Tag Archives: phoenix park

Local Issues

OPW Must Consult Residents About Phoenix Park Plan

The Office of Public Works have published Consultants’ proposals for a revised traffic scheme in the Phoenix Park. The report, “The Phoenix Park Transportation Study” prepared by Consultants Faber Maunsell/AECOM analyses in detail the current traffic situation in the Phoenix Park. It makes a number of proposals to reduce the amount of cars and the speed of traffic in the Park. The OPW however must now engage in public consultations with people living in the area surrounding the park, particularly Dublin 15.

The Park is one of Dublin’s greatest amenities and any proposals by the Office of Public Works to improve and preserve the amenity status of the park have to be welcomed.

The report proposes that some Dublin Bus services be provided at peak hours on the main road to provide for a fast bus from the Blanchardstown – Castleknock area straight into town to connect with other services including the LUAS.

However, being realistic this can only happen if and when buses are committed by Dublin Bus and the service provided is adequate. At the moment, Dublin 15 has a severe shortage of at least 100 buses to service existing routes. Recently after much conflict between Fianna Fail and the PD’s on the future of bus services, Dublin Bus were finally given the go ahead to acquire an extra 100 buses next year. I understand that at the most 28 of these will be allocated to Dublin 15 and Dublin West. So, clear commitments would need to be made about extra buses. It will be essential to have an integrated ticketing system between the bus service and the LUAS as one of the most popular uses of the buses would be to make onward connections to the LUAS, both into town and further out to Clondalkin and the Red Cow.

The report also suggests a review of parking arrangements in the Park with restrictions on the parking on the main road near the Coyningham Road/Park Gate street entrance and a new car park to service the zoo.

The Park plays a tremendously important role in the life of Dublin West. It is its key recreation area but unfortunately because of a lack of public transport, has also become a key traffic route on the main road. The OPW must consult in detail the most important partners in the Phoenix Park, that is the people who live around the Phoenix Park, who walk, cycle and run in it daily, who travel to work through it and who have sought down the years to support the OPW in their fight to preserve the quality of the Park as Dublin West’s most important amenity.

I am calling on the OPW therefore to have a clear process of public consultation together with bodies such as Dublin Bus.

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Local Issues

CONSULTANTS TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT IN THE PHOENIX PARK

The OPW have commissioned a report from Faber Maunsell, Engineering Consultants on “Managing Traffic in the Phoenix Park”. Deputy Joan Burton, Labour Party TD for Dublin West, has made a submission, calling on Faber Maunsell to address the following issues in the report:

1. If Public Transport is to be introduced in to the Phoenix Park a number of possibilities should be examined:
a. Shuttle bus service the length of the main road operating at peak times and in daylight from the Castleknock end of the Park to Heuston and back up in a loop. This could originate in Castleknock and/or in the Town Centre.
b. The extension of Luas through the Phoenix Park and then perhaps by the Ashtown Gate out along the main Navan Road to the Blanchardstown Town Centre.
c. The diversion of some 39s and 37s at peak times through the Park at peak time hours.
d. A car parking policy for the Park particularly in relation to the large volumes of cars now apparently parking all day in the Park.

2. The Phoenix Park is the major green space not only for the Dublin 7 area but even more particularly for the Dublin 15 area including Castleknock, Blanchardstown, Clonsilla, Mulhuddart and Tyrrellstown and Clonee all of which areas have seen major growths in houses population over the last ten years. It is absolutely important that any review of the Phoenix Park should bear in mind that it is the major amenity facility adjacent to these new areas of population.

3. The Park has undergone a significant upgrading in recent times with replanting throughout the Park of trees. The West side of the Park has limited Public Transport access for families. It also has no playground facilities for children.

4. Any review of the Park must take into account the need to balance reasonable accessibility including vehicular traffic and the need for walkers and other users of the Park to have a space which allows them to enjoy as much of the Park as possible unimpeded by traffic. Because of the size of the Park there must be personal safety particularly for women and younger users of the Park.

