My second motion at this month’s (18th April) Municipal District meeting, ‘In light of the failure of large swathes of the green area in Dara Park to recover and thrive, that the council reassess the landscaping works carried out at Dara Park after the Flood Alleviation Scheme works and clarify the following: how much the landscaping contract was worth separate to the flood alleviation scheme works; how the landscaping contractors were selected; and when the snag list requested by local residents is to be completed.

Report: See item 19.

No 19.Motion – Councillor S Power

That the council confirm that all works recently undertaken on behalf of the council at Dara Park have been completed to the satisfaction of the council and if an indication could be given as to what other works (environmental, footpaths, flood prevention) are planned for the area.

Report: Dara Park Surface Water Scheme

The aim of the scheme was to provide protection to the many properties that were affected by flooding on a regular basis. To do this, a new surface water network was constructed, and additional storage areas for extreme flooding were created. The scheme is now operational and working to the satisfaction of the council, as proven on the 22 November, where despite a blockage to the outfall, no properties were flooding by surface water.

Kildare County Council can now issue letters of comfort to the residents stating that the scheme offers protection for up to a 1% Annual Exceedence Probability event (equivalent to a 1 in 100 year storm). This is the standard required by insurers.

• A substantial amount of additional works were carried out by the main Contractor including:
• Landscaping plan (as presented and agreed by the Residents Association, April 4th 2016).(Construction of the plan represents approx 10% of total contract value).(The overall total in respect of works on the site is €255,000 .)
• 410 metres of additional land drainage in the detention basin and north of the lake to remove existing ponding and create additional usable park land
• Tarmacadaming of the paved area at the entrance to the estate
• Cleaning of the lake and covering the existing outfall with a steel grid

There were also a number of additional items added to the contract, as a result of requests from the Residents Associations. These included:

• 170 metres of additional footpaths
• Removal of the boulders from the boundaries of the green areas
• Topsoiling of the old tennis courts
• Repairing of walls damaged by previous works
• Construction of additional gullies to drain existing footpaths

A snag list was issued by the design consultant (which also included all issues raised by the Residents Associations at their site meeting with Directors of Services and Consulting Engineer on Thursday 18th May 2017). The only relevant outstanding item on the snag list refers to the trees planted by the Residents Associations adjacent to the Resource Centre which will require replanting, as they have been planted in close proximity to the new surface water pipeline and may compromise the network as they grow. These works will be carried out by Kildare County Council in the autumn.

As the purpose of the scheme was to resolve the surface water flooding affecting properties no further flood alleviation works in the area are required.

A final landscaping walkover was carried out by an independent landscape consultant on July 10 2017, who recommended that the works be monitored over a 12 month period to assess the success of the landscaping. Given the severe weather which occurred in February and March of this year and the very poor growing season to date, the assessment of the landscaping will continue to July 2018. The areas in question will continue to be monitored.

Report Issued by: Ms E Wright, Senior Executive Officer, Roads Transportation and Public Safety Section.