https://dlrcoco.citizenspace.com/parks/dlr-playspace-policy-2021/consultation/
6. Have you a particular interest in play & playspaces?
My children are older now (youngest 16) but we still play/exercise! :) We are involved with scouts so we are interested in outdoor play spaces for running games and activities and more.
I like play myself. :-)
Play, mental and physical, is important for people of all ages to keep active and to keep physically and mentally healthy.
7. What is your ambition for play provision in the county?
What is your ambition for play provision in the county?
Lots of availability of play spaces.
Safe from traffic.
Integrated with housing/building/green spaces.
Natural play - green areas, trees, bushes, rocks, streams, even walls/building ruins are more important than playground objects.
8. What was/is your experience of play now/when you were a child?
I grew up on a farm with loads of opportunity for play. Woods nearby. Quarry. Tree climbing. Treehouse. Stream (loads of play building dams on stream). Garden with lots of climbing/hiding/open spaces. Plants. Insects. Animals. Straw bale sheds - lots of building. Buildings and roofs to climb on! Tools - able to make things from wood & metal. Not far also from the sea (at the back of the island in Cobh).
When I went into 6th class santa brought a bike. I was allowed to bike to primary school. I cycled into secondary school and scouts and other things from about 3rd year (hills, a bit more than 3 miles). It was a huge thing being able to cycle and get myself to activities.
We also helped on farm of course. Which is sort of another type of play. Dairy farm. Milking cows. Driving tractors. Gardening. Concrete mixing/floor/wall/roof construction. Picking/processing daffodil flowers & bulbs.
NOW: the farm environment is missing. Some play is done at home or very close to home on green area outside. But to play "properly" one generally needs to travel further to a location away from houses. Play for me now is: scouts(camping, hiking, skills, ...all sorts!), mountainbike and cycling, visiting parks/museums/theatre, sometimes swimming, sailing, adventure sports.
9. How do/did you rate your play opportunities now/when you were a child?
A farm is an amazing place for playing. Very hard to beat it. Excellent for younger and older kids. More limited opportunity for meeting friends.
In Dublin, especially for younger kids, there less opportunity for wide/outdoor play but more opportunities for visiting friends.
In Dublin there is alot of vehicle traffic and it's not safe for younger kids to travel too far.
There are some green spaces with grass/bushes/trees but it's much more limited.
You can travel into the city to see some cool things like canals, surfdock, interesting buildings. Travel to beach. Travel to go along dodder or up ticknock.
For our kids we have a nice green opposite our house with grass, bushes, a playground and MUGA which was good for heading out and meeting friends. Kids very often went to other friends houses to play (whereas I as a kid would almost never have gone into friends houses).
Now (as an adult) we have cool places close by like Ticknock for hike or biking. Down to Dun Laoghaire to the sea. Green in front of house, village centres, various parks around. Fernhill. Also new style of parks around apartments like in Belarmine, Clay farm have nice areas to relax or exercise or play in.
I can travel much further to dublin/wicklow hills, to sea, to city centre of course as an adult as can our teenage and adult kids.
10. Where are/were your favourite places to play/visit?
WERE and still ARE:
The woods.
The stream.
The sea.
Countryside.
Town urban spaces, museums, culture, things ....
ARE:
Most recently in Dublin for hiking and some mountain-bike cycling:
All of the dublin hills from Fernhill up to Ticknock close by across Kilmashogue, Larch Hill scouts, Tibradden, Hellfire, over to Bohernabreena. And back along to Carrickgollogan lead mines and down to Shankhill. Bray head. Bray. Wicklow mountains and lakes especially Lough Dan again with the scouts or river near Crone woods.
All over Dublin for cycling but especially: local cycles along patches of quieter greenway routes(e.g. Belarmine, clay farm, tully, lead mines), Dodder greenway, down to Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire Seapoint for swim & lunch. Occasionally sailing or very rarely now windsurfing. Along the dodder into town. Various places in town. Out both canals. Out to Dollymount, Howth and further North along cycleways.
The Sandyford Ind. Est. has some interesting areas mix of scupltures, some trees, some grassy spaces for relaxing or playing on bikes or other things. The Sandyford Business Park also has nice areas and even nicer green spaces however the security guards discourage people from going in sometimes!
I and family walk or cycle quite alot to visit places and avoid the use of the car alot. Public transport is used a bit. Car parking can really spoil places like Tibradden, Cruagh, Ticknock, even up by Blue light, or down at Marlay park and down in Dun Laoghaire all around but especially at 40 foot.
It's silly driving to a place to exercise if you could walk or cycle there on a pleasant route and get even more exercise in! However there is a patchwork of routes now, the routes are not joined up yet and you still have to be an experienced cyclist to manage any routes. They are gradually getting a bit better. Alot more work needed but some good progress has been made.
_I_ can travel anywhere. However my adult and nearly adult daughters cannot travel quite so easily.
11. Please provide any other submissions/ observations with regard to dlr Playspace Policy 2021
Any new apartment or housing development keep trees, integrate trees bushes rocks streams ponds areas in safe traffic free areas among the housing. This works well in Belarmine, in Clay farm. Take opportunities to make spaces like this in older housing areas e.g. closing quieter roads to traffic and planting could make mini play/park areas in existing older housing estates.
Make the most of interesting buildings and structures in dlrcoco.
E.g. fully pedestrianised spaces are great for play.
Half pedestrianised spaces are more pleasant to be but don't really work for more active play.
There are some fully pedestrianised spaces but they're a bit limited in many places in dlrcoco.
Make opportunities for play like in countryside or on a farm:
Wide play opportunities, not just fields for soccer/GAA. e.g. rough woods, bushes, rocks, mixed environment, walls, buildings are good for wide play. Water running through or ponds in is great fun. e.g. Fernhill park open fields fun, could add a few more bushes/rocks to make more interesting.
Make it more community gardens or allotments, even urban farms like Airfield. There is play in the gardening and farming itself and lots of opportunities to play in the environment.
Make even more of the sea. Support swim/sailing/kayak/boating/surf clubs especially with places to keep gear.
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