£125,000 paid in KCC grants scheme

COUNTY HALL, 9 June 2000: by Trish Whelan. Representatives of some 81 organisations from all over the county attended a special function in the headquarters of Kildare County Council in Naas on Wednesdayt for the Council’s annual presentation of grants which this year totalled £125,000.

The categories represented included Residents Associations, the Arts Act Grant Scheme, Cultural Events Grants Scheme, Festival Grants, and National Millennium Grants.

Top of the list was the Ballyoulster Soccer Club from Celbridge (Tony King and Gerry McGowan pictured on left with Ray Bonnar of Kildare County Council) which received £15,000, followed by the County Kildare Orchestra which was presented with £8,000. The orchestra also played before the event.

Particularly pleased on the night was Leixlip Town Commission chairman, Bernard Cauldwell who with Breda Cody (right) collected cheques on behalf of Leixlip Town Commissioners (£700 plaque, £2,000 history, £2,500 brochure and £1,200 Seminars) and Leixlip Festival (£4,000).

Representatives of Morristown Residents Associations and New Line Grove Residents Association in Kilmead, Athy, were presented with £300 and £360 respectively.

Organisations to receive the highest National Millennium grants included: County Kildare Failte (£6,000); County Kildare Resource Centre for the Unemployed (£5,000); Kildare Community Games (£4,500) while £4,000 went to Irish Wheelchair Association, KYS, Kilcullen Community Development, Visitors Centre Maynooth, Bealtaine Millennium Festival, KARE Newbridge and Cairde Bride in Kildare.

Under the Cultural Events banner, Comhaltais Ceoltoiri Eireann received £3,000; Kildare Co Board of Irish Figure Dancing £1,000; Patrician Pipe Band Newbridge, Newbridge Community Band, Suncroft Pipe Band, Maynooth Brass and Reed Band, Ballymore Eustace Pipe Band and world champions, the Narraghmore Pipe Band, all £500. Ballitore Writers Group, represented by Mary Cousins, Willie Kelly and Margaret Wouters (left), received £200.

The highest amount in Festival Grants went to Kildare Derby Festival Ltd (£1,250) with £1,000 each to Prosperous Coarse Angling Club, and the Gerard Manley Hopkins Society. Cheques for £500 went to the Irish International Canoe Polo Festival, Ticknevin Turf Cutting by Hand Festival, Duchas Chill Dara, Old Time Fair and Vintage Festival, Kildare Drama Festival, and Robertstown Grand Canal Festa. Maynooth Community Festival received £300.

Cyril Freaney, who took part in the Special Olympics received a cheque for £500 while Irish hopeful in the Sydney Olympic Games, David Matthews from Leixlip, (pictured on right) with his fiancee Niamh Jacob from Newbridge) was presented with a cheque for £1,000, together with the gift of a watch. David will be competing in the 800m event. He previously reached the semi-finals (5th place) in the Atlanta Olympic Games. He holds the Irish record for this distance.

Kildare County Council chairman P J Sheridan said the presentation was ‘an important part of the Council’s activities and showed the special relationship between the Council and the citizens of the county’. He said the principle purpose of the presentation is to recognise and thank all those involved in the various projects. Commending all recipients for their work, county manager Niall Bradley said communities need to be supported and to be allowed participate meaningfully in events which shape their lives.

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3 June 2000: Concern over 304-house development in Newbridge ... Ireland's longest traction engine run ... memories of Billy Brown ... Columb Brazil joins REMAX.

This is a KNN broadcast production in RealAudio. Earlier programmes here.

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Sonya sees life different to most

LEIXLIP, 9 June 2000: by Michael Freeman. When Interiors, Exhibition and Furniture Design student Sonya Creevey walks down a street she sees it unlike most of the rest of us. She looks for aesthetics, form, colour, shape, balance and function. When she goes into a pub, she checks for features such as lighting, furniture, colour co-ordination and contrast. She also checks that the door handles work and that the bar person is pulling a pint properly. If there is an exhibition there or if there is a stage, she casts an observing eye on those too. It's all about producing good design.

