Call for facilities in one Kildare MD to 'keep pace with housing growth'

The Mayor of one County Kildare Municipal District (MD) has emphasised to Kildare County Council (KCC) that the delivery of facilities for the MD must 'keep pace with housing growth'.

Labour Party councillor Mark Leigh made the call at the latest Athy MD meeting, which took place on Monday, October 12 last.

At around the halfway point of this meeting, he raised the matter when he motioned for KCC to ‘call on the relevant government departments and agencies to ensure that the delivery of schools, childcare, healthcare, sports, recreation and community facilities keeps pace with housing growth across [the] Athy MD’.

His motion was seconded by Fianna Fáil Cllr Brian Dooley.

DETAILED REPORT

KCC issued a lengthy response to Mayor Leigh’s motion via the report it presented to the meeting.

The report read as follows: “KCC acknowledges the importance of ensuring that the delivery of social, community and physical infrastructure keeps pace with housing and population growth across the entire county of Kildare.

“The Kildare County Development Plan (KCDP) 2023-2029 contains a strong policy framework to support the coordinated provision of social infrastructure alongside residential development.

“In particular, the Core Strategy promotes the delivery of compact growth and sustainable communities supported by appropriate social, community and physical infrastructure.”

KCC continued: “All statutory plans prepared by KCC are supported and informed by Social Infrastructure and Settlement Capacity Audits; these audits identify infrastructure provision, deficits and proposals to address same.

“Attention is also drawn to Chapter 12 of the KCDP (’Social and Community Infrastructure’) which seeks to ensure that existing and future communities have access to a broad range of educational, childcare, healthcare, sports, recreational and community facilities.”

LIST OF OBJECTIVES

According to KCC, the KCDP includes objectives to:

• Support and facilitate the Department of Education and school authorities in the provision of new schools, extensions to existing schools and associated infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing population
• Facilitate and support the provision of childcare facilities at appropriate locations throughout the county in accordance with national planning policy and population growth
• Support the Health Service Executive (HSE) and other healthcare providers in the delivery of healthcare facilities and services, including primary care centres and community healthcare infrastructure
• Promote and facilitate the provision of sports, recreation and community facilities to meet the needs of existing and future communities
• Require that new residential developments are supported by adequate social and community infrastructure and contribute towards the creation of sustainable, healthy and inclusive communities

KCC further said that it ‘maintains ongoing engagement with government departments, State agencies and infrastructure providers through the preparation and implementation of Social Infrastructure and Settlement Capacity Audits and other strategic planning initiatives’.

‘GROWTH STRATEGIES’

Moreover, KCC elaborated: “This includes but is not limited to regular engagement with the Department of Education, the HSE, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the National Transport Authority, Uisce Éireann and other key stakeholders to identify infrastructure requirements and align investment with projected growth.”

KCC also said: “In addition, statutory consultation processes associated with the preparation of development plans and variations provide a formal mechanism through which these agencies contribute to growth strategies, population projections and infrastructure planning.

“The council also participates in ongoing inter-agency forums and project-specific engagement to facilitate the timely delivery of social, community and physical infrastructure.”

KCC concluded: “While the delivery of schools, healthcare facilities and many community services is primarily the responsibility of the relevant government departments and agencies, KCC will continue to implement the objectives of the KCDP and work proactively with all stakeholders, to advocate for the timely provision of the services and facilities necessary to support planned housing growth across the Athy MD.”

Following this, Mayor Leigh told KCC that he welcomed the ‘comprehensive’ report.

This was echoed by Cllr Dooley, who referred to it as ‘an excellent report’.

He also criticised the presence of what he called ‘pop-up shops’ across Athy, and claimed that this is part of a national issue regarding similar ‘pop-up shops’.

Other representatives who voiced support for the motion were Fine Gael Cllr Ivan Keatley and Labour Party Cllr Angela Feeney, the latter of whom added: “We have been playing ‘catch up’ for far too long in this country’.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.