Development plan · Dublin City Council
Dublin City Development Plan 2022–2028 – Volume 1: Written Statement (as varied by Variations Nos. 1–11)
The council's development plan written statement: its strategy, policies, objectives and development standards.
Dublin City Council · 2022–2028 · 696 pages
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- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 301 10.1 Introduction The city’s natural assets are an essential resource for conserving biodiversity and for creating a healthy, low carbon, resilient and connected city. They include our parks, open spaces, landscapes, watercourses, coastline and urban tree canopy, some of which have international importance for biodiversity and provide crucial ecosystem services, including flood defences and carbon sequestration. They benefit urban well-being, are an essential part of making healthy places and bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change. Protecting and enhancing the quality of Dublin City’s natural assets and ensuring green, sustainable and climate resilient development will be central to ensuring the liveability of the city and its attractiveness as a place to live, work and visit into the future. The Environmental Protection Agency has highlighted in its State of the Environment Report18 the challenges we are facing in Ireland. Aspects of the Irish environment including climate, air, soil and water are not meeting prescribed targets with ecosystems and biodiversity being eroded on an unprecedented scale. The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 calls upon cities of the European Union to address biodiversity loss by restoring ecosystems. The UN Decade of Restoration was announced in June 2021. This requires a commitment from cities to increase the percentage of restored and naturalised areas on public land at the city level. In this respect, it is important to develop a proactive green infrastructure strategy for the city which will balance the need of the city to grow and consolidate with the need to protect and enhance vulnerable natural assets. As part of a green infrastructure approach, the City Council will seek more urban greening, healthy placemaking and development which works with nature in order to lessen the impacts of climate change, improve air and water quality, provide effective flood management, encourage walking, cycling and physical activity generally and also to protect and improve biodiversity and ecological resilience. 10.2 Achievements The city’s Parks, Biodiversity and Landscape Services Division, continues to plan, design, maintain, and manage the city’s parks and open space resources to best serve the recreational, cultural, economic, environmental and social needs of the city. The first Dublin City Parks Strategy was published in 2019. Year on year, the city continues to achieve Green Flag awards for a number of city parks – including 11 Green Flag awards in 2020. These awards are an international benchmarking standard for parks and open space judged on horticultural standards, biodiversity, cleanliness, sustainability and community involvement. The 2020/1 Covid 19 crisis highlighted the value of our parks as safe places for exercise and social interaction. 18 Ireland's Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020. EPA (2020)
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 302 The challenges associated with green infrastructure deficits, particularly within the city centre, are being tackled in recent years through the implementation of area-based greening strategies. The first greening strategy commenced in 2015 in The Liberties and, since then, two more have followed: North-East Inner City (NEIC) and Stoneybatter. To date, in the Liberties, new public parks have been developed - Bridgefoot Street Park (10,000 sq. m.) and Weaver Park (4,000 sq. m.) - and most of the historic parks in that area have been refurbished. Within the NEIC since its launch in 2019, the quantum of trees has increased by 20%. Through the Stoneybatter Greening Strategy, a co-design process has led the community to suggest 40 greening projects for the area. Dublin City Council has prepared a Dublin City Habitat Map (2020), based on a comprehensive database of the habitats of the entire City, to inform and monitor planning and development. This has identified what types of habitats are found in the City, their locations, connectivity and importance. Dublin City Council was one of the first local authorities in the Republic of Ireland to sign up to the ‘All Ireland Pollinator Plan’ (2015-2020), following on from initiatives over the previous ten years to create wildflower meadows. This has been supported by the gradual ‘wilding’ of parks, road verges and graveyards in order to provide habitat and food for insects and pollinators and through significant changes to planting schemes, which are now comprised of 80% of pollinator-friendly plants, changes in mowing cycles and the elimination of glyphosates from green space management. This work has been brought to the public’s attention through information campaigns and signage with the ‘Leave Them Bee’ tagline. The development of the Metropolitan Greenway Network connecting Dublin Bay to the wider region / Dublin Mountains is progressing through the city. The completion of Phase 3 of the Royal Canal Greenway (Dublin City Section), the Dodder Greenway and the Clontarf to City Centre Greenway are currently progressing to construction. Phase 4 of the Royal Canal Greenway is currently being planned. Across the city, the City Council provides a wide range of sporting, leisure and community services that supports communities to stay active and exercise in a safe, positive and accessible manner. Achievements include new/upgraded tennis courts at Bushy Park, St. Anne’s Park, Herbert Park, Rockfield Park, Artane and Courtlands and Whitehall; all-weather pitches and/or astro training surfaces at St. Anne’s Park, Bluebell, Kilbarrack, Rockfield Park, Clongriffin, Brickfields Park, Drimnagh, Donaghmede Park, Hertzog Park and Rathgar; new changing rooms have been provided/upgraded at Tolka River Valley Park, Finglas; Santry River Valley Park, Springdale; Poppintree Park, Ballymun, Markievicz Park and Ballyfermot. To encourage physical activity, the Council has provided new outdoor gyms at multiple locations around the city. These facilities and others represent a significant investment in local parks and provide first class facilities that benefit local communities.
