Within the TFC Action Planning Network the city of Dun Laoghaire has decided to focus its ULG and future works on the coastal region (South of Dublin City) between Booterstown and Dalkey.
The area comprises of 5 coastal towns/villages (Monkstown, Blackrock Dun Laoghaire, Glastule & Dalkey), a leisure Harbour and a UNESCO designated Biosphere.
In order to stimulate the debate and gather all relevant topics and point of views, a large number of members has been invited to contribute to the ULG group. At the moment the group is made up of:
- The Irish National Sailing School located in Dun Laoghaire Harbour
- The Dun Laoghaire Tidy Towns Group
- The Blackrock Business District Group
- Dublin Bay Biosphere
- Dalkey Book Festival
- Glastule Goes Green
- Dlrcoco (Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council) Heritage
- Dlrcoco Architects Dept
- Dlrcoco Economic Development
The groups focus is to maximize the introduction of a new coastal cycle initiative for the benefit of the ULG members. Indeed, ULG members were chosen for their involvement in the sustainable development for the area for locals, visitors and local enterprise.
A dual carriage primary road between 3 towns has been made into a combination vehicle road and cycle way. The road is now a single carriage route through the 3 towns which reduces the vehicle impact to the area and introduces a sustainable travel alternative. This route is of benefit to the local residents, tourists and local businesses.
The cycle way creates a sense of place and is a destination for local, national and (soon to be) international visitors with the wealth of vistas, cafes/restaurants, swimming locations, water sports and local heritage.
For sure this work has created different challenges that have to be addressed and overcome:
- The ULG was created during the Covid 19 pandemic and as such it has created communication difficulties as many of the stakeholders are new to video meetings
- Idea generation is a challenge on a video platform when person to person is more preferential
- New sustainable transport infrastructural changes to towns in the area are creating challenges that need more attention
Carolyn Mc Carthy - Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council