Residents Survey
The survey was undertaken for two reasons the first to access the impact of the development after the initial first 12 months of construction and secondly to reach out to residents in the adjacent communities to give them voice and engage them more effectively in the process.
The survey was designed by the Residents Representatives and distributed in a door to door drop in November of 2018 and collection was completed in early December with the final batch being returned in January 2019.
"Building the New Children's Hospital and Me" Full Report download here
The Survey focuses on 6 issues;
- Impact on my health
- Impact on my home
- Information about what is going on
- Noise Dust and Dirt
- Traffic /Parking
- Working Hours
Almost 1000 surveys were distributed in the areas adjacent to the St James’s campus with over 200 returned representing a 20% response rate.
The percentages responses are based on the numbers distributed and Rialto with 300 is the largest area by some way followed by Ceannt Fort at 200 and SCR at 109 all the other areas are under 100 units.
Areas surveyed and response rate %
Below are two graphs that show the overall results of the survey by particular issue and by area and what can be seen is that for three of the issues things are much as expected (Health,Information and Working Hours) and for the other three (Noise, Dirt Traffic and Impact on my Home) issues are worse or much worse as experienced by 70% of survey respondents .
The impacts vary from area to area as one might expect however it is fair to say that the experience of the majority of residents is worse or much worse over the 12 month period .
The Residents Alliance Group completed this survey in December 2018 and since the findings have not yet been formally presented to the Residents Project Monitoring the Resident Representatives have agreed to update the original recommendations to take account of the current issues that have been identified.
The survey covered the following areas;
- Noise Dirt and Dust
- Impact on my Homes
- Traffic and Parking
- Information
- Working Hours
- Impact on my Health
Noise Dirt and Dust
Is the issue that most residents find to be currently “worse” or “much worse” than the previous year. The most obvious source of dirt and dust has resulted from the excavation work on site and the transport of the “dirt“ off site.
There are a number of issues here that need to be addressed;
Transport
The wheel wash is not effective, that fact that mitigation in the form of street cleaning, window and car wash confirms this however the level of dirt that is being deposited on public street continues to be unacceptable in spite of the mitigation in place.
The wheel wash system should be completely reviewed, and the builders should ensure that an appropriate system is in place, that staff are available to operate the system and the system is regularly maintained.
Recommendation
- All lorries leaving the site should pass through the wheel wash
- All lorries exiting the site to be photographed as they enter public road to ensure washed and covered.
- The Mount Brown Gate should not come into operation until the wheel wash system has been amended and is working properly.
Dublin City Council
Given the central role that Dublin City Council in the management of roads, traffic and parking it is our view that the DCC should;
- Establish an interdepartmental committee that ensures that all works to be undertaken adjacent to the St James’s Campus by the various DCC departments are, where possible, co-ordinated and this information is made available to the residents through the DCC Area Office. The relevant departments include, Traffic, Parking, Parks and Planning.
- DCC to adopt the building protocols know as the “Docklands Protocols” in the area to ensure that all large sites in the area adhere to these protocols.
- Section 48 Planning costs if required should be used to ensure that DCC has the resources to mitigate the adverse effect of such a large developments on the local community such as increased road cleaning and maintenance, traffic management.
- As a priority, in response to residents’ concerns with the increased volume of heavy lorries on the routes in and out of St James’s campus that appropriate road signage be erected to make all road users more aware of pedestrians and cyclists.
- As a matter of urgency to locate digital speedometers on the South Circular Road and on Mount Brown.
- To repair the road surface at the junction at SCR /Brookfield Road urgently as a matter public safety and in light of the continuing heavy lorry usage put in place a regular monitoring and maintenance of the road condition.
- To ensure that pedestrian markings are located across the Mount Brown entrance before it becomes operational to ensure the safety of the many pedestrians both young and old that use this footpath.
- As part of the DCC Traffic Management Programme DCC to prioritise a James’s campus as a research cell.
- DCC to facilitate a “Parking” workshop so residents can clearly understand the process and the options in terms of parking in the area. The workshop should be focused on a certain radius and be of a consultative/solution focused nature
Dublin City Council Planning Enforcement
The DCC Planning Enforcement Office to make public the planning enforcement plan for the NCH construction phase where activities impact on the residents in the area.
Recommendation
- Ensure regular review of the wheel wash system
- Review routes of lorries exiting the Rialto gate ensuring they are exiting via Suir Road
- Review the current flow of traffic to and from the site, currently the vast majority of lorries enter and exit through the Rialto Gate contrary to EIS where it indicates that 70% of traffic will use the Rialto Gate and 30% will use the Mount Brown Gate. This has not been the case during Phase 1 excavation and Phase A Construction Phase and nor indeed is it evident during Phase B Construction which is operational since January 2019.
- Review the noise levels on the site, where monitoring shows that the excavation and construction breach the EIS noise levels in a number of locations repeatedly. Residents are aware of the issue of ambient noise however they are also anxious to have in place a system of monitoring a that is transparent and accountable.
- Planning Enforcement to investigate the high level of monitors that are “off line” in all reporting cycles.
Impact on my Home
Survey respondents cite dirt and dust as the main impact on their home, in the form of dirty windows, cars, dirt being walked into the house and being unable to open windows due to the dust and noise. BAM have over the last 18 months put in place some mitigation measures such as window cleaning and tokens for car washes however at the time of writing these measures have been intermittent with not clear criteria for entitlement to these services
- BAM to put in place a clear and transparent mitigation programme that outlines the measures and who is entitled to what services.
- BAM to report on their road and footpath cleaning measures to date and to facilitate a workshop to feedback these findings to residents and to incorporate feedback in going forward.
Information
Residents have a right to accurate and regular information in regard to the building of the NCH with its potential impact on their homes and lives. To date information that has been available has proven to be inaccurate or irregular.
The Residents Alliance Group recommend that;
- Information on the building activities should be available to households in advance of each quarter.
- Out of hours work should be notified to affected residents at least four days in advance. Residents are also aware that works can postponed for various reasons.
- Monitoring reports should be available within a week of each calendar month.
Specific Actions
In terms of the finding there was one finding that we believe needs further clarification. The Health issue did identify an increase in stress levels among a significant numbers of residents all around the site however it is notable that one area had an “out of the norm” finding and that is in Ceannt Fort more particularly along O Reilly Ave ( Ceannt Fort respondents identified themselves as ORA) where it was indicated that there were greater use of prescribed drugs and visits to GPs.
In the light of this we recommend that ;
-
- A discreet piece of research to be undertaken to quantify the extent and nature of the increase in GP visits and prescription medicine.
"Building the New Children's Hospital and Me" Full Report download here
Issues
Health By Area
Information about what is going on
Issues by Area
The Residents Alliance Group are funded by the NPHDB to enable residents participate fully in the monitoring process.