Sir, - I refer to the article "First and last hurrah of Sandymount's eco-warrior" (July 8th). I was both surprised and disappointed at the inaccuracy of the article in describing the green waste proposal for Sean Moore Park in Sandymount as a "dump". What was proposed was a facility whereby residents from the general area could bring hedge clippings, Christmas trees and other such material for mulching and recycling into compost. This was an environmentally friendly sustainable proposal which: a) would have avoided this type of material filling our tipheads and b) would have provided a useful environmentally-friendly fertiliser for garden use leading to a reduction in artificial fertilisers.
There was no question of a "dump" being provided and there was no question of any effect whatsoever on Brent geese.
A similar facility to that proposed has operated successfully for five years in St Anne's Park without causing any disturbance to either residents or users of the park, not to mention the odd wild goose. Regrettably, it appears that even eco-warriors suffer from the NIMBY syndrome.
In the meantime, green waste in the Dublin 2, 4 and 6 areas must be either transported unnecessarily (a waste of time, a waste of fuel and an unnecessary vehicle on the road) to St Anne's Park or continue to be dumped in the landfill sites (a waste of space and a waste of a recycling opportunity).
Despite the accompanying photograph showing part of Irishtown Nature Park in the background, I note no reference at all was made to the Park which is more representative of the Corporation's commitment to habitat creation and nature conservation. But then this, like Sandymount Strand, is separated by the South Bull from the Liffey Estuary, contrary to what is implied in the article. - Yours, etc., P. Maguire, Assistant City Manager, Dublin Corporation,
Fishamble Street, Dublin 8.