Tandy’s Lane Park is one of the two new parks
(Image from SDCC website)
Call for more Park Rangers to monitor amenities of the areas
There are no plans to increase the number of Park Rangers in the Lucan area, despite two new parks opening and a third “currently in planning”.
There were calls for South Dublin County Council (SDCC) to “to consider the need for increased park ranger resources to ensure these amenities are properly maintained, monitored and supported”.
A motion from Cllr Liona O’Toole (Ind) at the Lucan/Palmerstown/North Clondalkin Area Committee meeting on June 24 asked the council to acknowledge “the significant growth in the Lucan area, including the development of two new public parks and a third currently in planning”.
Cllr O’Toole also highlighted the “importance of aligning operational resources with the expanding demands of a growing community and park network”.
“It’s only fair that we look at the staffing resources and that they grow in line with the development growth in the area,” she said.
In his written response to Cllr O’Toole, SDCC Park Superintendent David Fennell said that “while there are no current proposals to increase the number of Park Rangers in the LPNC area, the distribution and assignment of Parks Rangers in the county will be reviewed in the context of additional parks and open spaces that have been taken in charge or will be taken in charge in the future”.
The principal duty of the four Park Rangers operating in Adamstown is the “enforcement of the park bye-laws”, the reply continued.
“Adamstown is listed in the areas they patrol, and this includes the two new parks which are Airlie Park and Tandy’s Lane Park.
“Park Rangers do not have a role in the maintenance of parks.”
However, a senior council official at the June meeting agreed that “in a growing county with a growing number of parks . . . we do need more Park Rangers, and we will be looking to address that in the budget we hope”.
When asked by Cllr Joanne Tuffy (Lab) what the “optimum number of Park Rangers would be”, he stated that while he couldn’t “answer Cllr Tuffy directly” but that the hope was to increase the number from 14 currently to 16 or 18.
“I can’t make any commitment, but we’ll be pursuing that through the budget discussions,” he added.
