New park opens on former dump 

A NEW park has opened in north county Dublin on a site that was once a former dump. 

Fingal County Council formally opened Rogerstown Park, which is located on the site of the former Balleally Landfill between Lusk and Rush.

Mayor of Fingal Cllr Anthony Lavin performed the opening ceremony and those in attendance got the opportunity to visit the upper section of the new park which has spectacular views of the North Dublin coastline.

Rogerstown Park is being opened on a staged basis with the upper section being open to the public on Saturdays only from 9.30am to 5pm for the remainder of 2019. Subsequent sections will open from 2020 onwards as works progress to completion. 

Plans to address accessibility from Rush and Lusk will also be addressed and Rogerstown Park will be included in an overall Estuary Plan with possible links across the Estuary to Donabate being considered.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor Lavin said: “Fingal is a county that likes to be a leader of innovation and environmental responsibility and we are delighted to be one of the first counties to officially open one of their former landfills as a public park.”

The mayor said the project is the culmination of a 10-year programme of restoration of this former landfill site which has been in operation, in one form or another, since the late 1960s. 

“Rogerstown Park has now shown the way in what can be achieved with older landfill sites by handing them back to the local communities to be enjoyed as amenities for the beneficial use of their local residents,” he added.

Cllr Brian Dennehy, Chair of the Balleally Landfill Liaison Committee, said: “Rogerstown Park will provide access to stunning views, allow families, walkers and joggers to come and relax and provide the local area with an asset which they can be proud of. 

“Local people can take a high degree of confidence that the landfill is, and has been, managed well and the Balleally Landfill Liaison Committee has worked hard to ensure that this site has been finished to the highest possible standard. 

“The work of the Balleally Landfill Liaison Committee over the past number of years has been a crucial part of the success story that is Rogerstown Park today.”

David Devine, who is overseeing the transformation of the former landfill into a public park in his capacity as Landfill Manager at Balleally, said: “I take great pleasure in being able to hand something back to the local communities who have endured the landfill over the past years. 

“It was always my belief that those views had to be made accessible to the local community and wider public as they are simply stunning.”