Road safety fears over Clane housing plans

Residents living in a Clane estate are concerned that through traffic coming from a proposed new 333 homes will impact on their quality of life.

Westar Investments Ltd want to build a development behind Alexandra Walk, which it proposes to access via two existing estates — Alexandra and Brooklands.

“We are hugely concerned about our quality of life,” said resident Liam Reilly.

“We are worried for our children’s safety. This is a very narrow road, we have no traffic calming or speed ramps. All the children play out here all the time. We are worried about the huge increase in the volume of traffic.”

He pointed out that when the Sallins bypass is completed, other motorists would also be using the road as a rat run to avoid the town.

The developer proposes to upgrade a narrow path at the end of a cul-de-sac at Alexandra Walk to access the site. The pathway is on council land.

Westar has already been given planning permission for 55 houses and 33 apartments at this location.

It is seeking the go ahead for an additional 66 houses and 179 apartments at the land at Capdoo and Abbeylands, Celbridge Road. A creche and public park is also included in the planning application.

The plans were submitted by the developer under the Strategic Housing Development process, which was introduced by the government to fast-track housing developments to meet shortfalls in housing demand. This means it can bypass Kildare County Council and go straight to An Bord Pleanála to get the go ahead.

Westar was previously turned down permission for 305 homes for the same site by the board. It said the proposed development failed to establish a sense of place due to a poor design concept for the site. It also said the plans were dominated by roads and surface car parking.

New plans are now before the board and are due to be decided byApril 19.

Residents made a submission the last time the plans were lodged and they said they will be raising their concerns oncemore by the deadline date of February 1

“They (the government) are shutting down the country due to health and safety issues (Covid) but they don’t seem to care that our health and safety will be jeopardised by this development,” said another resident, Philip Donnelly.

He was keen to point out that the local community is not against development but the location and planning is key. Both men point out the services and facilities in Clane are not capable of supporting the extra influx of people.

“There are two other developments in the pipeline for Clane and if they all get permission, the town won’t be able to cope,” said Philip.

The men said Scoil Mhuire in Clane has already had to install prefabs to cater for the huge volume of students and if there is an extra eight hundred homes, many with children, there would be a question of where they would go to school.

They also questioned the inclusion of Clongowes Wood College in the number of available school places listed by the developer. They said the fee paying school would not be accessable to all the people moving in and the school’s intake is from all over the country.

The residents also said they felt the Strategic Housing Development process did not give them a lot of time to prepare their submission.

They pointed out that if the decision goes against the residents, there is no option to appeal unless you go to court on planning technicality.