COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, January 10, 2022

MOTION NO. 1

MOTION: Councillor Peter Kavanagh

This county council reaffirms its commitment to tackling the climate and biodiversity emergency and commits to creating more habitats for wildlife and biodiversity in our county.

REPORT:

South Dublin County Council has a number of plans and strategies in train and is committed to their implementation to help tackle the challenges presented by Climate Change and to support the retention, protection and development of biodiversity in the county as set out below.

SDCC will continue to progress the actions outlined in the Climate Change Action Plan 2019-2024. Targets on energy efficiency improvements and carbon reduction have been updated to reflect targets outlined in the National Climate Action Plan 2021 targets legislated for in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. SDCC surpassed the target of 33% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020. 

Our current targets on climate action are;

Many of actions presented in the CCAP relate to SDCC’s operations and our plans to decarbonise our own fleet and buildings and to improve the efficiency of our public lighting infrastructure by replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Phase 1 of the 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 underway and SDCC plan to replace a further 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 will continue to replace older less efficient lighting in our buildings. To date, more than half of the lighting fixtures in County Hall have been replaced with LED units and a reduction of 68% in energy consumption has been achieved and 53 tonnes of CO2 emissions have been avoided.

The Tallaght District Heating Scheme is being led by South Dublin County Council. The scheme will also operate as Ireland’s first not-for-profit heat utility and will make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions in the area, with annual saving of almost 1,500 tonnes of CO2 in its first phase.

The Climate Change Action Plan includes targets for Nature Based Solutions and the Council is progressing actions such as the delivery of a Green Infrastructure Strategy, the Biodiversity Action Plan, a Parks and Open Space Strategy and a Guideline for developers and others regarding the implementation of Nature Based Sustainable Drainage Systems; which are all supported by policies in the Draft County Development Plan 2022-2026. Other actions include increasing annual tree planting, developing native tree trails, implementing a control plan for alien invasive species in parks and open spaces and managing and monitoring identified pollinator protection sites (see wildflower meadows below for further information).

The Council’s Tree Management Policy ‘Living with Trees’ 2021-2026 highlights the economic, social, environmental, ecological and aesthetic benefits in addition to enhancing biodiversity and mitigating Climate Change. The tree canopy in the County will be expanded to combat Climate Change. Trees act as carbon sinks, storing carbon as they grow, reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and thereby reducing Climate Change impacts, which is central to our Climate Action Plan objectives.

A range of projects are being implemented under the SDCC Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).  These projects are co-ordinated by the Heritage Officer and agreed by the Internal Steering Group for Biodiversity.  Progress on the Plan’s implementation is reported to Council through the meetings of the Joint SPC Sub-committee for Biodiversity.

Funding for biodiversity projects is drawn primarily from the County Heritage Plan budget (LUPT) and from EWCC.  Additional biodiversity funding is also sought from external funding bodies including the National Biodiversity Action Plan implementation programme managed by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

The key projects underway in 2021 which involve partnership funding between SDCC and NPWS are: Survey of Pollinator Sites in 3 Council Parks (Tymon, Waterstown, and Lucan Demesne); Ecological Survey of St. Finian’s Churchyard, Lucan.  The outcome of an additional application for funding from NPWS for an Invasive Species training video is awaited.

Other BAP projects and activities undertaken and funded under the BAP/Heritage Plan budget include: Tymon Park Hedgerow and Woodland Survey; Swan-tagging project in Council Parks; support for the National Tidy Towns Pollinator Award; purchase of biodiversity information booklets. The Heritage Officer also continues to submit weekly biodiversity columns to the local Echo and has contributed to the development of biodiversity policy for the preparation of the draft County Development Plan (Green Infrastructure Chapter and Heritage Chapter).

While responsibility for the implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan rests within the remit of LUPT, actions for biodiversity that address objectives in the BAP are also undertaken or managed by other Council sections.

The Community Environment Action Fund promotes sustainable development by supporting small-scale environmental projects at local level. A number of biodiversity projects have been supported under this Fund in recent years. The grant is co-funded with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and in 2019/20, €40,000 was distributed to groups.

SDCC’s Climate and Environmental Awareness Office is also working with the other Dublin Local Authorities and the Regional Waste Management Office to deliver a pilot Composting for Schools Project.  The pilot project will work with schools to prevent and manage landscape trimmings and garden cuttings on site so that they can become ‘zero landscape waste’ schools, as well as help encourage the use of brown bins for food waste.  Both will help schools eliminate disposal of biodegradable waste to save money and to generate compost that can be used in school gardens for growing flowers, vegetables etc.

Public Realm have drafted and are implementing SDCC's Pollinator Action Plan 2021 – 2025 which tailors the actions contained within the All Ireland Pollinator Plan (of which SDCC area a signatory) to the environment of SDCC’s parks and open spaces.  This helps to deliver the Council’s commitment to promoting habitats for pollinators in this county and to addressing the rapid decline in our bee populations. One third of bee species in Ireland are threatened with extinction due to the reduction in the amount of food (flowers) and safe nesting sites in our landscapes. As part of the our pollinator action plan SDCC have implemented a communication plan and have kept the public informed over a variety of platforms on SDCC’s actions in their locality relating to pollinators.

Some of our actions to benefit pollinators and biodiversity have been underway for some time within our parks. For example, in order to develop wildflower meadows specific to our county, altered mowing regimes have been in place in a number of the Council’s larger parks/open-spaces. This reduced frequency of grass cutting allows wildflowers to flower and set seed, providing additional opportunities for pollinating insects which are currently challenged by habitat loss and chemical usage.  The wildflower meadow locations total 145 ha and this area is growing year on year.  Surveys are underway in these meadows to quantify their benefit to pollinators. It is intended to increase the amount of meadowland in the county in line with the outcomes of the surveys.

Our ongoing projects on Flood Alleviation, SuDS guidance, the Dublin Urban Rivers Life (DURL) project which will deliver 5 Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICW's), and collaborations with LAWPRO and local community led groups including Friends of the Camac, will ensure that the rich biodiversity and habitats in our waterways are protected and that levels of natural resilience are established to defend and support recovery.