November 2019 Chief Executive’s Report

Glenasmole Valley About the Chief Executive’s Report

South County Council’s Chief Executive’s Report is presented to elected members at Council every month and details important achievements across our various departments whilst highlighting key statistics and images from events that took place that month. The report also highlights major news pieces and puts a focus on an area of the Council that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Contents

22

Statistics Report

HOUSING SOCIAL AND 04 LUPT 06 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 24 Finance Report Highlights from Land Use Planning and Transportation. 25

Images of the Month

ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE AND 08 TOURISM DEVELOPMENT Features

TALLAGHT STADIUM 14 The Council are developing an advertis- ing and marketing strategy for Stadium. 16 NEW PLAYSPACES OPENED New playspaces were officially opened in CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND and Ballymount Park. 10 CHANGE MANAGEMENT

FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEMES 18 Ground investigations began on the River Poddle and Whitechurch Stream schemes.

COUNCIL FOCUS 20 A look at the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.

ENVIRONMENT WATER AND 12 CLIMATE CHANGE

3 LAND USE PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION

Tallaght Local Area Plan The next step is to assess the comments provided and to prepare ublic consultation on the a Chief Executive report consider- draft Tallaght Local Area Plan ing what changes should be made P (LAP) closed on Thursday to the plan as a result of these 24 October following a six-week comments. public consultation. 45 submissions have been received from local This will be made available to the residents, businesses, as well as a Council in December and will then range of community groups, land- be considered by full Council in owners, developers and statutory January 2020. bodies.

During the consultation the team undertook a number of consulta- Tallaght Local Area Plan tion events including; four open The public consultation phase has now sessions in Tallaght Library; a closed. session with the Chamber of Commerce; 1-1 drop in sessions in the Council offices every Wednes- day; and the consultation was also promoted through social media advertising.

4 Winter Maintenance The 2019-2020 Winter Mainte- nance programme commenced on the 14 October 2019 and will run until March/April 2020.

During this time SDCC’s Roads De- partment will maintain; 13km of National Secondary roads; 114km of Regional Roads and 145km of Local Roads (out of a total of 789km). Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) through its contrac- tors maintain the M50, N4 and N7.

SDCC has seven gritting routes and gritters are based in the local Depots, Ballymount and Palmers- town. There is a salt barn in each depot, and these have a combined capacity of 1900 tonnes.

Met Eireann issue a weather Bawnogue Permeability Scheme forecast each day around midday and the Duty Engineer decides A permeability scheme is nearing com- on whether to carry out gritting. pletion at Bawnogue, Clondalkin. SDCC‘s Normal gritting takes place at contractor has been on site since July either 7pm, 5am or at both times. 2019 delivering improved pedestrian and SDCC has also provides salt bins in cycle links as well as new connections those housing estates that have a from Alpine Heights and Ashwood to the steep approach to the main road. R113 and the walkway. The scheme is funded by the National Trans- port Authority.

Strategic Housing The Strategic Housing Devel- opment (SHD) process was commenced by the government in July 2017. Since that time, the Council has received approxi- mately 50 SHD applications and each of these are at different stages in the process. A total of seven applications have been de- cided by An Bord Pleanala (ABP) amounting to 2,020 residential units granted and 1,284 units refused. Approximately 50% of the units granted have started construction, and these are large- ly located in the Fortunestown area. A further four applications are awaiting a decision by ABP.

Winter Maintenance 2019 - 2020

5 HOUSING SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Social Inclusion Festival varied programme of events, avail- able on sdcc.ie, including; Mayor Vicki Casserly will officially launch South Dublin County Coun- • Tidy minds workshop cil’s Social Inclusion Festival on 15 • Mental Health Workshop November at 12.00 pm in Tallaght • Tour of Pearse Museum Stadium and includes special • Fun creativity workshops at guests Bernard Dunne, Irish former the Towers Direct Provision professional boxer, with RAMS Centre in Rhythm Active Retired Choir • English/ Irish conversations providing musical entertainment. sessions (This free event is ticket only and • Annette Halpin Memorial pre-booking is required.) Annual Tea Dance • Sensory-Friendly Activities for Social Inclusion Festival provides people with disabilities a platform to highlight social • Celebration of Social Inclusion Social Inclusion Week inclusion initiatives and promote through the Performing Arts in RAMS will provide the music at the active citizenship. Social Inclusion the Civic Theatre launch event on 15 November. is about creating a society where • Traditional Irish Music Work- everyone experiences full and shop equal participation in all aspects of • Food Cloud Warehouse tours life. It is ‘Everyone’s Business’. for secondary schools and much more. During the festival, there will be a

6 Marathon Kids The Marathon Kids Programme run by South Dublin County Council in conjunction with Fingal County Council and is now bigger than ever with over 7,000 children partic- ipating across the three local authorities.