5. I welcome the idea that the review should look at the issue of the provision of some bus services particularly at peak time in the Phoenix Park. There is already considerable access to the Phoenix Park by tourist buses which are normally of the double decker variety. Limited access for buses at peak times could provide a mechanism for reducing the volume of car traffic and indeed the volumes of all day parking on the main Chesterfield Road and adjacent roads.

6. Since the opening of the Luas people coming from as far away as Meath and Kildare are parking on the main road of the Park for the whole of the day and getting the Luas into town. This has resulted in parts of the Park becoming little better than a car park.

7. The provision of a shuttle bus service up and down the main road of the Park to the Luas-Heuston station would open up possibilities for much faster journey times into town for people from Dublin 15. This could be from Castleknock and/ or the Town Centre.

8. The use of scheduled services in the park in respect of the 39s and 37s should also be considered. Obviously such services would have to be additional to the existing services. There are many bus users from the Navan Road and further into town who would be unwilling to access services in the park because of additional walking time.

9. Any review of traffic in the Phoenix Park must provide for far more designated crossing points for pedestrians. The development of the three roundabouts on the main road are still insufficient to provide for safe crossing places on the Main road. Currently there is no priority for pedestrians. The roundabouts are not marked for pedestrian priority. This is an important issue which needs to be addressed given the huge increase in the volume of cars on the main road in recent times.

The terms of reference set by the Minister for the Faber Maunsell report stated that it should address the problem of traffic management in the Phoenix Park while reflecting the aims of the “Phoenix Park Management Plan”, an OPW document. This document set stressed the value of the Phoneix Park amenity, discussed issues such as noise and air pollution and set out the aim of reducing traffic through the park. Faber Maunsell are due to report to the OPW at the start of July with their recommendations.

Deputy Burton said, “Following the submission of the report in July, I will be closely following discussions in the OPW on the development of the Phoenix Park and actively pursuing them to ensure that the value of this amenity for residents of Dublin 15 is protected and the optimal solution for commuters is found.”

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Local Issues

PLANS REVEALED FOR A POSSIBLE NEW PLAYGROUND IN THE  PHOENIX PARK

Dubliners are rightly proud of the Phoenix park and rightly boast about it being the largest walled and city centre park in Europe.  In that context it is astonishing that the OPW and successive recent Ministers in charge of the OPW including the current Minister Tom Parlon TD have held absolutely firm against the notion of providing additional playground facilities in the park.

It is therefore a welcome change of policy on the part of OPW that they are now going to examine the possibility of developing a second play area for local children to be located at the north west end of the Phoenix Park.

Deputy Joan Burton said that she has now been campaigning on this issue hard for the last five years and has recommended that the location for the new playground facility should be located at or adjacent to the grounds of Farmleigh.

However the OPW has continued to resist locating the playground in Farmleigh because they say they need to close Farmleigh off regularly at short notice to provide government meetings and visits by international dignitaries.

Deputy Burton said “I do not accept that this is necessary as all over Europe public amenities which are used by government are also opened for general use when there are parklands adjacent.  It would be very easy in and around the vicinity of Farmleigh to have a high quality playground for children, which could be separated by appropriate gates from Farmleigh itself, if necessary”.

“Farmleigh has been a huge success as an attraction and every weekend it is crowded with families with children. It’s such a pity that they have no playground to use and the nearest playgrounds are either in the zoo, where they have to pay the entrance fee, or very far down at the far end of the North Circular Road. Bearing in mind the enormous population of children in the Dublin 15 area, the fact that there are no direct bus links to the North Circular Road end playground, and that there has been a problem from time to time of drug addicts hanging around the vicinity of that playground, there has been an obvious requirement for a really super playground at the Northwest for many years now”.

