COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

MOTION NO. 3

MOTION: Councillor E. O'Brien

“That this Area Committee, having regard to the current volume of applications for funding and grant aid on behalf of, lack of facilities available to and need to provide permanent facilities for, various sporting and community organisations located in the Lucan/Palmerstown electoral area undertakes a wholesale review of the following;

  1. Current shared facilities available to organisations

  2. Available lands to develop such facilities

  3. Number of live sporting and community organisations

  4. Available methods of funding these projects

In an effort to establish the feasibility of providing lands for such organisations and trying to establish a timeline for the delivery of such amenities.”

REPORT:

As the members are aware the availability of publicly owned Community space in the administrative area of this Committee is limited. The position is not unique in the County and the demands of this Area Committee have to be balanced with competing demands from across the County.

An option worth noting within this Area Committee is the large number of school and parish spaces which have limited, restricted or confined availability, even when these facilities are not required for their core use.

Over the recent past, a number of studies have been conducted which identified the available spaces and the potential availability of these spaces. This information is readily available but a comprehensive collation and coordination of the information has not been carried out. A dedicated resource would be required to do the necessary research with a view to establishing current demands, assessing future needs and requirements and producing a coordinated plan. This might be referred to as the preparation of a master plan for the County.

While current National financial schemes and budgetary provisions have been limited of late, there are nonetheless significant grants schemes available such as grants under Sports Capital, Lotto Funding, Dormant Accounts funding and so forth in addition to the funds that the Council might source from its day to day activities such as planning contributions, land disposals and by increasing revenue streams. A targeted approach to accessing these funds would potentially increase access.

All available current resources are deployed in addressing day to day needs and it is not recommended that these resources be diverted to the formation of a dedicated project team to move this proposal forward.