Green space causes controversy
KILLARNEY – Santa Margherita trustees have decided to build a ClearVu fence on the land for security purposes.
A green piece of land in 10th Street, Killarney, has become the subject of much controversy after landowners at Santa Margherita have decided to build a fence on their property.
Monviso, a block of flats in 10th Street overlooking the piece of land, is chaired by community activist James Delaney who believes this space should be left unfenced.
He and a number of other Monviso residents have tended to the land for the last 10 years, transforming it from an abandoned space overgrown with weeds to a quiet green lung in the suburb.
However, trustees at Santa Margherita, who own the land, believe that the clearing of the land has created a security issue for the complex, which is situated below a verge behind the area.
Responding to questions from the Gazette, Santa Margherita trustees said that the Monviso residents had occupied the land without permission also creating a braai area on the space. The trustees have called this an illegal land grab, sighting other alleged illegal land occupation issues on the south boundary of their property.
“We are simply making our property safe with a ClearVu fence on our boundary,” said the trustees.
Delaney disagrees with this decision and believes that the land is a community asset, enjoyed by walkers, joggers, cyclists and other residents living in 10th Street. He says he is happy to remove the ill-conceived braai area and plant further along the ridge.
“There is not much green space in our area. We don’t want to look onto an overgrown space, which is what this will become if they erect a fence here,” said Delaney.
Delaney said he is unaware of any crime incidents in the area and believes that the best way to avoid crime is by keeping things visible.
“We are a community, and we own these green spaces together. We have a duty to put ego and ownership aside to look after it, both for now and the future,” said Delaney.
He responded to the trustees comment that this is a land grab by inviting them to relax in the green space before making such statements.
Monviso resident of six years Peter Sullivan installed five bird feeders on the land and was overjoyed to see birds returning to the area.
Sullivan believes the fence is an unnecessary and selfish decision on behalf of Santa Margherita.
Trustees at Santa Margherita said that the residents of Monviso initially offered to help pay for the fence, but later retracted the offer. Delaney said that this was the decision of the previous Monviso chairman, who was voted out by current Monviso residents.
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