Speaker

CELBRIDGE - With no start date in sight for their new school, and in the absence of safety improvements along the Hazelhatch Road, parents of children attending St. Patrick's National School are looking reestablish progress on opening a pedestrian gate that has been locked for 17 years. They are aware of the objections, but citing the original planning conditions, they intend to press ahead with their plans for a protest.  This is BLIND SPOT - The problem with getting a safe route to school for St. Patrick's Credits: Music by Oleksii Holubiev from Pixabay Sound Effect from Pixabay School Kids Walk - Sound Effect from Pixabay

For seventeen years, the temporary location of St. Patrick’s National School in Celbridge has quietly grown into a community hub, now serving nearly 400 children. By all accounts, it is a good school, and a happy place. But a serious issue has been brewing over the years. Initially planned to be temporary, the school has far outstayed its time on a site that was only ever meant to be a short-term location. The problem? There’s no safe route for children to get to school. Parents report a daily gauntlet—navigating narrow footpaths, dodging speeding cars, and crossing busy roads with limited visibility. This situation has led to numerous near misses, and even accidents. And now, after years of inaction, a group of concerned parents is saying, ‘Enough.’ On September 13th, they plan to peacefully protest, demanding a simple solution: give our children a way to get to school without risk of injury, or worse. This is a trailer for BLIND SPOT - an upcoming episode where I speak with the organisers of the upcoming peaceful protest.

Here’s a summary of some of the agenda items for the upcoming Clane-Maynooth Municipal District Meeting, set to take place on Friday 6th September 2024. The full documents related to this meeting are available at https://kildarecoco.ie/YourCouncil/YourElectedCouncil/MunicipalDistricts/ To log a lighting fault, see the new public lighting fault reporting tool at https://deadsureapp.com

An exclusive "citizen journalist" investigation into water reliability and quality issues in Kildare, featuring comments from several councillors. NOTE: After we recorded this episode, I reached out to Uisce Éireann for comment. Nothing received yet but they have launched a new customer text alert system, sign up here for alerts impacting your home. THANKS TO: Uisce Éireann Freedom of Information team, for prompt and courteous assistance with this large volume of data. For commentary on the podcast, Cllr. Rupert Heather, Cllr. Shonagh Ní Raghallaigh, Cllr. Naoise Ó Cearúil, Cllr. Angela Feeney, and Mayor of Kildare Cllr. Joe Neville. Audio from TD Joan Collins was taken from public record of Dáil proceedings. The BURST Report is available for download at speaker.podbean.com (scroll down to DOCUMENTS section). Sound Effect by LIECIO from Pixabay Music by Yurii Semchyshyn from Pixabay

