COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, May 23, 2016

QUESTION NO. 8

QUESTION: Councillor B. Ferron

"To ask the Chief Executive if they can please provide a report to the Tallaght Area Committee outlining how the matters below regarding Tymon Park can be addressed.   

• Outside Council staff working hours, there is no pedestrian access to the park between Greenhills Rd/Ballymount Rd junction (beyond the M50 flyover) and the Basketball Arena (Castletymon Rd). As you can imagine, this causes great inconvenience for users of the park, particularly dog walkers, joggers and strollers who like to get out early in the mornings. At weekends, the park gates on Castletymon Rd remain locked until 10am, can an early opening time be investigated?
• There is only one enclosed dog play area in the whole of Tymon Park, which is on the Limekiln side. However, due to flooding in bad weather, even this dog-play area becomes totally unusable between the months of October and April each year. In addition, the gate latch has been broken for the past two years. An enclosed dog play area is an extremely important amenity in any park, allowing dogs to socialise in a controlled and safe environment with no inconvenience to other park users. Unlike dog play areas in Corkagh or Marley and other public parks, the dog play area in Tymon has no running water, and the refuse facility is simply a plastic sack hung over the railing, which is infrequently emptied or replaced. There are insufficient refuse bins throughout the park, which leads to rubbish being dumped (including dog poo bags). Can the CEO please look to address the matters below in order to improve the experience for dog owners using the park?
• Streams and pathways on the Tallaght side of the park are not being maintained and cleaned regularly, and the small stream that leads into the ponds is littered with trollies, bikes, pallets and other hazardous rubbish. There is no noise barrier along the Tallaght side of the M50 Motorway, which can lead to a high traffic noise levels in the park at all times: during rush hour, the volume of traffic, and during off-peak hours, the speed of traffic on the motorway. Since last year the trees along the stream have been thinned out, and the felled trees have been left lying along the stream. Perhaps these could be cut down into manageable sizes and donated to local senior citizens through welfare agencies in the area. Again I would ask that these matters addressed in order to improve the amenity for those who use the park.
• Lastly, the Irish name of the park, both at the Castletymon entrance and at the Basketball Arena entrance is misspelt (Páirc Thigh Montháin, instead of Páirc Thigh Motháin). As there is an all-Irish school close by, I think it is even more important that this is rectified without delay, as would be the case if the English version were misspelt.

REPLY:

The items listed have been examined, the following is the current position with regard to each of those items -

The main entrance gates off Castletymon Road into Tymon Park are due to be automated later this year which will give much greater flexibility in park opening times.  Opening times are currently fixed and are determined by the hours of the park ranger service. 

Consideration will be given in the preparation of the 2017 public realm improvement works programme to the provision of a second dog run in Tymon Park. While the site of the existing dog run becomes wet/damp over the winter it does not flood and it remains usable throughout the winter season.  The issue raised regarding the provision of a proper waste bin has been addressed, a new bin has been installed this week.  The proposal to install additional litter bins will be examined to determine where additional bins might be required.  The broken gate latch mentioned has been repaired.  The suggestion to install a water supply at the dog run will be examined to determine it’s feasibility, and if feasible it can also be included in the improvement works proposals for 2017.

The stream mentioned has been cleaned in recent days.  The removal of the felled trees was attempted in recent weeks however the ground was too wet to allow machinery in to do this work.  It will be carried out as soon as the ground firms up enough to allow it.  An arrangement is already in place to facilitate the donation of timber to the St Vincent de Paul.

The Irish language signage/namestones will be examined to determine if the spelling of the park name is incorrect, if so the matter will be rectified as necessary.