COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

MOTION NO.15

MOTION: Councillor P. Gogarty

"That the Chief Executive confirms a timeframe for commencement of construction of the playground at Waterstown Park, Palmerstown given that it was originally budgeted for in 2015 -  but instead funding went to Tymon North refurbishment - but is now firmly back on the agenda following the overwhelming support shown for it in the "300k Have Your Say" process; and also to outline what security measures will be put in place during construction and upon completion, given the recent experience at Griffeen Valley Park (which was raised by this Councillor on several occasions); and if a statement can be made on the matter."

REPORT:

It should be noted that money for a playground in Waterstown Park was not transferred for a project in Tymon Park. At the Lucan Area Committee meeting held on the 25th April 2017 the following reply was provided to Question 12:

“There was no change in allocation from Waterstown Park to Tymon Park for the construction of a new playground. The reply presented to the Lucan Area Committee Meeting on the 23rd February 2016 in response to Question 6 clearly outlined the priority of new playgrounds in our Parks as follows:

The construction of the Playground in Waterstown Park, Liffey Valley is an objective of this Council. The current priority listing of the Council in relation to the construction and/or the refurbishment of Play Grounds, subject to the availability of funding and resources in our Regional Parks is:

The aim of the current Play Space programme is to provide play areas for children as close as possible to where they live and grow up. 

The Council continues to refurbish existing playgrounds in the Regional Parks through a separate funding programme.”

The consultation process for a playground in Waterstown in relation to the Public Participatory Budget began on 13th June 2017. Questionnaires were sent to all the elected members and to the PPN for distribution. They were also sent to local primary schools and became available for download from Council website. A notice was also posted through the Councils Facebook page and questionnaires were delivered to Palmerstown Youth and Community Centre.

The Council aims to have the consultation completed in September 2017 and commence a tender process before end of 2017. It usually takes about 8 weeks to order and deliver equipment so construction is programmed for early 2018. This timeframe is based on similar projects elsewhere but is highly dependent on the outcome of the consultation.

Waterstown is a very unique site and we expect local people to be very engaged with proposals to ensure they are sensitive to the local environment and take into account the preservation of views across the valley and protection of biodiversity into consideration. This may preclude the installation of standard plastic and metal playground equipment on grounds of non-suitability to the location. Such considerations will have a major bearing on any security measures.

The precise details of site security measures will be subject to decisions on precise location, detailed plan for the playground, construction processes, risk assessment etc.. As with all the playspace and playground projects the security of the construction site will be part of the brief of the appointed contractor and the measures will have to comply with the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 until such time as it has been completed and handed over to SDCC. The Council includes within the tender that potential contractors should make themselves aware of all site conditions and include appropriate provision for them in their tendered price.

The experience of the build to date in Griffeen has been mostly positive. There was an incident where the fence was knocked over and a piece of timber removed and set alight. The culprits were captured on CCTV but could not be identified by Gardai. There were other reports that the fencing had been destroyed and reports of theft and vandalism of equipment. These reports were without basis in fact.

Regarding future security for the Waterstown Park project: the Council believes that the important factors to consider will be choosing the right equipment positioned in the right location and will benefit from input of the recently commenced local consultation.