Major Land Purchase raises hopes for Celbridge: Councillors Discuss Donaghcumper Development Celbridge, County Kildare – 26th July 2024: A significant land acquisition by Kildare County Council marks a transformative step for Celbridge, as the Council has signed a contract for the purchase of Donaghcumper House and its adjoining 26.3 hectares. The move unlocks access to an adjacent patch of land that’s already owned by KCC, who can now promise extensive public amenities and community spaces. I was joined by all 4 Celbridge councillors to discuss the news – Labour’s Rupert Heather, Claire Orourke for the Social Democrats, Lumi Panaite Fahey of Fine Gael and David Trost of Fianna Fáil. In this exclusive interview, local councillors shared their reactions, and their insights about the project. The strategic purchase of Donaghcumper lands, combined with the existing 12.33 hectares owned by the Council on the south side of the River Liffey, aims to establish the River Liffey Amenity Park and corridor. This will unify the area, ensuring its preservation and opening it up for public use. Plans include sports facilities, recreational areas, and biodiversity initiatives. Councillors' Perspectives Cllr. Rupert Heather of the Labour Party was the first to highlight the significance of this purchase. "KCC told us about these plans last week and I've had to sit on them to some extent which has not been easy … it is such an exciting development but we're now able to go fully public with the news," he said. "This purchase brings together the strip of land that KCC have owned for a while and new lands, so we'll get on to what that will mean for the community but essentially this addresses so many things. It addresses the issue of money being spent in Celbridge, the lack of funds that we've had that has been identified." Treasa Keegan raised potential community concerns with Cllr. Claire O'Rourke of the Social Democrats, who detailed the long history of the land. "The Donaghcumper House itself in recent years was bought by a private developer and in the last two decades there have been various attempts by private developers to build a town centre and residential units. And over a long number of years and different struggles the lands have really been saved unspoiled as they are and kept free from development. The latest announcement by Kildare County Council that they've bought the lands and the house for amenity use is actually fabulous news." Addressing the balance between development and preservation, Cllr. Lumi Panaite Fahey of Fine Gael underscored the importance of careful planning. "I requested the map from KCC today and I've also looked for the purchase price. So I'm just waiting for that information. I'm really happy to see this going ahead. I feel that this is going to make quite a difference to Celbridge in that we are told that this will also facilitate parking." Cllr. David Trost of Fianna Fáil reflected on the broader implications for infrastructure. Referring to the 3 Schools project on the other side of the Dublin Road, he said "You're talking about very significant development from the point of view of the moving of St. Patrick's Primary School, the community school which is located opposite the Salesians at the moment and St. Raphael's Special School. So you're talking about a very, very significant education campus going in there." Community and Environmental Considerations Throughout the interview, the councillors acknowledged the community's role in shaping the future of Donaghcumper. Public consultation will be integral to the plan, ensuring that the development aligns with local needs and environmental considerations. O'Rourke reassured viewers about the sale conditions: "The house requires an enormously expensive amount of restoration work. And the condition that they're making an agreement with the third party is that they will fully restore it to a specific standard. And because of that I also asked them whether this third party was a private body or a public body. They were unable to say but they did say that they felt people would be happy with the purchaser but they haven't revealed that purchaser as yet." Heather echoed the sentiment, emphasising a community-focused vision. "Now we have a large area of Council-owned land and it ticks all the boxes in terms of the provision of a second playground, playing pitches, mixed-use amenities... This is not just about providing those key amenities. It's about regenerating Celbridge. It will have an impact on the main street. It will have an impact on the whole town." Moving Forward While the councillors celebrated the acquisition, they also acknowledged the historical underspend in Celbridge and the need for swift action. "We've lost out a lot over many years in terms of like a delivery for all sorts of different reasons. And I think … that we really do need to keep the pressure up," Trost remarked. "Fantastic news story but we certainly need to keep the pressure up in terms of getting plans in place and starting to get funding in place for delivery." The initial steps will involve closing the sale and beginning the public consultation process. Councillors expressed their commitment to transparency and community involvement throughout the project's development. This landmark purchase brings hope for Celbridge, promising to transform the town's landscape and improve quality of life for its residents. But there are so many questions to answer – like when will we see delivery. It can only be done with the collective efforts of the Council and the community. If things go according to councilors’ hopes, Donaghcumper House and its lands are set to become a cherished public space for generations to come.

Motions Kildare County Council - 29th July 2024   Councillors Chris Pender and Pat Balfe That this council writes to Irish Rail and the National Transport Authority (NTA), requesting a meeting concerning the implementation of Phase 2 of the new Dublin Commuter Zone and the new Dublin City Zone.   Councillor Nuala Killeen That the council sets out safeguarding policies and measures including those related to accredited safeguarding training, with regard to services provided specifically to women, children and/or vulnerable persons, by or on behalf of Kildare County Council (through Service Level Agreements), and that any gaps are addressed urgently.   Councillor Angela Feeney That the council provides a report to members on the rollout of its retrofitting programme with numbers of completed, current and planned schemes, locations, house type and the works involved as well as the funding status of the programme.   Councillor Seamie Moore That the conditional removal of trees, hedgerows and shrubbery for planning approvals should be re-balanced with a replacement requirement of ten times the number of removals with semi-mature plantings, preferably in a set aside spinney or grove and that tree removals by Kildare County Council be treated in a like manner.   Councillor Rupert Heather That the council addresses the uneven distribution of playgrounds across the county by taking an approach that ensures each municipal district has a basic level of amenities.   Councillor Bernard Caldwell That the council writes to Uisce Éireann requesting that they establish a dedicated helpline on weekends for elected members, in order that emergency water supply (Water Tanker) can be organised for affected customers, where major outages occur.   Councillor Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh That the council improves its use of the Irish language at meetings, with a view to conducting the December meeting solely as Gaeilge.   Councillor Joe Neville That this council request from Uisce Éireann a list of water pipe bursts and number of impacted residents from water outages by location in Kildare since 01 Jan 2023.   Councillor Peter Melrose That the council undertakes a review of the 'Kildare Alerts' messaging system to ensure that it is fully compliant with its objective of informing the public in relation to alerts on water, roads, floods & hazards, and severe weather warnings. Further, that a public awareness and advertising campaign be undertaken to promote the service.   Councillor Naoise Ó Cearúil That this Council writes to the Department of Education to obtain data on the number of special education places in the County and their assessment that provision is suitable for the anticipated population growth.   Councillor Aidan Farrelly That the council outlines the process of re-allocating its housing stock once it has been vacated to include average turnaround times in 2023/24, the average refurbishment cost per unit and to confirm if costs are covered in full from council funds.