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 303 The Dublin City Sport & Wellbeing Partnership (DCSWP) see Dublin City Sport & Wellbeing Partnership, led by Dublin City Council, was established to enable people living and working in the city to participate and engage in sport and physical activity to improve their health and wellbeing. The Partnership works with stakeholders to facilitate sport and physical activity to the city’s communities through the development and implementation of programmes, services and facilities across various demographics. DCSWP was pivotal in cultivating a relationship with parkrun Ireland that now sees the majority of Dublin City’s primary parks utilised every Saturday morning for adult and junior/family park runs. In making the city more child friendly, new public playgrounds have been completed at Kilbarrack, Sean Moore Park, Sandymount, Le Fanu Park, Ballyfermot, Edenmore Park and Weaver Park, where there was an identified deficit of play facilities in the City Parks Strategy 2019-2022. Many other of the 65 playgrounds in public parks have also been substantially refurbished and improved for universal access and an annual programme of renewal is ongoing. A new skate park and playground at Le Fanu Park, Ballyfermot is a particular highlight and success. 10.3 Challenges The main challenges for protecting, developing and managing the City’s green infrastructure are: ▪ Mitigating and adapting to climate change: Specific challenges of climate change for Dublin City are examined in the Dublin City Climate Action Plan 2019 and include: decreased biodiversity, impacts of increased flooding, rising temperatures, increasingly higher sea levels, “urban heat island” effects and increases in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Dublin City must restore and protect its natural habitats, particularly wetlands and woodlands, so as to reduce its carbon emissions and to increase resilience to the effects of climate change, such as coastal and river flooding. ▪ Addressing biodiversity loss in the city: In 2019 Dáil Éireann declared a national biodiversity crisis. Ireland’s 6th National Report to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (2019)19 called for a transformational change to conserve and restore biodiversity nationally and at EU and a global level. Ireland’s National Biodiversity Action Plan (2017-2021)20 requires that there is no net loss of biodiversity through the implementation of plans and projects. 19 DCHG (2019) Ireland’s 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. https://www.cbd.int/doc/nr/nr-06/ienr-06-en.pdf 20 Dept. of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (2017) National Biodiversity Action Plan (2017-2021).
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 304 ▪ Getting people living and working in the city to be physically active: Ensuring the city facilitates, promotes and supports physical activity in line with the National Physical Activity Plan for Ireland 2016, the Sport Ireland Participation Plan 2021 – 2024 and the Active Cities Project. ▪ Addressing historic green space deficits in the city centre and in other parts of the city: Retrofitting green infrastructure into existing built up areas to ensure that our densest urban areas support community access to quality public space and the benefits of green infrastructure. ▪ Restoring the city’s rivers: Ensuring the city’s rivers attain ‘good ecological status’ in line with the EU Water Framework Directive and providing space for the natural functions of rivers. ▪ Addressing high levels of soil sealing / impermeable surfaces in the city: Retrofitting nature based solutions including sustainable drainage systems (SuDs) into the city and the public realm. ▪ Preventing the loss of existing mature trees: There is an ongoing difficulty in retention of existing trees on both public and private lands, due to impacts of development. 10.4 The Strategic Approach In helping to achieve a healthy, green, connected city and more sustainable neighbourhoods in line with the core strategy of this plan, the following strategic approach will be pursued: ▪ Creating a climate resilient city by deploying urban greening / nature based solutions to ensure the benefits of ecosystem services 21 are realised within the city. These include green roofs and the planting of suitable tree species in suitable locations as part of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS); constructed wetlands to improve water quality and prevent flash flooding; increased biodiversity; more tree canopy cover to regulate urban heat, improve air quality and provide shade; and corridors for movement of wildlife within the city. ▪ Providing a network of multifunctional green spaces / urban green spaces which can secure a spectrum of environmental, social, and economic benefits for the city thereby, contributing to urban sustainability, climate resilience and providing a good quality of life for people. ▪ Providing opportunities for people to get active and lead healthier lifestyles by increasing access to facilities and nature, and by designing spaces / places that enable / encourage active travel, play and physical activity while protecting the environment. 21 Ecosystem Services are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human wellbeing. There are four main types: provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services, see Table 10.1.
