Good news on Kill school – The tender has completed and a contractor is in the process of being appointed. The new school is expected to open in September 2010. This is great news and credit to principal, teachers and parents who have worked tirelessly on this project.

Separately I have proposed a shared secondary school be considered to serve Kill /Johnstown / Sallins villages (Where by taking together numbers may satisfy department guidelines).

Johnstown Garden Centre – Last Summer I wrote to the NRA and Kildare County Council in support of the old garden centre site becoming amenity – as a community park or similar. I have since seen and I am fully supportive of plans prepared by the Johnstown community association. The fate of this site will ultimately be decided in the local area plan.

Environment – I have complained to the EPA re private landfill facility at Kerdiffstown. Following an investigation of the alleged unauthorised development a comprehensive report has been prepared covering the following issues: Previous Panning permissions, Enforcement Action taken to date, Compliance issues, Financial Contributions, Waste Licence and Interface with EPA, Analysis of Topographical surveys undertaken. This report has been referred to the council law agents for urgent legal advice. The proposed incinerator at Rathcoole which was objected to by Johnstown Residents has been refused planning permission (all your Fianna Fáil reps lodged objections to the incinerator development).

Flooding – A report has been prepared and work is underway between Kildare County Council and the OPW. If elected I would seek to ring fence funding and accelerate implementation of these works (whilst attenuation ponds in the Manor need similar attention)

Local Planning – The Johnstown Area Plan is currently under review. I made a submission last November (see here). The draft plan should go on display with public consultation later this Summer and I would encourage all then to make views known.

Flooding
The village has suffered chronic flooding in recent years and the last few Summers haven’t helped. I looked into this last year and a meeting ocurred between the council and the OPW (Office public works) last Autumn. A consultants report followed and I understand next steps are for KCC to meet with the Johnstown Community Association and to then engage in wider public consultation. I was in the council chamber the other day and the director of services paid particular praise to one man (unnamed), a Kill native, who apparently gave them a tour of the subterranean landscape and was a font of extremly helpful local knowledge. Once the works are documented and agreed, I understand that funding shouldn’t be a problem.

Transport and Traffic
The bus stop in Johnstown is badly positioned, also the old shelter was never replaced. I raised this with Bus Eireann and also that the parking spaces at bus stop are badly located and when occupied can cause difficulties for buses pulling in and out. They agreed with me on all counts but advised that they no longer erect shelters and that is now the responsibility of the council or in a high traffic area an advertising company may oblige (unlikely to work here as the motorway traffic cannot see the shelter so not enough advertising interest). I have raised these issues to the county council along with a number of local traffic and signage issues.

Old Garden Centre
I’ve said before, and it remains my strong view, that the former garden centre site provides an amenity opportunity for the village centre, in the form of a park, playground or other community facility. I contacted the NRA and Kildare County Council on this last year and whilst the initial plan was standard site disposal I understood that was open to review. Johnstown Community Association has developed detailed plans for a community facility at this site of which I am very supportive. This site would appear an excellent location for such a facility.

Johnstown Area Plan
The Johnstown area plan is currently up for renewal and a draft plan should go on display later this year. I made a pre-draft submission last November which covered the Garden Centre site, traffic issues, amenity provision, flooding, education and sporting facilities which can all be seen here.

I think the process offers an important opportunity for community input, often the dates tick by with only a few landowners sending anything for consideration, it is important the wider view is taken by someone too and the local community are usually best placed to give the planners a steer with this.

The LAPs now under review in the Naas area are: Kill, Johnstown, Kilteel and TwoMile House.

In some cases I made submissions of my own, as well as meeting with local groups in other cases.

Here is:

My TwoMile House submission

My Johnstown submission

(An earlier submission I made on the Sallins plan can also be seen here)

Now the pre-draft submissions have been taken, the planners will get to work on a first draft area plan for each place, and they will go on display in the new year. There will be another round of public consultation at that stage.