Madam, - Dare we hope that someone in the Department of the Environment and in planning offices round the country will take notice of Joe Breen's article on social consequences of realising the "development potential" of urban gardens (Property, September 7th).
It was pointed out to me some years ago that many town centres (Navan, in particular, was cited) were losing the back gardens of premises and dwellings to developments of one sort or another - in-fill buildings or car parks, usually - and that the streetscapes had become like cardboard cutouts on a film set. I was warned that this might happen here too (this was in the days when Westport still retained many gardens off the main streets, as well as a Town Park).
Prophetic words, as less than a decade later there are no town gardens in the old part of Westport. There is no longer a Town Park. Developments and car parks have taken over.
However, there is still one old garden, hiding behind high walls - the garden of the Bank of Ireland, the Georgian townhouse on the Mall. The Bank sold the garden to a developer in 1999, since then it has been locked up and derelict in spite of efforts by the citizens of Westport and their Civic Trust to acquire the garden from the Bank for the town, in lieu of the Town Park. Pre-election promises by councillors to protect it have proved to be empty words.
Requests by the Civic Trust to have the garden listed for protection in the Town Development Plan as the curtilage of a protected structure (the Bank of Ireland buildings) have got nowhere. Two submissions to the Town Development Plan have been ignored and this once lovely and productive garden still has a large "P" across it on the development map.
We live in strange times. Our leaders and their worker bees have so much honey they seem to be drunk and do not realise the flowers are dying. - Yours, etc,
SHIRLEY L PIGGINS,
Corratowick,
Westport,
Co Mayo.
Madam, - The photograph in your edition of September 11th of residents enjoying Dartmouth Square is a perfect illustration of how urban green spaces can benefit communities.
As our cities grow at an unprecedented rate, and in the midst of the furore that recent events in Ranelagh have provoked, it is useful to remember the connection between the urban environment that so many of us now inhabit and our physical, mental and social well-being. For example, in "mega-cities" such as Tokyo, it has been shown that citizens live longer if they have access to walkable green spaces.
But is this benefit equally enjoyed by all our city residents? Or is unequal access to a high-quality urban environment contributing to the inequality in health that is cutting through the heart of Irish society? For example, compared with the rich, our poorest citizens are over 15 times more likely to die from mental health problems and over three times more likely to die from lung diseases. I believe a stroll from Dartmouth Square to those parts of the city where our poorest people live will starkly answer these questions.
I hope this current debate will not end when the green space in Ranelagh is safely secured but will lead to a call for better urban environments and better health for all. - yours, etc,
PAUL KAVANAGH,
Bishopmede,
Lower Clanbrassil Street,
Dublin 8.