COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE-TERENURE AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

MOTION NO. 5

MOTION: Councillor D. O'Donovan

"That the Chief Executive provides a report on the future uses and development of Delaford Park, Knocklyon."

REPORT:

"Delaford Park measures just under 2 hectares, bounded to the west by the M50 and the east by Knocklyon Road, with the Firhouse Road to the north and a local GaelScoil to the south. It serves as an area for both passive and active amenity. The majority of the park is grassland and it has some tree cover mainly at the eastern boundary. It is a pleasant and mostly quiet setting for pedestrians, and is available to local schools and local residents as an amenity area. There is an existing changing room facility and sports pitch on the open space. The open space acts as a buffer between the M50 and the nearby residential areas.

The open space at Delaford forms part of the ecological inventory within the area. Its ecological value is increased by its being adjacent to larger areas of open space such as Dodder Valley Park. It is also part of the green corridor that bounds the M50. As a green corridor it can be used by animals and birds as habitat, refuge, a food source and a travel corridor.

The facilities existing at Delaford are consistent with parks of a similar size and context elsewhere; despite its size it has a multi-functional use with a mix of passive and active recreation and serves both local residential and community need and an ecological function. Due to its location, with the M50 forming an impenetrable barrier to the west, any proposed footpath would have a circular, internalised nature. The provision of a perimeter footpath system within Delaford open space would not be considered a priority at the current time. However, current near-term plans include it as a possible location for one of the proposed play spaces within the play space programme; which will incorporate a design over-view of the open space area.

The nearby parks in the Dodder Valley are part of a larger, linear, linked-park system with an existing, extensive pathway system linking to adjacent park facilities and into other estates and adjoining facilities; these parks tend to be more intensively used.

The Environment Water and Climate Change Department will commence a Parks and Open Spaces Strategy in 2017 that will ensure a comprehensive and overarching plan to guide the development, maintenance and investment of the county’s public open spaces; this will include planning for small open spaces and local parks such as at Delaford."