COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 09, 2024

QUESTION NO.17

QUESTION: Councillor T. Costello

Can SDCC provide a report of council owned laneways, report to include which ones need attention to remove illegal dumping or over vegetation and what schedule is in place to cleanse those that need to be addressed.

REPLY:

Provision was made in budget 2024 for the cleaning of laneways in the Palmerstown and Dublin 12 areas on a once off basis.  Those laneways are wide enough to accommodate a vehicle and in many instances they have suffered from regular illegal dumping.  As they are accessible by vehicle they have been used to access back garden parking areas and garages and for this reason they must be kept clear.  The cleaning programme commenced at the start of July and is due to run to the end of October, substantial progress has already been made on this programme of work.  The work completed consists of sweeping, removal of illegally dumped items and weed treatment and removal.  It is proposed that this provision in the budget will be continued in 2025.

In addition to this the Council's litter wardens inspect laneways where illegal dumping has been reported and in some instances this will lead to regular patrols of certain areas.  Where a litter warden, elected representative or residents requests the cleaning of a laneway this is inspected and arranged on a once off basis if deemed necessary. 

There are several gated laneways in Council built estates within the remit of the Estate Management Section, these laneways were gated at the request of the local residents mainly due to anti-social behaviour.  As access to these laneways is restricted responsibility falls upon residents to maintain the laneways to ensure their access is continued.  Gated laneways are not subject to a maintenance schedule. When reports of dumping or over vegetation are received, an inspection is carried out by our Estate Management Team and if required the gated laneway will be added to a cleansing and/or spraying schedule. At present the Estate Management Section address the cleansing of laneways on a need’s basis particularly around Halloween when laneways are often used to store materials.  Estate Management can organise once off cleansing providing the laneway is being utilised and subject to having the funds to do so.  The Estate Management team do not deal with gated laneways in private estates.