KNN-KildareNet News got three shamrocks from Doras

An INDEPENDENT internet news service for and about Kildare. sited on the County Kildare Community Network. All content © Telling Tales Ltd. Phone 045 481090 or 086 8267104; Fax 045 481091; email tellingtales@yahoo.com SCROLL for LATEST stories. EARLIER stories of this and previous weeks are here For audios get REALPLAYER

Visit our flagship sponsor Intel Ireland

KNN's full list of Electoral Areas and Candidates 'is here.

Tom Dowling's KNN Racing Commentary Tom's Bank Holiday weekend commentary will be up this afternoon. More

New £1.5m Kildare garden 'could dry out' - candidate claims THE CURRAGH, 5 June 1999: by Brian Byrne. The St Fiachra Garden which was opened on Thursday by the President, Mary McAleese, could dry out if the current controversial plans for the Kildare by-pass are implemented, independent candidate for the Kildare County Council elections Percy Podger has claimed. The plan is currently the subject of an appeal to the European Commission on the basis that it could affect the Curragh acquifer, a situation that threatens to delay the project by up to two years. Meanwhile, Mr Podger has also criticised what he calls ‘secrecy’ on the part of Kildare County Council, which he claims is not fulfilling a directive to keep people informed about ground water conditions. “The letter from the Minister for the Environment to Kildare County Council approving the by pass in January 1996 instructed that the Council ‘consult’ with various parties specifically naming ‘private well owners’,” he says. “This consultation was to design and implement a monitoring programme to evaluate the existing ground water conditions. The Council never consulted with me or anyone else I know. To add insult to injury in this travesty of the system, they have even refused me the monitoring results from my own wells. Information flow is the key to good government. This secrecy is now going to cost us dearly in delays, money, and embarrassment.” TIM CONWAY & CO - ACCOUNTANTS Basin Street, Naas We offer all accounting services including financial advice, taxation, company information etc. Contact 045 876492 or email at timmyconway@tinet.ie

THINKING OF RETURNING TO IRELAND? ARTHUR E MACMAHON, solicitors in Naas, can represent you in all your legal, conveyancing, and commercial needs with professionalism and confidentiality. Email us or phone +353 (0)45 897936; fax +353 (0)45 897615 The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here.

 

Holiday biking trip across America KILCULLEN, 5 June 1999: by Brian Byrne. A Kilcullen man now working in New York headed off yesterday on a holiday that fulfils one of his dreams - to ride across America on his motorbike. And Carl Byrne is using the internet to keep his family (and anyone else interested) in touch with his travels. Carl is a graphic artist with the global graphic design company MVBMS, so is well used to computers. He’s brought his Apple PowerBook with him and hopes to update daily from Monday on the internet site www.scatterling.com. He’ll also have an email address on the site, so any of his friends in County Kildare can get in touch with him on his trip, which will bring him through the southern states of the US and across as far as Las Vegas before he turns back for home in New Jersey. He reckons the trip will take just over two weeks. ED's NOTE: Carl keeps in touch with what's happening back home by checking in to KNN every day. He has another reason to, as he's my son.

The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.

 

Reiterates opposition to incinerator CARBURY, 5 June 1999: by Brian Byrne. The outgoing chairperson of Kildare County Council- Carbury based Cllr Jim Reilly has publicly re-stated his opposition to the proposal to site an incinerator at Boycetown in Kilcock. Addressing a meeting of the Fine Gael organisation in Carbury, he said not only would the people of Kilcock become the helpless victim’s of this development, but it would also impact significantly on the wellbeing of everyone living within a twenty miles radius - and this would include Carbury. “As a parent of young children and a public representative I have made strong written objections to Kildare County Council on my own behalf and that of the community of Kilcock requesting the council not to approve this application and I will continue to support all who are against the application,” he said.

Specialist travel operators to Cheltenham, Aintree, and other major international racing venues. Phone 01 2958901; Fax 01 2958902; Email leoptour@indigo.ie

						PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING Noreen McCabe, MNAPCP Anxiety, depression, loss, phobias, childhood trauma, eating disorders, relationships, personal growth, coaching for work-related stress. Strictly confidential. Moorefield Clinic, Newbridge. Phone (045) 432111 or call Noreen at (045) 431936; mobile 086 2496823; email dmccabe@tinet.ie
				NAAS BAPTIST BIBLE CENTRE Everyone is invited to study God's Word, the Bible, with us, Sunday evenings 6.30, 45 Jigginstown Park. We are presently studying the life of Christ. Contact Rev Roger Parrow 045 894771. (Advt.)
		by Liam Cahill The seminal account of the Limerick Soviet Available here

Soccer course certificates presented to youngsters RATHANGAN, 4 June 1999: by Trish Whelan. Fourteen young people from St Patrick’s Park in Rathangan, who have completed a soccer coaching course, have been presented with graduation certificates at County Hall, Naas. The certificates were presented at the final meeting of the 20th Kildare County Council by outgoing cathaoirleach Cllr Jim Reilly. The event marked the successful conclusion of the first phase of a new housing estate management initiative programme developed and sponsored by the authority. The coaching course was run with the active support of the Park Development Group from St Patrick’s Park and training was by John O’Keeffe of Kildare and District Junior Soccer Coaching Group. It will be followed by a second course aimed at teenagers. The Council hopes the idea will catch on elsewhere and will lead to inter-estates football tournaments and a wider participation in football in the county. Cllr Reilly said the council has moved from merely providing houses to building living communities with a range of support services, and accepting responsibility for them while at the same time encouraging integration with existing developed areas and he looked forward to its development. County manager Niall Bradley said the course’s conclusion was ‘a landmark which indicated significant progress in the development of local authority services’. TIM CONWAY & CO - ACCOUNTANTS Basin Street, Naas We offer all accounting services including financial advice, taxation, company information etc. Contact 045 876492 or email at timmyconway@tinet.ie

THINKING OF RETURNING TO IRELAND? ARTHUR E MACMAHON, solicitors in Naas, can represent you in all your legal, conveyancing, and commercial needs with professionalism and confidentiality. Email us or phone +353 (0)45 897936; fax +353 (0)45 897615 The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here.

