Ashcroft Residents Association Newsletter July 2021

New Committee

Due to Covid restrictions, it was not possible to hold an AGM this year but a new committee has been formed.

The new committee are:

Chairperson: Aine Crotty (No 22)

Secretary: Ciaran Briody (No 35)

Treasurer: Keith O’Sullivan (No 111)

Other members:

Malachi Briody (No 39)

Connie Davenport (No 194)

Anne McManus (No 21)

If any resident would like to join the committee, they would be very welcome. If you would like to volunteer you can contact any committee member or mail us on ashcroftraheny@gmail.com

We would like to express our thanks to all of the outgoing committee, and especially to Réamonn Madden, who chaired the Residents’ Association Committee for many years and who has recently moved from Ashcroft.

Communications

The Committee would like to issue communications by email, rather than paper newsletters – not only is it better for the environment, it will also allow us to update residents more quickly and more frequently, particularly in relation to the plans for the new apartment development adjacent to Ashcroft. Please subscribe to our Newsletter on the website by entering your email address and click the submit button. The email list will only be used for communications from the Residents Association and email addresses will not be passed on to anyone else.

Planning update

In February of this year, An Bord Pleanála granted permission for an apartment development of 105 apartments at Station Road, adjacent to Ashcroft. The proposed development has a similar footprint to the planning permission which was granted in 2017 for this site, but is higher – up to seven storeys at the highest point. Access to the car park of the finished development will be through Ashcroft, but deliveries, bin lorries and other large vehicles will access the finished development from Station Road. The construction entrance is to be on Station Road, i.e. construction traffic is not supposed to go through Ashcroft.

The Residents Association Committee met with representatives of the developer (Earlsfort Centre Developments) on 8th July. The main points that we were told by the representatives were:

• The work on the site that began at the end of June is not the main development. At this stage, the only work being done on the site is to secure the boundary wall with the Montessori school; the developer told us the school had requested that this be done during the school holidays as the wall is beside the school playground. This work is expected to finish in early August.

• They hope to start the “main” work in October. This is not a guaranteed start date, as various discussions with the Council and finalising of reports, plans etc need to be undertaken first.

• The building will take about two years.

• Before the building starts, they will hold a meeting for all local residents (not just Ashcroft residents) to give full information on the plans – we are likely to hear about this in September.

We have also been in touch with Dublin City Council, and will continue to liaise with the Council as necessary to ensure that all of the planning conditions are met. We plan to issue regular email updates on the development as we get more information. So please join our mailing list and stay up to date. Please contact us if you have any further concerns.

Clean up

A clean up of the Estate will be organised for Saturday the 4th September. We will send out a reminder notice closer to the time.

Wildflower Garden

We have started a small wildflower garden beside the flower planters in the Estate and you may have noticed that we have also added new flowers to the flower box at the Ashcroft sign. We have started off small however we intend to grow the wild flower garden throughout the year and contribute to the biodiversity in the estate. We encourage our neighbours to set aside a small patch in their gardens for pollinator friendly wild flowers. Please also feel free to water any of the flowers in the Estate if you notice they are drying out in the summer sun.

Speed limits in Ashcroft

Can we remind residents and their visitors of the need to observe the 30 kph speed limit in the Estate. We have asked Dublin City Council to consider taking anti- speed measures in the parts of the Estate which are worst affected by excessive speeding.