Children will complete the final mile of their marathon in Sant- ry Stadium on Wednesday 13th November, having completed the previous 25.2 miles of the marathon distance over an 8-week programme with their classmates.

School participation in South alone has increased significantly in 2019 with 33 local schools participating accumu- Marathon Kids is a key strategic pro- lating to over 3,000 kids from gramme in the annual sports and recre- 5th and 6th class involved the ation plan to increase physical activity programme. levels among young children. Students also learn the benefits of physical activity Irish athlete David Gillick is the for physical health and mental wellbe- programme ambassador and he ing as well as how to maintain a healthy has visited several schools across heart and the importance of hydration and South Dublin sharing his own nutrition. experiences in athletics.

New Family Homes 63 families will receive the keys to their new homes from the Council during November with allocations finalised for the de- velopment at St Cuthbert’s Park, Lealand Road in Clondalkin.

This project is funded by the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government at a cost of €12.3m under Rebuilding Ireland, as part of the Council’s commit- ments to increase housing supply and accelerate delivery of social housing in the County. These homes were constructed under the Rapid Build Programme.

53 families will receive the keys to their new homes

7 ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Right to Read Award participated in the Right to Read programmes since they began in n 17 October 2019, Mr 2017 through initiatives like Spring Seán Canney TD, the into Storytime, Family Time at Your O Minister of State at the De- Library, the Summer Stars Reading partment of Rural and Community Programme and most recently, Development, presented the Right Children’s Book Festival. to Read Champion Awards to local authorities in recognition of their South Dublin library events are ongoing efforts to support literacy available to search on the Council’s development through the library website under the Events section. service.

The Awards, which were hosted by the Local Government Management Agency at Local Government House Right to Read Award in Dublin, were presented to all 30 South Dublin County Council libraries library authorities in recognition receiving the award. of the support and promotion of literacy skills development.

South Dublin Libraries are de- lighted to receive this award. All South Dublin Library branches have

8 Creative Campus Creative Campus is a programme aimed at assisting Senior Cycle students to achieve their educa- tional and personal goals through attendance at and participation in a variety of workshops and talks.

The programme initiated in the County Library, Tallaght and has been extended throughout the branch network, receiving Government funding through the Dormant Accounts.

Some of the events organised through Creative Campus include study skill sessions with speakers from TU Dublin, a performance of Hamlet in the Civic Theatre, tech workshops in areas like podcast- ing and coding and music technol- ogy sessions, including a workshop Local Enterprise Office with the Irish folk singer, Damien Dempsey. The Evaluation and Approvals Committee met on 15 October and approved five projects for funding up to €130,000.

This funding supported the creation of six and a half new jobs and also sustains three existing jobs.

Grange Castle Work has commenced on the construction of the third entrance to Grange Castle Business Park accessing the newly realigned Nangor Road. This project com- pletes the transport infrastruc- ture in the original Grange Castle campus.

Grange Castle Business Park is a South Dublin County Council owned Business Park promoted in association with IDA Ireland to attract major strategic invest- ment to South Dublin. Located in Clondalkin, the Park is approx- imately 3km west of the M50 Orbital Motorway and is close to the strategic road and rail con- nections to the rest of Ireland.

Creative Campus started in the County Library.

9 CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Governance Framework All working groups operating under the Council will be listed on the roviding a transparent and website, and state that they adhere accountable local authority is to the Transparency Code. This page P of critical importance to the contains a link to the Register of work the Council does and the trust Lobbying. citizens place in it. The following are some of the key measures taken The Council has adopted a Strate- to ensure the public knows what gic Policy Committee Scheme. The we do and why we do it. Chairs of each committee have been appointed, and the provisions There is a dedicated page on the of the Act will be brought to their Council’s website entitled ‘Regula- attention at the inaugural meetings tion of Lobbying’, under the About in November. Details such as agen- Us section. As required under the das and minutes of meetings will Transparency Code, this page pro- be made available on the website. Governance Framework vides a list of Designated Public Of- Details on how South Dublin County ficials and Councillors. This allows The Council also requires allelected Council provides a transparent service. members of the public to identify members and senior public officials those persons who are designated to submit to an Ethics Registrar public officials, and provides a re- an annual written declaration of source for lobbyists filing a return “declarable interests”, and a register to the Register. of interests is published each year.

