COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE/FIRHOUSE/BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

QUESTION NO.5

QUESTION: Councillor Carly Bailey

To ask the Chief Executive to reexamine the decision to install a new kissing gate in to the Dodder Valley Park at the entrance nearest the Speaker Connolly pub, Firhouse. A family with a side by side double buggy were not able to get through. Another family whose teenage son uses a wheelchair were unable to gain access to the park either.

While it is appreciated that this is the go to answer to prevent scramblers from entering into our public parks, can alternatives please be considered to ensure that all park users can access this lovely amenity.

REPLY:

In response to a general question about the use of kissing gates on the agenda of the September meeting of this area committee it was pointed out that these are necessary to control access to parks in many instances in order to prevent access by scrambler motorbikes, quad bikes and stolen cars.  Where these are required there is a possible conflict with providing universal access to the park for users of bicycles, buggies and wheelchairs.  The Council has designed a kissing gate which gives maximum space to a legitimate user of the park passing through it.  It is currently being examined if this design can be modified to include a lockable/unlockable section which when unlocked can be moved to allow access for larger items.  What this would mean is that the adjustable section can be locked when scramblers need to be kept out, but it can be unlocked at times when there is no issue with scramblers.  It is hoped that this design can be finalised and trialled in the near future.  In this regard the gate at the Firhouse Road car park will be examined to see if it can be modified to resolve the issue raised here.