CPC wall gets planning approval

Planning permission has been granted for the proposed lowering of the CPC wall and topping the remainder with a wrought-iron railing.

The project is a combined initiative by the Cross & Passion College and Kilcullen Community Action.

The stone from the dismantled part of the wall will be used to clad the new Sacred Space reflection centre being built in the college.

The work will 'contribute to a safe school environment', an architectural appraisal of the project says.

The work will lower the existing wall by a metre and replace the removed sections with a railing, thus opening up the parkland behind to view from the road.

Kilcullen Community Action, the umbrella group for the tidy towns effort as well as other initiatives in the town, is promoting the work, and has raised funds towards it.

The appraisal was commissioned following concerns raised by Kildare County Council about the planning application for the work. Conservation architect Gabriel McGinley examined the project in detail and researched the history of the Cross & Passion Convent extensively.

His report notes that the wall was built in the late 1880s as part of the first phase of the development of a Convent by the Cross & Passion sisters, who had been invited to the village to set up a school.

Changes were made in 1985 when the main entrance was moved in order to facilitate Kildare Council Council improvements to the crossroads and the construction of a footpath.

At that time the original stone work was covered in a render. Mr McGinley says that the proposed alterations will restore the stone facing of the lowered wall, as well as on sections close to the gated entrances.

The report says the school authorities want the wall lowered to protect the pupils and 'replace the current sense of isolation' provided by the existing wall with a more 'transparent, safer environment' for the pupils.

Lowering the wall would also help reduce vandalism and anti-social behaviour in the grounds and thus help in the protection of the main buildings, which are a Protected Structure.

Mr McGinley notes that lowering the wall would also help the school engage with the town more successfully, something which its management and board consider to be an 'evolving requirement'.

It is proposed by KCA that the stone removal work could be done on a voluntary basis as a community involvement process, thus bringing the school and the community closer.

Noel Clare said tonight that KCA were delighted that the planning permission had been got, and now they would sit down and 'look at the numbers' to see how quickly the project could start.