Tag Archives: Naas Town Council

Lawless Supports Naas Traders Petition

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Following from the spate of business closures in Naas town over the past few months, I have lent my support to a call by Naas Traders for free parking times in Naas town. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage customers back in to the town centre.

It is obvious that something has to be done, and urgently, to bring business back into the town and I fully support the Naas traders in their efforts to lobby for change. Having being speaking to many of the retailers there is an urgency about the situation which I hope is shared by the Town Council when they meet to discuss this petition. I’m not a member of the Town Council myself but I will be seeking election to the new Municipal Council which will replace it next year and I think this is such an important issue.

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Naas M&S Closure Confirms Need for Fresh Thinking in Town Centre

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The recent Marks and Spencer closure confirms the need for drastic action on Naas town centre. This is the last remaining grocery store within the town centre to close and also comes at a time when many other kinds of stores in the town are closing down too. It’s time for some fresh thinking.

In the past decade we’ve seen new supermarkets develop and do good business outside the town. There is plenty of population there to support local business but they need to be brought back into the town centre to ensure the heart of the town retains its vibrancy.

Rates competition between in-town and out-of-town developments needs to be stopped, plentiful and clamp-free parking needs to be provided inside the town and start-ups and struggling businesses must get rates concessions.

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Tidy Towns Deserve Better

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Several Tidy Towns groups around the county received news last week that their annual grant allocation under the Kildare County Council amenity fund would not be approved this year. This news is a massive setback to the Trojan workers and the huge voluntary work they do in every area.

Naas Fianna Fáil representative, James Lawless, said he had been contacted by several groups who were bitterly disappointed at this news.

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Government Determined to Tax Unfinished Estates

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The Property Tax Exemption list published recently bears little relation to reality according to James Lawless, Fianna Fáil’s Local Area Representative for the Naas Area, North Kildare.

James conducted research last year to uncover that 85 named estates within County Kildare had been refused provision of maintenance services by the County Council as they were deemed unfinished. James had anecdotal suspicions of estates being “cut off” from council maintenance and he confirmed this was the case when he pursued the issue via Freedom of Information requests last autumn.

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Property Tax: “For Local Services” ?

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Property Tax – “A Local Tax for Local Service” ?

Fianna Fáil’s Representative for the Naas area, James Lawless, has this week written to the Minister for Housing seeking exemptions against the property tax for up to 85 Kildare estates in line with maintenance records he received last year under the Freedom Of Information acts.

“As we now know Kildare County Council gave an order last year that 85 estates, not taken in charge, be removed from the maintenance regime, so that when the lights went out, they stayed out, in all of those estates. Broken bulbs would not be replaced and maintenance services were suspended” explained James. (Details here)

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