Main street survey will aid heritage conservation

Drones will be used to undertake a comprehensive streetscape survey of Kilcullen’s upper main street to assess its heritage value, writes Brian Byrne. The project will gather detailed data on building elevations, streetscape features, roofs, visible services, and chimney stacks. 

A grant application has been submitted to the Heritage Council to help fund the project, part of the Kilcullen Design Principles Initiative and organised by Kilcullen Community Action in collaboration with Kildare County Council. The results will provide a basis for future conservation and enhancement initiatives, supporting grant applications, guiding shopfront treatments, and fostering community engagement with Kilcullen’s heritage. 

Local businesses and property owners have been contacted for permission to carry out the survey, with an overwhelmingly positive response. The initiative will include free condition assessments, with the potential to coordinate repairs where necessary.

"Many older buildings no longer use their fireplaces and flues, and chimneys are beginning to show signs of neglect," says KCA's Noel Clare. "Modern heating systems have blocked or removed flues, and the decline of traditional repair skills contributes to moisture damage, structural issues, and the slow deterioration of these important features. Shared stacks are vulnerable to wind, rain, and changes in neighbouring properties."

The initiative aligns with recent planning and heritage efforts, including the nomination of the upper part of the town as a Candidate Conservation Area. 

The impetus for the project came from the Kilcullen Design Statement commissioned by KCA in 2021 and produced by consultants Paul Hogarth and Company.

Kilcullen c1900. Image: R French, Lawrence Collection.

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Good interest in Design Statement morning

Photos courtesy KCA.

There was a good turnout to yesterday's information morning on the Kilcullen Design Statement held in a popup shop display on Main Street, writes Brian Byrne.

Lots of people interested in seeing the Kilcullen Community Action vision for Kilcullen, prepared in association with consultants Paul Hogarth and Company.

If you didn't get the chance to go along, you can download the document from here or click on it on the right hand side panel of the Diary page.

The Design Statement was launched a year ago, and KCA is now working on ways to implement elements of it, and will welcome anyone in the community with ideas and offers of help.

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Information Morning on Kilcullen Design Statement

A reminder that a drop-in Information Clinic about the Kilcullen Design Statement will be held tomorrow, Saturday 1 June, for those who would like to find out more about plans for its implementation, writes Brian Byrne.

The Clinic will be in the vacant shop premises beside Stina Flowers, and will run from 9.30am to 1.30pm. All are welcome to have a look and talk to Kilcullen Community Action members about the focus and reasons for the document.

The Design Statement was commissioned by KCA, and was launched just a year ago. Since then the voluntary community organisation has been working towards building momentum for implementation of some of the recommendations in the plan.

A number of people have already expressed interest in helping with the initiative, and further offers will be welcomed.

The full Design Statement can be accessed here, or click on the document's download panel to the right on the Diary page.

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Clinic on grants for local business owners

UPDATE: POSTPONED UNTIL A DATE TBD IN JUNE. A reminder that a clinic for business owners in Kilcullen, to advise on a range of grants available to them, will be held in Kilcullen Town Hall on Wednesday 22 May, writes Brian Byrne.

The advice will be given by representatives from Kildare Local Enterprise Office, and will be specifically on Shop Front Grants for which grants are available up to €5,000), Window Display Grants (up to €1,000)) and Website Grants (up to €2,000).

The event, organised by Kilcullen Community Action as part of the implementation of the Kilcullen Design Statement, will run from 11am to 1pm. All business owners welcome.

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Meeting planned on implementing Design Statement

Kilcullen Community Action is seeking interest from the community towards implementing the Kilcullen Design Statement which was published last summer, writes Brian Byrne.

Commissioned by KCA and prepared by The Paul Hogarth Company, the initiative was developed with a view to having a document to provide a locally-produced blueprint for how Kilcullen might develop over the next two decades, and the €22,000 cost was funded with the help of the Kildare Leader Partnership and grants from Kildare County Council through Cllrs Tracey O’Dwyer and Rob Power.

Following a series of public consultation initiatives, the report authors divided what is hoped to be the direction towards towards Kilcullen's future into four objectives, relating to Place, Future, Linkage and People.

Among the conclusions reached by the authors was that Kilcullen has the potential to be a leading example of how towns its size deal with the challenge of the global Climate and Nature crises. They also called for a record of Kilcullen's heritage assets to be compiled as a first step in preserving and enhancing the town's historic character.

