*01/06/25 - Please note the #SaveShanganaghPark campaign has now ended and donations are no longer being accepted - see latest update below*

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The Quick Version:

Having had their original plans quashed by a High Court Order, DLRCOCO have launched yet another Part 8 planning application for Shanganagh Park:

- ignoring the wishes of the overwhelming majority of stakeholders (including park users, local and neighboring communities, sports club members and officials) for a more sustainable solution;

- failing to adequately address congestion issues and the significantly increased risk to lives young and old arising from an increase in traffic in residential areas caused by local and non-local sports clubs;

- dismissing accessibility, equality, health and safety issues along with genuine threats to the natural ecosystem and rich local biodiversity already under threat within and around the park.

As a result, the #SaveShanganaghPark Campaign calls for:

1. A full Environmental Impact Assessment to be undertaken by the Council to take an holistic view of the park, replace outdated plans and environmental studies, take into account the impact of recent and future developments, and understand the challenges and opportunities;
2. A plan that limits any large scale sports facilities and infrastructure (pitches, sprint track, floodlighting, ballstop netting) in the central meadow recognising its importance to passive recreation, community well-being, local biodiversity and wider environmental health; and
3. An expansion of the Shanganagh Park footprint to deliver the positive elements of these plans in more appropriate locations within and adjacent to the park to better serve the wants of sport, the wishes of the community, and the needs of the environment.

If you support the campaign to #SaveShanganaghPark, please sign and share this petition to register your objections to the latest Council proposals and voice your support for the far more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable alternatives, consistently backed by a majority, that preserve the existing meadow and open spaces at the heart of the park while still supporting the enhancing and upgrading of existing sports facilities to increase playability and access.

To support with fundraising campaign legal costs via our GoFundMe page, please visit https://gofund.me/d0469aec

Please share and encourage as many petition signatories as possible (e.g. if in a household of four, please encourage four individual signatures and not just one signature to cover all four household members). Please also opt-in to receive updates on this petition and keep an eye on the "Updates" section for the latest developments.

Finally, please contact your Councillors and public representatives to demand better solutions that will support sport while preserving the treasured amenity that is our wonderful Shanganagh Park. 

Thank you for your support!

#SaveShanganaghPark

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Got a bit more time? Read on!

"Sports clubs need communities, communities need nature."

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCOCO) for the third time are trying to force on the Shankill and neighbouring community the same unsustainable plans for the redevelopment of Shanganagh Park despite overwhelming public opposition and a High Court Order.

The community's message has been delivered loud and clear over and again - leave the heart of the park alone and upgrade existing pitches and facilities - but has so far been ignored as the Council aren't listening to the wishes and valid concerns of the community including:

• devastating consequences for traffic in the area
• massive increase in footfall to a smaller park footprint
• disaster for the remaining unspoiled and quieter green areas and habitats
• increased risk to safety and reduced access for young, old, the disabled and those of limited mobility
• and many more

With the Council already having given away two public meadows to Woodbrook Golf Club (who shockingly proceeded to rip out native hedgerow and cut down mature trees), we desperately need to preserve and extend the green spaces and biodiversity of the park's habitats.

This is also a must for the mental health and wellbeing of the community as natural spaces are now recognised for their contribution and benefits to psychological as well as physical health, providing a free "green prescription", never more so since the pandemic lockdowns.

The local (and not so local!) sports clubs also require and deserve access to better facilities - instead of more pitches, existing facilities in the park and nearby Stonebridge can be upgraded to increase year-round playability through drainage and floodlighting with easier access to public transport.

The upgrading and greater access to use of facilities by clubs at nearby schools will also be more sustainable instead of pitches being left idle at the end of school use while further democratising sport participation enabling children (whose families may not have the means to be members of sports clubs) access sport facilities during school time. The empty plot for the proposed crematorium, itself a public health and traffic disaster if developed, could also be used for additional facilities such as basketball courts, pitches, changing rooms, parking etc.. 

These alternative solutions put forward by the community are based on technical and local knowledge and are not fantasy. Unlike the DLRCOCO plans, they are economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally responsible.

Help the #SaveShanganaghPark campaign make a positive difference for sport and nature and add your voice to the 1,900+ supporters who want an alternative to the current plans that would rip out the heart of the park and see precious green open space (currently available to all and with an established woodland and valuable wildflower meadow) destroyed and replaced with synthetic surfaces, 8-storey high floodlights, chainlink fences, netting, poorer access for those of reduced mobility, no toilets etc.