KNN is a completely INDEPENDENT professional news service for County Kildare, with no affiliations to any network, authority, group, party or other organisation. The service is operated by Telling Tales Ltd, Naas, Co Kildare, under the editorial direction of Brian Byrne and Trish Whelan. It is our policy to report accurately and fairly on any subject, and we offer right of reply to anyone who has differing opinions to those expressed in any story. Any such opinions published on KNN are not necessarily the views of KNN's proprietors or any network on which we are hosted or to which we may be linked. Email us at KNN , or phone 045 481090; fax 481091.

LESN appointment ATHY, 4 June 1999: by Trish Whelan. The County Kildare Local Employment Service Network have announced the appointment of Jim Gorman as its employment liason officer. Jim will be working with its mediators/information officers to provide quality service to employers by detailed matching of jobseekers with vacancies. He will be based in the Athy LESN office at 28 Duke Street - phone (0507) 32685 and will also cover County Kildare. Coordinator Joe Curtis says Jim’s many years of experience in liaising with employers will enhance and further develop the service throughout Kildare.

The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.

 

Extra houses approved for Punchestown PUNCHESTOWN, 4 June 1999: by Trish Whelan. Kildare County Council has agreed a request by Punchestown Race Course to increase the number of houses to be built on its lands from 9 to 12. Members had already approved nine houses on nine acres at the track but the new proposal, put forward by Cllr Paddy Power and seconded by Cllr Spike Nolan, met with unanimous approval at the council’s April meeting. Planner Philip Jones said he would have favoured a ‘village type construction’ at Punchestown but management there have indicated that all the spare land around the race course is required for equestrian events, or for car parking.

Specialist travel operators to Cheltenham, Aintree, and other major international racing venues. Phone 01 2958901; Fax 01 2958902; Email leoptour@indigo.ie

 

Use of name in plan booklet condemned as 'sharp practice' NAAS, 3 June 1999: by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. An outgoing Naas UDC councillor has condemned as ‘sharp practice’ and ‘stroke-pulling’ the inclusion of his name in a booklet claiming to be the Naas Development Plan being circulated by ‘men in a green van’. Cllr Sean English, who is not seeking re-election, said that, contrary to what is stated in the document, he actually voted AGAINST the adoption of the plan, which has aroused huge controversy in Naas. The booklet is entitled ‘Naas Development Plan’ and has a picture of the Town Hall on the front, but there is nowhere in the publication an indication of who produced or printed it. However, on local radio yesterday, Cllr Timmy Conway said he had paid for it and that it was ‘produced by the councillors who supported the plan’. Cllr English said he was ‘pretty annoyed’ about the whole matter. “That’s putting it mildly,” he told KNN. “It is true that I did support the very first draft of the plan, but that was because I had reservations and wanted to get the discussion moving along. This document is a clear example of a group of people ‘pulling a quick one’ and it may well backfire on them.” Cllr English also noted that some claims made in the booklet as relating to the plan were highly inaccurate, and he highlighted these as ‘the acquisition of St David’s Castle and Gardens, the expansion and upgrading of Naas Hospital, the building of new Fire Station and the development of Monread Park’. “None of those have anything to do with the development plan - they have all come to pass through other work by the UDC.” Fianna Fail councillor Charlie Byrne also criticised the the circulation of the document, and said that pro-plan councillors were asking people on the doorsteps: ‘Did you get our development plan?’ “This is clearly making it seem that it is an official publication from the UDC,” he said. “I’d like to know what the town manager and town clerk think of this kind of suggestion?” Cllr Byrne consistently opposed the plan in all its stages, along with independent councillor Teresa Scanlon. At the final vote last Saturday, Cllr Sean English also voted against its adoption. Meanwhile, Naas town manager Terry O Niadh has emphasised that the booklet was not in any way an official document from the UDC. “It was NOT produced by us and we don’t know anything about it. There are no indications of who published it, and we don’t know who did.” TIM CONWAY & CO - ACCOUNTANTS Basin Street, Naas We offer all accounting services including financial advice, taxation, company information etc. Contact 045 876492 or email at timmyconway@tinet.ie

THINKING OF RETURNING TO IRELAND? ARTHUR E MACMAHON, solicitors in Naas, can represent you in all your legal, conveyancing, and commercial needs with professionalism and confidentiality. Email us or phone +353 (0)45 897936; fax +353 (0)45 897615 The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here.