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 305 ▪ Creating and reinforcing a climate resilient and robust Urban Forest by planting the right trees in the right locations and by increasing the diversity of species, provenances and age classes. Preservation of mature trees and planting more street trees which will provide wildlife corridors through the most urbanised areas, linking habitats together while providing benefits to people. 10.5 Policies and Objectives 10.5.1 Green Infrastructure Green infrastructure has a critically important role to play in making Dublin a climate resilient, healthy and green city. Green infrastructure (GI) can be defined as an interconnected network of green space (or blue in the case of water features) that conserves natural ecosystem values and functions and provides associated benefits to human populations22. These benefits can be described as ecosystem services and can change over time, and may be potential or realised, depending on human needs. A green infrastructure approach to planning takes into account nature conservation values and actions in concert with land development, growth management and built infrastructure planning. The city’s green and blue spaces include the coast, parks, rivers, canals, open space areas, public squares, and tree lined streets and increasingly nature based infrastructure such as wetlands in parks, rain gardens in the public realm and green roofs and green walls on buildings. These GI elements perform multiple functions to deliver a wealth of social, environmental and economic benefits to the city (see Table 10.1): 22 Benedict, Mark A., and Edward T. McMahon. Green infrastructure: linking landscapes and communities. Island Press, 2006.
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 306 Table 10-1: Examples of Ecosystem Services Provision FUNCTIONS BENEFITS Provisioning services Through pollination. Supporting food production, crops. Through urban food production and community gardens. Support sustainable and local food production. Regulating services Providing for climate regulation by sequestering and storing carbon in soil, trees etc. Mitigating and adapting the natural and built environment to climate change. Reducing / slowing down rainwater run-off into our rivers and surface water system and retaining pollutants from entering watercourses Improving water quality / flood retention. Providing naturally occurring green infrastructure along the coast to help manage coastal flooding. Supporting coastal storm protection sequester pollutants and carbon. Filtering air pollutants as vegetation absorbs and removes particulates. Improving air quality. Supporting services Increasing the amount and quality of habitats and by providing better connected habitats. Supporting resilient ecosystems and biodiversity. Cultural services Enhancing the city’s character and its natural, cultural and heritage elements and by providing places that give a sense of place. Providing appealing places in which to live / work / invest / visit. Providing safe, easily accessible well designed green and civic spaces and streets for social interaction and spaces for recreation at a range of scales and functions. Space for physical activity and opportunities for social interaction benefiting people’s health and improving their sense of wellbeing. Providing networks for sustainable travel modes such as cycle routes and paths between spaces and urban centres. Enabling active travel and access to nature.
