COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 10, 2023

QUESTION NO. 13

QUESTION: Councillor K. Mahon

Are there any plans by the Council to promote reduced interventions around natural plants that compete with cultivated plants (weeds)?

REPLY:

The main activity undertaken by the Council which benefits and promotes native plants within our landscape is the meadow management programme which has been in place for a number of years now.

Long flowering meadows are a one-cut per-annum grassland management regime. Currently the Council's Public Realm Section manages approximately 167 hectares as natural meadows (long flowering meadows).  The cutting of the meadows is an important part of their healthy management. Some of the meadow areas are cut at the end of the flowering season in late summer and early autumn.  This mimics traditional hay meadow management techniques.  Other meadow areas are left to overwinter and are cut in Spring.  This provides nesting and overwintering habitats for many insects. The Public Realm Section has allocated funding to allow for this management programme which involves cutting of the meadows and removal of the grass.  Cutting the meadows to collect and remove the arisings depletes the soil of nitrogen, allowing natural wildflower plants to grow and establish.  This is a carefully managed and sustainable way of increasing biodiversity while promoting wildflower habitats and providing food sources for pollinators. Ongoing botanical and insect surveys are part of the Council natural meadow management and will guide future management practices. It is also intended to add additional meadows where appropriate throughout the lifetime of the plan.

In addition to this, the Council conducted a County wide trial of short flowering meadows (5 cuts per annum) in 2022. The trial locations were set out throughout South Dublin County and comprised of 8.81 ha in total. Short flowing meadows are designed to suit public open spaces in residential areas where long flowering meadows may not be practical.  This is an objective of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and an environmentally enhancing way of managing public open space.  The cutting and collecting programme allows short flowering species to flower and set seed, while also aiming to reduce the overall competition from grass species as the ground is depleted from nitrogen. This initiative has proven successful and is being expanded for 2023 with approximately 18 hectares now allocated for short flowering meadow management.  The Council intends to continue to identify suitable areas in public open spaces throughout the County to expand the short flowering meadow programme and to promote native Irish wildflower plants.

This meadow management programme has been hugely successful and in both 2019/2020 and 2022/2023 Tymon Park was awarded the pollinator award for the best town park in Ireland.