More than 100 submissions on Oakway Homes planning application
A total of 114 submissions have been recorded so far on the planning application by Oakway Homes for 180 houses and some commercial units at their New Abbey Road development, writes Brian Byrne. The vast bulk are from individuals and families, with five from groups — Kilcullen Parish, Kilcullen Community Action, Residents of Nicholastown, Residents of Sunbury Close and St Brigid's Avenue Residents Association.The overall tenor of the submissions is that unless Kilcullen’s current public infrastructure and services are improved the town can’t cope with an influx of extra people and cars which the Oakway large residential development (LRD) would bring.
Specific concerns reflect and amplify those raised at the recent public meeting on the proposed development — exacerbating traffic congestion, putting further pressure on existing schools capacity and healthcare services, and impacts on road safety. There's also serious concern expressed about the capacity of the existing sewerage system to take the extra load from a large residential development and similar ones which are likely to follow.
Other issues include proposals for 4-storey constructions within the Oakway Homes application, which are seen as not in keeping with existing building in Kilcullen, and would negatively impact both on nearby residents as well as the town's skyline. Road safety concerns are widely circulated in the submissions, especially at the proposed access points on the New Abbey road. The prospect of increased traffic both during construction and afterwards causing subsidence in the Valley Park is highlighted in many submissions.
The fact that there's just one bridge over the Liffey in Kilcullen, with no more than aspirational suggestions for a distributor link road to deal with the traffic problems that this causes, comes up in several of the documents. An inadequate traffic lights system at the main crossroads and the likelihood of increased 'rat run' activity by motorists on quiet and narrow roads on the outskirts of Kilcullen are points raised in a significant number of contributions.
Negative effects on security, quality of life, and road safety of proposed Active Travel arrangements through existing mature residential estates, including Conroy Park, St Brigid's Avenue and Sunbury Close are highlighted in many of the documents. Existing residents along the New Abbey Road are also concerned about overlook, emissions from a sewerage pumping station, and the proximity of a proposed access on a dangerous bend.
Several of the submissions are critical of the fact that the development designers do not appear to have taken any notice of the Kilcullen Design Statement plan commissioned by Kilcullen Community Action at a cost of €22,000 and launched in the summer of 2023. There is no statutory requirement for the KDS to be considered by planners, but it does offer comprehensive local-knowledge guidelines on sustainable integrated growth incorporated into a professionally-prepared document.
Many of the submissions make it clear that their contributors are not against more housing, but that Kildare County Council needs to look at the larger picture while at the same time paying attention to some of the direct impacts on existing residents and estates, and on the town as a whole, which the Oakway Homes proposal would have.
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