NAAS, 29 August: by Bill Trapman. With the reopening of schools in Naas parents dropping off and collecting their children at the two schools on the Sallins Road will be hard put to find a place to park their cars.
Naas UDC Cllr Pat McCarthy said not having a temporary car park on the Sallins Road while construction of a multi storey car park is under way in the UDC’s former car park is ‘a serious inconvenience’.
And he claimed there won’t be enough room in the convent car park for all the school traffic as teachers will also need to park there.
He said: “The solution was to have had a temporary car park during construction work, as was stipulated by County Kildare planners and by An Bord Pleanála in a condition of the planning conditions for Baba Exports Ltd who are developing the site.”
He also claimed the UDC new car park at Hedderman’s Yard is not a solution to the Sallins Road problem as it is not close enough for those accessing the schools and the church. “It’s too far from the town centre, is isolated, and many will feel unsafe walking down a laneway to reach it, especially on dark evenings.”
Since the closure of the UDC car park, residents of The Sycamores estate have seen a dramatic rise in the numbers of cars parked the length of the link road.
A car parked in the yellow box outside the parish church on the Sallins Road prevented a hearse from driving in the main gate of the church. This had necessitated a difficult manoeuvre for the driver via the side entrance.
Afterwards, another car had parked in the same spot, resulting in a similar manoeuvre for the hearse.
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