Council proposes turning underused green area into parking to tackle illegal dumping and fires in Dublin estate
Council officials have proposed turning an underused green area at the entrance of an estate into car parking spaces as part of moves to tackle persistent illegal dumping and rubbish fires.
Some residents in the Montpelier estate in Tallaght have stopped inviting family and friends to their homes because they are “embarrassed” by persistent illegal dumping and fires, a council meeting heard.
South Dublin councillors have condemned what was described as “organised dumping” at the entrance to Montpelier Estate in Tallaght where rubbish is being dumped and set alight on a “weekly basis”.
At a recent Tallaght area committee meeting, councillors called on South Dublin County Council to investigate the issue and examine options for permanently redesigning the recessed area at the entrance to the estate.
Speaking at the meeting, Sinn Féin councillor Louise Dunne described the dumping and fires as “absolutely shameful and disgraceful behaviour”.
“It’s a minority of the same people who are dumping their rubbish there illegally, but the majority of people that live in this estate are really good, hardworking people,” she said.
“Some of them [the residents] bought their house pre-crash, and are in negative equity and can’t move out of there because of how bad the estate and the area is.”
Cllr Dunne said some residents had told her they no longer invited family or friends to their homes because of the condition of the entrance.
“I’ve had residents tell me that they don’t even invite family or friends up anymore because of how embarrassed they are of the entrance into the estate,” she said.
People Before Profit councillor Kay Keane said the issue has been ongoing for years, with rubbish being dumped and fires being lit “on a weekly basis”.
“It’s absolutely disgraceful. It has an impact on all the residents in Montpelier and residents in other areas as well, depending on what way the wind’s blowing, the smoke blows all over the place,” she said.
“I know how residents feel because even somebody coming up to other parts of Jobstown on that side can see the rubbish, can see it burn, and can see it being constantly dumped. It’s gone to the stage now where there are certain delivery services, certain taxi drivers and other services that won’t go into the estate because they just don’t want to be involved.”
Independent councillor Patrick Pearse Holohan described the issue as “organised dumping” in front of the estate.
“So this is an ancient problem. It’s not people throwing out their sofas or throwing out rubbish bags and stuff like that. It seems like it’s kind of an organised dumping at the front of the housing estate,” he said.
“If this was happening somewhere beyond the M50, there would be demands made that something gets solved here,” he said.
The council acknowledged that the grass verge, which measures approximately 52 sq m, has been subject to “ongoing illegal dumping and deliberate fires”.
It added that CCTV and a “reverse register” of households not using a waste collection service were helping to identify people who may be involved in illegal dumping.
However, following an inspection of the site, the council said physical measures such as landscaping, raised planting beds and bollards would not, on their own, fully address the problem.
It also noted that vehicles are regularly being parked on footpaths and grass verges in the area and said the 52 sq m site could potentially be converted to accommodate linear parking.
Cllr Dunne welcomed the proposal to bring the area back into active use.
“I love the idea of the linear parking and bringing the area back into active use, because I think that if residents have their cars or any type of work vehicles parked in this spot, and someone from the estate dumps rubbish there, I think that the residents will start to police the area a little bit more,” she said.