Criticism of 'book of promises' NAAS, 3 June 1999: Dear Editor, As a candidate in the up coming local elections, I am very disappointed in misrepresentations that are being made to the public with regard to the contraversial Town Plan. The latest ploy is the much talked about "Book of Promises" as it has been labelled- This book makes the plan out to be the greatest thing since the invention of the Wheel! There are gross inaccuracies contained in the book. It doesn't explain that Naas will end up being a concrete jungle sandwiched between industrial parks, with over priced houses, over flowing schools, a water system that won't cope, I could go on and on. The Naas UDC can't cope with the people here at present, why encourage disaster! There are estates in the town at present that haven't been finished, The UDC have apparently spent the bonds meant for these estates elsewhere! There are older estates that haven't been taken in charge, why build more! This plan is creating a monster for our town, with the people growing up in it now being unable to afford to buy houses in their home town. The UDC's housing policy is a joke and the so called provisions in the new plan is Too little Too late! The third level centre (RTC ATHLONE) hasn't even been sanctioned by the Dept. of education! How can they say it will be up and running next year? Let me finish by saying that I am not against building per se, but it MUST benefit the people living here. The infrastructure must be put in place first. We want to be able to live in comfort in our town. We want our children to be able to live in this town if they so choose and not have to move out for financial reasons! I hope that this e-mail will appear on your web site and that the organisers can be impartial, and give freedom of speech. To allow the people see all sides of the argument is a basic right of the people of our Town! Yours sincerely, Martina O'Kelly (LABOUR)

VIOLET'S FLOWERS Do you need to send flowers home for that special remembrance? Station Road, Kildare - Registered Teleflorist - Phone 045 522210

ONE OF THE KILDARE WILD GEESE? Are you involved with any Irish organisations or groups abroad? Let us know where you are and what you're at by emailing KNN. And find out about your fellow wild geese.

Cemetary extension approved GORMANSTOWN, 3 June 1999: by Brian Byrne. Gormanstown Cemetary is to get an extension which will cost around £90,000, half of which will come from the KCC budget of this year. According to FG Cllr Rainsford Hendy, who has been seeking this work for at least four years, it a very important achievement for the local community. The graveyard is in the parish of Kilcullen, and there have been no new burial spaces there for some years despite the fact that new building in the area has meant a significant increase in the local population. “This is is also important for old families in the area, as their childrena and grandchildren want to have burial facilities close to their family plots.” Cllr Hendy was instrumental in having new public lighting erected in the area last year. “It’s the neatest graveyward I’ve ever been in - that’s a tribute to the local committee, many of which are young people.”

The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.

Listen to a weekly roundup of Irish views and stories presented by Brian Byrne and Trish Whelan which is broadcast from Vancouver on the Celtic Voices programme carried by Canada's largest independent radio network, Fairchild. You can stream it at 28k or 56k, or download to listen to later. Changed every Sunday.

Candidate launches website ATHY, 3 June 1999: FG candidate in the forthcoming local elections John Lynch has launched an internet site to provide information to the public about his candidature for the forthcoming local elections. The site includes press statements from John, John's election partners, and John's ideas for the future of the town. The site will be updated daily for the duration of the campaign with comments, and press issues that can be accessed 24hrs a day. "Information technology has successfully brought people closer together" stated Mr Lynch. "Although I am not always comfortable with computers and the internet yet, I value their importance in the modern world in which we live. For the members of the public that want to know where I stand, and who want to know what I offer to them in terms of representation - they are more than welcome to check out the information on the site." he concluded. The site is accessable at http://www.iol.ie/~artlynch/lynch99

Specialist travel operators to Cheltenham, Aintree, and other major international racing venues. Phone 01 2958901; Fax 01 2958902; Email leoptour@indigo.ie

 

Garda Torch Run to stop at Naas NAAS, 3 June 1999: by Trish Whelan. The Garda Special Olympic Torch Run which starts in Dublin, and which passes through Naas at 1.35pm on Tuesday, 8 June, will stop for a celebration at the Town Hall to thank members of the force and those helping with the run. The coordinator of the Torch Run for the Kildare area is Mary Mooney, who is a member of KARE while Marion Finnegan from Naas will be coordinating the bucket collection in the Naas area, starting with Kill, on 8 June. KARE is affiliated to Special Olympics in Ireland. Its recreation coordinator, Liz Callary, is hoping people will come out to show their support the Torch Run. Meanwhile KARE will be out in force collecting for the Special Olympics. Six people from KARE organisations will be participating in the World Games in North Carolina from June 26-July 4. They are Linda Baldwin (Newbridge); Sorcha Hickey (who attends St. Anne’s School in Newbridge); Ruth Smullen and Paul Moore (Edenderry); Shauna Bradley (Baltinglass) and Elizabeth Donoghue from Ballymore Eustace. The team will be accompanied by Liz Callary and KARE staff member Shirley McDermott who is an equestrian instructor.

KILCULLEN ESSO AND XL STOP 'N' SHOP Open 7am-10pm for Fuel, Groceries, Toiletries, Flowers, Newspapers, Deli Food, Fresh Coffee and more.

 

