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THE APPARENT FENCING off of sections of one of Dublin’s most popular beaches in Howth by householders with back gardens leading down to the coast is being investigated by the local council.
Fingal County Council said it has received complaints and it is is now examining the “erection of fencing” near houses that back onto Burrow Beach in Sutton.
Measuring around 1.2 km in length, the popular beach connects Howth Head to the mainland. It was recently in the headlines due to a “mass brawl” and various public order incidents during the recent warm spell.
Examples seen by The Journal show that picket fences have been erected at the back of several private homes leading to the area’s sand dunes – providing more beach frontage to the householders as as result.
Some householders appear to have claimed metres of land beyond their back wall, erecting picket fences and, in some cases, erecting ‘PRIVATE NO ENTRY’ signs on the new barriers.
By cross-referencing Google Earth satellite images with property boundaries submitted in planning applications, it appears that numerous homes along the beach – reaching into double figures – have claimed some of the public beach for themselves.
Most homes along the beach still have the same footprint as outlined in the planning documents.
It has become an increasingly common practice across beaches around the country, according to coordinator for Coast Watch Ireland Karin Dubsky, but can have “catastrophic” consequences for nature.
“It’s typical right around the country. I have seen it in six, maybe seven, different beaches at least. Some holiday homes love stretching their arms,” she said.
“I think sometimes it is innocent but other times it’s pre-planned, and then slowly over years it develops.”
Speaking of examples from around the country, Dubsky added: “We also have these crazy situations where people are claiming land and they then wreck that land by planting something, or by importing soil or putting garden waste on it.”
Regarding Burrow Beach she said: “That area should be restored at the owners’ expense and overseen by experts on dunes.”
Conversely, she also said she was aware of one example in north Dublin where “somebody is doing the best dune management in the area and it’s in their own garden, because of the failures of the State in managing these correctly in the first place”.
“So not all land-grabs have a bad impact on nature. It’s what people do there that counts, but you have two issues here: how nature is impacted and how society is impacted because this is public land.”
According to the council, the area is a designated nature conservation site.
When contacted, Fingal County Council said the “erection of fencing” in the area had recently been reported to its planning enforcement unit.
“The matter is currently subject to an ongoing investigation,” it said.
One local councillor said there is already a risk of significant erosion facing the beach and this risks worsening it – with less space available for the public visiting Burrow.
The Green Party’s David Healy also raised concerns that it risks “encroachment and trampling” on sensitive land.
“The council is going to have to establish this in terms of the exact legal boundaries for the properties,” he told The Journal.
“We need to protect the dunes from any encroachment ensuring that the natural sand dune system can continue to evolve.”
This “relies on them not being trampled”, so that nutrients from the seaweed that get washed up onto the beach can be allowed to flow through the dunes and help preserve them.
To help with this, the council already avoids clearing away seaweed at that part of the beach so the dunes can grow, Healy explained.
“But encroachment, where people are deciding to fence things off, or messing with the vegetation by trying to plant garden grass on the public land as has been happening recently, is undermining [the dunes] and contrary to the statutes of protection.”
Dubsky told The Journal that unless the State makes clear decisions on coastal and foreshore issues, there will be “serious implications for nature” in terms of erosion.
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My niece has an underlying medical issue and not even 1 yet. It’s very worrying for parents of vulnerable kids.
@Fabio Dillon: don’t worry someone on here will come on and re-assure you she’s just a 3% statistic
@Fabio Dillon: There hasn’t been a single death of anyone under about aged 9. It seems to leave young children alone.
@Paraic: tbh it’s my only concern!
@Paraic: tbh it’s my only concern! I
@Vin: or to remind him to sneeze into the crook of his arm!, like we need reminding of everyday hygiene practices, who goes around in this day and age coughing spluttering and sneezing on top of people?!?!, look for information and they think it’s a lynchmob that’s being formed, enough with insulting people’s intelligence!…
@Paraic: yes I think remember reading something it’s to do with pollution and their lungs not having been exposed to much so far in their lives, that’s why adults and particularly smokers are more at risk.
