MORE THAN half of those living in the commuter belt areas around Dublin have no involvement with their local community and have problems with street drinking and vandalism, according to a survey carried out by the Labour Party.
Senator Dominic Hannigan, the party’s spokesman on the commuter belt, said the survey pointed to the need for action to improve the quality of life for people living in the urbanised areas of Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.
“In the last decade, there has been significant growth in population in the towns and villages around Dublin. This has generated considerable debate about commuter issues, but yet very little research exists about how residents feel about their quality of life. The purpose of our research is to plug this gap,” said Mr Hannigan.
Forty per cent of those who participated in the survey felt their quality of life had stayed the same, 31 per cent said it had got worse and 29 per cent said it had improved over the past five years.
While almost 60 per cent felt their town was growing at the right pace, more than half of them, 54 per cent, were not involved in any local community group, sports club or voluntary organisation. Despite this, 56 per cent felt there was a strong sense of community among the longer-term residents.
Vandalism and anti-social behaviour emerged as serious problems for people living in the commuter belt. Vandalism was described as a problem by 50 per cent, while property damage affected 28 per cent.
Street drinking was cited by 54 per cent as a problem, while noise affected 40 per cent and intimidation 26 per cent. Littering and dog fouling were a problem for 68 per cent of people.
In terms of services, 55 per cent use buses to get to work, 15 per cent drive, 23 per cent cycle or walk, 5 per cent go by train and 2 per cent work from home – and 95 per cent think bus or train services need to be improved.
People felt their journeys to work have increased over the past five years by an average of 30 per cent and while 90 per cent live within walking distance of a public house, only half live within walking distance to a playground.
Just one in six residents thinks their local council is doing enough to provide land for parks or football pitches, while over half of respondents complain about the quality of the water supply.
A large majority feels that the lack of facilities for young people is a big problem, most think class sizes are too large and 60 per cent do not think there are adequate recycling facilities. Mr Hannigan said to deal with the issues raised in the survey, councils should prioritise developments that offer community benefits and local and national agencies should do more to promote local jobs in business parks so commuting would not be such a big problem.
He also proposed that Garda numbers should be linked to the population growth of an area, more litter bins and recycling facilities should be provided and quality bus networks completed. More playgrounds and youth facilities were also needed, as was proper planning, to ensure there were sufficient school places before new housing was occupied.
The survey was compiled from 1,533 completed forms. A total of 80,000 survey forms were distributed to homes in the region.
