COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

MOTION NO. 12

MOTION: Councillor P. Gogarty

"That this Area Committee requests the Chief Executive reports on progress in constructing and maintaining playgrounds and play spaces in the current electoral area and in particular outlines whether the Palmerstown playground will be completed by September as promised under the "Have Your Say - €300k" process, as well as provides an update on what additional security measures are planned following further vandalism and the recent fire at Griffeen Valley Park playground, including fence height, CCTV, detector lights etc; and if a statement can be made on the matter."

REPORT:

The Playspace programme in South Dublin County Council is a five year construction programme that commenced in 2014. The provision of playgrounds in the recent past concentrated on large, formally equipped and defined playgrounds with highly specialised equipment. The playspace programme aims to provide opportunities to play. This type of play allows children to develop their imagination, challenge their abilities, deal with risk and, critically, adapt their own environment.

The Play Space programme was established following the identification of a deficit of play areas for children in this county. This was documented in the policy document ‘Developing play in South Dublin County’ adopted by the Council in June 2006. However the development of play areas / playgrounds did not result in the immediate aftermath, due to the economic downturn and lack of development generally.

In recent years there has been an emphasis on the physical and mental well-being of children. Over the past 20 years there has been a significant rise in levels of obesity, childhood diabetes, high levels of stress and increasing sedentary lifestyles. A report by the National Taskforce on Obesity estimates that 300,000 children in Ireland are now obese.

Due to a variety of factors children are less likely to wander far from their own homes. A study in the UK documented the distance children travelled from home for play; the results showed that the distance children roam from home on their own has shrunk by 90% since the 70s; 43% of adults think a child shouldn't play outdoors unsupervised until the age of 14. So children are increasingly confined to the immediate environs of their homes. This results in children’s activity being dependant on the immediate environment of their homes being conducive to a wide variety of play opportunities and social interaction; which is not so readily available in sterile landscapes of mown grass.

Delivery to date: Playspace Programme 2014-2018

Introduction

The Play Space Programme is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018. The programme has been very successful to date, particularly taking into account the difficulties encountered during the early phases. The programme has progressed with hard work and significant active involvement from elected members and local communities, and direct engagement with children; the Council can be proud to be in a position where it is now perceived to be at the vanguard of creating new play opportunities close to where children live. It can also be proud to have embraced a new type of play space delivery – using the concepts of Natural Play and where children can create their own play opportunities.

Delivery to date

The following 17 play space projects have been constructed to date at an average cost of approx €65,000.

In addition, the new Natural Playground in Tymon Park has opened to great acclaim and in Griffeen Valley Park the existing playground was upgraded and extended to include natural play.

Planned Programme

A programme of playspaces were presented in June 2017 to the Elected Members following an examination of the programme. The projects were prioritised to allow for the completion of the programme within budget. The programmed playspaces are at various stages of consultation, planning and design.

In addition the Public Participatory Budget in Lucan in 2017 resulted in a proposed playground at Waterstown Park. Since the results were announced the council carried out a further intensive consultation process, that was extended at the request of elected members and the local community. The results of the intensive consultation process were interrogated to better inform the location for the playspace within the park and the preliminary design of same. The preliminary design process is now completed and the tender documents have been prepared and sent to tender. A tender process is now underway. The programme from now on in relation to construction will be subject to a successful tender process and agreement with the successful tender with regard to the programme for the works.

Since the playground at Griffeen Valley Park opened there have been 3 reported incidences of damage to the playground. The reports relate to damage to the playground fence, damage to a tunnel and the recent damage to the troll.

When it comes to designing playgrounds it is generally found that equipment that is most easily broken or burnt are the ones that get vandalised.  Therefore when designing public facilities the use of suitable materials and open vistas to encourage play are of paramount importance.  In Griffeen playground robust equipment and non-flammable materials were used where possible.  This has proved positive and the playground has not had to be closed or any equipment removed due to vandalism. 

The open nature of the playground is sometimes criticised as a contributing factor to the incidents at the playground.  It is our experience in Griffeen Valley Park that providing high fencing does not act as a significant deterrent to vandalism.  The old playground had a high fence around it and it provided very little security to deter entry.  Similarly people enter the skatepark even when it is locked despite the high fence. The hockey pitches have a 6m high fence which is regularly vandalised to gain entry.  The exercise equipment on the other hand was installed without any boundary fencing and it is not normally subject to any vandalism.

With regard to preventing future attacks on the playground park users are urged to report any vandalism that they are aware of to the Council.  Children should not get involved with any individuals or groups whom they suspect are intent on vandalism and we would urge parents to be aware of where their children are at night and what they are up to.  We have a close working relationship with local Gardaí, who have given a lot of resources to preventing problems in Griffeen Valley Park since the playground was reopened.  The Council have made a huge commitment to providing high quality play facilities across the county in recent years and we are committed to keeping them open and operational.