'Clarifications' to Market Square plans 'in September'
According to Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer, this was promised at a briefing to councillors yesterday by Council officials, at which 'a range' of issues relating to the project was discussed.
Cllr O'Dwyer also says that at that stage, a decision on whether to commence the formal Part 8 process to move the project on 'will be further considered'.
So far, the plans developed by the consultants have never been shown to the people of Kilcullen, or to the residents and businesses in the area of Market Square who will be directly affected by the redevelopment. They have been shown to councillors.
Following an application supported by Kildare County Council, the redevelopment project was last year awarded an initial €200,000 from the Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2018 towards the estimated €500,000 cost.
The Market Square redevelopment got under way after a public meeting organised by Kilcullen Community Action in July 2017. 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 in June last year, 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.
A full public consultation period under this process was originally expected before Christmas, but no date has yet been announced. It now seems that a decision on the Part 8 will only be 'considered' this September, according to yesterday's briefing to councillors.
In April 2019, in response to concerns on parking raised by businesses, KCA said it had been told by the Council that Part 8 plans and documentation had 'largely been completed' and 'planning reports' should be completed by the end of April. The KCA statement also said its Market Square Committee was, in conjunction with the Council, 'looking at allocating parking spaces nearby'. In her election campaign for the recent local elections, Tracey O'Dwyer committed, if elected, to helping the local businesses in their concerns with the square parking issue.
In May of this year, the Council had surveys of parking spaces in the downtown Kilcullen area carried out, along with relevant traffic counts.
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