Council officials lay out what they plan to focus on first in “rejuvenation” of city centre
They plan to set up a “special purpose vehicle” to push forward the revamp. Councillors had questions about where they come in.
Mechanical raking “is causing an issue for the thriving dune systems which we should have”, said Green Party Councillor David Healy.
Fingal needs to review its approach to beach cleaning, particularly at locations affected by erosion, Green Party Councillor David Healy said at Monday evening’s full council meeting.
Healy made the recommendation during a discussion about the council’s Draft Litter Management Plan for 2025 to 2027.
The plan, which was approved with amendments by councillors, would include an expansion of its enforcement section to seven-day services, said Catherine O’Donovan, a senior executive officer in the council’s Environment and Water Services Department. “Currently, it’s a five day service with weekend overtime.”
The council has also begun the reintroduction of CCTV – which was used previously, she said, with the plan also proposing walking patrols by litter wardens in town centres too.
It was a good plan, said Healy, while introducing a motion to amend the draft with respect to how the council manages its beaches.
The draft plan refers to the use of mechanical raking for cleaning beaches, Healy said. “That is causing an issue for the thriving dune systems which we should have.”
Mechanical raking is currently carried out at all beaches in Fingal, except Balcarrick Beach in Donabate, Mary T. Daly, Fingal’s Director of Operations wrote to Healy prior to the meeting.
At Balcarrick, there had been a pilot project led by An Taisce and Coast Watch during the 2021 bathing season, where litter was picked daily, Daly wrote. “In addition, the beach was litter picked weekly outside the season.”
That practice has continued since the 2022 bathing season at Donabate Beach, she said, with its aim being to preserve the beach's natural material, “beach wrack”.
Litter at Balcarrick is still manually picked each Saturday and Sunday morning by council staff and community groups, she said.
It wouldn’t be a good idea to stop raking other beaches – like Burrow, Portmarnock, Skerries, Rush and Balbriggan – because they are so busy during bathing seasons, she said.
But mechanical raking is removing seaweed, Healy said, at Monday’s meeting.
Seaweed is something Healy has previously proposed to the council as a “nature-based solution” for dune management as it helps dunes to form, and provides nutrients to marram grass which similarly support dune systems.
So Healy proposed an amendment “that we’re going to look at learning from the pilot we have run in Balcarrick Beach, and consider extending it fully or partially to other beaches, particularly those facing erosion challenges, subject to the availability of resources”.
It’s not calling for an immediate end to the scheme of mechanical raking, Healy said. “But it recognises that there is a difficulty we are doing because we’re worsening the erosion on some of our beaches.”
Daly, the council manager, in her written response to Healy’s query on beach management, said that both Burrow Beach – as one of the busiest beaches nationwide – and Claremont are mechanically raked weekly.
Seaweed and other natural materials are banked roughly three feet from the dunes for dune reformation and protection, Daly wrote.
“In order to replace mechanical raking with manual raking/litter removal at both Claremont and Burrow beach two days per week would cost €39,669 per annum,” Daly wrote.
That weekday rate wouldn’t include weekend hours or overtime, she wrote, and the council does not have the labour resources to support manual raking.
Mechanical raking also reduces health and safety hazards on beaches, including debris, litter, jellyfish and their tentacles, as well as broken shells, she wrote, while minimising the risks associated with removing the debris for council operations staff.
Daly, at the meeting, and in response to Healy’s motion, reiterated that it would not be possible to cease mechanical raking at Burrow Beach. “I couldn’t imagine, in Burrow Beach, next week if we didn’t get the mechanical raker in to take all of the rubbish out.”
But the council would look at what they can do at all of the other beaches with regards to the collection of waste, she said.
“But during bathing season, mechanical raking at Burrow Beach and Portmarnock and Skerries is essential and we will continue to do that because we have to make sure that the beach is safe for the public,” she said.
Healy’s amendment was accepted and the motion to review the council’s management of beaches was agreed.