Compiled by Paul Carton
At the South East Area Committee meeting in October, Cllr Dermot Lacey and Cllr Frank Kennedy raised the issue of traffic problems at Belmont Avenue to which the South East Area Manager (SEAM) Rose Kenny confirmed that there will be an engineer sent out to assess this for the hours of concern which are between 8am and 9am when kids are being dropped off for school.
Cllr Chris Andrews queried the council on the issue around safety at Sandymount Green. The SEAM says that traffic calming measures on the public thoroughfare outside the Green offer the best solution and that these may include pedestrian lights, zebra crossing, speed ramps for buses and placement of children crossing signage.
Cllr Frank Kennedy enquired about the shutting off of water to the residents in the Canon Mooney Gardens in Pembroke South Dock when they only received letters pertaining to the disruption that day. Cllr Kennedy wanted to know how Irish Water could have such little regard for people living in these buildings, especially those with disability, by not giving them ample time to make arrangements. SEAM said that the DCC Water Services who were operating on behalf of Irish Water did, in fact, drop off those letters four days prior to the service disruption and have this on record.
Cllr Chris Andrews, on behalf of the residents in Bath Avenue, asked as to why waste trucks were using the road, even though it has a three ton weight limit restriction. SEAM said that this limit can be waived where access is required. This reply was further explained by a reply from the Thorntons recycling company who said that they have customers in that area and have to use that road to service them. Cllr Andrews wanted to know who was the owner of the triangular plot of land in front of the Irishtown House at 60 Irishtown Road. However, the DCC said that plot was not under their ownership and that there was no information with the land registry to its ownership either.
Cllr Chris Andrews requested a speed signage on the Sean Moore Road due to its high volume of traffic but the SEAM said that all roads in the administrative area of DCC is 50km/hr unless signed and, therefore, if they were to put one up at Sean Moore it would lead to a proliferation of such signs in the city.
November
At South East Area meeting in November, Cllr Paddy McCartan and Cllr Frank Kennedy put forward the motion to have a change in the system of parking currently in place at the Royal Hospital Donnybrook, which is causing havoc with emergency vehicles entering the hospital from Bloomfield Avenue. After reviewing the engineer’s report, the SEAM have decided that they will replace those pay and display signs with double yellow lines and move the pay and display area to the south side entrance of the hospital to facilitate emergency vehicle access.
Cllr Mannix Flynn put forward a motion on behalf on the South East Area Committee to reinstate the coordinators for SEA safety forum meetings and drug task force immediately, which they say were lost due to cuts a number of years ago. Cllr Flynn said the reason for the immediacy of this reinstatement is due to an upsurge in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity. The SEAM said that the former coordinator took the voluntary redundancy package in 2014, a condition of which was that the position would not be refilled.
Cllr Flynn put forward a motion on a matter for resolution in relation to a new management fee for tenants living in DCC houses to be charged. Cllr Flynn proposes that it would be both legal and democratic for tenants then to be on the management board of these apartment blocks. However the SEAM said that the only people to serve on management boards would be the owners and in this case that would be the Approved Housing bodies (AHB).
Cllr Chris Andrews requested the SEAM to replace a tree standing approximately 100 feet high with its branches hanging over a number of houses at the rear of Ringsend Park. The reason for the request is from concerned residents after experiencing strong winds, with Storm Ophelia as one of note and have noticed the tree moving and creaking and are worried that if the tree or part thereof were to come down it could cause serious injury or even death and also damage to property. The SEAM said that the tree is a lime tree and considered to be in good condition and that no evidence of damage to the tree was noticed by inspection. The SEAM went on to say that the creaking was perhaps a cause of the number of crossing branches in the tree trunks and that the movement of a tree is used to strengthen its trunk. However the SEAM said that considering its age, species and its location, they will reduce its height by 15-20% with some of these ‘crossing branches’ to be removed or thinned to allow for ease of airflow within the tree crown. In addition the SEAM, said that this work will also allow a tree surgeon to do a more detailed inspection and its work will be part of their 2018 tree works programme, however this is subject to funding.
Cllr Frank Kennedy asked for an update from the SEAM on the position of the applications for affordable housing scheme which is to arise on foot of the residential development at the Poolbeg West Strategic Development Zone (SDZ.) Cllr Kennedy was informed by the SEAM that the DCC have requested the Department of Housing and Planning and Local Government to bring forward a legislation to include affordable housing in developments. The planning scheme decided by the DCC on the 2nd of October promised 3,500 new homes, 900 of them being delivered as either social or affordable housing with a minimum of 350 to be delivered as social housing. The decision on whether this scheme will go ahead or whether any modifications to the plan are to be made is up to An Bord Pleanála, who say that decision will be made by the 21 February 2018, although they do say that date is subject to change.
