HOWTHSPECIAL AMENITY AREA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Members/alternates of the Howth SAAO:                                Howth-SuttonCommunityCouncil:NessaO'Brien

Cllrs.D. Healy,J. Hopkins,B. McDonagh,J. GuerinDublin Naturalist FieldClub: D. Doogue/C.Breen; Fingal Tourism: Neil Kennedy/Elaine O'SullivanHillwatch: Jacqueline Feeley

Howth land owners: Ray Gilmore, FionaBellingham Howth Pathways: ConnRedmond/Dougal Cousins HowthPeninsula HeritageSociety: EdgarMcLoughlin Irish Uplands Forum: Mary Tubridy

NationalParks andWildlife Service:Mairéad StackHowth Peninsula: Mary O'Connor/Sean Doran

FingalCo. Co.officers supportingHowth SAAO:

Gemma Carr (SEO, Parks), Mary Godwin (SEO, Planning)Fearghal McSweeney, (AO, Planning), Kevin Halpenny (Snr.Parks Superintendent),Theresa Casey(EO, Parks),Carol Hurley(Exec. Planner), Hans Visser/Deirdre O’Farrell (BiodiversityOfficers), MaryO’Reilly (Snr.Staff Officer),David Daly(Admin.)

DraftMinutes ofMeeting heldWednesday 13^th December 2023, in Baldoyle Public Library

Present: Philip O’Connor Chair, Jacqueline Feeley, Nessa O’Brien, Edgar McLoughlin, Dougal Cousins, Mary Tubridy, Cllr David Healy, Hans Visser, Deirdre O’Farrell, Carol Hurley, Cormac Downey, Solomon Aroboto, Elisa Pelletier, Aoife Cannon, Alexis Fitzgerald

Apologies:Conn Redmond,Gemma Carr, Cllr Joan Hopkins, Mairéad Stack

SAAO/2 Minutesof previousmeeting:Minutesof meetingof 20/09/23proposed (byJacqueline), seconded (by Edgar) and adopted. Matters arising dealt with elsewhere in agenda.

SAAO/3 Presentation by Aoife Cannon, Elisa Pelletier, Growing Roots Forest School.

·         The school runs for 2 hours a day after school 2 days a week and is made up of 2 separate groups of children. When in the forest the groups operate a leave no trace policy

·         The school runs year-round, Elisa asked if there was any way that the group could apply for permission once a year instead of having to apply each quarter. It was confirmed that Lourda would be asked to follow up on whether permission could be on a yearly basis.

·         Elisa requested advise on best principles to manage the forest and offered to work with Fingal Co. Co. in any way they could assist.

·         The children are predominantly local, with a few travelling from surrounding areas, and there is a fee to attend.

·         Edgar asked if the group was in charge of paying their own insurance, which they were

SAAO/4  Update on SAAO works being implemented by Fingal Co. Co

·         Deirdre discussed works being implemented and gave a recap of a busy year including the Communications strategy and mentioned that the tender process for hiring a Communication officer is underway and will be progressed in the new year.

·         Photos were shown of rewetting works being carried out, At Green Hallows cottage a drain has been blocked with the aim of helping lands rewet there

·         Photos were also show of rhododendron control east of the Bog of Frogs, diggers have been brought in and 3-4 acres have been cleared via pulling instead of cutting methods

·         Deirdre explained how they were approached to see if they could assist in release of 2 peregrine falcons which took place successfully, not clear if the birds stayed in the local area

·         Pedestrian footfall figures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.