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 307 Figure 10-1: Existing Strategic Green and Blue Network in Dublin City
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 308 The city’s existing strategic green and blue network shown on Figure 10-1 comprises: (a) Core Areas – Dublin Bay and the Phoenix Park - which are the nuclei of the network and provide essential habitat for sensitive species; (b) Hubs – parks and open spaces - which buffer the core areas, and are made of the largest, least fragmented continuous natural and semi natural spaces, and, (c) Corridors such as the city’s rivers and canals and increasingly our streets and public realm which are vital to maintain connectivity of habitats in the landscape and provide for animal movement, seed and pollen dispersal, and plant migration. As the city grows and consolidates, a co-ordinated and managed network of multifunctional green spaces linked to the wider regional GI network (as per RPO 7.23 of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2019), will be required to ensure ecosystem functions are maintained and enhanced. Existing and new developments, streets and the public realm will need to retain natural habitats and existing trees where feasible and also to include increased provision of urban greening features including green roofs, walls and nature based solutions, including sustainable drainage systems (SuDs). The preparation of a city wide GI Strategy, an action of the DCC Climate Change Action Plan, will strengthen the city’s existing spatial strategic network and will identify strategic opportunities / projects, including for urban place-making and recreational and tourism benefits, for areas of the city such as along the Canals, including the area between Blackhorse on the Grand Canal and the city’s boundary with South Dublin County Council. Green Infrastructure will be delivered through the Development Management process, the planning and development of new growth areas in the city, through LAPs/Planning Schemes, through City Council Greening and Public Realm Strategies (existing and those to be developed) and through public infrastructural projects. It is the Policy of Dublin City Council: GI1 Green Infrastructure Assets To identify and protect the integrity of the city’s GI assets, as appropriate, and to enhance and expand the connectivity, multi-functionality, and accessibility of the city’s green infrastructure network, while addressing gaps in the network.
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 309 It is the Policy of Dublin City Council: GI2 Connectivity To develop an interconnected green infrastructure network of strategic natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features including green spaces, rivers, canals, the coastal and marine area and other physical features including streets and civic spaces that supports ecological, wildlife, and social connectivity. GI3 Multi-functionality (GI) To ensure delivery of multifunctional green and civic spaces that meet community needs, support biodiversity, promote active and passive recreation, flood and surface water management and local habitat improvements. The multi-functionality of spaces will be balanced against the need to protect and enhance local habitat and the recreational and functional requirements of parks. GI4 Accessibility To ensure universal design for access for all to the green infrastructure network. Priority of access is to be given to pedestrians over all other users. In line with the Parks Strategy, access to facilities and to public parks and open spaces will be provided equally to all citizens and inequalities of access shall be identified and addressed. GI5 Greening of Public Realm / Streets To integrate urban greening features including nature based solutions into the existing public realm where feasible and into the design of public realm projects for civic spaces and streets. The installation of living green walls will be encouraged to the fullest possible extent throughout the city of Dublin and tree pits with mixed planting will be preferred for the greening of streets in recognition of the co-benefits they offer for SuDs, biodiversity, amenity value and traffic calming. GI6 New Development / New Growth Areas To integrate Green Infrastructure and an ecosystem services approach into new developments / new growth areas in the city that contributes to the city’s green infrastructure network by its extension and enhancement and that provides for the environmental resilience of new development.
- Green Infrastructure and Recreation | Chapter 10 310 It is the Policy of Dublin City Council: GI7 Connecting Greening Elements in Site Design To avoid the fragmentation of green spaces in site design and to link green spaces /greening elements to existing adjacent green infrastructure / the public realm where feasible and to provide for ecological functions. GI8 Metropolitan Greenways To support the development of Metropolitan Greenways connecting Dublin Bay to regional and national greenway projects, subject to careful routing and design to ensure ecological functions are maintained and existing biodiversity and heritage is protected and enhanced. The delivery of Metropolitan Greenways is identified in the National Planning Framework as one of the key enablers for the growth of Dublin City. It is an Objective of Dublin City Council: GIO1 Green Roof Guidance Document (2021) The use of green / blue roofs in developments will be in accordance with the requirements of the Dublin City Council Green and Blue Roof Guide Document (2021), see Appendix 11. GIO2 Preparation of a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Dublin City To prepare a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Dublin City that will include a newly developed set of green micro areas. GIO3 Current and Future Greening Strategies To expand the preparation and implementation of urban greening strategies, with particular focus on key streets in the city area between the Royal and Grand Canals. To support the implementation of the: ‘Liberties Greening Strategy’ (2015), the ‘North East Inner City Greening Strategy’ (2018) and the ‘Stoneybatter Green Strategy’ (2021) and to implement the greening strategies in the Council’s Public Realm Strategies programme. GIO4 Engage with Community To engage with and involve corporate volunteers, landowners and relevant agencies to support their communities in the development and delivery of green infrastructure programmes.
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