Sonya (20) of Castletown Estate, Leixlip, Co Kildare has won the first Sonus Student Designer of the Year Award. She received the award which is organised in conjunction with the College of Marketing and Design,Dublin, and Guinness, and a £1,000 prize at a function in Dublin Corporation's Civic Offices.

Her winning design was conveyed through her showboards, visuals and her 3-D computer rendering of a makeover of the Waterloo Bridge pub in Baggot Street,Dublin. Her brief from the competition organisers Sonus Design, who design Irish pub interiors throughout the world, was to design the structure, furniture, fittings and lighting of the pub to give it a contemporary look for the year 2010.

Sonya said that she drew inspiration from the Giants Causeway in Co. Antrim and from ancient Irish dolmens. She used a Giants Causeway theme throughout the interior of the pub. She conveyed the look through the use of photo tiles on the walls and through the use of natural Irish stone. Her winning design was displayed in Dublin Corporation's offices at Wood Quay.

She has just completed her third year of her course in Interior and Furniture Design at the College of Marketing and Design, Mountjoy Square, Dublin and enters her fourth and final year of the degree course in September. She is a former pupil of Colaiste Chiarain, Leixlip.

This summer, she hopes to travel for her second successive year to Austria and Germany and Czechoslovakia taking in her favourite city Prague. Sonya has already worked as a student for her Summer months with Harrison-Freeman, the interiors design people in Blackheath, London.

Sonya is eldest daughter of Alex and Marion Creevey of Castletown Estate, in Leixlip and has a brother Derek (16) and a sister Suzanne (13).

 

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Tourism tour of Kildare for tourist people

KILDARE GENERAL, 9 June 2000: by Bertha Cooke, Kildare Failte. A special tour of the county for people involved in tourism in county Kildare was arranged by County Kildare Failte over the past two weeks. The first leg took in Lullymore Heritage Park and Peatland World where local musicians added a traditional flavour to the tour. For a gourmet flavour they went to Tyrell's Restaurant for lunch and we are told walked it off in the adjoining Ballindoolin House and in the Gardens. More Great Houses of north Kildare followed. First the magnificently restored Castletown (above) - open again to visitors and now in the care of Duchas with the evening closing in the more peaceful environs of the "Christianity in Kildare" Exhibition now showing in the hallowed halls of Maynooth College.

The second leg was on June 6th and a coach load of the ladies and a few gents traveled south. It was a trip into the history and the roots of the county. Dr Anne Behan told the two stories of The Moat of Ardscull. The first of the massacre of the Irish Chieftains and the more recent association with the Gordon Bennett Motor Race of 1903. In South Kildare 1903 is recent history! Sean Cleary showed the group the wonders of The Moone High Cross now in its new location in the ruins of the church there. The panels on the wall give lots of information to tourists without a guide. Moone was founded by St Columbkille, down the road in Timolin St Mullins founded the monastery where casting is still done at the Pewtermill - originally the mill of the monastery. There is a Museum of Pewter Moulds and a collection of old Pewter there that traces the history of the craft back 300 years.

After lunch at the High Cross Inn came a tour of the Quaker village of Ballitore by Mary Malone where the Mary Ledbetter House has been beautifully restored - then on to see how Jim Maher almost single handed restored the Crookstown Mill and its wonderland of grinding wheels and cogs and working waterwheel. Out of history - South Kildare's most recent find is a 4000 year old graveyard near the new Moone by-pass - and into the present times of K Gardens in Nurney. No better way to end a tour and a day out.

County Kildare Fáilte is stepping up its promotion of the County as a place to visit out of Dublin. A relief from the terrible traffic. Those who took part in these tours are in a position to recommend to their guests where they should go in the county. Already Kildare Failte has been asked to recommend tour routes to resident associations and clubs in the Dublin area. You can contact us at the new County Kildare Fáilte offices at 38 south Main Street, Naas, and telephone 045-898888. Email kildarefailte@indigo.ie

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Notes ... Notes ... Notes ...

NAAS: Eleanor Burke from Hazelmere has kick-started a ladies’ football club in the town and has already lined up half a panel for the senior team (over the age of 16) and enough players for a junior team (from 10-12 years). She has affiliated with Naas AFC which will provide a pitch for practice as well as insurance cover. The girls will practise on Wednesday nights at the Caragh Road Grounds.

