Kildare County Council dismisses suggestion to provide mobile film screen for housing estates

Kildare County Council (KCC) has rejected a suggestion to screen films in housing estates via a large mobile outdoor screen.

The idea was mentioned in a motion which was submitted to KCC at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting, which took place on October 15 last.

As part of her motion, Fianna Fáil Cllr Suzanne Doyle requested KCC to lease or purchase "a large mobile outdoor screen that can deliver cinema screening in housing estates to support community development".

However, KCC expressed concerns about this suggestion, citing a multitude of reasons.

Cllr Doyle replied that she accepted KCC's report.

The full statement from KCC can be viewed below.

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In response to Cllr Doyle's motion, KCC said: "It is the view of the council that the purchase and operation of a large mobile
outdoor screen is not a feasible approach, for a range of reasons.

"The council would have to seek licences to provide screenings. Apart from the requirement to apply for a licence, public cinema attracts copyright costs, and costs are higher for outdoor related events, with costs also increasing per showing.

"In addition, the provision of a screen alone will serve no purpose without a sound system, projector, and ancillary equipment, which are further costs."

KCC continued: The storage, transport and set up / maintenance of such an asset would also need to be considered if the asset is to be purchased and appropriately used across the district.

"The council does not have in-house technical expertise to manage cinema screening; therefore, this service would also have to be contracted.

"If screenings are proposed outdoors, a safety assessment would be needed, to consider matters including residential amenity (noise, light) and crowd control.

"If attendance cannot be controlled in an outdoor environment, extremely careful consideration would have to be given to child protection in the selection of movies to be shown, in turn narrowing the selection and timing of viewing, and in turn not maximising the community benefits, or value potential of such an asset."

However, KCC added: "In light of the above, the proposal may be more appropriate to a pilot, using LPT [Local Property Tax] funding, in line with LPT Guidelines, following feasibility assessment and delivered by a procured reputable private sector provider, focused on estates with significant social disadvantage in the district."

Fianna Fáil Cllr Suzanne Doyle. File photograph

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