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Residents object to new open spaces policy

Residents in many parts of Dublin 15 have expressed anger and annoyance at the state of their open spaces in recent months having been unaware of a new policy introduced by Fingal County Council.

According to a council spokesperson, the new “growing places” pilot project being implemented by the its parks department “proposes to change up to 20% of green spaces in the county to add more colour and wildlife by letting the grass grow and introducing native flowers on a phased basis. This change represents a completely new approach to open spaces and can only happen gradually so the initial change in how opens spaces look in some areas has caused concern among nearby residents.” The grass needs cutting on Delwood Green

Among the Dublin 15 areas affected by the new policy are sections of Beechpark and the Millennium Park, parts of Portersgate, the large open space in Delwood, Rusheeny Green and Georgian Village and Laurel Lodge. A full list of affected areas is shown here.

Residents in Delwood Park are particularly aggrieved and a number have contacted Community Voice to voice their displeasure.

One resident pointed out that it had been used by local children for football and as a play area for over 30 years. “We were never consulted about this. The park just looks as if it has been totally neglected. The county council are simply trying to save money on grass cutting and pretending its an environmental project.” According to another resident some local householders were planning to go out and cut the grass themselves “to get rid of this eyesore.”

Local Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar is also critical of the plan. “I understand that the policy is supposed to encourage greater biodiversity by allowing weeds and wild flowers to grow, which in turn attract birds and insects like butterflies and ladybirds,” he told Community Voice. “However I have received a large number of complaints from residents about the council’s decision not cut the grass on some open spaces and woodland areas. In some places like Delwood, residents are particularly aggrieved as they can no long use their local park to play football or other ball games. In other areas, residents are concerned about vermin and find the uncut areas to be unsightly.”

The county council’s Director of Community Recreation & Amenities, Senan Turnbull is anxious to reassure local residents that the new plans will prove positive for their areas. “This is a cooperative project and we are more than happy to meet residents on site to fine tune how each area is managed on a site by site basis,” he said.

According to Mr. Turnbull, “there is absolutely no reason for rodents or other vermin to increase in areas where grass is getting longer. The council will continue to pick up litter on open spaces and we will not tolerate any dumping on open spaces by irresponsible people who want to take advantage of this new initiative.”

With regard to complaints about the loss of playing areas for children, he said “we're more than happy to cut a play area for children within the growing meadows, even where there isn’t a formal pitch. We can also adjust the routes of any cut pathways through the open spaces so that they follow the routes people will naturally go along.”

Suggestions by residents that the project is a money saving exercise to reduce the level of grass cutting in the county are also rejected by Mr. Turnbull. “It's definitely true to say that this project will help us to manage an ever increasing area of open space in Fingal as we keep taking new parks in charge”, he said, “but that’s not the reason why we are doing this. If we had unlimited resources in my department or in the council we would still be changing how our open spaces are managed to make them more colourful and interesting and in line with international best practice for public parks and open areas”, he explained.

Voicing local concerns, Deputy Varadkar remains critical of the implementation of the new policy on open spaces within residential estates. “I can see the case for trying this out around woodlands or on a relatively small part of a large open space but I do not think that whole parks should be allow to go wild in this way.

I am calling on the council to review its policy and scale back the areas affected,” he said.

However Senan Turnbull is adamant about the positive effects the new project will eventually bring. “This approach is about matching our resources to the usage pattern of our open space as well as adding more colour and making them more interesting without interfering with how people use them. The key message now is to ask residents to bear with us and to talk to us. Once this project matures we are confident it will make our open spaces more enjoyable for everyone,” he said.

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