The analysis also notes 'authenticity and sincerity' and an 'appetite for progress' among a list of 18 positive traits that Kilcullen possesses, making it a ‘confident, inviting town’ in their assessment.

KCA is planning a special meeting in February to plan for the implementation of the Design Statement, and has issued a public call that anyone with an interest in any particular parts of the plan to make contact with a member of the group.

The Design Statement is available online in full here.

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Kilcullen 'could lead' in dealing with climate and nature crises

Kilcullen has the potential to be a leading example of how towns its size deal with the challenge of the global Climate and Nature crises, writes Brian Byrne.

That's one of the conclusions in the recently published Kilcullen Design Statement commissioned by Kilcullen Community Action.

The suggestion comes in the Future element in the four main objectives addressed in the report prepared by The Paul Hogarth Company — the others being Place, Linkages and People.

Reducing the community's carbon footprint, increasing biodiversity, making sure our spaces are clean and healthy, and attracting sustainable investment are the main design principles dealt with in this chapter.

Kilcullen is already well on the road to addressing these and other issues, the consultants say, and is well placed to go 'further and faster' in the transition to a more sustainable way of life.

Already in place is the Kilcullen Sustainable Energy Community status, and promotion and delivery of proposals in the Energy Action Plan around energy conservation and use of renewables need to be pushed.

KCA's Biodiversity Action Plan has been well in train over several years and should be continued and expanded, especially in terms of habitat restoration.

The report calls for increased litter picking and more litter awareness initiatives, and also continued work on The Valley and with the Camphill community to provide 'spaces for well-being'.

Although there is as yet no direct programme aimed at bringing in new business investment, particularly with a sustainable focus, the report indicates that continuing work on the various key objectives will help to attract such investment. 

A potential tourism offer will require support and growth initiatives for the hospitality sector, especially involving vacant buildings and lands.

The full Kilcullen Design Statement can be downloaded from here.

The Diary will be posting further stories based on the report.

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Heritage assets part of Kilcullen tourism potential

A record of Kilcullen's heritage assets should be compiled as a first step in preserving and enhancing the town's historic character, according to the recently published Kilcullen Design Statement, writes Brian Byrne.

An appreciation of such character was one of the elements unearthed during the process of developing the report, commissioned from The Paul Hogarth Company by Kilcullen Community Action. 

Following a series of public consultation initiatives, the report authors divided what is hoped to be a blueprint towards Kilcullen's future into four objectives, relating to Place, Future, Linkage and People. The heritage assets come under the first objective, and should include non-protected structures as well as components of public spaces — defined officially as the 'public realm'.

The Main Street should be designated an Architectural Conservation Area, the consultants say, so as to facilitate conservation and restoration with the help of appropriate architectural guidance.

Another key aspect of Place are the stories relating to historic buildings and spaces, and the report suggests that these stories be curated and developed with a view to providing a 'trail' with signage and related artworks.

This could be part of a strategy to develop a Kilcullen 'brand' to promote and build tourism. The consultants also suggest a pilot programme to provide visitor information on a seasonal basis, using both in-person and online guidance.

However, for any meaningful tourism promotion, existing heritage assets must be preserved and improved where necessary, and vacant spaces and buildings need to be revitalised.

Against all that background, there's a need for those interested in Kilcullen's future to define the town's identity and unique attraction, and then articulate and communicate this to potential visitors.

The full Kilcullen Design Statement is available to download here.

The Diary will continue to post other stories over coming weeks based on the report.

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Kilcullen is 'confident and inviting' - report

That Kilcullen is a ‘confident, inviting town’ is one of many strengths the community has, according to an analysis in the recently-published Kilcullen Design Statement, writes Brian Byrne.

Produced by The Paul Hogarth Company for Kilcullen Community Action, the analysis also notes 'authenticity and sincerity' and an 'appetite for progress' among a list of 18 positive traits that the town possesses.

Weaknesses noted include the level of ribbon development, traffic — especially the volume of HGVs —  and poor public transport. 

However, strengths and opportunities far outweigh the weaknesses and threats to Kilcullen as assessed by the consultants, who employed a range of events to engage with local feelings and wishes during the report's preparation. In excess of 700 responses were received during this process, which was extended and challenged by Covid restrictions.

Opportunities listed include the potential of the River Liffey, a revival of the stalled push to make the market square a pedestrianised focal point, and  increased town centre living space through turning defunct retail space into residential.