@Kate Flaherty: I was in a shop yesterday, in the UK, and saw a kid of about 10 coughing and spluttering without covering his mouth. Parent was just standing nearby watching.
@Kate Flaherty: are you seriously suggesting that we all practice such etiquette as to sneeze and cough into tissue and dispose of it immediately? We really do not.
@Alan McArdle: Well I really do out of consideration for those around me!…
Case in Cork is being reported on by other news outlets, patient wasn’t in contact with anyone travelling from Italy and had no connection to other confirmed cases. Unfortunately it’s only a matter of time and it will be everywhere.
@Rachel O’ Meara: Community transmission was only a matter of time but it still happened very quickly here if this does prove to be the case.
@Rachel O’ Meara: so it’s just floating in the air now?
@Rachel O’ Meara: more speculation, I will wait to the officials tell us more.
@Gerry McNally: they have told us Gerry, you just have to listen and maybe get your news from more than one outlet. The Independent have confirmed the Cork case.
@Keith ☘️: It doesn’t float in the air, he/she probably picked it up from a surface or was in close contact with someone who unbeknownst to them was carrying the virus, could have even sat next to the carrier on the bus who knows. Take care people, cover your mouths when coughing and sneezing and wash your hands, also avoid touching your face as much as possible.
@Gerry McNally: It’s official Gerry, it will be announced later this evening.
@Rachel O’ Meara: There’s talk that this person recently returned from tenerife
@Paraic: if there’s community spread as that article suggests, schools will be closed soon. Kids are surely route one for the virus. From parent to child, children to lots more parents and so on.
I reckon there’s way more in this country with it. They’re either passing it off as a cold or Flu and wont goto the Doctor or report it as they’ll have to stay off work.
Why is the Journal not reporting that there is a seventh confirmed case innthe republic at CUH Cork. The patient had not travelled to any infected areas. He was being treated for another illness was in contacted with family and hospital staff, and he was only checked for Coronavirus only after other illness had been ruled out.
@Paul O’Sullivan: cutting edge investigative reporting is difficult with an allegedly stringent editorial policy and cub reporters. Most news here is perhaps aquired from other agencies.
Well I for one feel an awful lot safer with the health of the nation in the hands of Simon Harris, Tony Holohan and the unmitigated disaster that is the HSE!…
Very sad. New case in South East of Ireland to be confirmed later
@Keith ☘️: they need to more open with the info, trusting in the Health Service is already very very low after recent scandals.
@Keith ☘️: speculation
@Paddy Cullen: agree 100%. Feel as if they’re massaging the stats already. They think the less we know the less we’ll panic
@Keith ☘️: case in Cork confirmed, they hadn’t been abroad or in contact with any of the other 6 infected people here either
@Paddy Cullen: so there’s either people who have it who don’t know they have it or the HSE are keeping us in the dark
@Gerry McNally: it’s true. My brother works in cuh and they were told today. It’ll be on 9 o’clock news apparently
Panic won’t help anyone , cough in to elbows , wash hands in the last moments before you eat not before you touch door handles etc getting there , the minute you get home wash hands first thing , use Clean hand towels or else use paper towels . If anyone has cough , temperature or are short of breath just consider could it be the virus but don’t panic . Make a phone call to your gp or public health or Hse help line and be guided . Hot water and liquid soap for 20 seconds is your friend . Touching petrol pumps,atms ,keyboards, phones require you to clean your hands , clean keyboards and phones daily ,steering wheel ,handles ,holy communion in hands all have risks . Cough In to elbow and frequent really good hand washing . You don’t need masks if not infected .
I for one fully trust a journalism degree dropout to do lead us during this crisis. He has a track record with hospitals already, so he knows how to throw money at a problem.
Where is the First death in the UK story???
@Mike McGann: Headline does not match the story. Alastair Campbell invented that. Stop it! We won’t stand for it.
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