Kildare Planning Alliance comments on county plan KILDARE GENERAL, 3 June 1999: Dear Editor, The adoption of the County Development Plan by Kildare County Councillors on Monday 24th May will be looked upon in future years as a retrograde step in the social and economic development of Co Kildare. Just as its predecessor in 1985 will be remembered for laying the foundations for many of the problems faced by the county today, so will the 1999 Plan be remembered as one which failed to respond to the needs of the people of Kildare, and as one which was passed in contempt of the wishes of large sectors of its community. The 1999 Plan has had a long and tortuous history, due in large part to the efforts of councillors to circumvent sensible recommendations made by professional planning consultants engaged by them. Through a series of convoluted manoeuvres, Kildare’s councillors have now adopted at a plan which provides almost a replica of the 1985 fiasco. Fatally flawed and unsustainable, the evidence of the final adoption meetings suggests this is a plan driven by motivations frequently not coincident with professional planning principles. Kildare has, in the opinion of Kildare Planning Alliance, been badly served by the present Co Council, and the legacy left by them is not one of which their successors will be proud. The Plan as adopted provides for a target increase over the next seven years in the population of the county’s largest 19 towns and villages by 43% over the figures at the last census. Some towns, such as Kildare (4,278 to 12,500) and Kilcock (1,825 to 4,607), have been singled out for special treatment in the form of excessive growth - often by their own councillors. Some villages, such as Johnstown (400 to 1,381) and Ballymore Eustace (potential population similar to that of Clane today), will be unrecognisable in a few years’ time. In other cases, such as Maynooth, councillors have sought to overturn decisions they didn’t agree with at local level by activating the effective coalition among the major parties which has characterised the present Council over the past eight years. Of course the population targets have unfortunately no binding value and councillors have already voted in the case of most towns to rezone 150% of the lands needed to reach these targets. In the present economic circumstances it is likely that most of this additional rezoning will result in housing developments in the short term, making a mockery of the target figures submitted to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government. Sadly councillors were unwilling to take the advice of their own senior planner on several crucial occasions. Sadly they also felt able to blithely ignore objections from adjoining local authorities to their rezoning plans. Sadly they were afraid to hold all their meetings in public, opting instead to have their electorate ejected from the council chamber on occasions when they wanted to hold secret meetings. Sadly they were unwilling to use up-to-date information on housing, available in the public domain long before the amended plan was discussed. Sadly they frequently showed an unwillingness to take on board hundreds of letters of objection to some of their excessive rezoning proposals from their own constituents. Indeed, they have in the end driven a coach and horses through the government’s plans for a reasonable approach to managing urban growth in this part of Ireland. Of immediate concern will be the consequences of the rezoning decisions for environmental quality throughout Co Kildare. The absence of waste water treatment infrastructure to cope with grandiose plans for urban expansion means that already overloaded sewage works, such as at Osberstown, may become grossly overloaded. This plant is currently being upgraded to cater for a population equivalent of 60,000 and a maximum expansion to 80,000 is possible. Projected loadings were known by senior council officials to be 92,296 pe before councillors began their rezoning orgy. Now, industrial and residential rezonings approved by Councillors provide a loading commitment of almost twice the maximum capacity of this plant. Downstream of Osberstown is a large part of Co. Kildare’s drinking water supply. This plan is a charter for the pollution of the River Liffey. Kildare Planning Alliance has grown in vigour and support as the scale of the problems posed has become apparent. It will continue to remind the public that there is another way to ensure that development of Kildare proceeds at a pace which does not compromise the quality of life for its residents and will continue to expose actions which are not designed to achieve this. Kildare Planning Alliance

 

Children get awards for important Curragh environment project THE CURRAGH & COUNTY HALL, 2 June 1999: by Brian Byrne. Primary schoolchildren from eight schools around the Curragh were presented with prizes last night for their part in an EU-funded project aimed at mapping and achieving consensus about the sustainable use of the natural assets of the Curragh. Their awards were for the Curragh School Art Project, an important element in the first phase of Kildare County Council’s part in the SRUNA (Sustainable Use of Natural Assets) project run under the TERRA programme. The other pilot projects in SRUNA in Ireland include the urban valley part of the River Liffey, Glenasmole Valley, Marlay Park, Dublin Airport Noise Zone, Laytown, Bray Head and Shankhill Wood. More than 200 entries were received for the competition and Senior Infants at Scoil Bhride Athgarvan were the overall winners (some of them are pictured above with their teacher, Orla Martin). They also received additional prizes and other winners were from St Patrick’s, Morristown, and Scoil Mhuire, Ballymany. Kildare County Council has already compiled a detailed report which includes comprehensive research on the Curragh and there has been extensive survey work, including surveys of recreational users. Initial contact has also been made with principal users of the Curragh, including the Turf Club, the Sheep Farmers Association, the military and various non-governmental organisations. A series of public meetings will be held over the coming months which will include local residents and interest groups and it is hoped to obtain a consensus on recreational uses of the Curragh, according to county manager Niall Bradley, who says this is an opportunity to work with local people to help ‘shape the future of a major County Kildare asset’. Presenting the prizes, Kildare County Council cathaoirleach Jim Reilly said the exhibition was a very practical way of raising public awareness of the environmental importance of the Curragh. “It also helps children to learn about the value of such an area on their doorstep,” he said. SRUNA project director Frank O’Gallachoir (pictured on right with county manager Niall Bradley) outlined the TERRA programme which is designed to establish cooperation networks for model pilot projects in planning for particularly vulnerable areas - where such assets are endangered, inaccessible, or subject to natural diminishment. He detailed the strengths of the Curragh as a potential Special Amenity Area, including its unique open grassland, its archaeological and historical values, and its tradition as a place for recreation. He said the SRUNA project represented an opportunity for the Curragh stakeholders to participate together in designing a long-term strategy to preserve the Curragh’s environmental and economic assets and he noted that it was particularly apt that children should be involved, as ‘sustainability is all about preserving our natural assets for the enjoyment of future generations’. He also said that the eventual document had to show a consensus on the future use of the Curragh if such use was to get funding from the state or Europe. “If there’s no consensus there, it hasn’t a hope.” “The main reason for this part of the project was the dissemination of the information,” said Hazel McCarthy, who coordinates the Curragh project with Siobhan Stewart under the direction of chief county planner Philip Jones. “We figured the best way of getting to the people within the Curragh was to go directly into the schools and get the children’s interpretation of the Curragh. We could learn from that, and also it would get their parents involved in a way that an ordinary mail shot wouldn’t. What was interesting also is that they were coming up with what they often did themselves on a Sunday afternoon on the Curragh.” Ms McCarthy (pictured below with Siobhan Stewart) also noted that the final report will be useful for future monitoring of the natural resources of the Curragh and the county as a whole because it will include a benchmark of the status and condition of such resources as they stand now. “If we want to plan how to make use of the Curragh in a sustainable way, then we have to know just how people are using it now.” TIM CONWAY & CO - ACCOUNTANTS Basin Street, Naas We offer all accounting services including financial advice, taxation, company information etc. Contact 045 876492 or email at timmyconway@tinet.ie