KILDARE NORTH: Cllr Senan Griffin has welcomed the announcement that the towns of Maynooth, Leixlip and Celbridge will shortly have their own road sweeping machine. This machine will be used to sweep estates and roads leading into and out of these local towns. Cllr Griffin also stated that it is envisaged that the litter bins will be emptied on a regular basis. In welcoming this announcement, Cllr. Griffin, who advocated this service four years ago, stated: "This is a positive step in presenting a cleaner image for Maynooth, Leixlip and Celbridge". Cllr Griffin expressed the wish that the service be extended to include the town of Kilcock.

MAYNOOTH: The realignment of Bond Bridge (above) was given the go-ahead on Friday when the Part X was adopted by local area councillors with some changes. Welcoming this stage of the realignment, Cllr Senan Griffin insisted that the link to the railway station be included in the finished design. Senior engineer Charlie O'Sullivan gave a commitment to re-examine the possibility of retaining the canal bridge facade in the new bridge. Cllr Griffin further stated that it was agreed to have a stone finish to all external works. The area meeting was informed that the consultants are now in the final stages of design. A contractor should be appointed in July and is expected to be on site in September.

NAAS: Naas Local History Group is organising an outing to Northern Ireland for Saturday 17 June. The trip will include a visit to Hillsborough Castle, then on to Lisburn and the Lagan Valley. The cost is £15 and details are available from Larry Breen at 897445 or Brendan Cullen at 861159.

MONASTEREVIN: The Monasterevin Newsletter Project will hold an Open Day in the Parish Centre on Wednesday 7th June. The Project, which is jointly sponsored by FAS and the Community Council, will be open to the public from 10am to 1pm and again from 6pm to 9pm. If you want to find out about the the choice of evening computer courses that are available or if you think you would like to go on a course full time, come in and inquire.

NAAS: Clonmel Enterprises have applied to Kildare County Council to construct 16,280 SqM of manufacturing/warehousing units in five blocks, at Newhall. The application includes 3,980 SqM of related office space. The developers are also proposing a realignment of the M7 Northbound on-ramp to incorporate a new roundabout and site access, internal roads and service utilities.

KILDARE GENERAL: A total of £15,000 grant-aid has been agreed by Kildare County Council under its Cultural Events Grant Scheme of which more than half went to the County Kildare Orchestra (£8,000). Others to benefit included Comhaltais Ceoltóirí Éireann (£3,000); Kildare County Board of Irish Figure Dancing (£1,000); the Patrician Pipe Band, Newbridge Community Band, Suncroft Pipe Band, Maynooth Brass and Reed Band, Ballymore Eustace Pipe Band and World Champions, the Narraghmore Pipe Band will each receive £500 in grant-aid.

GARDA PATROL Marking your property is one of the best ways of making sure that it is quickly returned to you if recovered by the gardai.

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Naas GAA has 'weak' legal case - council chairman

NAAS, 8 June 2000: by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. The chairman of Naas UDC, Seamie Moore (right has told the town’s GAA Club that he feels their legal position ‘is weak’ in relation to promises made by Lehmex International on the club’s move to Oldtown Demesne as part of the negotiations in the formation of the 1999 Naas Development Plan.

Cllr Moore is one of a delegation of three councillors selected to meet with Lehmex on the GAA’s behalf to try and find a resolution to the club’s ‘no home’ situation following the withdrawal by the Oldtown developers of all offers made to the club.

In a letter to club chairman Ger Lanigan (left), Cllr Moore - who is a sales manager with a company of which a Lehmex principal has been a director - says ‘there is no doubt’ that the GAA was to benefit from one of the rezonings made in favour of Lehmex, but that there were no legal grounds on which Naas UDC could link zonings with what he termed a ‘quid pro quo’ arrangement between the parties.

And he warns that neither the officials or elected members of the UDC can make or recommend changes to the development plan, and that any disagreement between the two parties concerned does not constitute a condition for a planning refusal on what he termed ‘unrelated planning applications’.

He also suggests that any such ‘disagreement’ between the GAA and Lehmex would not constitute a condition for refusal for any future mid-term zoning application by Lehmex or associated companies.