I welcome the concession by OPW that they are now actively examining the issue. I hope that they will locate it immediately adjacent to Farmleigh. In my view it would be relatively easy to have it in part of the grounds of Farmleigh and to have it fenced in a way that it could be closed off from the Farmleigh side of the estate when the need arises.”

“Playground facilities for children in the Dublin 15 area are still so restricted compared to the number of children in the area. I do hope that the OPW will now proceed and go ahead with the decision to develop this playground. I intend to keep this fight going until we get this playground opened. What I have in mind is a state of the art playground along the lines of Marley, Malahide Castle and other large adventure type playgrounds, where families can go particularly at weekends and spend some time with their children. It’s important in particular that parents who are with their children on the weekend should have activity venues that they can visit, such as really good playgrounds and enjoy all the fun of the Phoenix Park with their children.”


Local Issues, Transport

Burton Calls For A Super Bus Corridor

Deputy Joan Burton has called for the installation of a Super Bus Corridor from Dublin 15 into town on the lines of the Stillorgan Bus Lane
She has also called on the Minister for Transport to commit 50 extra buses immediately to Dublin West. Otherwise the “gridlock” in Dublin West is simply going to get worse.

“The Minister for Transport is simply not giving Dublin Bus & CIE the extra resources to provide for the additional housing coming on stream from Clonee to the Phoenix Park Racecourse and also the new Developments at Ashtown and Pelletstown”, said Deputy Burton.

Deputy Burton welcomed promises made by Dublin Bus at a packed public meeting hosted by her at the Paddocks Pub in Littlepace. Dublin Bus promised to:

· Consider more direct routes into town. Currently commuters in Dublin West are faced with a tour of Dublin 15 before they begin their journey into town. This means very long journey times of an hour and fifteen minutes and upwards into town.
· Consider appointing a special traffic inspector over the Christmas period to the Blanchardstown Centre in order to reduce bus congestion at the centre.
· Dublin bus also promise to give some consideration to the proposal to have a super bus corridor on the lines of the Stillorgan bus corridor into town.

At the meeting Dublin Bus confessed that despite the quality bus corridor in place in Blanchardstown for almost 5 years now, journey times have grown longer. Dublin Bus do not have enough buses. Bottlenecks at key point such as Prussia St are taking up to 40 minutes and more to negotiate.

Deputy Burton said that the news from CIE at the meeting was less promising. CIE is still uncertain of the Government’s attitude to their proposals to improve the Clonsilla to Connolly line.

The Government has not funded improved signalling at Connolly station or improvements to the station to allow more trains in from the Clonsilla line. This is an essential piece of infrastructure which, although promised for more than 8 years by this Government, still remains to be completed.

The good news for commuters is that CIE is promising extra services on the route from the middle of December 05. This will provide three extra four-carriage trains in the morning and two extra four-carriage trains in the evening operating to and from Connolly station.

This will be very welcome, said Deputy Burton but it must be kept in mind that two-thirds of those who use the train travel south of the river and will have to get a dart to finish their journey. It is just one small step in improving a service which, at the moment, is dangerously overcrowded. It is unfortunately the only planned improvement for the next year.

Comments Raised at Public Meeting on Transport in Littlepace October 24th.

TRAINS
· Trains overcrowded to the point of nausea
· Concern that nothing is in place to improve situation in the short term.
· Commuter trains have been running from D15 for twenty three years and still all the proposals seem to be medium to long term.
· Only proposals… no money has been allocated even for the medium and long term solutions
· The new services coming on stream have only 4 carriages and will only serve Connolly even though 2/3s of commuters travel to the south side of the river to the business and commercial areas.
· These commuters will be left to find their own way to their destination. This will add greatly to their commuting time. The return journey in the evening is even more time consuming with the unpredictability of DART times.
· There is now talk of a station at Broadstone. If there is to be a station at Broadstone it should also run from there into the city.
· Same for Spencer Dock. Must have transport to Connolly and South Side stations. No point in leaving commuters from Dublin 15 with further travel to the city and further south.
· Investment in the trains serving the Dublin 15 area taking commuters to the city centre.
· There was also much complaint about the lack of park and ride facilities which is a particular problem of Clonsilla station. Not only is it inconvenient for commuters but it is causing horrendous problems in residential estates such as Portersgate where all day parking means that many residents can barely move in and out of their estate.