THINKING OF RETURNING TO IRELAND? ARTHUR E MACMAHON, solicitors in Naas, can represent you in all your legal, conveyancing, and commercial needs with professionalism and confidentiality. Email us or phone +353 (0)45 897936; fax +353 (0)45 897615 The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.  KILCULLEN ESSO AND XL STOP 'N' SHOP Open 7am-10pm for Fuel, Groceries, Toiletries, Flowers, Newspapers, Deli Food, Fresh Coffee and more.   Specialist travel operators to Cheltenham, Aintree, and other major international racing venues. Phone 01 2958901; Fax 01 2958902; Email leoptour@indigo.ie

 

'Kildare needs shopping centre' - councillor KILDARE, 2 June 1999: by Trish Whelan. Kildare Town has been identified as being in need of a major shopping centre and an industrial park. Kildare Cllr Sean O’Fearghail said it is imperative that efforts currently underway to develop a town centre shopping complex go ahead. “With Kildare Town set to grow to nearly 12,000 over the next decade the challenge exists to attract one of the major retail outlets to the town.” Such a development would benefit all existing local retail outlets, he said. Responding to representations from the Kildare Chamber of Commerce he said that as part of the review of the Kildare Development Plan due to commence this year, provision must be made to develop an industrial park in the Kildare area geared towards the extension and setting up of local industrial and service companies.

CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here.

 

Kingsfurze residents up in arms over racecourse rezone decision NAAS, 2 June 1999: by Trish Whelan. Many residents of Kingsfurze Estate are disgusted by Naas UDC’s rejection of their submission against a proposed planning application and rezoning of lands adjacent to The Gallops and Kingsfurze estates by Naas Race Company Plc. While Kingsfurze residents favour the development of the racecourse, they say it should not be at the expense of local residents and the loss of ever reducing amenity facilities in the town. The land had been zoned for amenity use and the residents had sought to have this protected. Many present in the public gallery when the Naas Town Plan was adopted claimed their submission had not been given a fair hearing prior to voting in the plan. Cllr Willie Callaghan had proposed the rezoning of six acres of race course land for extra housing and this was seconded by Cllr Timmy Conway. Cllrs Charlie Byrne and Teresa Scanlon had voted against. The residents had asked that any housing developments be designed to cater for the needs of the area, as Naas currently does not have enough houses for its young first time buyers. “The proposed development will only aggravate this problem as the housing proposed is geared towards high earners who already own properties, few of whom will work in the Naas area. And it will further aggravate the commuter traffic to Dublin.” They also fear the proposal will restrict access by residents of their estate to the popular walking area of the track and deny them a view of the race course and the Wicklow Mountains - which they understand is be one of the selling pitches for the new luxury houses. “Kingsfurze is a long established residential area of Naas and many residents have enjoyed these views for thirty years, and purchased their homes on the understanding that the status of amenity land would protect this view indefinitely,” they claimed. They also said the proposal ‘is highly questionable in light of the Bacon report’. “Does Naas need more of these elaborate style dwellings which will not in any way reduce pressures on the local property market? Not all of the houses in the previous phase have been sold despite being completed for over a year. This is at odds with the current state of the property market.” It was their understanding that the initial development of The Gallops would be a once-off and that no further houses would be built there. Fears were expressed that the proposed siting of the new road from the Dublin Road to the Tipper Road through the proposed residential area could become a ‘Rat Run’ and would result in a ‘potentially lethal cross road junction on the Dublin Road at the intersection of the entrance to the Glen Riogh slip road and the proposed new road’.

Specialist travel operators to Cheltenham, Aintree, and other major international racing venues. Phone 01 2958901; Fax 01 2958902; Email leoptour@indigo.ie The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.

 