Please act now to #SaveShanganaghPark:

1. Sign and share this petition to raise the campaign profile, spread the word across your networks using the hashtag #SaveShanganaghPark and follow www.facebook.com/SaveShanganaghPark
   
2. Contact your Councillors and public representatives to demand better solutions that will support sport while preserving the treasured amenity that is Shanganagh Park
3. Spare what you can by donating via www.gofundme.com/f/saveshanganaghpark to help the campaign raise much-needed funds to cover anticipated legal costs from a second High Court Judicial Review (Oct 2024) 

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Important:

- Upon signing please check your inbox/junk mail folder for an email from Change.org to confirm your email address otherwise your signature will not count

- Please keep in touch with the campaign by ticking the box when signing the petition to receive #SaveShanganaghPark updates

- The #SaveShanganaghPark campaign does NOT receive any direct donations via this petition. Upon signing, the petition host - Change.org - will ask signatories if they wish to make a VOLUNTARY donation towards Change.org costs and to promote the petition on its platforms which you are free to do if you wish but with no obligation (although it will help spread the word!). If you wish to donate to a dedicated GoFundMe site which has been set-up to cover anticipated legal costs, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/saveshanganaghpark

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"Biodiversity loss and climate change are some of the great challenges of our time. At the same time, reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for unspoiled nature and landscapes is now more important than ever before. As Europe responds to pandemic and to the ecological crisis, the need to invest in an integrated network of protected areas – of which [Nature Regional Landscape Parks] NRL Parks are a significant component – could not be more urgent." - Europarc Federation

Shanganagh Park, a public amenity located between the mountains and the sea in Shankill, Co. Dublin, is under immediate threat of over-development and intensified use.

Designated by DLRCOCO as a Locally Important Biodiversity Site, Shanganagh Park "is a great area for wildlife and an important amenity for the local community; it is made up of two large green areas separated by the DART line and stretching right down to the coast of the Irish Sea." - DLRCOCO Shanganagh Park Biodiversity Education Pack

DLRCOCO Councillors, Parks and Sports Departments, under intense pressure from housing developers and sports lobbyists, have already removed from public benefit to the east of the Park two large meadows with native hedgerows, destroyed by the beneficiary, a private golf club, to create new holes for its course which is already shrinking due to coastal erosion. No additional space has yet been opened to public use.

The Council have produced a "Masterplan" that, following a consultation process which largely dismissed or ignored legitimate public concerns and offered no right of reply, was approved by Councillors and now threatens the very fabric of this tranquil parkland setting forever. 

Phase One of the "Masterplan", stripping out the last available undeveloped meadow on the west side of the park to make way for two floodlit GAA and up to four half-pitch soccer pitches, warm-up areas, spectator viewing mounds, running track etc. is almost ready to proceed unless the public demand otherwise.

The original Phase One plans:

• remove much needed yet ever-diminishing open green spaces for passive recreation and important "headspace" during the pandemic
• damage biodiversity and fragile ecosystems during a "climate emergency" declared by DLRCoCo
• greatly increase pressure on an already strained local amenity and supporting infrastructure
• prioritise the over-development of sport facilities and the intensive use of three additional floodlit pitches with nine pylons (each over 24metres/seven storeys high in the central meadow) and race tracks for matches, race meets and training over the preservation of unspoiled meadow-land, scenic views and a space all can enjoy (and not just paid-up members of sports clubs)
• contribute to increased litter, noise and light pollution given proposed usage and intensity (0700-2200 daily)
• increase the risks to life arising from road traffic accidents due to a significant increase in traffic for Shanganagh Park and surrounding residential areas (including Crinken Glen, Olcovar, Castle Farm, Quinns Road, Shrewsbury Road, St. Anne's Park, Shanganagh Grove, Foxes Grove and others) from local and visiting players, teams, spectators and support staff
• ignore alternative solutions within the Park's existing footprint that will reduce impact without excessive compromise
• reflect DLRCoCo's desire to reconfigure the Park unnecessarily in order to unlock extra funding from having a "regional" rather than "suburban park" designation

Yet a viable alternative to all these negative impacts, that still preserves the heart of the Park while delivering upgraded and additional facilities, is available if the existing GAA pitches adjacent to the Dublin/Bray Road are upgraded instead of current plans to remove one of these and replace it with a redundant "mock" entrance and duck pond (bizarrely next to a main road!). This along with improved facilities at Stonebridge and Woodbrook College, better facility management and scheduling will help alleviate the burden clubs are dealing with until more appropriately-located facilities become available such as in Cherrywood.  

Shanganagh Park cannot speak for itself but needs the support of the public and all who benefit from this spectacular amenity to help preserve it for a growing population and generations to come that will need #ParksNotPitches

*** Act Now ***

#SaveShanganaghPark

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SaveShanganaghPark

Twitter/X: www.x.com/SvShanganaghPk

GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/saveshanganaghpark

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Are you a sports club member intersted in supporting nature?

Get your club onboard with making space for nature - visit:
- Sports for Nature
- GAA Green Club Programme
- All-Ireland Pollinator Plan for Sports Clubs

And for more on the physical and mental health and well-being benefits of natural spaces, check out the articles below:

- https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/green-prescriptions-health-wellbeing/

- https://psychcentral.com/blog/10-ways-nature-helps-your-well-being

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For more, please see the "Updates" section...