COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 14, 2021

QUESTION NO. 24

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive to detail his further actions and plans to deal with the challenge of Climate Change and will he make a statement.

REPLY:

South Dublin County Council is continuing to progress and deliver projects identified in the Climate Change Action Plan. In addition to progressing the CCAP, SDCC is working to ensure that its strategies align with the new energy efficiency and carbon emissions targets outlined in the national Climate Action Plan and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021. The following provides an update of ongoing Climate Action projects across the 5 Action Areas identified the CCAP and citizen engagements.

Tallaght District Heating Scheme

Construction on the Tallaght District Heating Scheme has commenced with laying pipework in TUD. When fully operational, the Tallaght District Heating Scheme is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in South Dublin by 1,736 tonnes of CO2.

Decarbonising Zone

Under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment Bill) 2021, each Local Authority was required to submit to the DHLGH by April 30th a potential area suitable as a decarbonising zone, (i.e. to implement a range of measures to reduce carbon by a minimum of 51% by 2030).

As the majority of carbon emissions in the county originate from the burning of fossil fuels for home heating, electricity generation and transport we needed to captured a broad mix of sectors including residential, industrial, commercial, municipal and community to allow us develop a range of strategies whilst adhering to the principle of ‘just transition’.

Having considered the options, it was established that either Clondalkin or Tallaght would emerge as the SDCC Decarbonising Zone. The pros and cons for each were considered, and finally, it was decided to submit both locations as our proposal.

Our next steps are to;

 

Public Lighting Upgrades

Phase 1 of the 55 W SOX replacement programme (2014-2020) has been completed. 9,689 SOX lighting units have been replaced with more efficient LEDs. Phase 2 of the programme is now underway and SDCC plan to replace 1,500 units in 2021. The energy performance of public lighting has improved by 34.5% since the baseline. This represents and absolute reduction of 9.8GWh of primary energy and 3,450 tonnes of CO2 (SDCC 2019 Energy review). Public lighting upgrades will be also included as potential works in our Decarbonising Zones.

Office Lighting Upgrade

Phase 1 of retrofitting LEDs in County Hall has been completed with a calculated annual saving of 37 tonnes of Carbon emissions.

Phase 2 of the replacement of office lighting with Energy Efficient LEDs is 99% complete with additional annual reductions in energy consumption of 40,189 Kwh and GHG emissions of 13.3 tonnes.

Phase 3 of the project has commenced and is at 50% completion.

Energy Elephant

With funding from the Climate Innovation Fund, SDCC have initiated a 2 year pilot project with Energy Elephant. Energy Elephant are in the process of setting up an energy use monitoring system across all of the Councils Operations. This process will facilitate reporting M&R to SEAI and prove useful for identifying areas where additional improvements and savings can be made. It will be a benefit to SDCC when we move towards acquiring ISO 50,001 certification.

Active Travel Team

An active travel admin team has recently been established to work with and support a technical team of engineers working on a range very exciting active travel projects over the coming years. The team will provide support on finance, communications, admin, as well as delivering their own projects such as free cycle parking for Schools/Sports clubs and an active travel website.

Cycle South Dublin

The Programme of works to progress 260km of new and improved cycle lanes across the county was approved at South Dublin County Council April meeting. The ‘Cycle South Dublin’ programme includes 63 projects to deliver a 260km space for both cycling and walking - an increase of nearly 50km from a programme that was publicly consulted on in late 2020.

The timeline of the project has been revised to a delivery within 8 years. The original project timeframe was 10 years.

The project will be funded with support from the NTA and the Department of Transport. The NTA has committed to increase the council’s active travel fund from €8.9m in 2020 to €20.7m for 2021.

Flood Alleviation Schemes

Whitechurch - Leave for a Judicial Review has been granted to the Ballyboden Tidy Towns Group. The Court date for November 2021 has been postponed. New date to be applied for by end of June

Poddle – The anticipated date for decision by An Bord Pleanala has been extended to 23rd July, 2021.

Camac - Stage 1 Preliminary Design is ongoing. Currently the CCTV surveying of culverts and Hydraulic Modelling are being progressed.

Strategic Flood Risk Assessment

Consultants have been engaged to carry out Strategic Flood Risk Assessments (SFRA) for all Local Area Plans, SDZs and Development Plans. The SFRA is currently being prepared by Roughan O’Donovan for the County Development Plan. The SFRA includes a hydrogeomorphological study to provide rational for a review of riperian buffer areas.  The draft SFRA will inform relevant policies in the CE Draft CDP.

SuDS Guidance Documents and Training

South Dublin County Council are developing a SuDS Explanatory, Design and Evaluation Guide in accordance with international best practice, emerging international guidance, SDCC’s County Development plan objectives and under target action areas detailed in SDCC’s Climate Change Action Plan 2019-2024. The Guidance document will be an “easy to follow” document that explains and promotes best practice Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to architects, engineers, developers and local authority stakeholders involved with developments within the county of South Dublin. It will provide guidance on how to implement SuDS schemes. The Guide will facilitate pre-planning consultations and promote sustainable integrated developments in the county of South Dublin.

