Outstanding work/Work outstanding!
To all 2,048 of you who have signed this petition so far, a sincere THANK YOU!
Your support has helped raise the profile of the #SaveShanganaghPark campaign and our community-backed efforts to improve these deeply-flawed plans from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council that in their current state will only damage Shanganagh Park, its natural character and status as a Locally Important Biodiversity Site, and the communities it serves who have a variety of needs and wants.
But your signing the petition is unfortunately only half the task!
While Councillors and TDs are well advised to take note of the petition and the support it has generated if they wish to secure public votes come election time, Council planners will only be concerned with OFFICIAL SUBMISSIONS made between 06 April 2023 and 22 May 2023 (the current Part 8 statutory period).
So even if you made an official submission as part of previous consultation periods in 2019, 2022 and Jan 2023, IT WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED!
So what can I do?
ACTION REQUIRED: No later than 5pm on Monday 22 May, please make a formal submission via https://dlrcoco.citizenspace.com/parks/parks-shanganagh23-proposed-sports-area/
It’s free, easy and can be as short or as long as you like.
If time is tight, you can just email parksconsultations@dlrcoco.ie - and use/adapt the suggested text as follows if required (we recommend you get a delivery and read receipt also!):
*****
Subject: Proposed Development at Shanganagh Park (Phase 1) PC/PKS/01/23
Dear Parks Department,
I OPPOSE the current plans for Shanganagh Park and request that the Council respect community wishes and stakeholder feedback by:
- Avoiding any development of sports facilities in the central field covered by these plans due to identified but inadequately remedied and significant issues including traffic management, the area’s importance for accessible passive recreation, mental health and well being outside of sport participation, habitat preservation and natural character of an open green space managed for biodiversity
- Upgrading existing facilities in Shanganagh Park, Stonebridge, Shanganagh Cliffs, Woodbrook College etc. to improve playability
- Developing a revised Masterplan for Shanganagh Park given the current 2019 Masterplan has been overtaken by events since Covid and rendered obsolete
- Undertaking an Environmental Impact Assessment for any future plans and taking into account the cumulative negative impacts of large scale/high-density housing developments in the area and increasing loss of habitat and biodiversity
- Exploring opportunities to purchase land and expand the park footprint
The solutions proposed by the Council are inadequate, failing to recognise the Park and surrounding community’s ability to absorb such an increase in sports infrastructure and future users, and do not take into account the Park’s principle role as an urban protected haven for nature in the first instance and as a public amenity for all to enjoy and not damaged further by an ever expanding sports footprint while the natural footprint contracts to unsustainable levels in a climate and biodiversity emergency.
Please confirm receipt of the above.
Yours sincerely,
<<insert name and address>>
*****
The Council will likely only consider one submission per email address but if you are in a household of four and each person has an email address, please make four individual submissions - the sports clubs are asking their members to make submissions so we need to generate as many individual submissions as possible in the week ahead so please encourage your networks - family, relatives, friends, teammates, club, community groups, colleagues and anyone else - to make an official submission before the deadline on 22 May.
Once an official submission is made, we’re very happy for them to take another step and sign and share the www.change.org/SaveShanganaghPark petition!
Much appreciated and let’s have a final week’s push to generate official submissions and #SaveShanganaghPark