Here’s a summary of some of the agenda items for the upcoming Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District Meeting, set to take place on 17th July 2024. The full documents related to this meeting are available at https://kildarecoco.ie/YourCouncil/YourElectedCouncil/MunicipalDistricts/

Hello and welcome back! Here’s a summary of some of the agenda items for the upcoming AthyMunicipal District Meeting, set to take place on 15th July 2024. The full documents related to this meeting are available at https://kildarecoco.ie/YourCouncil/YourElectedCouncil/MunicipalDistricts/  

Hello and welcome back! Here’s a summary of the agenda for the upcoming Celbridge – Leixlip Municipal District Meeting, set to take place on Friday 19th July. Councillor Rupert Heather Motion: Proposes widening the pedestrian footpath between the Grove Estate entrance and Cunningham's Funeral Directors on Newtown Road, Celbridge, to accommodate the high volume of pedestrians. Question: Can the council confirm the status of the 'taking in charge' process for Primrose Gate estate in Celbridge? Motion: Seeks clarification from Uisce Éireann on water infrastructure upgrades in Hazelhatch. Councillor Lumi Panaite Fahey Motion: Suggests a quarterly report on program funding and unspent funds for Celbridge, along with progress on main amenities projects. Question: Can the council provide a full update and progress report on the provision of a second bridge for Celbridge to include route selection, vehicular capacity, and a timeline for delivery? Question: Can the council provide an update on discussions with NTA regarding the safe way to St Patrick's School on Hazelhatch Road and timeline for taking in charge of the Primrose Gate Estate? Motion: Requests resolution of land transfer issues at Scoil Mochua, Celbridge, to facilitate the provision of autism classes. Councillor David Trost Motion: Requests the installation of bollards on a section of footpath opposite the library in St. Patrick’s Park, Celbridge, to ensure the safety of vulnerable users. Motion: Suggests writing to An Post to reinstate the post box in Tesco, removed during the construction of Costa Coffee Café. Question: Can the council inform the members on the timeframe for the Celbridge Local Area Plan? Question: Can the council provide an update on the proposed Civic Amenity Centre in this municipal district? Councillor Joe Neville Motion: Seeks a progress report and timeline for the delivery of a second bridge for Celbridge. Question: Can the council provide an update on the Swimming pool for North Kildare? Councillor Nuala Killeen Motion: Calls for a streetlight installation in phase three of Ryevale Lawns to improve safety during the winter months. Motion: Requests enforcement of weight restrictions on Cope Bridge to prevent heavy trucks from using the road. Question: Can the council confirm what community facilities for childcare provision are available and how smaller local childcare settings are being supported and promoted in the Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District? Councillor Bernard Caldwell Question: Asks for updates from Waterways Ireland regarding access to the Royal Canal at Confey Bridge. Motion: Proposes the installation of more anti-dog littering signs in St. Catherine’s Park, Leixlip. Question: Seeks an update on the development of the old ESB site on Main Street, Leixlip. Motion: Suggests relocating plans for a columbarium wall to a new site due to space constraints at the current cemetery in Confey. Councillor Claire O’Rourke Question: Can the council outline the process following the issuing of a Warning Letter for an Unauthorised Development in this municipal district?   That’s all for now, if you’d like to attend this meeting, drop a line to meetings@kildarecoco.ie Take Care!

Joan has a unique insight on how Kildare County Council can contribute to transparent, fair social housing allocations. She talks through her lived experience, and why that makes her suited to run for election to represent the people of Leixlip. Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay Join the discussion at facebook.com/groups/celbridgepolitics