NAAS 17 February 2003: A proposal on car parking from a private meeting between officials of Naas Town Council and Kildare County Council, the manager of Naas General Hospital and the project manager for the hospital development, is to be put to the February meeting of Naas Town Council on Tuesday 18 February.
No local councillors or representatives of Lakelands estate were present at this meeting on 12 February to discuss car parking problems in the region of Naas General Hospital, including nearby Lakelands estate.
“Arising from this meeting, we have to come back with a proposal to deal with the interim problems until the project ends in 2006,” town manager Tommy Skehan told the most recent Town Council meeting.
He said he understood the members’ frustration over the parking situation in Lakelands and added that the issue has to be solved once and for all. “We all have to put into it and make it work. If not, it will get worse,” he said.
The plight of the local residents was highlighted on the night by Cllr Charlie Byrne who said the people of Lakelands had suffered for years over the parking issue. He said Kildare County Council - which had offered parking in its car park to alleviate the local parking problem now had a security man at the gates to prevent people visiting the hospital from using their car park. “Here’s Kildare County Council saying this is our little lot and nobody is going to get in here. But the residents down the road have suffered.”
Cllr Mary Glennon said plans by Naas Hospital to turn their underground car park into a storage area, ‘don’t show much commitment’ from the hospital to help resolve the parking issue.
“The officials are having a meeting and I’m happy with that,” Mayor Timmy Conway told the meeting.
The town manager implored: “Let us have this meeting first. A proposal will come back to your February meeting.”
Cllr Glennon replied that the Lakelands Resident Assoc representatives are ‘reasonable people’ and she believed a meeting should be facilitated with them.
This Tuesday’s Town Council meeting in Naas Town Hall is open to the general public from 7.30pm.
