Nursing home application withdrawn

Initial meeting of residents about plan.

The application to build apartments and a nursing home complex near the Kaymed factory has been withdrawn, writes Brian Byrne.

The application, lodged in July, had resulted in almost a hundred objections from residents of nearby estates, and from residents and community groups in the wider Kilcullen area.

The objections were mainly centred around density, traffic, and unsuitable location.

The permission had been sought by Curragh Property DAC.

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More objections registered to apartments-nursing home proposal

The number of objections registered to the application for an apartments and nursing home facility in Kilcullen has increased by 12, writes Brian Byrne.

This brings to 89 the submissions made to the application lodged by Curragh Property DAC. None have been in favour of the development.

There's a full report from the original meeting organised by concerned residents in the September issue of The Bridge, which has just gone on sale and features a 4-page special on planning in Kilcullen.

A group called Kilcullen Community United has evolved from the original meeting about the development. All of County Kildare's councillors have been contacted, with 'fairly good feedback', and further meetings are being organised.

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More than 70 submissions on nursing home plan

Seventy-six submissions and objections have been registered so far in the documents associated with the planning application for an apartments and older persons care project in Kilcullen, writes Brian Byrne. None are in support of the application, by Curragh Property DAC.

Those who made submissions include residents from housing estates surrounding the proposed development and from other parts of Kilcullen, and from councillors.

Further submissions may remain to be registered as they are being processed by Kildare County Council planning staff. The closing date was last Tuesday.

The matter was the subject of a meeting last week in Kilcullen's Town Hall, organised by a group of residents concerned with the density, height, and scale of the proposed development, as well as the impact it would have on traffic and road safety.

The group has now formed itself as Kilcullen Community United.

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A retirement village in every community?

The controversy surrounding the proposal to build elder-friendly apartments and a care-facility beside the Kaymed factory struck a chord with me, writes Pat O'Mahony, author of Rethinking Housing Options for Senior Citizens: Retirement Villages in Every Irish Community and formerly Principal at Newbridge College.

While I don’t wish to get involved in the appropriateness of this development application, I am hugely interested in the capacity of retirement villages to improve the quality of life of older people. 

Ireland’s over-65 population is set to grow by 70 persons per day for 30 years and the life expectancy of those being born is well over 100. Yet, today many older people, irrespective of their means, reside in relative isolation, even when they live in urban areas, in homes unsuited to their needs. Then, as they become frail, their need for community-based healthcare and homecare often goes unmet. Consequently, many end up in expensive nursing homes prematurely.

With this backdrop, I recently published Rethinking Housing Options for Senior Citizens - Retirement Villages in Every Irish Community making the case for establishing Retirement Villages in every community. The book, which draws heavily on Irish and international research, also outlines what is required to establish such villages appropriately. A pdf version of the book is available free here.

Interestingly, the development of retirement villages would not require state funding and, on balance, has the potential to generate savings for the state — while improving senior citizen’s quality of life, enhancing social capital and cohesion, and freeing up homes for family formation.

In Australia, where I lived for many years, 13% over 60s live in such villages and I believe it greatly enhances their quality of life. A similar proportion of older New Zealanders live in retirement villages. Research shows that a comparable proportion of our older people would be interested in living in such villages.

In my opinion, every community needs a retirement village of some kind and there are several different models to choose from. There are two very fine examples of what can be done locally — McAuley Place in Naas and Ryan’s Field in Newbridge. That said, I believe we can do even better today.

Retirement villages, to be successful, must be located close to all amenities — social, religious, hospitality, retail, transport, etc. Thus, we a need a new zoning category to ensure they are developed at the heart of communities. We also need legislation and standards to ensure that people at a vulnerable stage in their lives are protected. Australia has legislation governing retirement villages since the 90s.

Pat O'Mahony is the founder of Retirement Villages Ireland. 

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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. 

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New land ownership reveal increases concerns about high density development

Zoning in Kilcullen LAP.

Residents of Moanbane and adjoining estates concerned about the prospect of very high density development of the field beside Kaymed have become further alarmed with the discovery that an adjoining field is also in the ownership of the developer, writes Brian Byrne.

It's the field to the east of the 1.8ha site on which Curragh Property DAC have applied for permission to build a complex of apartments and nursing home facilities. In one of the documents submitted to Kildare's planners, there is a note about the 'adjoining lands located to the east which are also under the ownership of our client'.

That's the field on the other side of the walkway between Moanbane and Bishop Rogan Park. At 1.97ha it is larger in size to the site for which permission is sought. The field is, like the first one, zoned for 'industrial and warehousing' in the current Kilcullen Local Area Plan. The developers note that the zoning of both sites 'may not be encouraging the optimal use of these lands in terms of potential development'.

