COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, June 26, 2017

MOTION NO. (5)

MOTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

"That this Tallaght Area Committee calls on the Chief Executive to make a full statement on actions being taken and proposed to improve the image, in the sight of the public, of Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght, taking into account the many representations received in respect of the Recycling Centre, Litter, CCTV/Security in the Park, the need for Public Toilets and other matters and in reporting will he also state if he has given any further consideration to the proposal that the Sean Walsh Park be prioritised for Green Flag recognition."

REPORT:

"The Council has secured anti litter grant funding for a clean up of the bottle bank site in the car park at Sean Walsh Park.  The works proposed here include for the removal of can and textile recycling banks as well as the removal of the access chutes to the underground glass recycling facility.  This facility has been out of commission for a number of years now, any attempts to bring it back into use have failed and it is now accepted that the facility is permanently beyond use.  It is proposed that the glass recycling containers will be the only containers to remain in place and that they will be cleaned and painted.  The site will also be thoroughly cleaned.  The cctv system in the Council depot which monitors this car park will be examined to determine what needs to be done to give better quality coverage of the recycling facility.

There are three separate cctv systems in place in Sean Walsh Park, one within the Council depot which also monitors the car park, one covering the playground and also a camera at the bridge to the Square.  There are no plans at present to expand on any of these systems, however they are all being examined at present with regard to positioning of cameras, quality of footage which can be obtained and current monitoring arrangements.

The park suffers from illegal dumping of domestic refuse and unauthorised use of litter bins on a frequent basis and both of these contribute to a litter issue in the park.  The Council's operational depot within the park has responsibility for park maintenance including cleansing.  A member of staff there is assigned on a full time basis to park cleaning and emptying of litter bins.  A number of additional jobs have been undertaken in recent times to clean waterways in the park and this cowrk will continue to completion.

The provision of toilets in the Council's parks will be addressed in the Parks Strategy document, work on which is due to commence in 2017. It should be noted and notwithstanding the Parks Strategy document that whilst the provision of toilets in our parks is a demand that needs to be addressed, such a demand if agreed to will require appropriate budget and resources to ensure that the facilities are well maintained and fit for purpose.

The Council entered Corkagh Park in the Green Flag awards scheme this year, as it was considered to be the park most likely to succeed in the scheme.  The Council proposes to pursue applications for other parks in the County in the coming years, including Sean Walsh Park, however it has not yet been decided in which year that application will be made.  An assessment of all possible candidate parks will be carried out to determine which park or parks are to be entered in the scheme in 2018."