Got an idea? – go to dlrBETA!
dlr expands on its public engagement platforms with launch of dlrBETA project, sourcing ideas from the public to trial small scale improvements
Launched today by An Cathaoirleach, Cllr Una Power, and Leas-Cathaoirleach Cllr Séafra Ó'Faoláin, the dlrBETA project is a new departure in public engagement for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Modelled on Dublin City Council’s successful BETA project, the dlrBETA project aims to engage with the public and to assess submissions from the public on ideas that you have for small scale improvements to the public realm.
A dedicated new website - www.dlrbeta.ie - will act as a platform for sourcing good ideas from the public and seeing if dlr can turn them into small scale test projects.
The focus will be on very small-scale projects and we will be prioritising which ideas will be trialled in one specific location. The trials will be monitored and assessed for effectiveness. The nature of the project is that these will be very much trial interventions, being tested in the field, for a period of 3 - 6 months. The Council will then consider if the trial projects are in any way feasible for developing out on a wider basis over time.
We have two initial projects coming up on trial to provide the public with an understanding of the type and scale idea of the dlrBETA project – one is a trial parklet, where public seating and planting has temporarily taken the place of 3 car parking spaces in Sallynoggin. It will provide room for local people to relax there and will assist local businesses and allow patrons to use the seating.
The other is a trial of a new type of bin that is for pizza boxes ONLY – nothing else! Will this assist us with the issue of bulky pizza boxes blocking ordinary bins? We shall see how it goes as we trial it in Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire from May of this year.
We will have a small group of senior staff in the Council who will periodically assess the ideas that come from the public. It will be important to have subject area experts in the Council to give their opinion on the feasibility and ‘trialability’ of any project. We won’t be in a position to trial all the ideas put forward, but we promise to take the ones that we think will work best as a trial.
Speaking of the launch An Cathaoirleach Una Power said:
I am delighted to announce the launch of dlrBETA, which is a new project which will help us to engage with you, the citizens, and get your ideas for small changes that might have a bigger impact on the areas in which we live. Trialling good ideas will give us a chance to see what can make a difference and how we might be able to expand it in the future. If you have a good idea for the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area I would encourage you to submit it to www.dlrbeta.ie
We are looking forward to hearing from the public about their ideas on how we can all work together as we build on public realm improvements across the County.
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