The current Kilcullen LAP period ended in 2020, and a new LAP is now being prepared. This is traditionally an opportunity for interested parties to lobby for a change of zoning.

The residents action committee say 'this is the line that exposes the whole thing'. "It shows that these plans are greater than we thought," says Siobhan Dunphy, who chaired the Town Hall meeting last Tuesday about the project. "It was buried in hundreds of pages, but one of our eagle eyed residents found it." 

Submissions to the planning application must be made by next Tuesday. Anyone needing advice or help should contact Siobhan on 087 9062406 or Sorcha on 086 8546214.

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Residents told 'submit local knowledge' to development proposal

A proposed development of a complex for the care of older persons in Kilcullen was last night described as 'too large', 'too dense', and as having the potential to 'bring to an extraordinary level' the already difficult problems the town has with traffic, writes Brian Byrne.

At a meeting in the Town Hall of representatives from estates around the site of the proposed development, in a 1.84Ha field beside the Kaymed factory, the Residents of Moanbane committee also outlined concerns about parking, zoning, and contraventions of Kilcullen's Local Area Plan in the proposals.

The application by Curragh Property DAC involves the construction of two buildings providing independent living accommodation, as well as a Nursing Care Facility and a 3-storey Primary Care Centre. The closing date for submissions to Kildare County Council is next Tuesday, 24 August.

At last night's meeting it was clear that residents have very strong feelings about the proposal, for which they say there was no local consultation with any residents group. They are also concerned that, if allowed, the development would set a 'dangerous precedent' for the largely residential area. Other worries expressed was that the developer-led project would simply be sold on to a so-called 'vulture company' by the promoters if they got planning permission.

The meeting heard that the field was retained by the project promoters when they sold their Kaymed factory as part of the Kayfoam Woolfson group to a large American company, Leggett & Platt. It is part of the original property bought by Kilcullen Development Association back in the 1960s to provide space for factories and affordable housing. Currently the field is zoned for industry and warehousing, so a rezoning would be necessary to allow residential or nursing home development.

The meeting was told that the proposed density of the project, which would accommodate 316 people in living and nursing care facilities, is 'three times what Kildare County Council currently allows'. "It would be more like Dublin's docklands than a rural village," committee member Sorcha McCoy said, adding that the site is only a third of the size of Moanbane Park, where there are 60 homes.

The evening's presentation went through a range of issues in some detail, including the effect the height of the buildings would have on neighbouring residences which are primarily bungalows. "We don't want something foisted on us that would be a complete horror," one resident said, noting how the development would block sunlight and be a 'complete invasion of privacy' in a rural area. "It doesn't make any sense."

With an estimated three years to completion, the matter of disruption, noise, and heavy machinery and trucks traffic during construction was also raised, as well as where cars owned by up to 150 workers would be parked. It has also been calculated that the completed development would bring an extra 1,500 traffic movements a day in the area, which already has very heavy traffic that makes it dangerous for other road users, especially cyclists and children.

An analysis of the parking plans for the development indicates there simply aren't adequate spaces for cars owned by residents, staff, and visitors to the complex. "There's also no on-road parking, so their cars would be in our estates," a resident noted.

JJ Warren said he could see at least 15 different contraventions of the Local Area Plan in the proposal, which he described as 'the craziest development I have ever seen' and added that the site coverage is 'off the Richter scale'. "Even Manhattan would probably turn it down," he said. Other commentary on the residential component of the complex described it as 'human warehousing'.

Local TD and Minister of State Martin Heydon said it was very important that all the concerns which the residents have should be incorporated into the submissions they make, adding that the vast majority of the issues he had heard are valid. "Remember that this is a developer's application, not a policy matter from Kildare County Council. The process is all about influencing, and it is really important that your local knowledge is provided in the submissions. You have also got to remain focused on the planning issues."

Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer reminded those present that there are currently serious covid-related restrictions about trying to hand in submissions directly to the Council offices, and that they should instead be posted or emailed to the relevant section. If posted, a phone number should be given by which payment can be made to the Council.

A WhatsApp group and Facebook page is to be set up by the committee, which comprises Gerry Clarke, Larry Campbell, Donal Flanagan, Siobhan Dunphy and Sorcha McCoy. Anyone wishing to contact the group can call Siobhan on 087 9062406 or Sorcha on 086 8546214.

READ: Application for Older Care Centre on Naas Road 

READ: More details on Older Persons Care project  

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