Among the perceived threats to an improved town are isolation of the elderly, and some degree of the town not meeting the recreational needs of teens or older people. This last can be balanced somewhat, however, by the existing good level of sports and social infrastructure.

Kilcullen also has form in preservation of architectural detail and heritage which could be part of a sustainable tourism attraction.

The 66-page report outlines a range of actions and priorities in what is designed to be a blueprint for Kilcullen's future and a 'touchstone' for any proposed private and local authority development.

The full document can be accessed here. 

The Diary will detail various parts of the report in future posts.

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Design Statement launched, 'the hard work starts now'

There was a very good turnout last evening for the launch of the Kilcullen Design Statement commissioned by Kilcullen Community Action, writes Brian Byrne.

The initiative was developed with a view to having a document to provide a locally-produced blueprint for how Kilcullen might develop over the next two decades, and was funded with the help of the Kildare Leader Partnership.

Outlining the results of the various public consultations which had led to the production of the report, James Hennessy of The Paul Hogarth Company consultants said 'the hard work starts now' in making sure that the Design Statement 'gets to the right people' so that it will influence future development of Kilcullen.

"All of what we have here has come through a consultative process, and there's now a table of priorities and actions," he said, emphasising that it is now necessary to engage in a partnership manner with the local authorities, and the private and business communities, to see how these can be delivered.

Opening the event earlier, KCA's Eoin Houlihan referenced the many people who had, over the last 50 or 60 years, been instrumental in getting Kilcullen to what it is today. He then gave a short outline of the current activities being undertaken within the community to enhance the town for all.

Noel Clare illustrated these with a series of some 150 photographs taken over recent years, showing the breadth of the various KCA and community initiatives. "This Design Statement offers lots of things going forward," he said. "But they will only happen if everyone gets involved and puts their shoulder to the wheel."

Closing the meeting, KCA chair Ann Cashman also appealed for a wider involvement in making use of the Design Statement. "This is a community plan, not a Tidy Towns to-do list," she said. "We now have a document that can potentially feed into the next Local Area Plan."

She thanked all involved in developing the Design Statement, in a partnership between the community and the consultants through the project committee who had demonstrated their 'pride and passion' for Kilcullen.

The Diary will be examining various elements of the Design Statement in future reports. THE FULL DOCUMENT CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE.

The KCA Design Statement project committee with consultant James Hennessy, third from right.

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Kilcullen Design Statement launch this evening

A reminder that the Kilcullen Design Statement will be launched this evening in Fallons, writes Brian Byrne. The 66-page document is the result of almost four years of public consultation on the future of Kilcullen. 

The KCA project was developed with a view to having a document to provide a locally-produced blueprint for how Kilcullen might develop over the next two decades. The consultants are The Paul Hogarth Company.

The study and plan has cost €22,000, which is funded by County Kildare Leader Partnership and grants from Kildare County Council through Cllrs Tracey O’Dwyer and Rob Power.

The launch in Fallons back room begins at 7pm. Everybody is welcome to the presentation and the consultants will be on hand to answer questions.

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Date set for Design Statement launch

The Kilcullen Town Design Statement will be launched on 24 May at an event in Fallons, writes Brian Byrne. At last night's AGM of Kilcullen Community Action, chairperson Ann Cashman said it was a 'very important' project for which a lot of work had been done, including a number of public consultations.

The news was part of her report to the AGM of KCA in which she thanked all involved with the wide range of projects and the ongoing 'normal' work of KCA through the last year. These included the continuing development of the Community Garden at the Library, which will have its official opening on 20 May, as part of the local contribution to National Biodiversity Week Ireland 2023. A number of other events will also be taking place in Kilcullen for that week.

The chairperson especially commended the 'brilliant' work of the Community Employment workers, in a scheme that she said was 'vital' to the town. She also thanked the local councillors and the businesses for their continued support of the KCA activities, and Kildare County Council for the range of grants which help fund various projects and works.

In her treasurer's report, Brigid Ryan noted that the grant income is a 'huge' part of the money raised for KCA's work, commenting that the group is 'very grateful' for the grant funding. The accounts show a total of some €38,000 was awarded over various grants in 2022.

As required by legislation, two directors stood down from the board of KCA. Martin Sheridan and Eoin Houlihan were then re-elected unanimously.

Before concluding the meeting, Ann Cashman noted that KCA continues to need new members in order to develop further projects, and invited people who had ideas for new initiatives that would enhance the town to contact KCA.

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