'Dismissal' of community views on bridge?

The wishes of Kilcullen in relation to the refurbishment of the bridge have been 'dismissed in a high-handed way' by Kildare County Council, Monday night's meeting of Kilcullen Community Action was told.



Local resident Pat Canny also said the Council has 'contemptuously dismissed the guidelines' laid down by the Department of the Environment for the work, which is co-funded by the EU.

Noting that the guidelines emphasised that there should be 'wide consultation' and that the wishes of various groups within the community for such projects 'should be taken fully into account', he said it was clear from the proposed work that the wishes of Kilcullen as established at a public meeting have been ignored.

"It means that generations to come in Kilcullen will have to look at these awful railings," he said, referring to the fact that replacement of the aluminium railings had been on top of the list of the improvements agreed at the public meeting, but that the Council's engineer had insisted they would not be replaced.

The Council's plans are to spend the €120,000 provided for the scheme initially on the replacement of damaged footpaths, and also on lighting and cleaning the stonework.

"But the guidelines say clearly that works which are carried out by local authorities in the normal course of their duties are excluded from these funds, and are simply not eligable for co-funding," he said, adding that what was happening was 'acting against the terms of the funding' with 'a touch of ultra vires about it'. He claimed that spending the money on footpaths was going specifically against what was written in the Minister's foreword to the scheme.

He added that the Council was 'hanging its hat' on the fact that it was 'upgrading the footpaths', despite the fact that the community hadn't asked for this.

Meeting chairman Noel Clare noted that Kildare County Council hadn't 'fixed one square metre of footpaths in the town which hadn't had the materials paid for by the community'.

The matter took up a considerable amount of time in a debate which was often repetitious, during which a number of those present expressed concerns that any resistance to the Council's plans could mean that the refurbishment might not happen at all.

"If we jib now, we could get nothing," J J Warren said. "What we should do is let them do it their way and then look for the job that was supposed to be done."

Esther Kiely wondered what would happen if KCA objected to the plans of the council and stopped the work from happening by the end of year deadline. "If we stop it and lose the window, we'll be asked 'who did you think you were?'," she said.

Herbie Sheehan queried whether the project should go ahead on the basis that 'half a loaf was better than no bread', while Ray Kelly suggested that the project could end up like Eyre Square in Galway, 'and we'll have half a bridge'.

Pat Canny said the Council was 'messing us around'. "It really is about time that KCA took a stand. Money which has been granted by the EU and the Department of the Environment has been sidetracked and diverted to Kildare County Council's Road Department."

He said KCA should 'appeal' the Council's plans, and if necessary 'mount a campaign' to have them changed. "If we were seen to do something like that, we might get more people to meetings. At the very least, we might find out what lies behind all this."

Herbie Sheehan warned that 'these people' will put so much paperwork in the way that 'people just get fed up knocking their heads against a stone wall'.

Mr Canny reported that he had made direct inquiries about the matter, and was told initially by a staff member in Kildare County Council that new railings had been part of the original strategic plan submitted by the Council for the funding, but that subsequently he'd been told that this belief was 'a mistake'.

"I was also told by the Department of the Environment that the railings had been part of the submission, but as far as I can see, they're not going to take issue with the Council."

Noel Clare finally suggested that KCA ask Cllr Billy Hillis to find the original application so the community would know the actual grounds of the submission.

J J Warren agreed, noting that if a councillor requested such a document it would be given to him, whereas 'if we do, we won't get it'.

He said he would arrange a meeting in the Council offices for Wednesday (today) with Cllr Hillis and Pat Canny.

Brian Byrne.