NEWBRIDGE, 27 June 2002: by Brian Byrne. Newbridge Town Council members feel they’re being 'lost in the photocopier' in relation to the Traffic Management Plan which was completed by Kildare County Council three weeks ago.
The councillors haven’t yet seen a copy of the plan, and the only explanation Cllr Pat Black (above) has been given since he asked for it was that it was ‘being photocopied’.
“It’s very very frustrating,” he told KNN. “I meet people in the street who ask me about it, and it’s very embarrassing to have to say I haven’t seen it.”
What makes it even worse, he says, is that ‘some members’ of the Kildare Area Committee of Kildare County Council have been given copies of the plan.
“Not one of the town councillors have seen it,” he notes, hinting strongly that even Cllrs John O’Neill and Fiona O’Loughlin - who have dual representation on the town and county councils - haven’t seen it. He says there ARE some controversial aspects.
“For instance, I’d have a lot of trouble with the proposal that the GAA Car Park be restricted to two hours maximum,” he said. “We have no alternative long-term car parking available in the town, unlike Athy and Naas. All that restricttion will do is force people to keep driving around every couple of hours.”
Cllr Black also said that the hold-up with the plan, which as a town commission they had been lobbying for for several years, is holding up vital developments such as the Irish Ropes site (below), and also prolonging the seriously dangerous situation pertaining at the town’s schools.
