On 23 June 2022 committee representatives attended a deputation meeting where they met with Fingal County Council officials and councillors. The previous deputation meeting was in October 2018.
When the committee was invited to the deputation meeting they were asked to submit the questions weeks in advance of the meeting, to allow officials prepare responses that would be delivered at the meeting.
Attendees
From Riverwood:
- Damien Carbery
- Frank Lynch.
Councillors:
- Councillor Pamela Conroy (chair of the meeting)
- Mayor Howard Mahony
- Councillor John Walsh
- Councillor Mary McCamley (Blanchardstown Mulhuddart ward)
Officials:
- Catherine O’Donovan – Environment Department (Senior Executive Officer)
- Quintin Greally – Operations Department (Executive Engineer)
- Gerrard Reardon – Community Department (Principal Sports Officer)
- Joan Kernan – Operations Department (Administrative Officer)
- Ann Murphy – Operations Department (Staff Officer)
- Geraldine Whelan – Community Department (Staff Officer)
- Sarah McGrath – Environment Department (Staff Officer)
- Ciaran Morgan – Community Department (Clerical Officer)
Item 1: Road markings in Riverwood Park (Operations)
We raised concerns regarding the T junction in Riverwood Park were raised (just off the main road) – drivers cutting the corner and speeding. We had raised it at the previous deputation meeting (in 2018) and requested for road markings/signs to be installed. We had spoken with the Gardai too. FCC acknowledged that this is on ongoing issue but stated the estate design should deter speeding. FCC informed the meeting that it is generally not policy to install road markings in estates and that a road signage would not resolve the bad driving, speeding and dangerous parking – they are an enforcement issue for the Gardai. We also acknowledged that the road layout should deter speeding but that this was not happening in reality.
The Executive Engineer agreed to liaise with an Gardai Siochana and work towards finding a solution to tackle issues within the estate. It was agreed that a site meeting would be held to progress this.
Item 2: Contact Details for Park/ Dog Warden (Environment Department)
We expressed concern about Anti-Social Behaviour, especially late in the evening around the green area in Riverwood Chase (with the basketball court and tennis courts). We said we were concerned that the tennis court nets and grounds are being damaged. We did commended the good works of the maintenance crew and the installation of the new tennis nets.
We commented that dog fouling is an ongoing issue on the open space area. We requested that the Park Ranger/Dog Warden be more visible to enforce the bye laws and issue fines. FCC say Dog Fouling is a serious issue throughout the Fingal area and fines are issued under the Litter Pollution Act, by litter wardens not the dog wardens. FCC advised the meeting how difficult it is to issue fines, unless they catch the dog in the act, as generally people don’t want to make witness statements. FCC informed the meeting about the dog fouling initiative that is currently being launched and advised that there will be more Dog wardens available in the future in the FCC area.
FCC informed the meeting the Park Ranger inspects Riverwood during working hours not after hours. FCC committed to reviewing rota of the Park Ranger for visibility purposes and to tackle the dog fouling issues when brought to their attention. The Residents Association were encouraged to report issues to the casmuloparea@fingal.ie with future complaints.
Item 3: Expanding Tennis Activities (Sports Department)
We praised the tennis coaching programme that has been very popular with residents of Dublin 15. We asked if they FCC could consider including children with mild disabilities including autism as part of the programme going forward.
Fingal County Council commended the Residents on the inclusion idea and suggests that ‘Enjoy Tennis’ organisation could facilitate this request and would provide the best environment for this to happen.
FCC will support the Residents to help facilitate children with mild disabilities.
Update: This item led to the Enjoy Tennis coaching programme in October.
Item 4 Traffic calming (Operations Department)
We raised the issue about speeding in the area and have safety concerns for children due to the lack of footpaths in certain parts of the estate. We asked FCC would it be possible to install ramps/speed reader signs. FCC say they would be reluctant to install ramps/speed readers in estate areas. They note there is already a ‘Children at play’ sign in the estate at Riverwood View. We suggested traffic camera installation to monitor speed and more signs were suggested to address the speeding.
FCC committed to a site visit with An Garda Siochana and residents to ascertain how their concerns can be addressed.
AOB
We asked if the road sweeper could be more attentive when sweeping the estate area as sometimes the full estate is not swept. It was agreed that parked cars were a hindrance in doing all the areas and we asked if they could be advised 2 days before the sweep so they can put it on the RA website.
Update: FCC do advise us and we sent out a text on our Riverwood Aware service.
We complained that the part of the road where the footpath meets the road is incomplete and said this should have been noticed at handover, FCC said they would make enquires about addressing same and come back us.
FCC state the sweeping is on a 6 week roster and said they will liaise with the outdoor crew about the sweeping and weed issue. They advised the meeting of the plan to put a new attachment on the sweeper to combat the weeds as they are not permitted to use pesticides anymore.
We enquired if it’s possible to receive an acknowledgement when they are in contact with council through email and FixYourStreet as currently they don’t receive any update. FCC say they will make enquires about same and advised to put all queries through Operations Department at casmuloparea@fingal.ie.
Update: While the FixYourStreet.ie was closed down at the end of July 2022, there is generally good responses to emails to Operations. You can also report issues at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/106e9c9c62094a79a9a21599dfacd920.
We congratulated FCC on their bio-diversity programme in Dublin 15.