COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, June 27, 2022

QUESTION NO.

QUESTION: Councillor M. Duff

Could the Manager publish a timetable for grass cutting in the Kilnamanagh area, to assist the excellent local Tidy District volunteers to plan for edging, weed clearance and general maintenance work that they carry out daily in the area.

REPLY:

The majority of open spaces in Kilnamanagh are on the fortnightly grass cutting programme, and this will continue to be the case for the remainder of the grass cutting season.  

This year the Council is conducting a county wide trial on short flowering meadows. This involves areas which were previously cut fortnightly being placed on a reduced mowing regime where the grass will be cut and collected once every 6 to 8 weeks, or approximately 5 cuts per year. The trial locations are dispersed throughout the county and total approximately 10 hectares in area.  One location in Kilnamanagh has been included in the trial, the green space adjacent to Elmcastle Green and Tamarisk Lawn which is approximately 0.34 hectares in area. 

Short flowering meadows are designed for public open space and more residential areas, where long meadows are deemed to be not suitable.  The cutting and collecting programme will allow short flowering species to flower and set seed, while also aiming to reduce the overall competition from grass species as the ground is depleted of nitrogen.

This initiative has the potential to vastly expand the areas this Council manages for biodiversity and is an objective of both the Council's Pollinator Action Plan and the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. If the trial is successful then residents’ associations will be able to request that areas within their estates be left for short meadows to promote pollinator food sources and habitats. This type of management is suitable to areas where residents would like to allow flowers such as dandelions to flower but where natural long meadows would not be suitable or acceptable to residents.  Where local residents are not in favour of this grass cutting regime in their area then the area in question can be excluded from the programme.

For more information on long or short meadows please visit: https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/environment/pollinators/ or https://pollinators.ie/