Identification of potential sites for SuDS projects

To compliment the SuDS Guidance suite of documents, SDCC are also currently identifying a number of possible locations where we can implement the strategies outlined in the SuDS guidance and present them as showcases and exemplar projects. This is also an action identified in the Climate Change Action Plan.

Pollinator Bulbs

As part of our commitment to meet the objectives set out in our Climate Change Action Plan, our Biodiversity Plan and our Pollinator Action Plan, SDCC planted 290,000 bulbs throughout the county in autumn 2020. 85% of the bulb mix are pollinator friendly species. Daffodils are interplanted with pollinator friendly bulbs such as Tulips, Cammasia & Alliums to define the locations of the pollinator bulbs and reduce the likelihood of mowing the spring bulbs as they emerge in April/May. Daffodil planting also allows long grass, wildflowers/dandelions, etc to grow, which act as habitat hubs, food sources & ecological corridors for bees and other pollinators.

Bulbs were planted at the following locations;

Location 1: Junction of Kennelsfort Road Upper & R148

Location 2: Cloverhill/Fonthill Road beside Greenford estate

Location 3: Adamstown Link Road roundabout

Location 4: roundabout on N81 between new landscape works and wilder area at top of bank

Location 5: Spawell Roundabout and raised bank off R137 between Spawell Roundabout and graveyard

Location 6: Wide verge alongside junction of R112 and R137 at Templeogue Village

Location 7: Two Killinniny Road Roundabouts

Funding for this project was provided through the Climate innovation Fund.

Sustainable Energy Communities

The Sustainable Energy Community programme is run by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), Ireland’s national energy authority. South Dublin County Council is working with Sustineo, the appointed mentor for communities in South Dublin and Codema, Dublin’s Energy Agency to facilitate and support homeowners, sports clubs, community centres, local businesses and churches transition to Sustainable Energy Communities.

SDCC has agreed to provide bridging finance to communities to develop their Energy Masterplans. The cost will be recouped from the SEAI.

South Dublin County Council has also committed to providing financial support for sustainable energy projects identified in Energy Masterplans and deemed beneficial to communities under the SDCC Climate Innovation Fund.

Benefits of joining an SEC

Currently there are 8 Sustainable Energy Communities in South Dublin, including groups that have already initiated projects and groups who are at an early stage in developing their objectives.

Sustainable Business Project

South Dublin County Council and the Local Enterprise Office South Dublin are aiming to work with businesses in the county to reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable. Businesses are being invited to a virtual information webinar on 31st March 2021 to find out more about the project and how they can take part. Ten businesses will be able to apply for onsite environmental reviews and grants are available to businesses who carry out improvements highlighted in the review.

Climate Action Communications Strategy

The Climate Change Team has developed a Communications Strategy to document and promote the Council’s numerous actions being carried out through day-to-day work and the Climate Change Action Plan. The Communications strategy will inform elected members and members of the public of ongoing Climate Action related works and upcoming events.

Newsletter

The first edition of the Climate Change Newsletter was published in January 2021 focussing on energy. The second edition was published in May and with a focus on Transport.

Our social media hashtag (#SDCCClimateAction) is now being used on all South Dublin County Council climate action social media posts.

Website

A SDCC Climate Action website is currently in development. The website will provide citizens direct access to the Climate Change Action Plan and it’s actions. The website will provide information and resources to citizens on current Climate Action projects and events. A web design company (PTools) has been engaged to deliver the website and provide training.

Climate Action Week

At the first meeting of the Dublin Climate Action Week Steering Group, it was discussed and agreed to schedule DCAW21 for Monday 13th to Sunday 19th September 2021. This is due to the current COVID-19 scenario and the further possibility for in person events later in the year etc. These dates will also overlap with EU Mobility Week 2021.

DCAW21 will be an opportunity for the 4 Dublin Local Authorities to promote climate awareness, showcase climate action projects and host workshops and discussions. The soft launch for Dublin Climate Action Week is set for Wednesday 16th June.

Climate Action Awareness Training

Under action 150 of The National Climate Action Plan a Local Authority Climate Action Training Programme is being delivered to all 29,000 Local Authority staff and elected members. The course is split into 3 modules, each 45-90min in duration. The training is mandatory to all staff and aims to increase knowledge, understanding and awareness of global climate change and the context for Ireland, for Local Authorities and for our citizens. 

Limerick Institute of Technology have been appointed by the LASNTG to deliver the training programme to elected members and senior staff, including Chief Executives, Directors of Services, Senior Executive Officers, Senior Engineers/Planners and equivalent. Training for SDCC elected members and senior staff has been scheduled for 5th November 2021.