Cllr Moore says the only way the UDC can help is to facilitate a re-engagement of the parties in discussions, ‘to alleviate tensions and personality clashing’.

Along with Cllr Timmy Conway and Cllr Willie Callaghan, Cllr Moore has been instructed by fellow councillors to arrange a meeting with Lehmex and report back by next Thursday. The selection of the three was on a suggestion of Cllr Charlie Byrne, who said those councillors ‘who’d had contact with Lehmex and supported them in their rezoning’ should enter into discussions with the developer on the GAA’s behalf.

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3 June 2000: Concern over 304-house development in Newbridge ... Ireland's longest traction engine run ... memories of Billy Brown ... Columb Brazil joins REMAX.

This is a KNN broadcast production in RealAudio. Earlier programmes here.

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Delay in response 'did not mean agreement' - KCC

CELBRIDGE & COUNTY HALL, 8 June 2000: by Brian Byrne. Kildare County Council has denied any suggestion that their failure to respond to a ‘phasing agreement’ communication from a Celbridge developer for 19 months meant the developer had an automatic right to proceed with his proposals.

The council was responding to charges of ‘capitulation’ made by Deputy Emmet Stagg in relation to last week’s unexpected granting of permission to Mountbrook Homes for phase 2 of a development along the incomplete Celbridge Inner Relief Road (below).

The Oldtown Mills homes will add 211 houses to the area, and means that 380 homes in a 466-home development will be completed before the relief road is completed. The council last week instigated compulsory purchase procedures for the acquisition of land required to complete the road.

“Our silence on the phasing agreement proposals did not betoken consent,” council spokesman Charlie Talbot told KNN yesterday, following this service’s detailed revelations on the controversial move. “The provision was that the phasing should go ahead ‘by agreement’, and there was no agreement.”

He said it was now considered ‘appropriate’ to release permission for phase 2 because of an agreement from the developers that the spine road of the associated St Raphael’s Manor develpment could be used for temporary traffic relief, subject to traffic calming measures being introduced.

“We have to stress that family homes are urgently needed in Celbridge, and Kildare County Council is clearing the way to providing them,” Mr Talbot added. “But we will not be releasing permission for a third phase until appropriate arrangements are in place for the completion of the relief road.”

 

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Parking scheme is delayed

LEIXLIP, 8 June 2000: by Bill Trapman. The introduction of pay parking in Leixlip has been deferred for at least a month beyond the previous 6 June deadline for its implementation. This situation is because 100 signs which were to be erected in relation to the scheme have not even been delivered yet and road markings which were to have been applied prior to ‘D Day’ will not be in place until later in the week.

“New traffic signals which were ordered last Autumn and were to be installed in the beginning of May will be installed at the earliest at the end of June,” according to local councillor Catherine Murphy, who says it would have been preferable to have ‘a more realistic date’ than cause the confusion which she says is now the case.

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DANGER! ... men NOT at work

NEWBRIDGE, 8 June 2000: by Brian Byrne. This is a dangerous roadworks situation which has been left like this for a week at Kilbelin, Newbridge. It appears that heavy rain caused temporary surfacing around a manhole cover to break up. Kildare County Council simply cordoned it off and stuck a ‘Road Flooded’ sign down the road towards Athgarvan.

It is not good enough that this highly dangerous situation was left at it stands over the long weekend. It is downright negligent that it is still the case a week on, with no apparent attempt made to deal with it.

If this is a matter for a private contractor, then KCC should have been on his case long before this. Motorists are not just paying their Road Tax to Central Funds now, but an extra levy of six per cent goes directly to their local authorities.

KNN intends to regularly highlight all kinds of poor design and dangerous road situations around the county. In our Celtic Tiger economy, there’s no excuse for leaving roads in dangerous conditions.

If YOU know a particular one in your area, let us know. We'll make it famous, on a dedicated Kildare Internet service which had over 100,000 'hits' last month.

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Celbridge developer warned council of possible 'substantial damages'

CELBRIDGE, 7 June 2000: by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. A developer who last week received agreement from Kildare County Council to the second phase of a housing development at Oldtown Mills in Celbridge had earlier warned the council it could face ‘substantial damages’ if it took action against him for alleged non-compliance with planning permission conditions.