BUSES
· Buses are key issue. should be put in quickly in to the newer areas
· New areas must be served by buses as soon as they become occupied.
· New residents would develop culture of using public transport, if not cars will continue to be the transport of choice
· Should be direct routes to town
· Not in the interest of the commuters for every bus to go through town centre
· The centre should be served but not by every bus taking commuters into the city centre
· Fast routes – x buses – a key facility

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Local Issues

Burton Opposes Phoenix Park Racecourse Development

The recent appeal by developers Flynn and O’Flaherty of the Phoenix Park Racecourse Development to An Bord Pleanala to substantially increase the number of apartments and the height of apartment blocks is an attempt to increase the overall number of apartments on the site by as much as a quarter to a third.
This means that an opportunity to invest in vital infrastructure in Dublin 15, such as pedestrian crossings over the canal at Clonsilla and Coolmine railway stations, was once again lost. However, Deputy Burton claimed the ‘underspend’ presented a wonderful opportunity to finally carry out the promised works:

“I am calling upon Fingal County Council, Waterways Ireland, and Iarnrod Eireann to come together to discuss how this funding can be used.
The pedestrian facilities at Coolmine and Clonsilla railway stations have been promised for 14 years but there is no sign of delivery.
The recent fatal accident at Coolmine railway station shows the consequences of inaction on this.
This €12 million underspend would be particularly useful in funding the needed pedestrian crossing over the canal at Clonsilla and Coolmine railway stations.
Secondly, the towpath from Laurel Lodge to the Deep Cutting at Porterstown and Blanchardstown is in a dangerous condition and needs upgrading for those who use it. Similarly, I believe that the surplus funds should be used for this purpose.
The main players – Fingal County Council, Waterways Ireland and Iarnrod Eireann – need to sit down together urgently to discuss these necessary investments. It is time that the money allocated to Waterways Ireland is actually used to fund the long-promised investments in Dublin 15.”


Local Issues

Burton: ‘I Will Not Accept Phoenix Park Racecourse Planning Permission’.

Joan Burton T.D. has pledged to oppose the recent moves by developers to add further apartments to the planned Phoenix Park Racecourse development. The developers, Flynn O’ Flaherty Dublin, have applied for permission to increase the height of a previously permitted four story block to a five story block.

The proposed changes constitute a significant change in the previously permitted development on the site of the old Phoenix Park Racecourse. The permission granted for this extremely sensitive site envisages over 2000 houses and apartments. For the Council to permit further additional housing on this site would be to damage the amenity of the Castleknock area.

This site is located in an area saturated with extra housing and traffic. The original planning permission granted for the Phoenix Park Racecourse development and the high density allowed depended upon promised improvements in the train service from Maynooth to Connolly and the Quality Bus Corridoor along the Navan Road.

Despite promises, very little in the way of significant improvements in either the train service or the QBC has in fact taken place. Recent studies show that the time taken to get into Dublin City, despite the QBC, has increased by some 25 minutes. The quality of the train services, despite promises, remain entirely inadequate for the population being served.

The Phoenix Park Racecourse Development is adjacent to the Phoenix Park on one side and the canal and Tolka Valley on the other. The fragile environment of the Phoenix Park and the Canal and Tolka Valley will be put at further risk by excessive development in the area.

Dublin 15 now has a population in excess of 80,000 and rapidly heading for 100,000. To allow the Phoenix Park development to increase in density would be a clear breach of the undertakings given by the developers and Council planners and management in previous discussions in relation to the very controversial rezoning on development.

