Saint Annes Park

TarfHead · 14-04-2009 1:36pm #1

Does anyone here know where I could find out more about the earthmoving that in progress in Saint Annes, at the Mount Prospect Avenue/Clontarf Road junction ?

The 'new' pond and all of the landscaped rockery have been removed. I'm curious to learn why this has been done and what the changes will be.

Monsoon26 · 14-04-2009 1:44pm

Yeah i've noticed that alright, and appartantly no consultation with locals either. Think i read about it in northside people. Suppose you could ask you local councillor maybe?

datk · 14-04-2009 2:00pm

TarfHead wrote: »

Does anyone here know where I could find out more about the earthmoving that in progress in Saint Annes, at the Mount Prospect Avenue/Clontarf Road junction ?

The 'new' pond and all of the landscaped rockery have been removed. I'm curious to learn why this has been done and what the changes will be.

Don't know much - but what I heard was the pond was not constructed properly - and as a result they've had huge problems over the years - algae, fungus generally mucky looking water - also the steps were dangerous due to moss etc etc. So they claim it was for safety reasons that the pond was filled in - don't know exactly what is going to be in it's place.

spurious · 14-04-2009 2:04pm

Here's a .pdf outlining what they are doing.

According to a thread on archiseek they are also hoping to redevelop many of the follies:
Title: Conservation Strategy for the Follies in Saint Anne's Park
Published by: Dublin City Council
Publication Date: 27/03/2009

Abstract: Dublin City Council wishes to commission a detailed strategy for the conservation of the follies within the Historic Core Area of Saint Anne’s Park. This strategy is funded by the Parks and Landscape Services Division, the Dublin City Heritage Plan and The Heritage Council.

This project arises from an action in the Management Plan for Saint Anne's Park, prepared by Murray Associates in 2006 for the Parks and Landscape Services Division and the Dublin City Heritage Plan. The Management Plan has a broad scope balancing the diverse aspects of regional park management including: Vegetation; Conservation and Archaeology; Physical Geography; Boundary issues; Circulation; Use Profiling; Sports; Staffing. Saint Anne's Park is synonymous with sporting activity, recreational walking, The Red Stables, and the Rose Garden, which are all well maintained and in responsible management.

The Management Plan affirms the importance of the Historic Core Area as a designed landscape and identifies the critical need for conservation of the follies and garden features. The designed landscape/"wilderness" landscape, and numerous follies therein, located in the area to the northeast of the house site are in an altogether more compromised state. The conservation and recovery of these follies is identified as a high priority within the management strategy for the park. It is the intention of this project to gather vital information on the follies required to undertake a conservation works programme.

lightening · 14-04-2009 2:10pm

That pond was fine during the eighties and seventies, I remember pinkeens in it. I am in the park every day, the people working in the park have changed. They drive around now in John Deer buggies, they have more equipment than ever but the park is not maintained like it was in the eighties. They are delighted to accost people tying their dogs to railings outside the market, threatening people with 80K fines but they won't approach gangs of toe-rags boozing and littering.

The algae build up was problematic, but hard work and bales of straw would have helped. The Gardai knocked down the wall near the causeway a while ago looking for a dead body. The wall was never fixed, they just knocked the whole thing down and put boulders there instead.

There is a load of planning permission signs up within the area where the pond has been filled in, but I think it is cordoned off. I will try and check tonight.

humberklog · 14-04-2009 2:38pm

The wall at the causeway is being re-built. They had a rubberduck digging footings there on Thursday last week.
Lightening I think you've got the rosey glasses on as far as the '70's/80's go. I'd a big explore about there last week and there was a lot of niggly annoying litter in odd places but as far as the general mangement of the park goes it is better now than ever imo. The artist's spaces, cafe and market where it was just used for storage. The pond garden opposite has been open now for a good few years where once it was rack and ruin and the remote control race track, although underutilised, is a good idea and the playground there is one of the best in Dublin, it's well kept and even has picnic tables. Top notch. Better park now than ever.
I bmxed in the park from 1980 (when a bmx was in fact a baby eska or a triumph20) and you were taking a big risk as there were a lot of gangs hanging out there waiting to nick bikes and not in a sneaky fashion but in a 'box in the gob' fashion. There was also glue sniffing going on all over the park and the bags of glue just left lying around.
The pond was better kept on occassion but not always. We'd sail minature boats in it but one time (about '78-'79) my brother fell in. He came out cover in stinky gunk.

lightening · 14-04-2009 2:56pm

You are probably right there about my rose tinted glasses. Isn't everyone when it comes to the 80's? Great to hear they are building the wall again.

humberklog · 14-04-2009 5:31pm

lightening wrote: »

You are probably right there about my rose tinted glasses. Isn't everyone when it comes to the 80's? Great to hear they are building the wall again.

Yeah mind you I'm getting rose tinted glasses for three year ago these days!

I'm going to be down that way later this evening. I'll see about getting a snap or two although I think I've only got my film camera with me. But I'll get down with the digi-job today or tomorrow and do a bit of investigating. Deerstalker, pipe, note pad and pencil at the ready.

