Councillors told of need for 'urgent action' on Kilcullen link

Councillors and members of Kilcullen Community Action looking last night at a suggested link road for the town.

KILCULLEN, 18 June 2002: by Brian Byrne. The need for urgent action by Kildare County Council to work with a property developer on providing a key stage of a proposed link road in Kilcullen was forcefully made to councillors last night when they were brought on a walkabout of the site by Kilcullen Community Action.

KCA signed a legal agreement a year ago with M&D Properties, developers of the Cnoc na Greine estate at Sunnyhill, in return for dropping an An Bord Pleanala objection to the development. For M&D’s part, they agreed to provide part of their site boundary area for a link connecting an existing road on an adjoining development to the Newbridge Road, and at the other end connecting with a planned road onto the Athy Road for a business park being developed by Kildare County Council.

But in recent times M&D Properties told KCA that nothing had been done by Kildare County Council to further the matter.

A number of local councillors attended a presentation in Kilcullen last night prior to the walkabout, and heard fears from KCA that unless the matter was progressed ‘in a matter of weeks’ M&D Properties could eventually exercise their planning permission to build on the suggested road location.

“This would mean we’d lose for good the opportunity to provide a road which would ease traffic through the town centre,” KCA spokesman Noel Clare told the local representatives. “As it is, the situation on the Newbridge Road is chaotic, particularly at school drop-off and collection times.”

The proposed link road would also offer a more direct access to the N9 motorway for the anticipated 400 houses which will result from the two adjoining residential developments.

(On the map, right, the business park section of the proposed road is in green, the M&D Properties section is blue, and the existing road built by the developers of Castlemartin Lodge is in pink.)

KCA also wants a roundabout at each end of the proposed link, which would make the exits onto the existing roads safer as well as providing a much-needed traffic-slowing function.

The councillors present - Timmy Conway, Sean Power, Billy Hillis, Tony Lawlor and Jack Wall - all intimated their backing for the KCA position. Cllr Mary Glennon had sent apologies about not being able to attend the meeting.

The suggested link is actually in the Kilcullen Development Plan, published last December.

And, since last night’s meeting was first organised, it seems that some movement has happened at Kildare County Council level - a meeting is finally taking place this week between the council’s engineering staff and a representative of M&D Properties.

But KCA want the process of the council’s dealing with M&D accelerated, as it will require changes to the developer’s planning permission and the handing over of the required land to the council.

©2002knn