The agreement that the developer - Mountbrook Homes Ltd - can proceed with a further 211 houses of a 460-house development came just a month after two Enforcement Notices had been issued by the council against the developer’s companies, but not acted on. The agreement is also directly against the recommendation of Kildare’s county engineer, Jimmy Lynch.

Celbridge area local representative Deputy Emmet Stagg (left) claims the agreement represents a ‘capitulation’ by the planning authority to demands of the developer. He intends to raise the issue at Friday’s area meeting of the councillors in Celbridge.

The matter relates to a development which received planning permission in January 1998, along the line of the Celbridge Inner Relief Road (below) which was to be built by the developer as part of the deal. Legal difficulties over the ownership of land at either end of the 80%-completed road delayed completion of the road, badly needed to alleviate traffic congestion in Celbridge. The difficulties relating to the Maynooth Road end have been resolved, but last week Kildare County Council began Compulsory Purchase Order procedures in relation to the Clane Road end.

The original permission was the subject of a Bord Pleanala appeal by Thornhill Residents Association, which failed and allowed the development subject to conditions which included that a ‘phasing programme’ should be agreed in writing with the council before the development commenced, that the Celbridge Relief Road be constructed by the developer, and that occupation of the proposed houses should be ‘agreed with the planning authority in relation to the availability and completion of the relief road’.

Mr Dunne submitted details of a ‘compliance package’ to Kildare County Council In May 1998. In January 1999, the developer requested permission to proceed with Phase 1 of the development, involving 169 houses. This was agreed in March of that year by county engineer Jimmy Lynch.

On 14 January of this year, KCC executive technician Sean Byrne notified the council that a second phase of 30/40 had begun ‘in breach of the phasing conditions agreed with the county engineer’.

In an internal letter dated 21 January 2000 (above), the county engineer noted that the council ‘had not directly responded’ to the compliance package submitted by the developer in 1998, where Mr Dunne had proposed to complete and occupy ‘in the region of 150 to 200 houses per annum’. Mr Lynch said the construction of 169 houses for phase 1 ‘was in line’ with the conditions required under the Bord Pleanala decision. He said, however, that it ‘is not clear’ that any subsequent phases were agreed, ‘because of the lack of response’ [by KCC] to the compliance package letter of 16 June 1998.

The county engineer also noted that the developer had agreed to complete the Celbridge Relief Road ‘when Kildare County Council completes the current CPO procedures for the land required to develop the remainder of the road’. Mr Lynch recommended (below) that no further occupation of houses should be permitted ‘until the Celbridge Relief Road is completed in full’, because any further housing development ‘would adversely affect traffic congestion’ in Celbridge.

A month later, Eilish Murray of the KCC Maynooth office wrote to the Roads Section noting that a section of road being used by the developer ‘appeared to be unauthorised’ and had led to a ‘very dangerous’ traffic situation.

A letter to the council on 1 March of this year by Sean Dunne, managing director of Mountbrook Homes Ltd, ‘strongly cautioned’ the council against taking action to halt his development. He said any such action would be ‘vigorously defended’ by Mountbrook ‘in whatever forum that action might be taken’. Mr Dunne said this could have a consequence of possible substantial damages against the council ‘should their actions, if embarked upon, prove to have been incorrect’.

Mr Dunne also called attention to the fact that there were over 250 men currently employed on the site, ‘constructing houses in accordance with planning permission, in an economy where there is an acute shortage of houses’. The developer invited the council to have its own legal people look at the situation.

Two Enforcement Notices were subsequently issued by KCC on 28 April, on the basis that the developer, and other companies on the site - Anderfield Developments Ltd and Portinscale Ltd - had failed to comply with the planning condition that required an agreed ‘phasing programme’ between the developer and the council.

No follow-through action was taken by the council on the Enforcement Notices, which gave the developer a month from April 28 to comply with their conditions. On 31 May 2000, the developer received agreement that a further 211 houses could be built on the development, subject to five conditions relating to speed ramps to be built in the nearby St Raphael’s Manor estate, which had been built by Anderfield Developments Ltd.

