The Naas Municipal District has now drawn up and agreed its budget for 2016. Whilst the significant bulk of the annual budget continues to be addressed towards the key pillars of housing provision, roads and engineering, environmental protection, planning, economic development etc, there is a small pool of money ring fenced for discretionary spend by Councillors in each district. This fund comes from the retained element of the local property tax revenues. In the Naas Municipal district, following discussion and agreement by all Councillors, we have now agreed to allocate the discretionary monies as follows:
Category Archives: Kilteel
Imagine Bring High-Speed Broadband to Rural Kildare
With Brian O’Donoghue, Managing Director of Imagine.
I’ve been in continuous contact with various providers looking at ways to roll out broadband to rural parts of Kildare. Once such provider I’ve been working with is Imagine. They recently announced that high speed broadband will be rolled out in rural parts of Ireland. This week I was delighted to announce with Brian O’Donoghue, Managing Director of Imagine, the first role out of this soon to be nationwide service will begin in the Naas area. This is the cumulative efforts of hard work over many months which will bring high speed internet to many in Kildare North. High speed internet is a necessity for businesses, education, and social output. Of the entire country, I am happy to announce they have chosen the Naas area as the first place to launch this new service.
Cllr Lawless Outlines FF Plan to Tackle Rural Crime in Kildare
I’ve always been outspoken on the serious issue of crime across Kildare North and how it has affected our communities and have looked at ways to stem that. On a national level as part of our policy proposals for the upcoming General Election, Fianna Fáil is prepared to take immediate and bold action to tackle the growing crime wave hitting rural Ireland. The party will put in place a seven point plan which will seek to address the crime epidemic in rural Ireland and ensure communities can live in security and without fear. As we’re all too well aware, rural Kildare has suffered considerably in this current crime wave.
Dedicated Homeless Helpline for Kildare Welcome
L-R: Pat Doyle, Managin Director of Peter McVerry Trust, Cllr James Lawless, and Andrew Considine, President of Naas Rotary Club
It is very much welcome that an out of hours information and advice service for County Kildare is now available, operated by the Peter McVerry Trust on behalf of Kildare County Council. Due to a housing crisis we need to offer more help to people who find themselves without a place to stay. This out of hour’s advice service, operated by the experienced Peter McVerry Trust is a welcomed addition to the support services available to homeless people in Kildare.
I have recently met with Pat Doyle, Managing Director of the Peter McVerry Trust who explained to me the services and support the Trust offer. I have full confidence that this partnership will be a success and be of some support to homeless individuals in Kildare. I also want to commend the assistance, effort and fundraising that went into this project from the Naas Rotary Club.
Welcome Investment of LPT in Local Roads
On being elected I was determined that funds collected from the local property tax (LPT) must be spent locally and not redirected back to national government. At council level, we have made allocations around the district with significant grants being made to Tidy Towns and residents association groups across the Naas district. The LPT monies are also being targeted at playgrounds in Kill, Sallins and Caragh, undergrounding of cables on Naas main street and support for the Naas-Sallins greenway. I have also brought forward various road projects for attention and tried to get a balance according to geography and where the need was greatest.