Ballitore project wins centenary funding award BALLITORE, 1 June 1999: by Brian Byrne. A partnership development between Ballitore Development Association and Kildare County Council has been awarded £100,000 from the £1m Local Government Centenary Initiative organised by the Department of the Environment and Local Government. The project - the Ballitore CivicCyber Centre - was one of seven who received funding from 35 applications. It will provide a civic centre in the restored Mary Leadbetter House (restored by FAS over the last four years) for the village and the people in its immediate area, and will include facilities for independent ICT learning, distance education via the Internet, and a reading promotion service for children. The project will also give direct internet access to local people as already available in other libraries. In addition, an artists-in-residence programme will be initiated in the village, as well as arts workshops which will focus on the village’s Quaker heritage. Kildare County Council’s existing Quaker Museum in the village will be relocated to the new centre, and the Quaker Meeting House will be available to local organisations for community use. Small business units will be established to accomodate community entrepreneurs, who will have access to email, IT training, internet access and distance learning-based enterprise training. The estimated total cost of the project is £459,000, and contributions will be made by Kildare County Council’s library/arts service, the County Enterprise Board, FAS, KELT, ASK, Ballitore Local Development Ltd and local businesses. Kildare county manager Niall Bradley said the development of Ballitore in the physical and community sense over the last few years is a good example of a living and successful partnership. "We are looking forward to using the award to developing the facilities in the Leadbetter House in cooperation with the local people." The award recognises the many years of hard work and fundraising put into the House by the Ballitore Development Association since November 1994. The restoration work itself was carried out by FAS, using traditional methods to painstakingly restore the House to its original condition. The Development Association was also assisted by the Local Development Company, Action South Kildare, who provided financial, technical and management support to the group. The Enterprise Officer of Action South Kildare, Nicky Martin, worked with the group over the last year to develop their management structures and he was closely involved with Breda Gleeson, the County Librarian, in the drafting of the proposal. "We are delighted to hear the news of this Award," said Margaret Timmons of the Ballitore Development Association. "It will allow us continue the development of the House in association with the County Council and will give due recognition to the importance of Mary Leadbeater in the history of the village. It also makes up for the many hours we have spent over the past years in fundraising and overseeing the restoration." "What is special about this Award", said Colm Flynn, Chairman of Action South Kildare, "is that the local community itself recognised the need to do something for their village and identified the restoration of the House as the first step. Their collective vision and effort over the past year has now got the reward it deserved." FG Cllr Rainsford Hendy, chairman of the Athy Electoral Area and a member of the local committee, has welcomed the grant. “It’s going to complete the work commenced by the Ballitore Development Committe in conjunction with ASK and Kildare County Council,” he told KNN. “Ballitore is an important heritage village and this grant is a national tribute to the local work which has been done so far.” The grant was also welcomed by Kildare South TD Alan Dukes. The steering committee for the project included members of the local community, Ballitore Development Association Ltd, ASK, KELT, the Society of Friends, social groups and organisations from Ballitore, Crookstown, Timolin, Narraghmore and Moone, as well as individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds. NOTE: Quakers settled in Ireland in 1650 and the first recorded existence of the Society of Friends in Co Kildare was in 1685 when Ballitore House was built as the home of Abel Strettle, co-founder of the Ballitore Quaker Settlement. Famous Quakers from the area included the Shackleton family of explorer fame and author Mary Leadbetter. TIM CONWAY & CO - ACCOUNTANTS Basin Street, Naas We offer all accounting services including financial advice, taxation, company information etc. Contact 045 876492 or email at timmyconway@tinet.ie

THINKING OF RETURNING TO IRELAND? ARTHUR E MACMAHON, solicitors in Naas, can represent you in all your legal, conveyancing, and commercial needs with professionalism and confidentiality. Email us or phone +353 (0)45 897936; fax +353 (0)45 897615 The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.

Clarification: Naas canal area rezoning In our report on the rezoning of land along the canal in Naas (May 30 - ‘Anger and tears at UDC plan canal decision’), we referred to a proposal from Lehmex International for a 50-metre linear park, ‘subject to a return to the original 90-metre’ preservation line. Cllr Seamie Moore has pointed out that the Lehmex proposal actually only allowed for a 50-metre preservation line and that he was in fact proposing a 90-metre line which was in excess of the developer’s wishes and less than the 180-metre line which had previously been decided on.

Umbrella group for residents' associations gets good attendance NAAS, 1 June 1999: by Trish Whelan. Over 60 people attended a recent public information meeting organised by the new umbrella group of residents associations for the town. John Kinchella, founder of the organisation, said he was delighted with the positive response. Speakers included Jim O’Sullivan from Sarto Park Residents Association, who runs the Kildare branch of ACRA, and he spoke on how the organisation had developed to represent householders through their residents associations. Naas town clerk Declan Kirrane answered questions relating to specific areas. He said this was the first year the UDC had a staff person working on the taking over of estates and that some £25,000 is available for ramps, starting with the Monread spine road from the Dublin Road to Hennessy’s Garage. He told how £35,000 is available for grass cutting and public open spaces this year and that the council has contracted South Dublin Parks Dept to advise on development and improvement of these open spaces. But he said solving the town’s litter problem would involve the whole community. However 30 litter bins have been placed around the town in the last two years to help with the litter problem. Playground insurance is still a problem for residents associations but Naas UDC is not in a position to assist residents of Kingsfurze Estate because their equipment had not been provided by the council. Playground equipment provided by the estate had to come down recently because of insurance problems. Numerous speakers claimed there are not enough play areas and amenities for children in Naas town but Mr Kirrane said the UDC has now started a fund for playground equipment and the first area investigated for a playground was the Lakes area. “In time we would hope to develop this programme,” he added. Vandalism continues to be a concern for estates with trees being broken and drinking parties in open spaces. Naas UDC last year introduced bye laws prohibiting the drinking of alcohol in public places. “We’re all in the business of developing partnerships and the residents associations would be part of this,” the town clerk told the meeting. “Working together we can deal with a lot of the concerns, rather than working in isolation.” Declan Hallihan from J F Dunne & Associates answered queries on insurance issues. He said there was a possibility of an overall insurance scheme to cover a number of estates under ‘certain circumstances.’ John Ryan, chairman of Lakelands Res. Asoc. acknowledged the difficulty residents associations have in collecting fees and suggested a newsletter showing what the assoc. was doing and how the money collected was being spent as one solution. It was agreed that the chairpersons of the four adjoining estates of Cleevaun, Lacken View, Sunday’s Well and Lakelands should meet to resolve any difficulties relating to those estates. John Kinchella said the message is getting across that help is at hand for estates through the umbrella group.

