March 2019
Meeting the NTA
On March 27th I attended a meeting with the National Transport Authority regarding the proposed changes to Sarsfield Road and Inchicore village. The NTA reps and local residents discussed access points, the primary school students, commuter traffic, parking, bus lanes, pedestrian crossings, location of bus stops, and tree removal. My perception of the meeting was that the NTA demonstrated their willingness to collaborate on the plans for our area, and, that it would not be possible to maintain trees on Grattan Crescent without restricting private car traffic and parking in some way.
April 2019
Organising the Community
I wrote a letter to my neighbours describing the meeting, the proposed plans for Route 7 of Bus Connects, and my own suggestions for how we should respond to that proposal. I argued that we should embrace the changes that would make driving a lot less convenient for us, but fight the proposals that would make active transport less appealing (removing trees and widening roads). We had two meetings and refined a group submission outlining a plan for the neighbourhood that we felt balanced the needs of commuters and locals. The submission was sent to the NTA on April 25th from the newly formed Woodfield Residents Group, with more than 70 signatures.
July 2019
Back to the NTA
The NTA invited us back in to see the draft revisions based on the first round of public consultation. Deputy CEO Hugh Creegan noted that the Dail had declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in May, and that a high number of the submissions and a local petition called for the protection of the Grattan Crescent mature trees. The draft drawings incorporated all of the suggestions of the Woodfield Residents Group and additional planting and benches outside the Model School. A copy of the draft design is here.