Council revises plans to redevelop Corduff Park near Blanchardstown

On Tuesday afternoon, the two grass football pitches in Corduff Park were wet and muddy from the morning rain.

There wasn’t a single person in the park outside Blanchardstown.

A flock of seagulls were resting on the main grass pitch, which is surrounded by a white fence.

A mischief of magpies had convened on the bit of grass next to it, known locally as “pitch two”.

All the goalposts sat on the edge of the grounds, by an all-weather playing field and the local sports centre.

Although the second grass playing field, the one with the magpies, was marked out by lines of white paint, it is not officially a pitch. Just an open stretch of grass used for football by the local club, Corduff FC.

And until last week, its future was in doubt.

In November, Fingal County Council staff had fixed a notice to a steel fence out on Blackcourt Road detailing the council’s plans to redevelop the park.

They included adding a playground and network of pedestrian paths, including one that ran through the informal football pitch.

This was part of the so-called “Part 8” process, in which the council applies to itself for planning permission for its own projects. Residents were invited to submit their comments on the plans.

There was a bit of an uproar about the proposed elimination of pitch two, and the council adjusted its plans in response.

At a meeting of the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/Castleknock/Ongar area committee on Thursday 1 February, officials presented revised plans – retaining pitch two.

Councillors on the committee then officially “noted” the plans, and sent them through for consideration at this month’s meeting of the full council.

The need for pitch two

In the redevelopment, the council plans to extend the current all-weather pitch, add a new playground, do some landscaping work, and add parking for cars and bikes.

It first launched the public consultation for the improvement works to the Dublin 15 park back on 9 November.

The council received 284 submissions in response to its plans, Mark Finnegan, a council official, told the area committee meeting last Thursday.

Pitch two is well used by Corduff Football Club, says Nadine George, the club’s chairperson.

After they saw that one of the proposed new paths was going to cut right through it, “there were a lot of submissions around here about this”, she said.

Corduff FC needs all the pitches they have, George says. “We use the two pitches, and we have another up in Damastown.”

The club consists of 34 teams, beginning with kids aged four all the way up to the over-35s, she says.

Finnegan said at the meeting that in response to submissions, the proposed internal pathways have been modified to keep pitch two.

“So, the recommendation of the proposed layout plan is only revised to facilitate the current use of the amenity grass area for football,” he said.

Corduff FC were relieved to learn that their second pitch is being kept as the council carries out improvement works, George says.

Also on the cards was a new pedestrian entrance into the park via Edgewood Lawns, at the southern end.

There were submissions opposing the construction of a new gated entrance into the park from Edgewood Lawns, Finnegan said. “Residents are strongly against the proposal of opening up the quiet cul-de-sac to the public park.”

“So there won’t be any pedestrian entrance in the final drawings going forward from today,” he said.

Daniel English, Corduff FC’s director, says news that their second pitch is safe is positive, as is the decision to not add a new pedestrian entrance.

“The locals around Edgewood weren’t too fond of that,” he said.

Finnegan’s updates were largely welcomed by councillors at the area committee meeting too.

The playground is badly needed, said independent Councillor Tania Doyle.

The design for the new playground lacked consideration for children with special needs, and there are no wheelchair adaptive swings, according to submissions, Finnegan said.

But universal design principles will be incorporated into the playground’s design, he said as part of the recommendations, which would include suitable play items.

While the council received some submissions asking for toilets, as the only existing facilities are inside the Corduff Sports Centre, the council didn’t propose any additional toilets in the park itself, Finnegan said.

The park redevelopment is on the agenda now for this month’s full council meeting, on 12 February.

The council’s plan is to have a detailed design for it by the end of 2024, Finnegan said. “It’s all subject to procurement and everything else.”

Once started, the works on the park should take about 24 weeks, he said at the area committee meeting.

Hopes for a clubhouse

Corduff FC doesn’t have a clubhouse at the park, just a container box at the edge of the main pitch.

In the plan put out for public consultation, Corduff FC’s container box was also due to be relocated from its existing location next to the all-weather playing pitch.

The feedback from the submissions was that this was unnecessary, he said.

But the council disagrees, he said. “The relocation of the existing container is required to facilitate the expansion of the all-weather pitch.”

The council proposed it be relocated to a new spot by the carpark of the sports centre, he said. “So it’s in a more prominent location.”

What the club really wants though is for the council to replace the steel container, which they use for meetings, with a clubhouse, says English, Corduff FC’s director.

“There’s not much you can do with a container,” he said.

A clubhouse was requested in a handful of submissions during the public consultation, Finnegan said at the local area committee meeting.

But the proposed works are focused on shared public facilities, and there were no recommendations to provide a clubhouse, he said.

The council should enter a dialogue with Corduff FC about this, because a container is not sufficient for a club of their size, said Doyle, the independent councillor. “It really needs a standalone clubhouse.”

There are lands behind the local community centre, situated approximately 100 metres down Blackcourt Road, Doyle said. “It could be a modular build. Maybe the land could be gifted to the club?”

Kevin Halpenny, the council’s senior parks superintendent, said a clubhouse would be a separate planning matter.

“But if the club would like to make a formal request around that, we would certainly be happy to meet them and push that further,” he said.