COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, September 26, 2016
QUESTION NO.2
QUESTION: Councillor L. Dunne
To ask the Chief Executive for a detailed report of green spaces across each LEA across the County that would be suitable for in fills for social housing builds?.
REPLY:
A detailed report on the Council's land bank for potential development sites for housing needs was brought before a special meeting of the Organisation, Procedures and Finance Committee meeting on 23rd October 2014. A further report on Social Housing proposals was also brought to the March 2015 County Council Meeting which detailed a study of infill sites owned by South Dublin County Council for potential development.
In relation to open space it should be noted that the Council maintains approx. 1,700 HAs of open space under a number of categories including playing fields, regional and local parks, open spaces in estates etc.
These areas come under the maintenance of the Council in a variety of methods:
- Historic ownership of the Local Authority,
- Acquired by the Local Authority in the exercise of its functions,
- Open space dedicated to the Local Authority on foot of planning permission/deed of dedication,
- Maintenance by agreement.
Accordingly, the Councils title in respect of these lands is not uniform. It is important to note that a single open space may contain a large number of property folios. Where the Council has acquired the lands through a commercial transaction title will be clear. However, where the lands are held historically title may be less clear. Where deeds of dedication are involved issues can arise in a number of ways:
- the original title may not be clear,
- the deed of dedication may not have been lodged correctly, or
- the developer may no longer exist as a legal entity in order to give effect to the transfer.
The process of registering title is an ongoing process and can take some time through the Property Registration Authority in such cases.
It should be noted that in the majority of cases the Council is in occupation of, and is effectively the owner of the open space. Whilst every effort is made to perfect title in respect of all of the property in conjunction with the Law Dept. the issues outlined very briefly above indicate the ongoing nature of the task. The list of the open spaces maintained by the Council can be made available to the Area Committees.