Forestry group reveal its latest plans for Donadea Forest Park

A well-known forestry organisation delivered a presentation at the latest Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD) meeting outlining its plans for Donadea Forest Park.

Mary Clifford, an Estate Manager for the South-East with Coillte, delivered the presentation, which also highlighted other proposals for surrounding areas.

A number of different measures have been implemented by the group in order to curb illegal parking and to provide better capacity for visitors, with Ms Clifford claimig that the number of visitors to the area has tripled in recent years.

These measures include: reconfiguring the front entrance, a cashless barrier being installed (and being moved further down into the forest), the construction of two lanes with an internal queuing system in place, and car park resurfacing.

Ms Clifford explained that the cashless barrier has already been erected, and that an overhaul of electric works at the area is nearly complete.

In addition, wheelchair accessible dry-loos are planned for the area.

"Donadea Forest needed more than a lick of paint," Ms Clifford said.

She added Alymer House was also the site of a large investment, with Coillte investing €63,000 to provide the property with a new timber structure and a new zinc roof, both of which were completed in 2020 (it was also noted that the Historic Fund invested €40,000 into Alymer House).

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Ms Clifford further explained that, as Coillte is not in a position to overhaul the entirety of Donadea Estate, that it wanted to seek "collaboration, support and engagement" from KCC, and urged any councillors interested in doing so to contact her.

A number of other surrounding areas that Coillte plan to tend to include: Killinthomas, Mullaghreelan and Dunfirth.

Speaking on the latter location, Ms Clifford said that her organisation "was not in a position" to put a car park in there, and that the main entrance has been closed at the suggestion of nearby residents.

Chairperson and Fine Gael (FG) Cllr. Brendan Wyse asked her about the prospect of access to the elderly, as the only way into Donadea Forest at present is through a 700 metre trail, to which she replied that Coillte would look into it.

Cllr Brendan Weld then told Ms Clifford that KCC has been trying to engage with Coillte, but claimed that its members were unable to reach them as "staff kept changing."

He added that while he welcomed the improvements made by Coillte thus far and her interest in helping the local community, he stressed that something had to be done for the Estate wall, which he described as being "unstable."

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When asked if Coillte could make the annual cards to enter the area available, Ms Clifford revealed that they would be replacing them with QR codes.

Cllr Weld replied that older visitors may not be used to using QR codes, but Ms Clifford said that they could be printed off and shown at the barrier, although she admitted that "wi-fi isn't the best (out there)."

Kildare Mayor and Fianna Fáil Cllr Naoise Ó Cearúil suggested that the codes could be sold at the nearest shop, while Cllr Weld also suggested that an annual meeting between foresters, local residents and Coillte could be set up.

Fellow FG Cllr Tim Durkan also asked if KCC could look into providing an alternate entry point for the forest that doesn't double for an exit.

Ms Clifford added that the presentation slides will soon be released online by Coillte for members of the public to view.

Kildare Mayor and Fianna Fáil Cllr Naoise Ó Cearúil concluded the discussion by saying: "I think it is great that Coillte have listened to the community... but we need to look into this on a County Council level, not just an MD level."

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