COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

MOTION NO. 16

MOTION: Councillor P. Gogarty

"That this Committee writes to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to request a review of the County border between Fingal and South Dublin so as to allow the Liffey Valley hinterland from Leixlip border to Dublin 15 to be taken under full control of South Dublin County Council, including Laraghcon and Rokeby housing estates and Mount St Joseph cottages (Tinkers Hill), subject to a plebiscite of local residents agreeing to same. The reasons for this change would include:

• - Ensuring that Lucan village and main population centres in its northern hinterland are managed in an efficient and co-ordinated manner and that parents who primarily send their children to Lucan schools and all residents who primarily use Lucan facilities are able to influence and engage with the elected representatives who deal with the majority of issues pertaining to them.
• - Ensuring that the wider population of Lucan have a say through their elected representatives in the management of the Lucan hinterland so as to ensure proper democratic scrutiny of major zoning decisions that they had no means of influencing in the past.
• - Ensuring that areas such as Weir View – the subject of many planning enforcement issues - can be deal with strongly and directly by one local authority empowered to look at all aspects of planning enforcement, road maintenance and heritage protection issues, as these functions are currently shared in an ad-hoc way between the two local authorities and, in the view of residents, are not being dealt with adequately.
• - Noting, that while county boundaries often elicit strong emotional responses at local level in rural areas, particularly in relation to GAA affiliations as well as other issues; such issues are not in play in Fingal, South Dublin, or indeed Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, much of the boundaries being artificial constructs with no historic precedent and therefore suitable for a review after over 20 years. The fact that parts of Lucan village north of the Liffey such as Millbank and Weirview remain primarily under South Dublin control creates a precedent for Laraghcon, Rokeby, Mount St Joseph and other areas near the river up as far as Shackleton’s Mill to be similarly included as part of South Dublin Council area.

Acknowledging that Fingal County Council has had an excellent record in relation to the Liffey Valley amenity and its management – and still would have under any changes - this Committee respectfully asks the Minister to open up a process so that the residents of the areas listed are asked by means of a plebiscite which local authority they would prefer to be part of, with legislation enacted subsequently as required."

REPORT:

"If the Motion is passed a letter in this regard will be forwarded to the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government for their consideration."