NAAS, 5 October 2002: Developer Tom Treacy didn't blush when he said that 'we have made better progress than anticipated' and told councillors and guests (above) on Friday that his multi-storey car park in Naas would open over the weekend.
Nobody mentioned the small matter that 200 spaces in the car park were promised to be open for Christmas LAST year. That unmet deadline was followed by a number of others set for different times in the spring and summer, mentioned at Naas Town Council meetings.
In addition, the Link Road between the Sallins and Dublin roads which - in a key planning condition reinforced by An Bord Pleanala - was to have been built first and used as a temporary car park while the rest of the development was built, is still not in place.
There is also the question of an unanswered written query from KNN this time last year to Naas town manager Tommy Skehan as to whether proper planning procedures were followed in having this key condition waived. Cllr Pat McCarthy also subsequently queried the procedures followed. Another councillor, Pat O'Reilly, had previously said councillors 'should not be nitpicking about the letter of the law' in relation to planning permissions.
On Friday, Mr Treacy was very coy about whether there would be any apartments in the finished development, as recorded in the original planning permission.
He said there had been 'much more' interest in office space, and he had been told by his auctioneers 'and various people' that apartments 'are not really good for town life'.
The Sallins Road Action Group has objected to a planning application by Mr Treacy's BABA Exports, the developers of the Sallins Road car park, seeking retention and alterations from the original planning permission.
Spokesperson Mary McCarthy says the group is objecting to any change of use from residential to offices at the development.
“At a time when accommodation is at a premium in Naas and there appears to be more than enough offices, it doesn’t make sense to look for a change from the original plans allowed,” she has told Naas Town Council officials.
A recent advertisement for the E40 million development on 3.5 acres referred to a 600-space multi-storey car park, 4,200 sq m of retail space and 3,000 sq m of offices. There was no mention of the 16 residential apartments for which the original planning approval was granted.
The group is also objecting to any attic conversions and changes to elevations in the development saying it is high enough already.
At Friday's walkabout, councillors and town officials were told that the joint letting agents have received 428 replies to recent Naas Town Centre advertisements.
Pictured above are Naas councillor Mary Glennon and Naas Chamber of Commerce's Mary Bhogal.
