Dublin City Council agrees to look at and develop new civic spaces in the city

Labour councillor for Glasnevin Declan Meenagh has welcomed a vote to support and expand civic spaces in the city by Dublin City Council.

Yesterday, Meenagh thanked his colleagues for supporting his amendment to the draft Dublin City Development Plan to support the city’s civic spaces and to develop new civic and cultural spaces.

In a statement, Meenagh said; “It is really important for a city to be vibrant and to have lots of things for people to do.

“That’s why the recent spate of cultural venues closing is alarming.

“We can’t replace everything with hotels and luxury apartments.

“That’s why I made sure to put language in the Draft Development Plan to ensure we keep our civic spaces and to expand them as much as we can.

“I am visually impaired so I know the importance of accessibility issues.

“I have two motions, the first requires ATMs should be accessible to blind people and the second is around making arts and cultural venues accessible.

“Disabled people are excluded for too long so it’s really important these amendments are added to the draft development plan.

“Even though imposed government policies have seriously undermined the public’s trust in the planning system I still think a strong development plan is a good tool for citizens.

“It is really important to get involved in the process so I encourage everyone to have a look at the plan which will be published on the 25th of November 2021 and to make observations before the 12th of February 2022.”