10 LGMA Services Catalogue The Local Government Manage- ment Agency national project to develop a Local Government Service Catalogue commenced in October 2018. It aims to develop a standardised list of services provided by Local Authorities throughout the country. The local government sector provides over 1000 public services, and the aim of the project is to better inform the public about these services and how to access them.

The catalogue will be searchable and can be searched in a number of ways; keyword or free-text key- word search, by service type, via a drop-down menu, by subject and through ‘tags’.

The catalogue continues to devel- €300k Have Your Say op, with drafts completed in Hous- ing, Environment, Planning, Roads The submissions phase of this year’s initi- and Transportation, Economic ative closed on 14 October with 187 pro- Development, Tourism and Local jects submitted by members of the public. Enterprise services. This significent Those have been shortlisted and costed by project should be completed by senior management and the participatory October 2020. budgeting steering group to be brought to the November Council meeting for approv- al before the public vote opens.

Corporate Plan 2020 - 24 Contribute to the Council’s Corporate Plan 2020 - 2024! The public consultation for South Dublin County Council’s Corpo- rate Plan 2020 -2024 is currently underway.

Please engage with this public consultation by visiting clicking the ‘Consultation Portal’ under ‘Council’ from the home page of the Council website or by visiting this link https://consult.sdublin- coco.ie/

Consultation is open until close of business on Friday 22 Novem- ber.

The Deputy Mayor attending a €300k Have Your Say workshop

11 ENVIRONMENT WATER AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Finding your way - Camac The Great War and the biodiversity and Griffeen Greenways along the Camac River. Poems by former local Katherine Tynan nformation and wayfinding sig- were included to complement nage are an important addition the themes. At Griffeen the signs to the amenity within our parks. describe King John’s Bridge, the I Eiscair Riada and biodiversity along Informative signage was installed in the early summer along the the Griffeen. Camac and Griffeen Greenways. Omos produced a contemporary The two new signage trails encour- robust design using Corten steel age people to explore two of the with aluminium panels. The project county’s regional parks at Corkagh was part funded by the Department and Griffeen and enhance public of Rural and Community Devel- understanding of biodiversity and opment: Outdoor Recreation and local history. An orientation sign at Infrastructure Scheme. Some of the Camac Greenway Signage the Civic Offices in Clondalkin town high-quality wildlife images were New signage installed to enhance the centre provides an overview of the kindly donated by Mike Woolley, Camac and Grifeen Greenways route along the Camac. Interpretive photographer. The interpretive con- themes include the significance tent was a collaboration between of the to the devel- the Public Realm, Environment and opment of Clondalkin from the Library Sections of the Council and Stone Age with Celtic, Christian and in consultation with local commu- Viking influences; Clondalkin Mills, nity groups in each area.

12 Sport Pitch Investment The Council has 163 pitches within our parks and open spaces available for club and community use across the county. A num- ber of sports pitches have been upgraded with significant capital investment over the last year including GAA and Soccer pitches at Tymon Park and a number of soccer pitches at .

The new sand-based pitch at Firhouse finished its establish- ment phase and commenced use at the start of the summer and is providing very popular. The two sand-based pitches at Tymon Park are now in the establishment phase and are bedding in very well. The Council has recently commenced work on the upgrade of a second GAA pitch in Tymon Leaf Collections Park. Some pedestrian manage- ment is in place in the park and Did you know that requests can be made SDCC apologises for any incon- to the council to sweep an area that has venience this may cause. The up- had a heavy leaf fall over the Autumn and grade of the pitches at Tymon Park Winter months? is funded through the Department of Transport Tourism and Sports’ Please contact [email protected] to Capital Grant Programme and the report an area near you. projects are in association with local clubs.

Week for Waste Reduction The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) is an initiative promoting the implementation of awareness-raising actions about sustainable resource and waste management during a single week.

Our theme for this year is Waste education and communication and we’ll be rallying support un- der the slogan ‘Change your ways, Reduce your waste’. Please use #EWWR2019 and #ReduceYour- Waste to spread the word on social media. Our Environmental Awareness Section will be adver- tising workshops to all schools in the area and on social media.

