Development in Kilcullen: when is enough enough?
As individuals, we want recognition that we matter, writes Frances Moloney. In small communities like Kilcullen, we know and are known to our neighbours. Some families have been here for many generations, some have moved in here as different housing developments were built.
Fundamentally, up to now, we have held onto the identity and character of our little town, rolling down to the river from one side, rising up on the other, served by a single main street, the sole artery from one end of town to the other. A relatively short distance that can take several hours to travel on foot, if one meets the right combination of friends, stop for a chat in Woodbine Books, a coffee from the River Café, a detour down the Valley as far as the Mill Stream ... Kilcullen could be a fitting backdrop for a rural Leopold Bloom.
This sounds idyllic and it has been the place of my own childhood and that of my children. But the winds of change are blowing through and around the greater Kilcullen area and I fear for the future of this town because of poor planning decisions, a development agenda driven on a solely-for-profit basis and the absence of anyone at decision making level who seems willing to look holistically at the proposed future development of our town. As a resident with family roots that go back many generations I do not feel that I matter in the planning process around the only place that I call home. I would prefer to concentrate my efforts on the people the people that matter to me, give my energy to a teaching job I love, be a good neighbour and friend.
I am not a town planner, I have no expertise in traffic management, I have a lay person’s level of knowledge about environmental matters but when I look at what is happening around me, I have no sense of security in the decision making processes that are shaping my town and I'm now called to share my feelings because of the latest planning application by Curragh Development DAC for the field between Moanbane Park and Kaymed factory.
Referring to the quotation from the proposal cited in the Kilcullen Diary — “to facilitate the provision of purpose built dwellings for those with special needs, including provision for the needs of the elderly, persons with physical disabilities and persons with learning disabilities and in conjunction with other voluntary bodies and the private sector” — there is an implication that this is an altruistic venture.
Kilcullen was where KARE started St Mark’s School, in the John F Kennedy hall. The Bridge, Grangbeg and Dunshane Camphill communities, with their mission to look after the differently abled, are our personal friends. Kilcullen Lions Club built several houses specifically for older residents. Avondale Estate has a row of houses for Senior citizens and Bishop Rogan Park also has houses specifically designed for older residents. All of these were initiatives driven by pure altruism.
Everybody involved in their development lives in this locality and is known by name. The incredible work of providing such a valuable resource was carried out to ensure that more vulnerable community members could live securely in our town and there was no part of the initiative that involved making profit of any kind.
There is no element of altruism in the proposed development in the factory field. This is a developer-led initiative for maximum profit to anonymous strangers who have no relationship with this community. On a site of less than four acres, it is proposed to build 1. 98 residential units, in 4-storey blocks; 2. A nursing home to accommodate 80 residents; 3. A 3-storey Primary Care Centre.
Can we please remember this is Kilcullen? A development of such density would not be welcome in an urban environment, never mind in a small place that is somewhere between a town and a village. Is there legally a provision that can be placed on the deeds of those residential units to ensure that they can only be occupied as per the original planning application? Or is that anti-constitutional? Once built, who will check that the occupants are as described in the original planning application? It's no wonder that there comes the idea that this labelling is a cynical attempt to build a high density residential unit.
Some of the people whose homes will be overlooked by this towering hulk of four storeys, with glass balconies, are people who came to Kilcullen in their youth, who have served voluntarily on community organisations that have contributed hugely to the lauded quality of life that we enjoy in Kilcullen. Now as they approach older age, they are going to have their privacy invaded, for the profit of strangers.
There is a legacy of pain woven on that stretch of road, road fatalities of members of our community, some remembered with plaques and monuments, all remembered with love and regret by their families and friends.
Someone made a decision NOT to link Kilcullen to the M9 on the northern side of this town, despite the energetic political campaign of the late Pat Dunlea. The consequence of this decision is that all traffic must funnel through the town. This was not a situation that arose due to ignorance of local conditions but because someone chose to ignore superior local knowledge. And we, the residents of Kilcullen, live with this traffic congestion as a daily reality. The consequence of that decision should be limiting development of the northern (Naas) side of Kilcullen, until adequate infrastructure is built to manage traffic.
