I am sending this on behalf of myself, my partner and our two children who reside in Greenhills. We have lived in Greenhills for the last 13 years, it is a fantastic community, safe and very welcoming, easily accessible and close to many amenities. My two boys play for Greenhills Boys FC and have come on leaps and bounds in terms of social and physical development with the help of the fantastic coaches who volunteer their free time every week. 

I believe the proposed Synthetic Grass Pitch located in Greenhills Park would be very beneficial for the club and also local football, GAA, schools and Rugby Clubs in the area.

Having attended the public meeting in Greenhills Community Centre on the 9th October it was clear to see that many of the elderly residents are receiving false information about the scale of the project and what it will do to the park or even the value of their properties.

The park would still be accessible to walkers and runners as the path around the edge will be untouched. The perimeter fence is 4.5m not 6m as some were saying at the meeting, the area of the pitch would be 145m x 100m this will still leave ample room for natural grass around the pitch and the mature trees beside the school will be protected.

The flood lights will not be shining into peoples houses, these are specifically designed for pitches using directed LED lamps that are energy efficient and will be on a timer, similar to the ones used in the Sean Walsh Park astro and as noted in the very detailed report carried out on this project minimal light spill will effect the houses when in operation.

Added security from additional lights and CCTV would make the park safer as currently the only light source which is along the path adjacent to the School is insufficent.

As regard to noise pollution, objectors seem to think that scores and scores of people will desend on Greenhills Park with claxons and whistles and that somehow the astro pitch will amplify the sound, it will be used mainly by schoolboy teams, by children who are happy to be able to play a sport they love.

Objections based on potential microplastic pollution by the use of the current performance infill used on astro pitches can easily to be fixed as more natural and Biodegradable alternatives are been used especially with the approaching EU ban on the sale of the current materials. The project will also have detox areas and kickboards installed to contain any materials from leaving the pitch.

As the area selected is currently been used as playing pitches and again as noted in the project report on wildlife in the area any badger dens or fox scat were indentifed away from the pitches in the corner of the park. No sightings of Brent Geese were detected over a period of time either as detailed in the report.

Concerns raised around parking are not soley caused from the use of the park for football matches, the area was built in a time when there wasn't as many vehicles on the roads and many of the side roads are narrow in nature and driving down them on any given day is tricky as is.

The club have activately addressed the parking issue as best they can by urging all members and visting teams to refrain from parking in lanes, on Brendans Crescent, the top of Anthonys Crescent, the lane off James Road and at the Centra shop and to use the Community Centre, which people are adhering to and as custodians of the facility they will also be stressing this to potiental users and if they don't then future bookings should be denied.

Currently the club pay the council aroung 3,000 euro for the use of the grass pitches in the park and then need to pay around another 28,000 euro to secure the use of other astro facilites like Bluebell, Sean Walshe Park and Coldcut to name a few for the winter months which is becoming even more difficult as more and more clubs face the same issue. 

How is the club meant to survive given that each year more children want to play but they won't have the facilities to cater for them and then the children's parents will seek clubs that do, it will be like death by a thousand cuts, the numbers will dwindle and the club will perish.

People suggesting that more affluent clubs will only get to use the facility is preposterous, the club will be given priority booking each month as already mentioned to them. This will allow the club to save money to be used for better equipment, clubhouse or even entry to club tournaments which will gain them more recognition.

I understand the sentiment of many of the objectors who are reticent to change given the fact that the park has been there in its current form for many years but improvements to facilities need to be made that will benefit the next generation and unfortunately amendments to the layout of the park need to happen to facilitate this project.