European Week for Waste Reduction 16 – 24 November

13 TALLAGHT STADIUM MARKETING STRATEGY

South Dublin County Council has signed a contract with Core to develop an advertising and marketing strategy for Tallaght Stadium.

outh Dublin County Council has In conjunction with these plans, South immediate plans to extend the Dublin County Council intends to pro- S seating capacity of the Council mote Tallaght Stadium as an events owned Tallaght Stadium to 10,000, venue to include music, festivals and with the building of the North Stand. all aspects of community events. With The Council also plans to develop stadium seating and temporary on- the West Stand to incorporate a field seating, the venue will accom- high-quality corporate area. This work modate up to 20,000 people. follows the expansion of the stadium in March of this year with the opening In advance of the building of the of the South Stand. North Stand, South Dublin County Council have contracted Core to

14 provide an analysis of advertising and events, such as the Special Olympics’ branding opportunities for Tallaght Opening Ceremony in 2018, Cristiano ABOUT CORE Stadium. The analysis is expected Ronaldo’s Real Madrid debut, Ameri- to be completed at the beginning of can football and international football 2020 and will inform future advertis- matches. ing and marketing plans for Tallaght Core is Ireland’s largest marketing Stadium. Daniel McLoughlin, Chief Executive of communications company. South Dublin County Council, The development of Tallaght Stadium A collective of nine practices: and the advertising and market- “The development of the advertis- Strategy, Data, Research, Media, ing strategy comes on the ten-year ing and marketing strategy is proof Creative, Sponsorship, Recruitment, anniversary of the stadium opening of South Dublin County Council’s Investment and Learning work- in 2009. Over the following decade, ongoing commitment to attracting ing towards a single purpose, to Tallaght Stadium has continued local, national and international expand the possibilities of what to increase capacity and improve visitors. Tallaght Stadium provides a brands can achieve. facilities while providing the home focal point for the entire County and ground for all Shamrock Rovers’ its development as an events venue games in the Airtricity League and in will further enhance South Dublin’s European competitions. It is also the reputation as being to the forefront of home venue for our senior ladies and the tourism market.” men’s underage soccer teams. Tallaght Stadium has hosted many prestigious

The Irish Women’s National Football Team

15 NEW PLAYSPACES OPEN

Two more playspaces in Tymon Park and in Ballymount Park. were officially opened by South Dublin County Council re- cently.

n Thursday 17 October, formally equipped and defined the Mayor of South Dublin playgrounds with highly specialised O County Council, Councillor equipment. The Council’s PlaySpace Vicki Casserly officially opened the programme is different; as it purely playspace at Ballymount Park. aims to provide opportunities to play. Children make their play based on This was followed a week later with what is available and adaptable in the opening of the new Tymon Park their environment. This type of play playspace. allows children to develop their imag- ination, challenge their abilities, deal The provision of playgrounds in the with risk and, critically, adapt their recent past concentrated on large, environment.

16 In recent years there has been a justi- there. They provide a space and an en- fied focus on the physical and mental vironment for play, rather than merely PLAYSPACE PROGRAMME health of children growing up in Ire- equipment for children to play with, land, particularly in urban areas. Over are located where children live, with the past twenty years, there has been an emphasis on natural PlaySpaces, a significant rise in childhood health and focus on the type of play that is The Five-Year PlaySpace Pro- issues. Several factors are contribut- most important to early childhood gramme was first presented to ing to this, but we know the physical development. elected members at a meeting of environments in which children grow South Dublin County Council in up has a significant impact on their Speaking at the official opening of February 2014. The programme health, their enjoyment of childhood the Ballymount playspace, Mayor Cllr was then managed by the Public and for social, intellectual and physi- Vicki Casserly said, Realm Section with assistance cal development. from the Community Department “Residents in this area have always of South Dublin County Council. Creating better play environments advised that this would be a suitable Concepts for the PlaySpaces were will bring benefits for the physical location for a playspace and it has developed with each local com- and mental health of the children turned out to be very successful. Since munity and in consultation with growing up here and for communities. the playspace has opened, there has locally elected members. been an increase in family groups PlaySpaces are designed to adapt to using the park and everyone is getting The designs were tendered for space where they are implemented more exercise and fresh air”. construction to playground spe- and utilise the natural setting found cialists and implemented on-site in tandem with designers from the public realm section of the council to ensure the concepts followed through in each case.

