COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM / TEMPLEOGUE / FIRHOUSE / BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

MOTION NO. 10

MOTION: Councillor Carly Bailey

That this committee requests immediate action to clean the laneways in the Dublin 12 area that fall under the jurisdiction of SDCC and for this work to be carried out twice annually, as previously agreed. The committee requests a report from management to outline the expected timelines of this work by the end of this year, as well as ongoing quarterly reports to ensure that this work continues and that it stays on target. These laneways must now become a priority of this council's work. While it can be appreciated that cleanings did not take place as a result of the intervention of Covid-19, as restrictions are now lifting, it is matter of urgency that there be a significant improvement in the public realm of these areas. The weeds, rubbish and graffiti is a blight to the local area. There is a wealth of evidence which supports the fact that managed and well cared for areas can help prevent illegal dumping, occurring on an almost daily basis at this point.

REPORT:

The cleaning programme which was previously in place for the Dublin 12 laneways was carried out by staff employed on the Gateway job activation scheme.  This programme included the twice yearly cleaning of laneways in the area, regrettably however it has not been possible to implement a similar programme since the ending of the Gateway scheme.  A programme of cleaning was commenced in 2020 and ran up to the start of the pandemic, with approximately 20 to 25% of laneways cleaned at that time, however this programme has not resumed since early March 2020.

A provision of €100,000 has been made in the revenue budget for 2022 to fund a programme of laneway cleaning in the coming year.  It is proposed that a detailed laneway cleaning programme will be drawn up early in the new year which will be notified to the local elected members and implemented thereafter through the course of the year.