Trutz Haase, Social and Economic Consultant, together with Brady Shipman Martin* were commissioned by Dublin City Council in 2005 to undertake an audit of the social and community infrastructure in the Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount area. If the incinerator is built, Dublin City Council will establish a Community Gain Fund and this report is designed to highlight where and how this fund might be used.

Mr Haase spoke with many community groups in the area and his report is thorough and far-reaching. The survey points to the priorities in the area as being (i) more sports facilities for young people (ii) more playgrounds (iii) better community services for elderly people (iv) better community health services and (v) improving the environment.

The report is critical of the consultation process as it states that ‘negotiations between Dublin City Council, the private developers and the three communities should have taken place from the time the proposal for an incinerator on the Poolbeg Peninsula was first made.’ It is acknowledged that Dublin City Council has made ‘considerable efforts’ to inform people about the Dublin Waste to Energy Project but ‘residents do not perceive this to be objective and independent.’

Residents are only too well aware that the Poolbeg Peninsula has been used over the years for the benefit of the whole of Dublin. The report concurs with this sentiment when it states: ‘There is a long history of the use of the Poolbeg Peninsula to provide for the wider needs of Dublin and the region as a whole, with little consideration given to the cumulative effects which this may have on residents of adjacent communities… While Dublin City Council has commenced this process with the publication of the draft Poolbeg/Southbank Framework Plan, there is a need for the communities to develop an integrated plan for their area which takes as its starting point the visions and aspirations of the existing communities. Dublin City Council should undertake every step necessary to facilitate the communities to develop appropriate structures of community representation and provide them with the resources necessary to develop such a Plan.’ This plan should cover land use, transport, economic and social issues and environmental impacts.

Dublin City Council is to be commended for commissioning such an impartial report. The document is wide-ranging and well produced and no doubt will be of great use to community representatives. The concept of Community Gain is explained and a comprehensive overview of the area, its population, facilities and demographics is included.

Trutz Haase is one of the leading experts in Ireland in the measurement of quality of life concepts. Brady Shipman Martin has extensive experience in spatial and land use planning at all levels.