At a local level, the adjacent residents of Chesterfield, Deerpark, and the Auburn Avenue area are understandably concerned that this particular application for increased height and density will be a Trojan horse for further requests for the remainder of the Phoenix Park Racecourse site. The road infrastructure in the immediate area is unable to cope with current developments including the major development at Pelletstown, immediately adjacent in Dublin City, of which about half will utilise the Navan Road. For these reasons I request you to refuse the planning application.

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Local Issues, Uncategorized

Boy Racers’ Anti-Social Behaviour in the Phoenix Park

Deputy Burton has welcomed the decision by the Office of Public Works to take action to deal with the “boy racers” in the Phoenix Park particularly in the area around the Papal Cross.

Deputy Burton said she has had numerous complaints from families with small children using the Park, particularly around the Papal Cross. The “boy racers” appear to have taken over the Papal Cross carpark as one of their meeting points. This is a new and growing problem in the Phoenix Park and many people are intimidated when confronted by this behavior. Park management have said that they are liaising closely with the Gardai to stop these activities.

The carpark is now closing temporarily on Sunday evenings, as this is the preferred night for their activities. New bollards have been specially commissioned and it is hoped to have these in place within the next month. It is the intention to close the carpark at 9 pm in the summer and thus it should not be an attractive location for these individuals. Park Management have said that park rangers are actively monitoring the Papal Cross area and are in close liaison with and have excellent support from the local Gardai.

Deputy Burton said “The summer is all too short and families should be entitled to enjoy the peace and beauty of the Phoenix Park without being intimidated”.

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Local Issues

Burton Regrets Loss of Phoenix Park Racecourse Site

Dublin West TD Joan Burton, Labour Party spokesperson on Finance, said the go-ahead for the development of 2,300 houses at the Phoenix Park and sale of Abbeville to property developers represents a victory for property speculators over balanced and orderly development. Both these deals will net many millions of euros of profit for the owners and property developers.

Joan Burton expressed disquiet over the absence of clear information on the tax treatment of the capital gains arising from both these development.

“ It is impossible to say in relation to either of these developments whether they will give rise to any significant payments of capital gains tax. It should be incumbent on both the Minister for Finance and the Revenue Commissioners to indicate how much capital gains tax each of these developments gives rise to.”

The Phoenix Park Racecourse is a northside landmark. The development for 2,300 houses and apartments on the site is equivalent to building a small town on the site. However, unlike small towns throughout the country, this “town” will have the housing and apartments but no guarantee that services ranging from public transport to primary schools and community centres will ever appear except in the glossy brochures marketing the development.

Joan Burton said, “This is the fifth such mega-development in the Dublin 15 area in the last 5 years. Bitter experience has shown both existing residents and the purchasers of the new homes that services are such as schools and public transport are discretionary promises.

The railway service, which runs alongside the site is already overcrowded and an old fashioned diesel service. The Board Pleanala condition of an additional railway stop, while welcome is irrelevant unless the railway line is upgraded to integrate with the DART service and provide an all day, every day service.

The reference in the planning application to the availability of bus corridors from Dublin 15 to the city centre ignores the fact that these QBC’s are partial and incomplete, despite all the promises made by the current government”

The provision of schools at primary and secondary level is another discretionary feature of planning in Dublin West. While the plans show a site reserved for a primary school, it has been proven in the recent past that it is almost impossible to get the Dept of Education to actually provide the much needed schools. We only have to look at the disgraceful situation in Littlepace and Castaheany in Dublin 15 for proof of the Governments negligence in this area. This new town in Dublin West has to be satisfied with 10 room prefab school to accommodate children from the 4,000 houses in the area.

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Local Issues

Joan Burton Calls for rethink over Children’s Playground at Farmleigh

oan Burton TD has said that she is very disappointed with the approach of Minister of State Tom Parlon TD to the issue of locating a Children’s playground at Farmleigh Estate. Despite giving Deputy Burton assurances that the issue would be examined, Minister Parlon has now stated that a playground will not be built at Farmleigh.

