Proposed Lanesborough Park Development Project Part 8

Fingal County Council is pleased to announce commencement of the formal planning process for the proposed Park Development Project for Lanesborough Park. 

The objective of the project is to reach consensus with stakeholders and to deliver a sustainable vision for Lanesborough Park in the face of population growth and increasing levels of community participation in active leisure. 

The development of Lanesborough Park will seek to improve the provision of local outdoor recreation facilities for children and adults while supporting the development of a sense of identity for the area. The park users will benefit from increased provision for both passive and active recreation facilities. 

Playground 

The playground will cater for a wide age range and be an inclusive amenity for Meakstown’s community. The overall vision for the playground is to offer high play value within a setting that utilises the hedgerow for an experience that is close to nature. The use of borrowed landscape elements provide the backdrop for the playground and will also be a feature with which the children can interact. A sand play area will feature a water pump where dams can be constructed, channels created, and castles built. The toddler play area is designed to promote interaction and cooperation among users whilst encouraging movement in the form of crawling, climbing and balancing. A large play pyramid with a twisting slide will act as a totem and will be seen from outside the park and piques curiosity to come in and explore. The sensory trail will incorporate singing stones, spinning boulders and talking tubes as well as elemental features, bug hotels and planting that offers colour, texture, sound and smell. 

Community and Sensory Garden 

The Community and Sensory Gardens is envisaged as a place that park users will want to explore and one which can be a productive resource for community members. The geometric arrangement of the garden is intended to generate interest amongst casual park users and to encourage them to explore the garden. The sensory trail winds around the perimeter of the community garden and features a stepping stone pathway through ornamental grasses and groundcover plants that will be chosen for qualities that appeal to the senses. 

Open space and Trim Trail  

The space that is enclosed by the hedgerow in the western half of the park will be retained for continued flexible use – a place for kickabouts, cricket, a place for children simply to run around. A secondary path will be created that loops around the edge of this space along which trim trail equipment will be arranged. The equipment will be geared towards callisthenics (exercises where resistance is provided by one’s own body weight), allowing for a diverse range of exercises that are adaptable to the users. 

Central Avenue and Viewing Terrace  

The Park is bisected in an east-west direction by a tree-lined avenue. it is proposed to widen this avenue to increase its capacity as a place for gathering and events. The avenue will be surfaced in a separate and more individual material relative to the perimeter pathway. It will be a place for community events and could accommodate a linear arrangement of stalls for food or Christmas markets etc. A viewing terrace located midway along the avenue and will function as tiered bleacher-type seating and as a place to watch sports matches, or simply as additional seating. 

Biodiversity  

The proposal for this park aims to increase the ecological potential of the park by the creation of marginal areas that are seeded with robust meadow varieties and subsequently managed for biodiversity. This treatment would be applied around the perimeter of the open space and in areas between the perimeter pathway and the boundary fence. Tree planting will also form part of the strategy, with new additions to the extensive existing tree cover but in varieties that are both native and provide food sources for birds and insects. 

Stakeholder and public engagement are central to the project. An information meeting was held on the 26th of November with local representatives, stakeholders and residents of the Meakstown area to introduce the project and outline the initial analysis. Following the meeting, the Council actively encouraged feedback and comment from the community on the proposed Park Development Project. The feedback and comments received have been carefully considered and are reflected in the current proposal. 

The Lanesborough Park Development Project will realise the full potential of this neighbourhood park and create a new and improved relationship between the park and the local community. Building on the successful community consultations held to date, the council actively encourages feedback on the proposal during the submission period 9th of September to 21st October as detailed in the part 8 planning application available at: Part 8 Planning Application  

Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh commented: “This is a very exciting proposal for the development of Lanesborough Park, in order to achieve its full potential for the growing community of Meakstown. From the Playground and the Sensory and Community Garden to the space for community events, there is something for everyone young and old and it is wonderful to see it at the formal planning stage of development.”

AnnMarie Farrelly Chief Executive of Fingal said “I am delighted to see the proposed Park Development Project for Lanesborough Park reaching the formal planning stage of development. The vision of an inclusive shared outdoor recreational space to be enjoyed by all the Meakstown Community and beyond has been shaped and developed in consultation with the local community and I would encourage everyone to continue to engage with the process.”