Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, Leo Varadkar, has called on Fingal County Council review its pilot ‘Growing Places’ policy under which a large number of open spaces and green areas are being allowed to grow wild. The policy is supposed to encourage greater biodiversity by allowing weed and wild flower to grow which in turn attract birds and insects like butterflies and ladybirds.

‘I have received a large number of complaints from residents in recent days about the council’s decision not cut the grass on open space and woodland areas in Dublin 15. In some places like Delwood, residents are particularly aggrieved as they can no long use their local park to play to football or other ball games. In other areas, residents are concerned about vermin and find the uncut areas to be unsightly.’

‘I can see the case for trying this out around woodlands or on a relatively small part of a large open space but I do not think that whole parks should be allow to go wild in this way. I am calling on the council to review its policy and scale back the areas affected’

List of areas affected in Dublin 15:

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Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, Leo Varadkar, has given a guarded welcome to plans from Dublin Bus to re-organise the bus routes around Dublin 15. The changes are planned for implementation in July and form part of Dublin Bus’ cost-cutting and rationalisation plan.

Among the changes are:

• The 37 bus will now terminate at Wilton Terrace providing a direct bus service from Clonsilla, Carpenterstown and Castleknock through town to St Stephens Green and the Luas;
• The 70 bus will serve Dunboyne and Clonee and will travel straight down the N3 without going into Blanchardstown Centre and the Village;
• The various 39 bus routes will be merged in to two routes one will be more direct and other more frequent but more circuitous;
• The badly served area around Latchford and Manorfields will now be on the 39 bus route; and
• The 39 and 70 will cross town terminating at Wilton Terrace

All 38 buses will serve Castlecurragh (they won’t go through Mulhuddart Village anymore) and will run as far as UCD

There will be greater use of existing bus lanes and less routes and roads that have no bus lanes
Bus services will run seven days a week

‘The new bus route map and timetable will be welcomed by many commuters in Dublin 15 especially those who work in the southern part of the city around St Stephen’s Green, Merrion Square and the Grand Canal. . Residents of Clonee will welcome a more direct bus service to town but won’t be happy that they are being cut off from the Blanchardstown Centre. Some people are definitely going to have to work farther to catch the bus that they want.’

‘It seems that Dublin 15 is avoiding most of the cuts to services in other parts of the city but it is hard to see how a better service can be provided with ninety fewer buses in operation across the city. I believe the time has come to allow private operators to take over some of the routes currently controlled by Dublin Bus. This would allow Dublin Bus to provide a better and more frequent service on the routes they retain. It’s a shame to see so many buses, public and private, not been used. I would still like to see the 37 terminate at the Blanchardstown Centre in order provide a direct bus service to the Centre for residents of Castleknock and Carpenterstown’

On Monday, March 1st I will be hosting a public meeting in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown at 8pm.

One of the key priorities for Fine Gael in Dublin West, and for me since my election in 2007 has been the proper regulation of Residential Management Companies. I am one of the few TDs who lives in a Management Company development, so I have a personal interest in it too. Despite the explosion of the number of apartment complexes over the past decade, especially in Dublin 15, there is no proper legislation or regulations which govern these companies.

For more details on the Bill, I have set up a set on this site giving more details and seeking your feedback.

Earlier this year, Fingal County Council approved an application for work to be carried out on a triangle of land between the Clonsilla Road and the Clonsilla Link Road. This involves developing a mixed use residential and neighbourhood center which includes 2,3,4 and 5 storey apartment blocks and retail outlets. In common with many of the residents in the area, I have considerable concerns about this development which has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala by the Portersgate Residents Association. Therefore, myself and the local Fine Gael councilor Kieran Dennison made a submission in support of the appeal, the text of which can be accessed below.
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Kieran Dennison

The long awaited pay and display parking scheme for Clonsilla Railway Station has been shelved by the Council because of a lack of funds. The scheme was designed to regularise commuter parking in the vicinity of the railway station and relieve congestion in the nearby Portersgate Estate.

Former Chairman of Portersgate Residents Association and now Fine Gael local election candidate Kieran Dennison is fuming over the decision and blames inaction by local councillors. “This is a very big let down for the local residents, commuters and all who have campaigned to regularise the parking in the area. The council have already spent a fortune of public money on consultants in drawing up this scheme and we were assured that the funding was ring fenced.” In a newsletter last October I reported that the scheme was to go to tender by the end of the year but warned that ‘cutbacks in expenditure could significantly delay the project’. It’s unbelievable that it should be shelved only two months after councillors adopted their €270m budget for 2009. This project would only represent 0.2% of that. Last April Community Voice revealed that the council spends over €85,000 each year on providing senior staff with a daily newspaper. Like every other citizen I would like some idea what the other millions are spent on.” …[more]

Adeola Ogunsina, who is one of the two Fine Gael candidates in the Mulhuddart Ward (along with Kieran Dennison) has launched his own website.

My colleague Cllr. Eithne Loftus has been distributing the attached ,leaflet throughout the Blanchardstown, Clonsilla and Castleknock area providing an update of our ongoing work. The leaflet deals with a number of important issues including;

1) The Porterstown/Kellystown Rezoning and our upcoming public meeting on the subject (Tuesday , May 13th 8pm @ Diswellstown Community Centre);

2) Traffic issues in the area;

3) Information on the €3m Fingal County Council works programme for Castleknock, Blanchardstown and Clonsilla;

4) The easing of the schools crisis, amongst other issues.

The document can be downloaded here.

On Thursday 3rd April I highlighted in the Dail that the Dept. of Education has not honoured it’s commitment to three schools in Dublin 15.

Full Dail transcript below:

3 April 2008

Deputy Leo Varadkar: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this issue. Everyone who follows the news will be familiar with the problems being experienced in rapidly developing parts of Dublin and other cities where the provision of school facilities has fallen behind the rapid increase in population. …[more]

Leo Varadkar TD, Fine Gael representative for Dublin West has accused the Minister of Education and Science, Mary Hannifin of misleading the Dail and residents of Clonsilla about plans to provide a new school building for St Mochta’s National School in Clonsilla.  Last week, Minister of State Pat Carey, representing the government in an adjournment debate specifically stated that the proposed new school building had gone to ‘architectural planning stage.’  This is not true.  On Wednesday night, Deputy Varadkar challenged Minister Hannifin on this very issue.  She refused to answer the question.

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Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar TD has welcomed a decision by Fingal County Council to refuse planning permission to Aldi Stores (Ireland) Limited to build a 1,610 m2 supermarket and six apartment blocks on a 1.46 hectare site in Clonsilla Village. Deputy Varadkar along with Cllr Eithne Loftus objected to the planning application and held a public meeting in Clonsilla on the issue last month. …[more]