Specialist travel operators to Cheltenham, Aintree, and other major international racing venues. Phone 01 2958901; Fax 01 2958902; Email leoptour@indigo.ie The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here.

NEWS OR VIEWS? Something happening in your community that's bothering you? Or do you simply want to share the news from your village or town in County Kildare? You can, by emailing us at KNN

For Ireland's best motoring news and reviews, visit MotorWeb

There IS beauty in flat land! NAAS, 1 June 1999: Dear Editor, Re a part of your report on rezoning of canal bank land where you quote Mr S Moore as saying the land in question was all ‘flat land with not a bush or a tree worth looking at’. He defied anyone to tell him where there ‘is beauty in flat green land’. I do defy him. There IS beauty in the flat land of Naas. It is only when one looks at it with faulty eyesight that one does not see the beauty in the open spaces. This land is beautiful not only for what it contains but for what it represents. Standing on the canal bank early in the morning one can see wildlife that lives on this land. At various times over the last few years I have seen foxes, badgers and a whole array of wild birds. In the hedge rows of that area I have seen wild flowers including primroses and cowslips. All things of beauty. Between the field and the canal road there is a ditch where one can see frog spawn. To the untrained and mercenary eye such as Mr Moore there is no beauty but if he was to waken up and look at the reality he would change his tune. Buildings, on the other hand, do not change with the seasons - they are always there; they do not change and alter as rapidly as nature. They are constant and persistent. They do not unwrap their beauty slowly as a flower bud or beech tree bud does as it changes from bud to flower or from bud to soft green leaf. I have worked and lived in large built up areas around the world. I came back from these concrete soulless uniform jungles with a greater appreciation of open space and the unbuilt environment. I am not opposed to using these fields for commercial gain but what I am opposed to is the apparent attitude of 'spend today and to not care for the future consequences'. These flat green fields represent places to get away from the pressures of urban life, a chance to look over something that does not remind you of your mortgage and other pressures that may be on you. A chance to forget for a while the pressures of life and contemplate the simple things a blade of grass, the architecture of a worm cast, two black birds claiming territory, dandelion seeds being carried by currents of air on a warm summer's evening. All can be lost when built on/tarmaced on. It is a problem with the likes of Mr Moore that as politicians that they only think of the next election and therefore they only think in in terms of the impact of the next five years. They do not think of the effect of their "planning" on our children's future. I heard a quote once which I think Mr Moore and colleagues would do well to think on. "You do not own the environment around you, you just borrow it from your children until they are ready to take it in charge for their children". When I walk the canal I see the beauty - the beech trees were planted by men who have long since gone. I and others benefit from their efforts I would hope that Mr Moore and others become as generous to the next generation as others before them have been to them. John A. Kavanagh

'Entire area neglected by Naas UDC' - candidate claim NAAS, 31 May 1999: by Trish Whelan. Naas Planning Alliance candidate Anthony Egan claims the entire area on the Caragh Road side of the town has been neglected by Naas UDC because it does not have a public representative on the council. He believes canvass promises by sitting councillors to have long awaited footpath and road improvements in the area are years too late. “We won’t need workmen at all if all these candidates say they will fix them for us. Residents of the original houses here have been looking for good footpaths and road improvements for 20 years.” He’s also accused the UDC of sitting on development levies of around £250,000, collected from houses sold in the area, which is dropping in value with increased building costs. Mr Egan, who is seeking election to Naas UDC and Kildare County Council, has also criticized a letter from the Naas town clerk (distributed to homes in the Caragh Road area by a sitting councillor) which he claims contradicts the amended draft town plan. It states the only land zoned for a halting site in the amended draft development plan is a 5-acre site in the townland of Osberstown, adjacent to the land zoned for Millennium Park. However, Mr Egan maintains the amended draft plan states that the site will go in the Osberstown/Ploopluck area. “I never said it would go on the Caragh Road. The halting site was originally to go on the other side of Osberstown but Caragh Road is in the Ploopluck area,” he pointed out. Town clerk Declan Kirrane confirmed that the site zoned for the halting site is in the townland of Osberstown - 'as appears on the amended plan'. TIM CONWAY & CO - ACCOUNTANTS Basin Street, Naas We offer all accounting services including financial advice, taxation, company information etc. Contact 045 876492 or email at timmyconway@tinet.ie

THINKING OF RETURNING TO IRELAND? ARTHUR E MACMAHON, solicitors in Naas, can represent you in all your legal, conveyancing, and commercial needs with professionalism and confidentiality. Email us or phone +353 (0)45 897936; fax +353 (0)45 897615 The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here.

YOU COULD BE GETTING YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS HERE TO A SOPHISTICATED (AND RAPIDLY GROWING) KILDARE AUDIENCE AT HOME AND ABROAD Email us at KNN for full details, or phone 045 481090

Newbridge CU to provide 'TV' service for customers NEWBRIDGE, 31 May 1999: by Trish Whelan. A new service to Newbridge Credit Union customers will bring them a TV-based community and Credit Union news and information facility as they wait to do business. The facility, being organised by Naas-based company The New Era in association with Newbridge Credit Union, also plans to provide information on local groups, organisations and businesses in the town. Upcoming events such as charity promotions will be signposted on a bulletin board. New Era technical director Derek Wheeler says the TV service ‘is a fantastic opportunity for local voluntary organisations and charities to communicate information’. “It’s more than just community TV, it’s a welcome mat to the many new people entering the local community and a guide to how they can progress within it.” He hopes that community games will be among the first groups to feature. Newbridge is one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland and its Credit Union currently boasts 18,000 members. It is rated as one of the top 25 Credit Unions in Ireland out of a total 500. Manager Des Diver said over 6,000 members a week pass through the office and he sees this as a perfect medium for the CU to communicate immediately with a wide range of its members. Credit Union TV is scheduled to start around the end of June/start of July. CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here.