In the interim, another generation of Kilcullen children make their way to school on a heavily congested road where, specifically in the Brennan’s hardware to the Bridge area, there is no safe pedestrian passage on one side of the road. A figure of 1,500 daily traffic movements has been associated with the proposed development, which surely puts children’s lives at further risk?
Why us? Kilsaran lorries, a proposed battery energy storage system at Dunnstown, opening of a quarry at Racefield, a dump at Usk, crazy speed limits on small country roads — it is hard not to feel that our opinions, and our needs, are consistently being overlooked. The powers that be seem to be sending us a message that we, the residents of Kilcullen and its hinterland, are not worthy of recognition, that we do not matter.
I appeal to all who value our town and community to let it be known that we DO matter, by raising your concerns about this proposed development, which will not be for any community benefit and will considerably detract from the quality of life in our unique little town.
The closing date for submissions is Tuesday next, August 24th. It is imperative that we raise our concerns at this point because those who do not speak at this stage of planning forfeit their right to speak subsequent to this time.
Remember, David slew Goliath.
There is no element of altruism in the proposed development in the factory field. This is a developer-led initiative for maximum profit to anonymous strangers who have no relationship with this community. On a site of less than four acres, it is proposed to build 1. 98 residential units, in 4-storey blocks; 2. A nursing home to accommodate 80 residents; 3. A 3-storey Primary Care Centre.
Can we please remember this is Kilcullen? A development of such density would not be welcome in an urban environment, never mind in a small place that is somewhere between a town and a village. Is there legally a provision that can be placed on the deeds of those residential units to ensure that they can only be occupied as per the original planning application? Or is that anti-constitutional? Once built, who will check that the occupants are as described in the original planning application? It's no wonder that there comes the idea that this labelling is a cynical attempt to build a high density residential unit.
Some of the people whose homes will be overlooked by this towering hulk of four storeys, with glass balconies, are people who came to Kilcullen in their youth, who have served voluntarily on community organisations that have contributed hugely to the lauded quality of life that we enjoy in Kilcullen. Now as they approach older age, they are going to have their privacy invaded, for the profit of strangers.
There is a legacy of pain woven on that stretch of road, road fatalities of members of our community, some remembered with plaques and monuments, all remembered with love and regret by their families and friends.
Someone made a decision NOT to link Kilcullen to the M9 on the northern side of this town, despite the energetic political campaign of the late Pat Dunlea. The consequence of this decision is that all traffic must funnel through the town. This was not a situation that arose due to ignorance of local conditions but because someone chose to ignore superior local knowledge. And we, the residents of Kilcullen, live with this traffic congestion as a daily reality. The consequence of that decision should be limiting development of the northern (Naas) side of Kilcullen, until adequate infrastructure is built to manage traffic.
In the interim, another generation of Kilcullen children make their way to school on a heavily congested road where, specifically in the Brennan’s hardware to the Bridge area, there is no safe pedestrian passage on one side of the road. A figure of 1,500 daily traffic movements has been associated with the proposed development, which surely puts children’s lives at further risk?
Why us? Kilsaran lorries, a proposed battery energy storage system at Dunnstown, opening of a quarry at Racefield, a dump at Usk, crazy speed limits on small country roads — it is hard not to feel that our opinions, and our needs, are consistently being overlooked. The powers that be seem to be sending us a message that we, the residents of Kilcullen and its hinterland, are not worthy of recognition, that we do not matter.
I appeal to all who value our town and community to let it be known that we DO matter, by raising your concerns about this proposed development, which will not be for any community benefit and will considerably detract from the quality of life in our unique little town.
The closing date for submissions is Tuesday next, August 24th. It is imperative that we raise our concerns at this point because those who do not speak at this stage of planning forfeit their right to speak subsequent to this time.
Remember, David slew Goliath.
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