New park to open in Kildare on site of former illegal dump

The new park is expected to open this Autumn.

A new public park is set to open just outside Naas in Kildare, on the site of what was once one of the “most controversial dumps in the country”.

The park is part of the Kerdiffstown Landfill Remediation Project, a major clean up of the dump site  which has cost more than €61.5 million in public money.

The project is a welcomed venture for people in the surrounding towns of Johnstown, Sallins and Naas, who’ve lived with the stench of the illegally operated dump for decades.

A site drawing of Kerdiffstown Park, via Kildare County Council 

According to Kildare Live, some 3.1 million cubic metres of waste was dumped on the site, and in January of 2011 an underground fire broke out beneath the mounds of waste. The blaze sent noxious fumes into people’s homes, forcing some to temporarily move out.

At the time of the fires, one woman told RTÉ News that she was constantly having to monitor which way the wind was blowing as she feared what chemicals were being burned. Others said the smell made them physically sick.

It was eventually closed by a court order and a huge clean up project got underway, in anticipation for the development of an outdoor recreation centre.

Joe Boland, the former Director of Services for Kildare County Council, who has been been overseeing the sites’ transformation told RTÉ that detailed assessments have been carried out to ensure there is no ongoing threat from what lies beneath.

Progress images of Kerdiffstown Park, via Kildare County Council.

“The site has now been fully stabilised but in accordance with our licence from the Environmental Protection Agency, there is a requirement to monitor this into the future, so well into the future we’ll have to continue to monitor this site.”

The new park will boast a number of amenities, including all-weather pitches suitable for rugby, soccer and football, running tracks, walking trails, biodiversity areas and wetlands.

Header image via Kildare County Council 

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