The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.

CORRESPONDENTS WANTED Due to service expansion, KNN requires community correspondents in the following areas: Athy, Monasterevin, Rathangan, Kilcock, Maynooth, Leixlip, Clane and Ballymore. Email us at KNN , or phone 045 481090; fax 481091.

Anger and tears at UDC plan canal decision - 'sold down the Swanee' NAAS, 30 May 1999: by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. The canal in Naas has been ‘sold down the Swanee’ and the members of Naas UDC who have been discussing the town’s development plan for the last two-and-a-half years have been like ‘little boys playing with Lego at our expense’. These remarks were among the very strong reaction yesterday by people from the public gallery to the decision by members of the UDC to reverse an earlier determination and preserve just 90 metres on each side of the canal rather than 180 metres. And a tearful Mary McCarthy of the Sallins Road Action Group said afterwards that the decision was a ‘disgrace’. “They should have saved the canal,” she said. “They had the power to do it, but they didn’t even consider it. And what really has upset me is that since this all started, they have said it is ‘latter-day Naas people’ who are objecting to their wishes. I’ve been here 26 years, which is probably the same for most people, but it is we ‘latter-day’ people who seem to have the best concerns of the canal at heart.” During the council’s deliberations, Cllr Seamie Moore referred to three earlier submissions which had been made by An Taisce, the Canal Preservation Group, and the Canal Action Group, and said that they had looked for a 90-metre preservation line. As far as he was concerned these were people who had the canal’s interest at heart and this should be the line. “He just used that figure from prior to the amended plan to his advantage,” Mary McCarthy said. “Ninety metres had been discussed several times before the plan went on display ... but the 180 metres arose afterwards because of the oral hearings and the objections that people made when they realised that the canal was going to be developed on both sides.” She added that the feelings of the 2,500 people who lived in the Monread Triangle were not taken into account by the final decision, which showed that original objections which had brought about the 180-metre rezoning had not been listened to in the end. A colour brochure which outlined a plan by Lehmex International for a 50-meter linear park along the canal was a matter for comment by several councillors. The document had apparently been circulated only to certain councillors, as both Teresa Scanlon and Charlie Byrne said it not been given to them. Both had previously voted against the draft development plan at several stages. Cllr Willie Callahan told the meeting that this park could be opened to the public by the middle of the year 2000, but town clerk Declan Kirrane warned that there ‘was no official commitment in writing’ from the developers to the local authority for this. Cllr Mary French-Coughlan said the latest proposal by Lehmex offering a 50-metre linear park was an ‘insult to our intelligence’. “I think they have had sufficient gain from the town,” she said, proposing the retention of the 180-metre line. She was seconded by Cllr Teresa Scanlon. Cllr French-Coughlan asked if the councillors could rezone land with the condition that ‘community gain’ promises were fulfilled, but town manager Terry O Niadh said this was not possible. He also noted that the council had very carefully ensured that any offers of community gain were ‘not tied to rezoning’, but that the members should be aware that such offers were usually made on the basis of ‘certain assumptions’ by developers. “If they [rezonings] are changed, I’m not sure that developers will agree.” Cllr Charlie Byrne said the 180-metre preservation was ‘very valuable to the town of Naas’, but Mr O Niadh replied that ‘they’re calling the shots now’. Cllr Seamie Moore suggested that if the council is preserving just 90 metres on the town side of Tandy’s Bridge, it was ‘only fair’ that the line should also be 90 metres on the other side. Noting that the land in question was all ‘flat land with not a bush or a tree worth looking at’ he defied anyone to tell him where there ‘is beauty in flat green land’. “It needs to be developed,” he said. An amending proposal by Cllr Moore that the preservation line be reverted to 90 metres, seconded by Timmy Conway, was carried by a majority decision. Later, the draft plan was adopted by a vote of 6-3 (see previous story). TIM CONWAY & CO - ACCOUNTANTS Basin Street, Naas We offer all accounting services including financial advice, taxation, company information etc. Contact 045 876492 or email at timmyconway@tinet.ie

THINKING OF RETURNING TO IRELAND? ARTHUR E MACMAHON, solicitors in Naas, can represent you in all your legal, conveyancing, and commercial needs with professionalism and confidentiality. Email us or phone +353 (0)45 897936; fax +353 (0)45 897615 The Naas twinning trip to Dillingen - full stories are here CHAPMANS OF KILDARE Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. The most delicious of gifts from our finest Irish chocolates range are selling around the world from here.   Specialist travel operators to Cheltenham, Aintree, and other major international racing venues. Phone 01 2958901; Fax 01 2958902; Email leoptour@indigo.ie

PREVIOUS STORIES Previous news of the week, and access to weekly archives, are available here

Motoring News	Garda Patrol	Farming Info
Upcoming Service	Kildare's Wild Geese	Upcoming Service

 

Produced by

PO BOX 106, NAAS, CO KILDARE, IRELAND.

All material on these pages © Telling Tales Ltd.

Links must be notified to tellingtales@yahoo.com