The park is a community facility which everyone should feel safe in, however, due to a lack of facilities and resources the park has become unused by the vast majority of people in the evening. Over the last few months there have been a number of assaults and muggings in the park. The whole community should feel safe using the park. The park requires investment in order to improve the facilities and to allow everyone in the community to use it in the evening time. We want South Dublin County Council to improve the facilities in the park by investing in: - Proper lighting to increase community activity - More facilities and organised events such as exercise, yoga or running programmes - More facilities such as park benches and exercise equipment - More park rangers to ensure the park is used in a positive way

We have serious concerns about the safety of this junction as there is no traffic light system to enable safe crossing for pedestrians. This junction connects one of the most densely populated residential areas in the country with one of the busiest commercial and business districts in the country, yet there is no pedestrian crossing. There is a constant stream of people crossing in both directions around the clock, and the lack of pedestrian infrastructure makes it incredibly hazardous. The junction is currently prioritising only cars. Our community crosses the junction without the aid of a traffic light, which is unsafe and the act of crossing it every day is nerve-wracking and unpleasant - particularly for young children, for people with limited mobility, and for the elderly. We have witnessed too many near misses and accidents on this stretch of road, the latest, tragically, involved a fatality. This is a safety emergency that can no longer be ignored and requires immediate action.

Part of our climate change goals & ambitions.

The rezoning of Shanowen Road Lands from Z6 "Employment and Enterprise" to Z1 “Residential" by DCC without an actual local development plan for the area would be a disaster for our local community. Notwithstanding the complete lack of appropriate face to face local consultation on the redevelopment, there are a number of serious issues emerging around the redevelopment. This development will mean that already overburdened local infrastructure will come under severe strain – detailed proposals on mitigating the negative impact on roads and public transport (Metrolink project cited in the proposal is not yet funded or guaranteed) are all missing from the existing proposal. This development also fails to provide much needed community facilities, green spaces and guarantees on local employment that would be lost from the site. With a greatly increased local population, it is likely there will be issues with scarcity of childcare facilities, GP care and other essential services. On top of all of these issues, the proposed development will do little to address the shortage of social and affordable housing in Dublin North West. The planned rezoning from Z6 "Employment and Enterprise" to Z1 “Residential” may look good on the surface but, in truth, the development is likely to be a Strategic Housing Development, where the bulk of units developed will be built-to-rent, owned by private investors. We are not opposed to new homes, but we want to see quality public and genuinely affordable housing in our area, and it must be built sustainably, with the community in mind. For Santry/Whitehall to grow and thrive, it will take a different model of planning, to the developer-led process that this site is following. We call on all DCC Councillors to reject this proposed Rezoning.

The Limerick Greenway, which opened in July and cost €10M euros, is now the most successful greenway in Ireland with over 250K visitors already. The greenway traverses a green plain under Rooskagh Hill. This region has huge potential for tourism and could create a multiple of the estimated 200 jobs created in Mayo on the back of their fabulous greenway. It is similar in size to Limerick and visitor numbers are comparable. A dual carriageway through the plain and the greenway will stunt any further growth in amenities and jobs. We believe Limerick County Council; Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport have chosen it not because it is the best route to alleviate traffic congestion in and around Newcastle West but purely because they think that it is achievable in the time frame that they must spend the funds promised and also allows them to circumvent future restrictions from the EU in relation to climate control. We want to raise awareness of this flawed decision and try and reverse it before it is too late. The process to date has evolved side by side with the Covid pandemic and the authorities have been able to move swiftly without entertaining any real democratic questioning. Zoom calls with pre-prepared scripts has been the order of the day. The whole planning, implementation and engagement of this process has been rushed and expedited. Most local politicians appear to be repeating the same mantra as the council and there is a clear democratic deficit here. It is left up to ordinary citizens to voice their concern through the media and other channels such as this petition. https://www.facebook.com/protectlimerickgreenway [email protected]

The more young people who sign in support, the more we can pressure our decision makers to implement these demands.

82% of the Irish people support neutrality in all its aspects.

