The Dublin Mountains Project

South Dublin County Council, Coillte and the Dublin Mountains Partnership have recently proposed an integrated plan for the Dublin Mountains. The proposed Dublin Mountains Project aims to develop a recreation site providing visitors with a facility to enjoy the landscape and its key cultural, archaeological, geological and natural features. The concept includes the development of a mixed forest, improved networks of trails, conservation measures and visitor facilities.  
  

The plan includes:

• A Hellfire Club Visitors Centre – which will include café, toilets and an information hub and will enable access to the wider trail network and activities of Dublin mountains
• A tree top canopy walk to Massey’s Woodland – that will serve as both “an experience and a safe connection”.
• A large extension to existing parking areas that will “address congestion and illegal parking issues” currently at the site.
• Improve the trail network by establishing new trails and loops with signage, picnic benches, natural play area, views etc.
• Removal of laurel and invasive species from along  streams and river edges, opening up the vistas along the watercourses.

The planning application for the development will be lodged with An Bord Pleanala in June/July of this year. Following that, there will be further consultations with the local community and businesses in the area. Submissions on the Dublin Mountains Project can be made to econdev@sdublincoco.ie   Further information at www.sdcc.ie 

EUROPARC Federation - Sustainable Agriculture in Protected Areas Commission

The EUROPARC Federation serves as a network for Europe’s natural and cultural heritage and aims to improve the management of protected areas across Europe through international co-operation, the exchange of ideas and experience and by influencing policy. 

Wicklow Uplands Council has been a member of the Federation for a number of years and represents something of a hybrid within the organisation, as the vast majority of its near 400 members own or manages protected areas across Europe. ‘Protected areas’ include National Parks, of varying categories, and other designated areas across Europe including Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protected Areas, Areas of Natural Constraint etc.

The EUROPARC Federation recently established new commissions in which members are invited to participate directly. The aim of the commissions is to operate at two levels – as a core group who will form the commission and drive the agreed agenda and an advisory e-forum who will input ideas and information. The new commissions will deal with a range of topics including;

• Agriculture and Protected Areas, 
• Communications and Marketing, 
• Fedenatur/Periurban, 
• Health and Protected Areas, 
• Natura 2000 and 
• EUROPARC Membership

Wicklow Uplands Council was invited to have a representative on the new ‘Sustainable Agriculture in Protected Areas Commission’, following the successful hosting of the ‘We are Sustainable Farmers’ workshop at the 2016 EUROPARC conference. Tom Byrne, Vice-Chairman and farmer, was nominated to sit on the commission.  

The overall mission of the new ‘Agriculture and Protected Areas Commission’ is to undertake a feasibility study exploring the option of a ‘Charter for Sustainable Agriculture’ and to make recommendations to the EUROPARC Council on future developments. The EUROPARC Federation recognises that parks and protected areas represent, now more than ever, ideal territories to promote sustainable agricultural practices and activities. There is great potential in these areas to encourage regional rural development through the promotion of local high quality products and resources with a historical and cultural context. The commission will take into consideration the needs of nature protection and the interests of local stakeholders (farmers, breeders, artisans and related sectors).

It is still very early days in the commission but it will serve to promote the contribution that agriculture can offer to protected area management, in terms of nature conservation, and vice-versa. Similar to the work of Wicklow Uplands Council, they hope to create dialogue and co-operation and the involvement of local people in the management and promotion of their areas. The commission will play a role in influencing policy makers in Europe and in June they will meet with the Directorate-General for Environment, the European Commission department responsible for EU policy on the environment. This demonstrates the importance of direct involvement with these organisations and the opportunity to bring issues on the ground to European policy makers.

Tom Byrne
Vice Chairman, Wicklow Uplands Council

A letter from the Chair

In a way this has been a year of transition for Wicklow Uplands Council with a number of important changes happening within the organisation. The most obvious and visible change is that of our new Co-ordinator, Brian Dunne, who continues to keep our business in order and manage the day to day activities of the organisation.

However, there have also been a number of other less visible changes but are none the less important in the running and functioning of Wicklow Uplands Council as an effective organisation. At the 2017 AGM, our members will be asked to decide on the allocation of an additional nominee to the Board representing the Tourism and Economic panel. To date there have been three nominees to the panel each year, the least nominees to any panel. As Tourism plays such an important role our projects be it; trail development, village panels, even in vegetation management it is important that this panel has equal representation on the Board.

Our members will also be asked to adopt a new constitution at the AGM. This is to ensure that Wicklow Uplands Council is compliant with the most recent companies’ legislation and also the governance code. Compliance with the code is ongoing and once the new constitution is adopted we will have just a few small steps left to be fully compliant with all the requirements. This has been a time consuming process but an important one as it proves that all the operations and activities of the Uplands Council are transparent and done in best practice.

While these changes have been ongoing behind the scenes we continue to work on our projects. In December 2016 the long awaited call for applications for a Locally Led Scheme for uplands areas was announced under the European Innovations Partnership (EIP) fund. Much of January was spent meeting stakeholders and preparing a strong application for a Sustainable Uplands Agri-Environment Scheme (SUAS) on behalf of Wicklow. The good news arrived in May that we were successful in the initial round of applications and we will now move to the second stage of the application process before a final decision is made. Given the volume and quality of work and research carried out on vegetation management in Wicklow to date we are in a good position to roll out an effective scheme however we cannot get complacent in our duties. It is now more important than ever that we continue to work to develop the strongest application possible. A fully detailed project proposal will be developed over the summer months and submitted for consideration in September. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the stakeholders over the years that have contributed to the vegetation management project in any way and put us in this strong position.

As January came to a close we held a panel meeting in the Hollywood Centre in Hollywood village. The meeting was very well attended with very interesting and positive feedback from our members. The panel meetings serve as an important opportunity to reach out to communities and engage with live issues on the ground. It is vital that we are fulfilling our brief to represent all of Wicklow and therefore we will continue to host and move the meetings around the county. I would like to extend a very sincere thanks to the Hollywood Centre and the community in Hollywood who gave an excellent presentation on the Hollywood Fair and provided refreshments. It was inspiring to hear of the success of the fair and positive impact that it has had on the local community. Well done to all involved.

The projects mentioned above are just a flavour of what has been happening in Wicklow Uplands Council recently and there is much more information to be found within the newsletter which I hope you find enjoyable. I think it is also worth mentioning that Brian Dunne had the opportunity to introduce Wicklow Uplands Council to HRH Prince Charles in Kilkenny Castle in May. Brian attended at the invitation of the Heritage Council. HRH had requested to meet the people on the ground directly involved in Heritage Council funded projects and it was great recognition of the valuable work that the Heritage Council carries out across the country.

Finally I would like to thank our members, Board and staff. Of course I would also like to thank our funders, without whom we could not continue our work.

Sean Byrne
Chairman, Wicklow Uplands Council