A "Village Improvement Scheme" for works on Howth Promenade is on display here and in Howth and Baldoyle Libraries. The Howth Sutton Community Council is making suggestions to the Parks Department. As part of that process, 4 members of the Community Council including myself went on site visits along the Dart line last week to have a look at recent renovations and street furniture along the coast. The report (lots of photos) is below. Notes from site visits to IFSC, Liffey Campshires, Bray, Dún Laoghaire Pier and Newtownsmith promenade, and associated discussions.
Benches
Priority – Very High
Criteria
Facing alternate or both directions
Picnic Tables near yacht club
Comfort (wood)
Style
We saw various types and comment on the inserted photos below
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IFSC, unwelcoming unfriendly bench.
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Bench on Campshires. Good shape, length suits location, metal so uncomfortable temperature range. Attractive light standards
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Bray, cast iron backrest added to promenade wall. Very large and intrusive light standards
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Newtownsmith, light standards (very close together!) and bench.
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Newtownsmith, bench. Varnished section showing up graffiti much more than weathered section. Lack of detailing around base of bench.
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Dún Laoghaire, simple traditional bench
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Dún Laoghaire Harbour, modern style bench. Yellowish paving slabs looking very dirty and stained.
Lights
Priority – Very High
Criteria
don’t need to be very strong, need to mark the pathway. Investigate Solar powered LED lights,
We saw various types and comment on the inserted photos. See Bray and Newtownsmith lights with bench photos above.
Bins
Priority – Very High
Criteria
Matching
Enough bins/big enough
Gulls/wind
Additional bins near to litter-generating businesses
Non-burnable
Weather well
Sited near but not too near benches/seats
Separate collection of recyclables (aluminium cans, plastic bottles)
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Campshires, bin. We thought this was attractive.
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Bray, bin. We thought this was ugly.
New Paths
Priority – Very High
Path to Beach.
Path to playground, where a desire line has been worn across the grass from the pedestrian crossing beside the car park.
Trees
Priority – High
While the proposal is for only sycamores, we would like more striking and interesting trees.
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Dún Laoghaire Harbour, palm trees
Landscaping plan for the grass/beds area
Priority – High
We felt that the landscaping plan needs to be worked out. There are many existing elements of the promenade which are now derelict or no longer properly maintained. Many are probably not even fully understood and their purposes are not clear. The promenade has various sections and should be analysed and planned as such. The existing neglected planting includes Hebe Howth Purple. Previously there were vigorous stand of pampas grass.
Sculpture
Priority – High (but not urgent)
We saw a variety of sculptures. Some were major additions to their locations. We felt a good sculpture could have a much bigger positive impact than resurfacing of walls or paths.
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Newtownsmith, sculpture. By far the finest sculpture we saw. Also different coloured concrete (yellow and pink) and cobble detailing.
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Newtownsmith, sculpture.
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Newtownsmith, sculpture
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IFSC,Sculpture
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IFSC, fountain
Bandstand
Priority- Average
We felt that a bandstand also might be a better addition than resurfacing, especially wall resurfacing.
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Bray, Bandstand
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Dún Laoghaire Pier, Bandstand (under renovation)
Path resurfacing
Priority – Average
We are concerned about the relative cost of this element which might prevent expenditure on other elements of the renewal.
We saw a variety of different surfaces, some of which were very attractive.
We would like to see an instance of the proposed surface where it is in situ for a few years to get an idea of how it weathers and also how it deals with gum and cleaning.
We also noted the importance of the edge detailing to paths and felt that this would be an important element in Howth. Also this edging (rougher stones or cobbles) should then be used as the surface underneath seats, bins etc.
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Campshires, Attractive stone section, LED(?) lights marking the line, detailing with cobbles, curved granite blocks for edging.
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Campshires, attractive mixture of paving materials, great attention to detail and quality craftmanship.
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Newtownsmith, coloured concrete, cobble detailing between concrete sections. Note how people walk along on the curb where the grass starts and have killed the grass at this location.
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Dún Laoghaire East Pier, new surface, very attractive, smooth with pebbles and shells.
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Dún Laoghaire East Pier, new surface, seen from a distance
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Dún Laoghaire East Pier, new surface at lower level
Post and rail removal and replacement
Priority – Low to Average
The options are as follows
- Maintain status quo
- Replace with step as in proposal
- Remove and mark the boundary with cobble or similar edging
- Replace with low stones as on campshires
We feel the step would be an impediment to the mobility impaired and a trip hazard. It would also lead to people walking along the top of the step and thereby killing the adjacent grass as happens in Newtownsmith (see photo above). We are not convinced that there is a need to physically obstruct cars from driving across the footpath onto the grass as this never happens on the grassed area at the Dart Station/West Pier.
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Edge made of low granite blocks, Campshires
Wall resurfacing
Priority – Low
We would like to see an instance of the proposed surface where it is in situ for a few years to get an idea of how it weathers and also how it deals with gum and cleaning. We feel that the existing wall might be better improved by drawing attention away from it with other features or by contrasting decorations to it which will minimise attention to it’s plain concrete surface.
