Communication taking place with Applegreen over major Kildare site
Service station plan
Kildare County Council is talking to service station owner Applegreen over the condition of a site the company bought on the outskirts of Naas.
The company, which owns multiple service stations around Ireland, had plans for a new service station and an estimated 400 jobs - which never materialised - at the former Cemex plant on the Dublin side of Naas.
The plant, which once manufactured concrete pipes and which itself closed in late 2007, was the location for the Applegreen project beside the “big ball” on the Dublin side of Naas.
Planning permission for the development was granted in 2016 by Kildare County Council.
When this happened the council said development levies would amount to €760,000.
Since then there has been criticism of the appearance of the land and buildings.
“It looks like a bomb site. We’ve got so used to it we hardly see it,” Cllr Bill Clear said at a recent Naas Municipal District meeting.
At a NMD meeting on April 12, Cllr Fintan Brett asked if the derelict buildings there can be removed without permission.
According to KCC official Joe Boland permission is normally required and can be secured under the Derelict Sites Act.
However, this must have regard to the considerations of proper planning and development.
Mr Boland also said that KCC has corresponded with Applegreen “and is in the course of following up.”