Council unveils plans for Fingal’s Outdoor Summer

With the Government and NPHET urging people to “Think Safe, Think Outdoors” over the coming months, Fingal County Council has revealed its plans for an Outdoor Summer.

At tonight’s monthly meeting of the Council, councillors were given a presentation which detailed how, from the June Bank Holiday Weekend, the public will be able to safely access the public realm in some of the county’s major towns.

Councillors were also briefed on the supports being put in place to facilitate Outdoor Dining with areas in Swords, Blanchardstown, Skerries and Malahide, which have clusters of dining businesses, identified as locations that would benefit from special activation measures to support the hospitality sector.

This will see New Street in Malahide being pedestrianised from June 6 and a walkway being introduced on Harbour Road in Skerries as part of a redesign of how people move through the area. Outdoor dining areas are also being established on Main Street, Swords, and Main Street, Blanchardstown.

Public Information Leaflets outlining the measures for Swords, Skerries and Malahide will be distributed to all households in those areas from tomorrow (Tuesday) with residents being asked to complete a survey on the proposals at consult.fingal.ie as part of a non-statutory public consultation that is open until May 21.

Outdoor Dining will also be facilitated in other parts of those towns as well as in other towns and villages across the county, such as Balbriggan and Howth, through the issuing of licences, grants for outdoor dining furniture and a Parklet Partners scheme. Further information is available at www.fingal.ie/outdoordiningsupports .

The public realm measures will also include additional litter bins, public toilets and public benches as well as additional staff resources in key areas of the county and changes to the county’s Casual Trading Byelaws.

Toilets in libraries in Malahide, Blanchardstown and Balbriggan will also be opened to the public. The Council has installed upgraded toilet facilities, including Changing Places Units in Millenium Park and at Newbridge Demesne playground. The installation of similar facilities is scheduled for Santry Demesne and Ardgillen Demesne.

There will also be additional measures to promote Active Travel with an extension of the Bleeper Bikes scheme and the provision of additional bike parking facilities.

Councillors also agreed to a motion proposed by the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr David Healy, which was:

“That this Council makes provision for an Outdoor Summer in line with public health advice in order for the needs of the Fingal and wider community during the coming months and to include the following:

• Re-allocating space to and improving facilities for active travel throughout the County;
• Re-allocating street space and car parking space for public realm use and for use by restaurants and cafes;
• Providing increased public seating;
• Working to help businesses which produce packaging waste which risks becoming litter to move to more sustainable production and consumption models (including deposit and return schemes, use of compostable packaging and taking responsibility for that packaging);
• Promoting and enforcing compliance with litter legislation;
• Increasing maintenance of open spaces, beaches and street spaces;
• Protecting sand dunes from trampling and other vulnerable habitats from excessive visitor pressure;
• Increasing the availability of public toilets;
• Availing of Central Government funding for road space reallocation, prevention and management of litter, additional outdoor infrastructure and management of open spaces.”