COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, March 13, 2023

QUESTION NO.23

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the chief executive would he issue a report into Tree removal given the public displays of concern to elected members, and would he consider ways of informing the public on there removal ?

REPLY:

The issuing of notification to residents regarding planned tree removals is addressed under Section 4.2 of the Council's tree management policy document 'Living with Trees'.  The policy states the following:

‘Public notification of any proposed tree removals will consist of a variety of methods that may include posting a list of trees on the Council’s website, emailing known residents associations, notices being attached to trees, and/or letter drops to adjacent properties. Timescales for notice will vary according to the type of work, whether it is urgent and the local significance of the tree but wherever practical, the period of notice will be at least 10 working days before any scheduled tree removals. We will not usually give notice where works involve the felling of dead trees or those in imminent danger of falling.’

The issuing of letters to properties which are adjacent to the tree to be removed, and to those who are considered to be affected by the planned removal, is the method of notification which is used in most cases. The decision regarding which properties are to be notified is made on a case by case basis, depending on the position of the tree and the arrangement of houses in the vicinity of the tree. 

In some cases, such as the recent tree felling in Corkagh Park; the tree felling is part of a wider project and is part of the public consultation for that; an outline of the Corkagh Park project and its public consultation is set out below:

South Dublin County Council are preparing to commence the construction stage for the upgrade works for Corkagh Park and the recent tree felling works carried out at the depot area and within St. John’s Wood car park at Corkagh Park are part of that process.

The upgrade works will include several new facilities and upgrades to existing recreational facilites including improvements to the popular fairy woodland trail, upgrades to St. John’s Wood car park, and the Green Isle Road car park, improvements to entrances, provision of way finding and information signs and a central meeting area within the park which will contain a coffee shop, public toilets, an events space, public seating areas and a play area and areas of new planting including new tree planting. These plans are the outcome of several rounds of public consultation and several of the proposals have been submitted as requests for upgrades by members of the public in recent years. The most recent consultation carried out being the public consultation during the statutory part 8 process.

That Part 8 Planning Procedure for Proposed Enhancements and Upgrades at Corkagh Park was advertised for public consultation in 2021 and 2022 and passed by the Council in February 2022. The proposals were summarised in a report displayed at Part 8 Stage (in addition to the other detailed information).

The Part 8 planning process was passed by Council on the 14th of February 2022.

Prior to the formal consultation, a non-statutory consultation was also carried out over several weeks to give the public a preview of the proposals and seek feedback before the proposals were finalised:

Since then, SDCC have been preparing the detailed design drawings and tender package to prepare for the construction stage. However, it is important to carry out the tree works before the bird nesting season (1st March).

Prior to the commencement of the works; notification of the required tree work was posted on the South Dublin County Council Website.

To mitigate for the loss of trees; it is planned to plant 93 trees in various locations in the park as part of the upgrade works later in the year. This tree selection will be made up of various native Irish species, due to the importance of planting native trees to enhance biodiversity in our parks.