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The council has now published the draft local area plan for Sallins to cover the period 2015-2020. The draft plan was agreed following a special meeting of the council last month and is now on public display from 1 December 2015 until 8 January 2016 (read the notice on KCC’s website here). The full draft local area plan can be viewed online here.

The main proposals which are included in the draft are as follows:

• Recreational complex at north east of Sallins. 30 acres have been zoned residential and 40 acres for community use on the Clane Road. The 40 acres for community use is composed of 3 acres for educational and 37 acres for amenity. The vision for this quadrant is to develop a sporting and recreational campus with provision also for a second primary school at this end of the village which would have the use of playing fields at a co-located, multi-use complex.
• The existing Sallins GAA pitches have been retained as town centre as per the previous plan and as requested in the submission from Sallins GAA club.
• A block of land behind Oldbridge and adjacent to the canal has been zoned for amenity space (4 acres in total) with a connecting site zoned for residential (7 acres in total). This development would benefit the Waterways estate in shared services while also allowing for water based amenities such as canoeing, kayaking, rafting and scouting (for example) to be developed around the canal bank amenity site.
• Urban renewal: the plan includes an outline model for the re-developing of Sallins town centre and bringing the vacant sites back to life including elements such as canal pedestrian bridges, public spaces, development of a central plaza for the village. Placing these in the plan on a statutory footing should help in securing national funding to bring these ideas forward into a reality.

The above changes followed engagement with Sallins GAA, scouts, soccer, Sallins Community Council, and other stakeholders within the village. The plan has many positive elements and offers great potential for a growing town and addresses the long standing challenges of a lack of amenities and village centre stagnation.

All of these proposals are still DRAFT however and it is now up to the community to have your say. Submissions can be made by the public and any interested individuals or groups until 8th January 2016. The detailed plans are available on this link on KCC’s website. Feel free to contact me to discuss any aspect of the proposals or to make a submission.