KILDARE GENERAL, 23 January 2002: by Trish Whelan. Naas Town Council will most likely move with Kildare County Council to new offices in Millennium Park by May 2002.

The Motor Taxation Office, presently located on the Friary Road, will also be relocated at Millennium Park.

The news emerged at the January meeting of Naas Town Council when Peter Minnock (KCC’s director of Corporate & Cultural Affairs) made a presentation on plans by Kildare County Council to purchase three office blocks in the business park for 19m euros.

These would later be sold on when the Council moves to its permanent site in Devoy Barracks mid to late 2004.

At the meeting, Cllr Pat O’Reilly asked if Naas Town Council would also be moving with Kildare County Council to Millennium Park.

Chairman Cllr Willie Callaghan said the town clerk and staff are working in ‘intolerable’ conditions in the Town Hall and that the town clerk has not even got an office of his own.

Besides existing staff the six new community wardens will add to the Council’s employees in the Town Hall.

Cllr Callaghan said the move ‘would open up the Town Hall a lot quicker than anticipated for use as a Community Centre’. He said Naas Town Council will retain the Council Chamber in the Town Hall and its public office to accept rents, planning applications etc.

However, Peter Minnock told the Naas councillors a decision to move ‘was up to yourselves’.

Last week there was only one voice against such a move.

It was pointed out that talks are underway with bus operators to provide a feeder bus service from the town to Millennium Park to cater for staff and for the general public. The new location is a mile and a half from the town centre.

Officials said the bus company is anxious to build up services from Newbridge, Kilcullen and Athy if the numbers warrant it. Some 340 of Kildare County Council’s 458 staff will be based in Millennium Park. A total of 228 parking spots come with the new office blocks and talks are underway about overflow car parks if required.

However, it was felt that public transport facilities would be a better solution.

With one exception, Naas Town Councillors welcomed the move by Kildare County Council from St Mary’s.

Cllr Pat O’Reilly said St Mary’s has become ‘a disgrace’ with so many prefabs. He said it was time the Council moved into this century. He sbelieved it prudent to purchase the property now so as to have some revenue when the Council moves to Devoy Barracks.

Cllr Timmy Conway said it was difficult for people attending the Motor Taxation office as Friary Road is ‘choc a bloc’ with cars every day. He said it is important that staff have proper working conditions and that the public also be properly looked after.

Cllr Willie Callaghan also believed it was wise of KCC to ‘buy rather than rent’ its temporary office accommodation. He believed Council staff are looking forward to the move. He did not know how the staff and their unions have put with their present working conditions.

He said it is ‘an embarrassment’ to bring people into St Mary’s at the moment and that senior people there ‘are afraid to take holidays because when they return their office space is gone’.
Officials were adamant that staff ‘cannot wait another 3-5 years for decent offices’.

Fears were expressed by Cllr Pat McCarthy that the move would result in a major increase in traffic on the busy Sallins Road. And he said it now appears that the office blocks in question are not actually in Millennium Park.

He said it was imperative the planned interchange to the motorway is up and running as quickly as possible to help keep traffic to and from Millennium Park away from the town.

Council officials said the developers are almost ready to proceed with the interchange which will have ‘a huge impact on the marketability of the whole estate’.

Cllr Mary Glennon suggested a flexitime arrangement with staff would help keep traffic off the Sallins Road from 9-5pm. She did not believe there were enough parking spaces on offer with the new office blocks. She was also concerned over the distance between the town centre and the new location.

Peter Minnock said they would be encouraging more people to do their business with the Council by post and that letters received are ‘generally turned around in two days’.

“They won’t have to take the bus to see us in Millennium Park, just use a stamp instead!”

Cllr Charlie Byrne said it was ‘a massive shock’ to hear that Naas Town Council could be moving out of the town to Millennium Park.

He told of rumours and counter rumours in the town concerning the move. “Now you tell us we’re moving again,” he countered.

“You were able to purchase three office blocks while we have a planning application in for Devoy Barracks, so we’re having two office locations.”

He queried: “Did the Health Board hold you over a barrell? Surely the HB can’t have any control over KCC and tell them where to go! If the Health Board were to purchase three office blocks in Millennium Park ...?”

(This was contradicted by Peter Minnock who said both bodies had sat down together to determine the best way forward).

Charlie Byrne said to move the Tax Office that far out of town is to cause a massive inconvenience for a lot of people. “Does it mean you have to go to Sallins now to turn into MP to tax your car? I thought it was Devoy Bks we were moving to. Now we have to suffer this inconvenience until 2004. It shocks me.”

He slated the fact that councillors were getting it all ‘drip by drip’ as to which location they would be moving to.

Charlie Byrne also criticised how three items were slipped into the Town Council meeting last week when they were not included on the agenda.

These included the KCC presentation, the arrival of the new senior county planner and the new community wardens who were presented wearing their new uniforms.

(Photographs and interviews were forbidden by the town clerk who said that there would be opportunities when they were officially launched by the Minister of Finance at the end of the month. Three photographers had turned up to the meeting).

“We were supposed to grasp everything Peter Minnock said in just a few minutes. And I didn’t know the town manager would encourage us to move,” Cllr Byrne added.

He called the whole thing: “The best three card trick I’ve seen in a long time.”

©2002knn

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