Deputy Burton recently had discussions with Minister of State Tom Parlon TD, Minister in charge of the Office of Public Works and the Head of the OPW Commissioners to ask them to re-consider the question of locating a state of the art children’s playground somewhere in the grounds of Farmleigh or at the top end of the Phoenix Park.

She suggested that a playground in the style of Malahide, Marley or Newbridge House should be built. This could be accommodated in one small area of the grounds, adjacent to the Phoenix Park, where it could remain open all year round, regardless of whether or not important visitors where using the State Guest House facilities. The benefit of this would be that the venue could be safely closed at night and preserved from the kind of mindless vandalism which has destroyed so many open playgrounds.

Joan Burton said that by and large, visitors to Farmleigh were delighted with the facility. It has become one of the OPW’s most popular public attractions, visited now by many thousands of people per year.

Unfortunately, in reply to a Parliamentary Question by Deputy Burton, Minster Parlon has claimed that as Farmleigh is used for Government functions it would not represent the best use of resources to build a playground there. He cited security reasons and the fact that the Estate must often be closed at short notice as the reasons why Farmleigh would not be a suitable venue

Deputy Burton replied, that at this point in the time, given the success of the venue, it should be possible for the OPW to look at installing some Child attractions for the venue. This has been possible in many other European cities, where community facilities operate within State properties.

“If a playground was located at Farmleigh, at the North West end of the Phoenix Park, it would offer an enormous resource to children and their parents in the Dublin 15 area, which currently has no children’s playgrounds, despite having a population in excess of 70,000.”

Joan Burton said that with all of the new house building going on in the area, the provision of children’s playgrounds was an urgent priority. While Fingal County Council has budgets now for several years for 2 Children’s playgrounds, 1 at the Millennium Park and 1 at the Tolka valley, the progress on both was taking years, if not decades to achieve.

“In the context of a shortage of land to develop these community facilities, Farmleigh would represent an ideal location. It is unfortunate that Minister Parlon seems to have casually dismissed this solution.”


Local Issues

Burton calls for access for walkers and cyclists to the Liffey Valley

Cllr. Joan Burton TD, has proposed to the Liffey Valley Joint Management Committee that a walking path be provided from Phoenix Park via the southern boundary of Farmleigh, to the north side of the Liffey Valley at the Metal Bridge at the Lower Road in the Strawberry Beds.

Her proposal was unanimously agreed by the Liffey Valley Joint Management Committee. The Committee is made up of representatives of both Fingal and South Dublin County Councils and also representatives of community organisations from both sides of the Liffey.

Fingal County Council is due to undertake a review of it’s development plan in the next year. One of the objectives of the new Development Plan should be to conserve the Liffey Valley as the green lung of Dublin 15.

Making the Valley accessible and useable by walkers and cyclists can be done in a number of different ways, said Joan Burton.

Fingal County Council should enter negotiations with local landowners with a view to acquiring right-of-ways.

For example, it is possible to create a very attractive walk going from the top of the Phoenix Park through the State lands at Farmleigh (where there is already a road) across the top of the Liffey Valley and down to the Metal Bridge in the Lower Road Strawberry Beds.

In due course if the Metal Bridge is rebuilt, this would provide a bridge to the south side of the river, to Waterstown Park and to the grounds of Stewards Hospital Recently South Dublin County Council acquired 27 acres of Stewards Hospital lands alongside the Liffey.

The second issue which needed to be addressed was traffic rat-running along the Strawberry Beds. A system of traffic calming would give much needed relief to local residents currently facing 2,000 vehicles an hour using the Lower Road. This was making life difficult for residents and also for walkers and cyclists to safely use Liffey Valley.

Cllr. Burton said that the Liffey Valley was one of the remaining treasures of Dublin West and was an important amenity for people in Dublin 15, Lucan, Palmerstown and Clondalkin. She said that she has previously called on government to designate the area a National Park and that it was Labour Party policy to pursue the development of such a National Park.