In a statement, Deputy Emmet Stagg says the developer has received ‘the necessary licence’ to complete practically 80% of his original project without completing the ring road ‘deemed to be essential by the plannners in Kildare County Council and Bord Pleanala. “We now have close to 400 houses without the minimal infrastructure that all agreed was required before the houses came on stream,” he says, and claims it is a ‘planning fiasco’ which lies directly with the county engineer and the county manager.

He also notes that a motion he moved at an area meeting last October (below), directing the county engineer not to approve the building or occupation of any further houses until the relief road was completed in full received no seconder or support from his fellow councillors, Kay Walsh or Geraldine Conway.

“Surprisingly, the county engineer was in agreement with my motion,” he says. “If I did receive the support of my colleagues, the outcome, I feel, would have been different.”

KNN understands that a CPO can take an absolute minimum of 13 weeks for a ‘friendly’ situation, or up to two years if there are appeals procedures and court actions taken by landowners.

Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. And read Brian Byrne's review of the new Rover 75.

Kildare has many authors of both fiction and non-fiction. We have a special page available to promote their work, which you can access here.

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Anxiety, depression, loss, phobias, childhood trauma, eating disorders, relationships, personal growth, coaching for work-related stress.

Moorefield Clinic, Newbridge. Phone (045) 432111 or call Noreen at (045) 431936; mobile 086 2496823; email dmccabe@tinet.ie

 

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3 June 2000: Concern over 304-house development in Newbridge ... Ireland's longest traction engine run ... memories of Billy Brown ... Columb Brazil joins REMAX.

This is a KNN broadcast production in RealAudio. Earlier programmes here.

(©2000trishwhelanbrianbyrne.)

Man dies in landfill accident

KILCULLEN, 7 June 2000: by Brian Byrne. A 45-year-old man died last evening after an accident at a landfill site near Kilcullen.

It is understood that the deceased, who was employed by Thomas Logan Ltd, earthmoving contractors, had been operating a roller machine. According to reports, a second machine was involved.

Health and Safety officials are expected on the site, operated by KTK Landfill Ltd (above) today to conduct an investigation, which is normal in such tragic events.

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Naas scouts win Regional Shield

NAAS, 7 June 2000: by Trish Whelan. The senior team from Naas Scout Unit were the winners of the Regional Shield Competition held recently in the GAA grounds in Monasterevan. It is the first time that a Naas Scout team has won this prestigious trophy.

The team now go forward to the Melvin Trophy Competition at the National Scout Campsite, Larch Hill in Dublin from August 17-20. The team also won a trophy for the best test meal.

Four novice teams from the Naas Scout Unit had also taken part in the event.

In winter-like conditions of rain, hail, thunder and lightning, the scouts set up camp at 6.30pm on the evening of Friday May 26 and lived under the stars until Sunday evening. During the weekend, their camp sites were constantly inspected and the scouts had to carry out various tasks which included Backwoods Cooking, First Aid, use of maps and compass, tent pitching, how to use and care for an axe, saw and knife. They also enjoyed a scavenger hunt.

One of the novice teams, taking part for the first time in the competition, won the ‘Spirit of Scouting Award’. The team were Brenda Wynne, Paul King, Yvonne Wynne, Sean Kavanagh, Conor Newall and Danny Golden-Boylan.

The other three novice teams were highly commended for the scouting abilities they portrayed over the weekend.

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CPO possibility for Oldtown 'GAA ground'?

NAAS, 6 June 2000: by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. The developers of Oldtown Demesne in Naas, Lehmex International Ltd, could face a Compulsory Purchase Order move from Naas UDC on 16.5 acres of land which had been promised to the town’s GAA, if they do not agree to the club being relocated there. The club recently appealed to the UDC to help them have promises kept which were made by the developers during the preparation of the 1999 Naas Development Plan.

The suggestion of a CPO was made by Cllr Mary Glennon at a meeting between councillors and GAA negotiators at their clubhouse on Thursday night. If the suggestion was carried through, the GAA could sell their existing site (above) - which is too small for their needs and now zoned for industrial use - at current market rates and then purchase the Oldtown site from the UDC.

