Treeless Merrion Square

OneOfThem Stumbled

Okay I know that all the talk is about the contentious Dublin City plans for College Green but I passed Merrion Square the other day and was wondering what's happening there.

Back a year or two ago a lot of the trees and vegetation was removed from Merrion square. Probably cost quite a bit, and it was a little controversial, but I could see the reasoning behind it. Arguably the park was a bit too dense and dark, but it looked to me the other day that most of the other trees have recently been removed.

Are they rezoning it to residential? It could contain a significant amount of accommodation if that's the motivation. Or is the council just going a bit soft?

odyssey06

Guessing the plan being discussed here is being put into motion... removal of diseased trees... xenophobic removal of newer imports in favour of natives ... and safety concerns to clear sightlines.
https://amp.independent.ie/irish-news/council-plans-to-chop-down-300-trees-in-historic-park-29671746.html

Or maybe that plan was the one you noted for earlier felling of trees.

Noticed a lot of shrubs and bushes that used to fill the gaps between trees in fairview park have been cleared so you can see into the park from the street.

odyssey06

More info here...
http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-services-recreation-culture-dublin-city-parks-visit-park/merrion-square-park

odyssey06

Of course as this is After Hours... one cannot rule out Saruman.

carrickbally

Vandalism like O'Connell St and Eyre Square Galway.

OneOfThem Stumbled

odyssey06 wrote: »

More info here...
http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-services-recreation-culture-dublin-city-parks-visit-park/merrion-square-park

How weird, they're actually keeping it as a park, just a very empty one. Presumably the tree felling back in 2015 was the first stage of works, and the more recent work was stage three. According to the plan they seem to intend keeping 52 shrubs and trees out of an original several hundred.

Talking of the College Green plan, that also involves cutting down all the existing trees there. How ecologically minded the council is.

blanch152

OneOfThem Stumbled wrote: »

How weird, they're actually keeping it as a park, just a very empty one. Presumably the tree felling back in 2015 was the first stage of works, and the more recent work was stage three. According to the plan they seem to intend keeping 52 shrubs and trees out of an original several hundred.

Talking of the College Green plan, that also involves cutting down all the existing trees there. How ecologically minded the council is.

That Council is quite mad. Just today they opposed plans for 500 new houses in Raheny, it is like Dublin has enough housing.

They are sanitising the whole city.

listermint

OneOfThem Stumbled wrote: »

How weird, they're actually keeping it as a park, just a very empty one. Presumably the tree felling back in 2015 was the first stage of works, and the more recent work was stage three. According to the plan they seem to intend keeping 52 shrubs and trees out of an original several hundred.

Talking of the College Green plan, that also involves cutting down all the existing trees there. How ecologically minded the council is.

Can you explain where you got your figures from ?


And do you understand how managed forestry and landscaping operate ?

OneOfThem Stumbled

listermint wrote: »

Can you explain where you got your figures from ?

Literally counted the number of them they have on their plan. It's not "general area where there will be generic stuff with leaves" but rather "this is specifically all that shall remain" kind of plan.

listermint wrote: »

And do you understand how managed forestry and landscaping operate ?

Well if efficacy of management is measured inversely to how much is is being managed, then this plan fits the bill.

blanch152 wrote: »

That Council is quite mad. Just today they opposed plans for 500 new houses in Raheny, it is like Dublin has enough housing.

They are sanitising the whole city.

The proposed St. Anne's Park development? To be fair the local residents oppose that I think, though using a couple of the playing fields there for housing would probably be a good idea.

Not that Dublin City Council cared much about local opinion about Fairview park where they want to cut down most of the trees in order to install a cycle lane on Annesley Bridge road (despite the fact that there's a cycle path that goes right through Fairview park)

http://www.dublinpeople.com/news/northsideeast/articles/2017/08/10/4144062-uproar-over-proposed-removal-of-fairview-trees/

ignorance is strength

I, too, was worried when I was there recently: the park is barren (in Winter, admittedly), and being able to see down its whole length humbles it. And I'm very unhappy with what they've done to Herbert Park, where they've removed all the foliage between the pond and the cherry blossom avenue, leaving the pond seeming oddly inappropriate and the park as a whole less interesting. But I'm comforted by the County Council plans linked above. Seems that they will either be filling Merrion Square in with better quality trees or allowing existing ones to do that - which of course requires time!

carrickbally wrote: »

Vandalism like O'Connell St and Eyre Square Galway.

Eyre Square was bleaakkk...

DrGreenthumb

Would they ever leaf it out