carmel Park, Dodder Valley, Firhouse, by the provision of the following recreation and amenity facilities:

400m 8 lane grass athletics track

This project is designed to cater for a local club, Brothers Pearse AC. The club caters for age seven and up and caters for both track and field.  Membership is spread from Rathfarnham to Tallaght and concentrated in the Knocklyon area.

Brothers Pearse AC has a letting on Council land in the Dodder Valley at Cherryfield Park.  However this facility is less than 300m in length and is not regulation shape.  The Club is presently sharing a ground with a GAA club and this situation is not ideal for either parties.

This new track is designed to cater for the expansion in club members that has been experienced in the last 10 years in particular (over 350 members currently) and to provide a facility that will help to improve the capacity of the club to compete at a higher level in track and field events.

The proposed new location will be situated to the rear of a local national school, Scoil Carmel, and the school should be able to use this facility during school hours in particular. The location in the Dodder Valley is excellent, with an existing car park and a long linear park suitable for cross country training also.

Lighting: There will be a requirement for lighting of the path from the car park to the track to facilitate safe access in the winter months. There may also be a requirement to provide lighting at the track to facilitate winter training. In both cases, the Council being cognisant of the impact on fauna in particular, will only use low level lighting in this situation and only following consultation with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Heritage Officer.

90m x 60m Soccer Pitch

This facility is designed to cater for local clubs and in particular, but not exclusively, Knocklyon Utd FC and which has a large membership spread over the wider Rathfarnham to Knocklyon area of South Dublin. The club has pitch lettings from South Dublin County Council at a number of locations including at Kennedy’s Field, Dodder Valley: these pitches cater for over 40 teams that include both juvenile and adult. The club has over 500 playing members. This facility would provide the club with extra capacity and relieve pressure on the existing pitches in this area of the county.

360m BMX track

BMX has become a popular sport in Ireland and is particularly popular with teenagers and adults alike, both male and female. It is Bicycle racing on specially prepared dirt tracks over jumps and around banked turns. Typical tracks are 350m in length. The sport originated in Holland in the 1950s, popularised in the USA in the 1970s and in 2008 became an Olympic Medal event.

The track would be let by agreement with South Dublin County Council to South Dublin BMX Club and which is a club within BMX Ireland (a subsidiary of Cycling Ireland).

The design of the track will be based on a proposal from Kelvin Batey who won the World Title in the Masters event at the BMX world Championships in New Zealand in 2013.

Natural Heritage / Wildlife Area

All of the Dodder Valley Park is traversed by the River Dodder and has good vegetation cover and is nationally recognised for biodiversity. The proposed development in this area of the Dodder Valley will be undertaken in the knowledge of this section of the Dodder Valley being a proposed Natural Heritage Area (pNHA) as designated by the NPWS of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. There will be consultation with the NPWS on this proposal.

In order to protect as much as possible of the existing vegetation the hedgerows will be protected and an area designated as a wildflower area will be protected and enhanced. In addition the surrounding areas of the athletic track and the football pitch will not be reseeded and will be allowed to seed freely and will be maintained in accordance with best biodiversity practice and in consultation with the Heritage Officer of South Dublin County Council and the NPWS.

The proposal will be subject to an Appropriate Assessment screening process (Appropriate Assessment is a process for assessment of the likely significant effects of every plan or project on the Natura 2000 network).

The proposal may also require an Environment Impact Assessment to be undertaken (Environmental Impact Assessment is the process by which the anticipated effects on the environment of a proposed development or project are measured.)

Extension of the existing pedestrian path system

In order to maximise use of this park, for walking in particular, but also to allow for proper access to the site from the adjoining school and car park and to connect into the existing path system it is proposed to extend the pedestrian path system and as outlined in the accompanying drawing.