Y'know I was playing around in the follies the other day and my daughter and I reckoned that it would nearly be a shame to take the graffitti off the walls. They could be smartened up and cared for better but the colours of the writing jump out, it's a log of adolescence and the contrast of the colours against the trees and hills isn't without its merits. If not there then where?
Skateboard park in there too would be ideal.

lord lucan · 14-04-2009 10:40pm

humberklog wrote: »

The pond was better kept on occassion but not always. We'd sail minature boats in it but one time (about '78-'79) my brother fell in. He came out cover in stinky gunk.

Same thing happened to me the day of my communion!! Was walking around the edge of the pond with a stick and fell in!! Not only was i wet but i was green too:pac:

Shame to hear it's been covered up,i spent a lot of my childhood in the park as my da' used to take us out to my grandfathers house off all saints every second sunday. Learned to ride a bike and everything in st. annes. I'm getting misty eyed just thinking about it.

Is "draculas tower" included in the list of follies i wonder. Thats what we used to call it. It's the big tower overlooking the boathouse. Wasn't blocked up when i was a kid,remember regularly going up there with my dad and uncle. Last time i was there(6 years ago i reckon) it was blocked up,H&S i assume as there was no railing around the upper part.

lightening · 14-04-2009 11:09pm

Best of luck snooping Humber, don't stand on a rake and smash your face in!

I dunno about the graffiti on the follies, A skateboard park would be ideal, maybe the graffiti would be best there? I don't agree with the toy car enthusiasts getting keys to drive in and out of the park. The less cars the better in the park. All the footballers manage to drag in and out their nets and training paraphernalia without driving in.

It is an amazing facility though. Acres and acres of interesting landscape. Have you been to the 1988 millennium arboretum lately? That has come on, a lot of the trees have matured nicely, some really really weird ones.

Winter morning.

Here is a Dollymount one too!!

humberklog · 17-04-2009 3:48pm

Nice photos Lightening.

I was down there this morning and there was just a small dozer grading over the earth ramp that was the pond area.

Down further at the causeway there was nothing going on and where previous I saw a duck and a dumper working and took it they were excavating for wall foundations there was just cleared and leveled gruond where the old wall stood. I went back to the dozer driver and he said that they are planning to erect iron railing that would match the existing iron gates. That'd look smart. Tidy up that entrance no end.

thereyeare · 19-04-2009 12:12am

Hi lightening,
Very nice photos, the morning/evening are the best time to take photos as you have demonstrated with your morning photos.

My only concern is for your dog who seems to have lost a little weight and hair.

lightening · 20-04-2009 12:42pm

Yeah, the Old English Sheepdog looks thin when their hair is wet! He is long dead now I'm afraid.

Cheers for the Update Humberclog. I wonder what happened to the extensive badger set that was in the rockery above the pond?

schmooschmoo · 02-05-2009 6:56pm

I'm really annoyed that I head nothing about this until I saw it all dug up. I wish whoever gave the decision ensured the locals were more aware of the proposals before they got the go ahead (although it's far easier to progress with something if there's less potential people to object).

- The pond was stinky and a mess. I understand this is because it was built incorrectly and didn't have the resources to keep it constantly clean.
- They are also saying there's safety concerns about the boulders, steps and sloped landscape.

Their solution to the above is to fill in the pond and level the area, proposing to fill in the area with trees and flower areas.

Now, try and count the amount of suburban park areas in Dublin with a rolling landscape on different stepped levels, featuring an arrangement of boulders and a large pond in the middle.

After that, try and count the amount of suburban park areas in Dublin filled with trees and flower arrangements.

In my view, something close to unique has been turned into a banal vision that lacks creativity and fits in with the same idea of urban planning that plonks down countless identical housing estates, 'green areas', etc. As it's not finished, I've yet to see the final outcome and accept I could be proved wrong. I'm not holding my breath and I'm still quite angry about the changes.

The safety concerns of the boulders and steps seem in-line with other ott health and safety changes. I'd be interested in reading the reports about this that went into the proposal. If you manage to hurt yourself there you're not going to get to far elsewhere without injuring yourself. I keep thinking of Central Park in New York and all it's rolling levels and exposed rock. In theory, it would be a hell of a lot safer if the whole park was flattened but the few incidences related to this feature are not enough to propose any sort of change as the locals seem to value the aesthetics and character so much. That's a bit of a silly comparison but I'm sure my point is made.

I was also annoyed about the removal of the front black gates and railings - they were a breath of fresh air compared to most park entrances. If it's true they're going to be replaced with similar railings then I'm relieved.

I'm not one for being against change, I just feel that some people who are in charge of big decisions negate aesthetic values too often and try and squeeze the same solutions out for everything.

TarfHead · 05-05-2009 1:55pm

At low tide, the vegetation along the far side of the North Lagoon (if that's the correct name for the tidal lagoon north of the causeway) is becoming more robust. As long as this holds it will, I assume, continue to aggregate in mass and become more visible at higher tides. The infill of this lagoon will continue and, it not addresses, the whole lagoon could be compromised.

The causeway should be a bridge, allowing a tidal flow down the length of the west side of the Bull Island.

It annoys me that this resource could be lost because of bad engineering and indifference.

Saint Annes Park

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