We need your support: Please sign the petition below! Finding it hard to sleep at night with light glare from street lighting coming into your bedroom? The County Council are going to be upgrading the current street lights in Cloughjordan village and will soon consult with the local community on the type of new lighting arrangements to install. This is your chance to have the kind of lighting you really want installed in your village. We aim to submit a letter to the County Council on behalf of people in the local community, to request that the Council: - Install lights with a warm (Amber) colour temperature with an upper limit of (no more than) 2700 kelvin. - Install light shields or hooded lights with more focused lighting, (thereby improving security by reducing glare through targeted lighting and reducing the impact of light pollution). Why are we making the above request? There is an opportunity here for Cloughjordan village to get smart, modern, high standard, well-designed lighting installed that reduces glare into our houses and bedrooms and yet still keeps our streets safe at night. The right kind of well-designed lighting can help reduce light pollution, helping to protect our health and that of the environment. The upper brightness limit we are asking for will be similar to the existing brightness level of the current sodium lighting on the main street but will have a softer effect as the new lighting will be LED, where 2700 kelvin is on the warmer scale of lighting. Also, if the lights are shielded, as we are requesting, the light is targeted to the ground where it is needed, and doesn’t get wasted in glare. This has been shown to improve security by eliminating the excessive glare that often ‘blinds’ people looking into overly bright street lighting. The truth is that better design equals better and safer lighting. Why be concerned about light pollution? Light pollution is Harmful for our health: Current scientific studies suggest that artificial light at night negatively affects human health by increasing our risks for sleep disorders, depression, diabetes and more. It is proven that artificial lights directly interrupt our circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock, running in the background to carry out essential functions whilst we sleep: the sleep-wake cycle. Some of these processes include brain wave patterns, hormone production, cell regulation, and other biologic activities. Disruption of the circadian clock is known to have a significant correlation to several medical disorders in humans including depression, insomnia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Light pollution is harmful to nature: Plants and Animals depend on earth’s daily light and dark cycle to govern life-sustaining behaviours. For hundreds of millions of years, the web of life on earth has been dependent on day and night, light and dark. Research shows that artificial light at night has adverse and even deadly effects on many species. Researchers have already identified harmful impacts on a huge array of species including bats, insects, plants, fish, turtles, marine corals and even primates. Overlighting wastes energy we can’t afford to waste: It is estimated that at least 20% of light is wasted by unshielded and/or poorly aimed outdoor lighting which is about 3 billion euros per years’ worth of energy lost in sky glow. As much as 50% of outdoor lighting globally is wasted, which increases greenhouse gas emissions, contributes to climate change, and renders us all energy-dependent. To offset all that carbon dioxide, we’d have to plant about 875 million trees annually!

As residents of Newbridge are aware the current infrastructure in Newbridge is negatively impacting our lives. A second bridge is vital to support the continued growth of housing and business in our town and funding must be put in place immediately to get this vital infrastructure completed as soon as possible. Our elected representatives must prioritise a second bridge for Newbridge as a matter of urgency.

For some years now, Fingal Council has shown very little interest in keeping a clean environment around the Broadmeadow Estuary catchment area. Volunteers in "Swords Pickers" were able to remove truck loads of dumped rubbish from Ward River Valley Park and Broadmeadow Estuary in the first half of 2021 alone. If something is not done to fundamentally correct this, plastic & other waste will continue to travel from the parkland in Swords, through the Estuary and out into the Irish Sea. Development of either the full size all-weather playing pitch and/or the Broadmeadow Greenway in 2021 will obviously add to the problem by multiplying volumes of human traffic.

Need to encourage more cycling and to improve and keep our present cyclists safe.

Seven months ago, our much loved postmistress, gave notice that she was to retire. An Post responded by putting a poster in the window looking for interested parties to take over the service. They did not advertise this in local or national press. Now, to our dismay, we have been informed that the post office will be closing on the 14th August 2021 . The Post Office service in Kinvara has been a hugely important hub of activity for many years and it continues to be a busy service. Kinvara Post Office is a core enterprise in this rural community and is responsible for the provision of vital financial services to the most vulnerable service users in our area. There is a agreement between An Post and the government that An Post must ensure that people continue to have access to financial services and are not financially excluded. One worrying result of this will be that our most vulnerable; older service users and those with physical or intellectual challenges, will now have to travel to Kilcolgan (8 km) or Gort (14.5 km) to draw their cash payments. There is also a serious lack of public transport in the area and people without cars are at a distinct disadvantage. Kinvara is a growing village and has many small businesses who both directly and indirectly benefit from the presence of our post office and the removal of this vital service will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on these businesses. We call on An Post and Minister Eamon Ryan to reissue the call for a postmaster in Kinvara and this time advertise it so that relevant interested parties can see it.