COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE/FIRHOUSE/BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
QUESTION NO. 15
QUESTION: Councillor Alan Edge
Can the Chief Executive clarify whether and how scrambler use in Kiltipper Park can be restricted as regards the entry points to the Greenway.
REPLY:
In 2017 South Dublin County Council convened a taskforce consisting of SDCC, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Dept of Justice, An Garda Siochana, the Road Safety Authority and Motocross Ireland to examine the issue of scramblers being driven in public parks and open spaces. Some of the issues which arose at meetings of the task force in 2017 and 2018 were that the Gardai do not currently have the power to pursue scrambler bikes, to stop them, to impound them, to pursue them to other locations and to question the owners and drivers about their movements. It was felt that these issues needed to be addressed by new legislation. Equally the Council has been unable to date to identify the drivers of these vehicles and to hold them responsible for damage caused to parks and open spaces. While the Council’s taskforce is still active a period of time has elapsed in 2019 where no meetings have taken place, this was while confirmation was awaited from the government departments with regard to the legal position and the views of the Attorney General’s Office on the adequacy of existing legislation.
In parallel to the Council’s taskforce the government put in place a cross departmental group to examine the issues at hand and in particular to examine the legal position with regard to existing legislation, with the assistance of the Attorney General’s Office. The legal advice provided by the Office of the Attorney General indicated that, in the main, current road traffic and public order legislation appears to provide sufficient means to police this issue. This view is shared by both the Department of Justice and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The Department of Justice reconvened the cross-agency group in March to discuss this legal advice with members of An Garda Síochána (AGS); meeting with the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau (GNRPB), the Dublin Metropolitan Region (Tallaght District) and the Youth Diversion, Community Engagement &Public Safety Bureau and the general consensus was that new legislative powers are not required. In the absence of a need for new legislation, it is envisaged that an effective response to this anti-social behaviour will be informed by a combination of targeted enforcement measures, awareness raising, and youth engagement programmes. These measures will be progressed in conjunction with the relevant Departments and agencies. We have been assured by the Dept of Justice that both ministers and the Garda Commissioner remain committed to finding a workable solution to this problem and in this regard we have been informed that there have been some recent seizures/prosecutions under the Road Traffic Acts and that one of these was in a public park. We remain in close contact with the Department of Justice and have provided them with some background information and background data to assist them in formulating a response. Separate to the above a Private Members Bill on the matter was brought before the Dáil earlier this year. It is understood that this Bill has passed the second stage and that it is due to be debated further in due course. We await the formation of the new Government to see how the above matter is further progressed.
The use of scrambler bikes in Kiltipper Park is an unfortunate, pre-existing problem that SDCC have been tackling with the assistance of the Gardai since before the implementation of current improvements in the park. Before the current improvements to the park “Anti-motorbike barriers” were in place. As we have seen at countless locations over the years including at Kiltipper; these barriers were ineffectual at reducing or indeed preventing access by scramblers or motorbikes, however they did act to reduce access by legitimate bicycle users and others. Most worryingly, we received communications from local wheelchairs users that they were excluded from the park by these barriers.
The current entrance points are designed to be universally accessible, specifically to facilitate wheelchairs, of which there are several users in the area. In addition Kiltipper Park is part of the Dodder Greenway which allows for shared use by bicycles and pedestrians. It is not feasible to restrict or reduce the size of access points under these circumstances. We have had some communications with residents in the area who inform us that the use of the park by scramblers has reduced to four individuals and their presence in the park has much reduced since the increase of more legitimate uses of the park by visitors due to the improvements to access, footpaths and so on. SDCC has contacted Tallaght Garda Station and the Community Gardai to request patrols to be carried out in the park. It is envisioned that current and future improvements will continue to encourage an increase in the number of legitimate park users, consequently resulting in a reduction of this and other types of anti-social behaviour in Kiltipper Park; however SDCC will continue to monitor this situation and keep it under review. The actions of central govenment will also assist in this regard.