COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 12, 2021

MOTION NO. 13

MOTION: Councillor Shane Moynihan

That the Council calls for a County Outdoor Trading Strategy, including but not limited to, a revision of the casual trading sites and process in the county, streamlining of the application process, provision for extra litter bins and litter bin collection and how businesses can be supported in harnessing the potential of outdoors trading.

REPORT:

The overall broad policy of the Council is to be as supportive and enabling as possible to business across a range of activities. The Council is currently involved in promoting an outdoor dining scheme which touch on the public realm and the outdoors.

The Outdoor Seating & Accessories for Tourism & Hospitality Business provides support to individual hospitality and tourism businesses towards the cost of equipment to provide additional outdoor seating and facilitate individual businesses to increase their outdoor dining capacity for the summer of 2021. The grant covers outdoor tables, chairs, umbrellas, electric heaters, screen/windbreaks, plant stands and wooden platforms and is open to attractions, hotels, restaurants, cafes, public houses or other tourism and hospitality business establishments where food is sold for consumption on the premises.   The maximum grant €4,000 per premises at 75% of cost (exclusive of VAT). Expenditure must be between 01.04.20 and 30.09.21 and funding under the scheme is only available to existing businesses. More information on the scheme and an application form is available here. https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/business/enterprise/business-support/outdoor-seating-and-accessories-scheme/

All applicants to the outdoor Seating and Accessories scheme will be required to comply with planning codes, legislative requirements and other compliance requirements, and if placing outdoor tables and seating on the public realm, businesses must first apply for and be granted a Section 254 licence. Information on how to apply for a Section 254 licence is available here. https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/planning/section-254-licences/section-254-licences.html

Delivering a renewed Tourism Event and Festival Grant scheme which takes into account challenges by event organisers under current restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings will continue to encourage event organisers to consider South Dublin County and ‘Dublin’s Outdoors’ in which to hold their events, building on the ongoing success of the Red Line Book Festival, Flavours of South Dublin and other ongoing events. This renewed scheme will be launched in time for the easing of restrictions on organised indoor and outdoor events

Financial assistance is one side of the Council’s business support. Enabling trade in a safe and responsible environment is the other. The Council has worked with the business community to reimagine and design villages in the county so that citizens feel comfortable and safe whilst shopping and going about their business. The three areas of focus are:

South Dublin County Council parks and public open spaces have seen increased footfall and usage of facilities during the various periods and levels of Covid 19 restrictions, particularly during those periods where movement has been restricted to within a 5km radius of home.  This has resulted in an increase in usage of litter bins and unfortunately an increase in litter in parks and open spaces in general. 

South Dublin County Council put in place increased cleaning and litter bin servicing in April/May 2020 and this has remained in place at all times throughout the pandemic. The servicing of litter bins in parks at weekends is a relatively new aspect of the cleansing and litterbin service, it was introduced in the first instance on bank holiday weekends in the four main parks and was then increased in the early days of Covid 19 restrictions to cover all park litter bins being serviced once over each weekend as well as on bank holidays when they occur. The cost of the weekend element of the cleaning and litter bin services which are currently in place in town and village centres and in parks is approximately €260,000 per year.  In light of ongoing issues regarding overflowing bins in a number of locations, arrangements are being made for the installation of additional bins at these locations.  The Council will continue to monitor and respond to bin provision and collection requirements of public bins.

The Designated Trading Areas and appropriate fees are set out in the First Schedule of The South Dublin County Council Casual Trading Byelaws 2016 made by resolution at the meeting of South Dublin County Council held on 20th June 2016.

If the motion is passed a review of the Casual Trading Bye-laws 2016 will be referred to the Environment, Public Realm and Climate Change Strategic Policy Committee.