Meanwhile, a three-man delegation has been selected by the UDC to approach Lehmex about the recently-controversial matter, with instructions that they revert to their fellow councillors ‘within two weeks’. The delegation consists of UDC chairman Seamie Moore, Cllr Timmy Conway and Cllr Willie Callaghan. Cllr Charlie Byrne (right) says he proposed the names on the grounds that ‘they know the developer and can deal with him’.

“We were getting nowhere at the meeting, so I proposed that the only people who have had direct contact with Lehmex and who had supported them on the rezoning of Oldtown should go to them on behalf of the council,” he said at the weekend. Cllr Glennon told KNN that she was very upset that the new councillors on the UDC were being lumped in with the blame for the current situation, and she ‘wasn’t having that’.

Lehmex have not responded to repeated requests from KNN for a comment on the matter.

Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. And read Brian Byrne's review of the new Rover 75.

Kildare has many authors of both fiction and non-fiction. We have a special page available to promote their work, which you can access here.

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING

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3 June 2000: Concern over 304-house development in Newbridge ... Ireland's longest traction engine run ... memories of Billy Brown ... Columb Brazil joins REMAX.

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Woodlands GC extension opened

COILL DUBH, 6 June 2000: by Michael Freeman. The extension of Woodlands Golf Club from a nine-hole to an 18-hole course last Saturday afternoon prompted the minister for finance, Charlie McCreevy TD (above with club officials and members) to recall when golf was an elite sport which people such as himself ‘weren't allowed play’. Speaking to the attendance of club president, captains, past captains, officials and staff and members of the local community, the minister said the growth of golf has been phenomenal since the early 70s and that Woodlands was the county’s ‘most improved course’.

"The only people around here who could play golf were very well off,” he recalled. “There were only three or four people that we knew who played. Fellows such as myself wouldn't be allowed ... we wouldn't even be allowed caddy for them. But golf in Co Kildare over the past 25 or 30 years has broken that particular taboo. Everybody now plays golf at all levels of society, young and old, but people thought Peter Daly (the original owner of Woodlands) was mad, because who would ever have thought that a golf club would work out in Coill Dubh?"

The minister congratulated the present committee and also past captains and committees for the development of the club. Kieran Savage, vice-captain, was master of ceremonies. Club captain Kevin Reilly and lady captain Antoinette Conway welcomed the minister and thanked him, saying that they hoped he would also be supportive when they moved ahead with plans to develop the Woodlands club premises.

The minister planted an ash tree beside the first tee box with the help of the captains and the club's new head greenkeeper, Paul Kelly. Paul succeeds former head green keeper Anthony Fitzpatrick, who has joined the staff of the Slieve Russell Hotel. The tree, for those interested, is a Fraxinus Excelsior, Westhof's Glorie which should grow to 20m high and was grown at Flannery's Nursery, Staplestown. The new nine-hole course was designed by Tommy Halpin and constructed by John Clince.

Pictured below are the Savage family with golf professional Pat O'Connor (cousin of Christy O'Connor and brother of Peter O'Connor, tutor at Spawell, Dublin): John Joe Savage, Wexford; Pat O'Connor, Galway; Kieran Savage (vice-captain of Woodlands GC) and his wife Catherine; and Noreen Savage and husband Gerry of Mountmellick, Co Laois (Portarlington GC).

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Meadowbrook Link agreed, but ...

MAYNOOTH, 6 June 2000: by Bill Trapman. Three Leixlip Area councillors have accepted proposals for the go-ahead of the Meadowbrook link road in Maynooth, but the fourth, Cllr Catherine Murphy (right), declined to support them because she feels 'the whole picture is not being revealed'.

At the Area Meeting last Friday, residents of Meadowbrook, Maynooth outlined their objections to the proposed new road, but in accepting the need for the link, the county engineer proposed that the new link would include measures to alleviate the fears of the residents.

The councillors insisted on a number of issues that are to be addressed by the Council, including traffic calming along Meadowbrook Avenue, the provision of a pedestrian crossing to Beaufield shops, the closing of Beaufield Avenue, the construction of a low stone wall and railings fronting on to open spaces, the culverting of the Joan Slade river, signage (eg "Slow", "Children at Play" etc), and the erection of barriers opposite the opening on to Meadowbrook Crescent.

