Here is an update of the motions I tabled at the Naas Municipal District meeting that took place on 15 July 2014.

That the council investigate parking management in Sallins.

The objective of this motion is to address the problem of all-day parking in Sallins village. This mainly arises from commuters leaving cars in and around the main street all day which seriously impairs on local residents and local businesses who lose the parking spaces. There is enough parking in the train station and waterways car parks that this shouldn’t be necessary. There may be multiple ways to tackle this and whilst the council suggested pay parking I felt we should examine other options first. The local community council have proposed some quite novel ways to tackle this and there may be other solutions also. It was agreed that a report on the issue would be prepared by council officials which would inform a follow up discussion at the next meeting.

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That the council perform an immediate road safety analysis at the Cromwellstown cross and implement the recommendations.

The “four roads” crossroads is notoriously dangerous. The council agreed to this motion and a programme of works will now be performed under the road safety budget later this year. The works will consist of additional signage, road markings, and similar features. Whilst I would have liked a more comprehensive action plan with junction re-alignment included, any progress here is welcome and I will keep the item on the agenda for future meetings and seek additional budget for more works when possible.

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Whether there is any public funding available for a bus shelter in Johnstown, Kill or Kilcullen?

The initial response to this was a short “No”, however following some debate it emerged the National Transport Authority is conducting a nation-wide review of bus shelters and on my request the council agreed to write to them to seek funding. Again it’s a question of ‘Watch this Space’ but the item is clearly on the agenda now and will remain there.

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To clarify the status of illegal encampments at Straffan road, Kill and elsewhere in the Naas area.

Some places are just not suitable for families with young children to live and the edge of the very busy Straffan road is one of them. A series of by-laws are being progressed through the council to regulate these encampments and also the housing department are making progress in accommodating many families, all of which is good news. I expect progress here very soon.

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Other items we discussed included erecting “Go Slow” signage in Aylmer Park, erecting noise barriers along the N7 parallel to the Monread road, a community facility for the old Johnstown garden centre and playgrounds for Sallins, Kill and Caragh. Feel free to contact me if you would like more information on a particular item or on any other matter.

Finally I have a motion tabled for the next full council meeting to make the proceedings available through online video streaming – many councils do this already and I feel it would bring local government closer and more accessible to the citizens it serves.