Official opening at Ballymount Park

17 FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEMES

Ground investigations were undertaken in October on both the River Poddle and Whitechurch Stream Flood Alleviation Schemes.

s part of the River Poddle carried out on public footpaths, grass Flood Alleviation Scheme and verges and roads, pedestrian and A the Whitechurch Stream Flood traffic management were put in place Alleviation Scheme, ground investi- to accommodate the works where gations took place over a number of required. weeks in October. The River Poddle flows from its Ground Investigations consist of tak- source near the Institute of Technolo- ing soil samples and determining the gy Tallaght to the outfall to the River location of underground services by Liffey at Wellington Quay, travers- the use of boreholes, trial pits and slit ing the heavily urbanised areas of trenches. As most of the works were , , Harold’s Cross,

18 Crumlin and Temple Bar. The river has year flood event. This is mainly due CLIMATE CHANGE on numerous occasions overflowed its to low banks, overtopping of existing banks at a number of locations; most defences or insufficient floodplain ACTION PLAN recently in the severe flood of October capacity. In addition, there is insuffi- 2011, resulting in risk to human life cient capacity at a number of bridges as well as significant damage to prop- and culverts and this is causing water Flood management is one of the erties and surrounding areas. to back-up and producing increased ways South Dublin County Coun- water levels upstream. The Council cil has increased flood resilience Through the River Poddle FAS, South is working with OPW to address this through the use of spatial planning Dublin County Council, Dublin County issue. and infrastructure projects. Council and the Office of Public Works (OPW) are seeking to prevent For further information on the River Other measures include such reoccurrences of such flood events Poddle FAS, you can log on to www. things as flood forecasting and and the associated disruption and poddlefas.ie. using existing natural landscapes turmoil inflicted on local communities or infrastructure to reduce flooding. through the provision of flood relief For further information on the White- measures to alleviate the risk posed church Stream FAS, you can log on to The Council’s Climate Change Ac- by the River Poddle. www..whitechurchfas.ie. tion Plan is aligned to the Govern- ment’s ‘Climate Action Plan 2019 To Similarly, Whitechurch Stream has Tackle Climate Breakdown’. been identified as being liable to flooding during a one in one-hundred- You can download a copy of the Climate Change Action Plan on the Council’s dedicated Climate Action webpage.

The launch of the River Poddle FAS in 2018.

19 South Dublin County Council is being supported through the government’s Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) to deliver a range of projects that will transform Tallaght. URBAN REGENERATION AND

roject Ireland 2040 is In response to the initial in- the overarching policy vitation for bids, this council P and planning frame- made two submissions. The work for the social, economic Tallaght submission focused DEVELOPMENT FUND and cultural development on the delivery of projects of Ireland. It includes both that will have the combined a planning framework and a effect of enhancing the urban capital investment plan for experience, addressing the the period 2018 -2027 – the quality of the built environ- National Development Plan ment including; public realm, (NDP). traffic issues, access to amen- ities and enhancing pride As part of the NDP, the of place. The submission government established the was successful with projects URDF, a €2 billion fund to having an estimated value of support the compact and €19.8million, receiving 75% sustainable development of funding of €14.85million. our cities and major towns. The balance of €4.95 million, The fund is operated on a will be provided by the local competitive bid basis with authority. applicants, primarily local authorities, providing 25% of The projects include new project funding. roads infrastructure to open up lands at Belgard North,

20 Enterprise Innovation Centre, the completion of Tallaght Stadium, a new Mobility Hub at the Luas terminal and the development of Civic Plazas at Belgard North and Library Square.

In keeping with the primary plan- ning consideration of rejuvena- tion and compact growth, we also made a submission to prepare a masterplan for the redevelop- ment of the Naas Road Corridor. A similar application was made by Dublin City Council for the adjoining area immediately inside the City boundary. This entire area which has historically serviced the City and County well in terms of industrial, manufac- turing, bulk retail and logistics employment is now ready for transformation, as traditional uses give way to contemporary city and economic development considerations.

Both South Dublin County Council and Dublin City Council have been awarded €200,000 to initiate a plan-led approach to this regeneration opportunity. It has been agreed that South URBANREGENERATION AND Dublin County Council will lead out on this plan preparation on behalf of both authorities. DEVELOPMENT FUND

SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL’S TALLAGHT SUBMIS- SION TO THE URBAN REGEN- ERATION DEVELOPMENT FUND WAS SUCCESSFUL AND WAS AWARDED FUNDING OF €14.85 MILLION BY THE GOVERN- MENT.

21 SEPTEMBER STATISTICS REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

22 23 FINANCE REPORT

You can view the full Finance Report under the Manager’s Report headed item of the monthly Council meeting agenda. IMAGES OF THE MONTH

SDCC’s Safe and Healthy Seminar

Elected members past and present celebrate 25 years of the Council. IMAGES OF THE MONTH

A packed Tallaght Stadium watches the Ireland u-21s football team face Italy u-21s

Ireland celebrates a famous women’s international football win in Tallaght FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

A packed Tallaght Stadium watches the football team face Italy u-21s South Dublin County Council

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South Dublin County Council

@sdublincoco Website www.sdcc.ie