The full cost of the link is put at £1.3 million, of which £720,000 will be used to purchase land. Finance will be made up of development levies and a grant of £160,000 from the Department of the Environment.

An alternative proposal made by the residents would have cost £2.54 million. It would also have caused a further deferral of the Bond Bridge realignment (see Notes below). "All in all, the counter-proposal would have set us back several years," Cllr John McGinley said at the weekend. "There would have been major hurdles to overcome and the serious liklihood of a CPO failure, given that the chosen route is planned since the mid-eighties."

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Presentation night for festival grant recipients

COUNTY HALL, 6 June 2000: by Trish Whelan A special presentation night for recipients under the Kildare County Council Festival Grants Scheme will take place in County Hall on June 7.

Festivals throughout the county approved for Festival grants for the year 2000 at Monday’s meeting of Kildare County Council included: the Leixlip Festival and the Irish International Canoe Polo Festival in Kilcock (£500 each); the Kildare Derby Festival Ltd, (£1,250); Prosperous Coarse Angling Club and The Gerard Manley Hopkins Festival in Monasterevin (£1,000 each); Ticknevin Turf Cutting by Hand Festival, Duchas Chill Dara, Old Time Fair Vintage Festival, Kildare Drama Festival and Robertstown Grand Canal Festa (£500 each); Maynooth Community Festival (£300).

Cllr Sean O Fearghail (left) asked if there is public recognition of the Council’s grant-aid when festivals take place. “Since we are the primary community development organisation we should be getting credit for such funding. It should be a prerequisite that an agency getting funding from us records the fact,” he said.

Cllr Mary Glennon said she had attended the recent Naas Academy production of The Wizard of Oz, which had involved some 200 young people, which had publicly acknowledged funding from Kildare County Council. “It was the best £200 KCC ever spent,” she enthused.

Deputy Sean Power TD congratulated the Moat Club in Naas for its recent All-Ireland win.

Celbridge Area Cllr Senan Griffin proposed that the minimum grant should be increased to £500. The Maynooth Community Festival had been bottom of the list of Festivals approved for grant-aid, at £300. (the same amount as last year).

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Motion to buy pool from KCC rejected by UDC

NAAS, 6 June 2000: by Trish Whelan. Naas UDC has rejected a call by its chairman Cllr Seamie Moore (right) to enter into negotiations with Kildare County Council for the transfer of ownership and control of Naas Swimming Pool (above) and to purchase the nearby field at Fair Green. The pool is presently managed and operated by Kildare County Council which also owns the adjacent field, and will be closed from December 31 for major refurbishment.

The discussion was prompted by recent speculation that the Kildare’s two public pools could be sold to private enterprise under a policy enunciated by sports minister Jim McDaid TD last year.

Figures show the pool costs some £189,000 a year to run with an income of £149,000. Last year it had a total of 120,000 visitors. It was felt that taking over the pool would have ‘serious implications’ for the UDC.

Cllr Moore said he had been prompted by ‘what seems to be a trend from Government to privatise various activities’. “As it stands the pool under KCC is not there for a profit-making exercise but for the general use of the public,” he said and noted that he feared prices would rise if the pool was sold to private enterprise. “When it was built in 1971, some 20% of the cost was put up by the local community and I would be loath to see it going into private hands.”

He said he would like to see Kildare County Council honouring that 20% local contribution. Cllr Mary Glennon said the UDC did not have to own the pool to make sure it stayed in public ownership but said the UDC should ensure it remains in council hands.

Cllr Pat McCarthy said there is a ‘certain logic’ in KCC owning the pool rather than the UDC because as it covers a catchment area. Cllr Timmy Conway suggested thatKCC’s leisure programme manager Ray Bonnar should be invited to give details of what refurbishments are due to take place.

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING

Noreen McCabe, MNAPCP

Anxiety, depression, loss, phobias, childhood trauma, eating disorders, relationships, personal growth, coaching for work-related stress.

Moorefield Clinic, Newbridge. Phone (045) 432111 or call Noreen at (045) 431936; mobile 086 2496823; email dmccabe@tinet.ie

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