Businesses' concern about 'lack of information' on Market Square
The redevelopment was last year awarded an initial €200,000 from the Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2018 towards the estimated €500,000 cost of the refurbishment of the square. The project has been enthusiastically supported by Kildare County Council.
Apart from a 'public consultation day' event organised by Kilcullen Community Action in September 2017, a number of businesses likely to be affected by the loss of parking in the project say they have not had any official interaction on the issue from either KCA or Kildare County Council.
A full public consultation period on a Part 8 application by the Council was originally expected before Christmas, but no date has yet been announced. "I suppose it has been put back until after the local elections," says Paddy Nugent who owns the Carry Out located in the Market Square building. "Not knowing a timeline doesn't help me, especially when I have to look to the future of the business location. Is it going to be two, three, or five years or what?"
Paul Treacy of The River Cafe says that any loss of parking in the square or on the road — there's a linked plan to reduce on-street parking in the downtown area — would 'push business to the other end of town'. "People stop briefly here to come in and buy a coffee, for instance. That's an impulse buy, and if they couldn't park nearby they'd keep moving. It would be lovely to see the square redeveloped, but please don't lose us the parking." He says it would be great to see events like regular markets in the square, but they could be accommodated without eliminating parking facilities.
Brennans Hardware's Donal Brennan, from one of the oldest business families in Kilcullen, notes that the square is currently the only public off-street parking space in the town. "It seems crazy to take away parking from an area that will only be used for public events four or five times a year," he says, adding that nobody from KCA or KCC has been in touch with him directly on the matter since a promotional video for the project was filmed. "I think many of us have changed our minds since then." He also said that he has sent a submission on parking to KCC, but so far has only received an acknowledgement.
Brian Fallon says that any plan needs to have an alternative parking element to replace a facility which is 'very important' to his restaurant business. "If the Council bought nearby property and built a car park on it, that would help," he says. Though there's some unofficial talk that land opposite the Market Square building could be so used, there are no actual plans he knows of. On redeveloping the square, he says that anything which 'makes a place look better and attracts people' would be good for business.
Alan O'Connell of O'Connell's Bar is also concerned about the proposals, in part because of the lack of direct consultation with the relevant businesses from those behind the project. He has discussed the formation of a Kilcullen business group, an idea supported by Paul Treacy, who says 'at the moment it seems that KCA organises everything'.
The Diary also spoke with other businesses in the area, some of whom had less parking worries but did have related views on traffic. For Woodbine Books, Dawn Behan noted that her customers normally had only a book to carry, 'except at school books collection time', and generally managed with nearby on-street parking and in the lane beside Brennans. But speed of traffic, and a personal experience with related car damage, are among her concerns.
Mary Masterson of McTernans said almost all of her customers walk to the pub, so parking isn't an issue. "Though I do believe that people park in the square and go to the bank and to Nolan's and other shops in the town."
Across the bridge, Pat Stafford of Kildare Credit Union's Kilcullen branch said any changes in the market square could impact on people who park there and come across to do their business. " We do get calls from people about parking, and we tell them that there's the church car park and whatever on-street parking they might find."
It isn't considered a big issue for Bardons, where customers are generally coming for a meal over an hour or more, 'and they'll find a parking spot somewhere nearby'. But if the matter was to become so problematic that pay parking was introduced, 'that would cause people to keep driving through'.
The Market Square redevelopment has been seriously in train since a public meeting organised by KCA in July 2017 in the Town Hall. This included a video presentation commissioned by the group. A public consultation day in September of the same year garnered 217 submissions on the day and afterwards online.
A Concept Plan produced by the Paul Hogarth Company on commission from Kildare County Council was shown to the project committee in April 2018. That plan was then shown to councillors of the Naas MD last June, and in October the grant of €200,000 was announced. The people of Kilcullen will not get view of the plan until the Part 8 application proceeds.
But the idea goes back much further than that. The Market Square building project by Dunlea Developments began construction in mid-2006, and prior to its completion the following year a planning permission was also granted for a pedestrian bridge across the Liffey near the Canoe Club. This was envisaged to provide a 'circular' walk along the Valley Park and the development's boardwalk to the market square.
In January 2008, Kildare County Council agreed to refurbish the market square as a pedestrian area, with the 14 parking spaces being replaced by 80+ spaces provided over- and under-ground with the Market Square building. However, the public spaces underground provision never made it into the conditions of a Planning Board decision.
Last week, Antoinette Buckley of the KCA Market Square Redevelopment Committee, also the Fianna Fail candidate in the local elections next month, said she has asked Kildare County Council to provide a date for the Part 8 public consultation.
Meantime, the Fine Gael candidate in the election for this area, Tracey O'Dwyer, has committed, if elected, to helping the local businesses in their concerns with the square parking issue.
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