Calls to replace village seating with universally accessible alternatives

“We know it needs improvements.”

The seating in Rathfarnham Village is to be amended to become universally accessible after calls were made to improve the quality of seating available.

Concerns have been raised about the quality of seating in Rathfarnham Village and calls have been made to remove the current options and replace them with universally accessible alternatives.

Councillors noted the lack of accessibility that the current seats in the village provide and also complained about the littering the temporary seating has been linked to.

Councillor Yvonne Collins had asked the council for something similar to the seating on Capel Street in Dublin City.

South Dublin County Council stated seating on Capel Street does not provide an outdoor dining option, which is one of the aspects of the Rathfarnham seating.

The local authority noted that this was agreed with councillors at a meeting in the summer, but Councillor Yvonne Collins felt that a table such as one in the village is unnecessary.

Cllr Collins said: “The problem when you have the picnic table there is that people are eating, leaving their rubbish and then going.

“So, I’m wondering if we could have a better use of space in the village and even, you know, if you could sort of an old-fashioned park bench type…

“I do appreciate that this is all temporary pending the overall plan with Rathfarnham Castle that’s coming down the line, but it’s so unsightly at the moment and we’ve had so many complaints about it.”

SDCC Roads Department Senior Engineer Gary Walsh said that the council put in the temporary seating initially as a way to change how Rathfarnham Village is used by the public.

The Senior Engineer noted that discussions about moving bins nearer to the seating to lessen the litter issue have taken place with the council’s Public Realm section.

Walsh called for patience with the council’s work and pleaded with councillors to “stay the course.”

He said: “We want to change out the tables for universally accessible tables, get something a little bit nicer looking, we want to get it planted up.

“But I would say to the councillors here, let’s just stay the course. Give it ‘til the summertime, when we have it planted, when we have the right tables in, let’s see what we all think about it then…

“…Let’s not give up on it just yet.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.