Waste facility for St Anne's Park

Dublin City Council intends to turn a portion of St Anne's Park in Raheny into a green waste shredding and recycling facility. The one-hectare area of the park is adjacent to All Saints Road in Raheny, Dublin 5. Edel Morgan reports.

The green waste shredding operation will be located in a purpose-built plant with a storage area pending transfer off-site for biological treatment. There will also be a civic amenity recycling facility.

A development notice has appeared in several newspapers which says the proposed plant "is considered consistent with provisions including the objectives contained therein of the current Waste Management Plan for the Dublin region and is necessary for the proper implementation of that plan".

However, the notice says that the city manager, John Fitzgerald, is aware the proposed development would contravene the zoning objective specified in the Dublin City Development plan 1999 for St Anne's Park, which is to provide and improve recreational amenity and open space.

Submissions or observations for the consideration of the city manager may be made in writing not later than noon on April 13th.

The site plan is available for inspection at the Environment and Culture Department at the Civic Offices, Wood Quay or in the Public Library in Raheny.

Sir Arthur Edward Guinness (Lord Ardilaun) was largely responsible for developing the estate and gardens. He planted the evergreen oaks and the pines along the main avenue and estate boundaries, which are still a major feature of the estate today.

Lord and Lady Ardilaun had no children and the estate passed to their nephew, Bishop Plunkett in the 1920s. In 1937 he sold most of the estate to Dublin Corporation for £55,000. In December 1943 the main residence was gutted in a fire and the ruins were demolished in 1968.

Dublin Corporation developed 270 acres as St Anne's Park. There is a 12-acre walled plant nursery that provides thousands of bedding plants, shrubs, trees and floral tubs for the city's streets and parks.

The internationally renowned rose garden was opened to the public in 1975.