A GROUP OF locals who help maintain a Green Flag winning park in Tallaght is campaigning against the building of apartments they say will hurt their efforts in the community.

The plans are for an area attached to Sean Walsh Park and would see a total of 81 new one or two-bedroom apartments that the council says are specially designed for older persons.

The public park is located beside Tallaght Stadium and across the main road from The Square shopping centre. 

Earlier this year, the park was awarded a Green Flag for its standards in cleanliness, horticulture and recreation.

A local group called the Tallaght Litter Mugs has been active in cleaning the park and says that the new development will hurt its efforts because a depot on the site will be moved to make way for the apartments. 

The council says the depot will be moved to an existing depot in Tymon Park, a short drive away. 

In a petition set up to help with their efforts, the Tallaght Litter Mugs group says the depot is one of a number of reasons why they are opposed to the plan.

“We do not want to lose the SDCC depot as this will severely erode the ability to maintain the high standards within the park, thereby threatening our Green Flag status,” the group states.

Tallaght Litter Mugs also says that the plans will see the removal of a “socially inclusive community garden” and could spread an invasive knotweed found at the site by way of the Whitestown Stream which runs alongside the site.

An Ecological Impact Assessment noted that knotweed was found at the site and said that it must be “removed and treated ahead of construction work”.

The plans will also see the removal of a small house and garden that is used by the caretaker of the depot that been used the house farmyard animals and has become a kind of local amenity.  

The group also opposes the plans on the basis that the site is not appropriate to house old people given its proximity to Tallaght Stadium, something the group refers to as “extremely poor planning”.

A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council previously told Echo.ie that the proposed housing scheme has been planned with the aim of alleviating some of the pressure on the housing list.

Local councillor Pamela Kearns told TheJournal.ie that the councillors have been assured that the depot moving from the site to Tymon Park will not hurt cleanup efforts.

Kearns says that the site is not actually part of the public park and that the site is relatively small compared to the wider Sean Walsh Park.

“You can’t keep saying that housing is needed and then object to each development that comes along,” she added.

Councillor Mick Duff also says he is confident that the depot in Tymon Park will be sufficient to collect the green waste from Sean Walsh Park.

“It’s an emotive issue when you hear people saying things like ‘Save our Park’ and ‘Don’t Build on our Park’, but the reality is that the park is untouched,” Duff says.