KILDARE: Call for town sports stadium gets a mixed response
'There are better facilities for sport in smaller towns'
There was a mixed reaction to a proposal that planning start to provide a “town stadium and sports park” for Naas.
It came from Cllr Seamie Moore, who said it should have “multiple sports pitches, a gymnasium and indoor facilities for all netball games and large meetings.
He said Naas area councillors should agree to set aside €100,000 a pear for this from local property tax paid by local residents “who are the very people who need this facility.”
At a Naas Municipal District meeting he said there has been “massive population growth” in the town and the number of people living there would reach 40,000.
And he added that while it was one thing for land to be zoned for that purpose it was another to acquire it from a landowner.
Cllr Evie Sammon said it could take ten years to put enough money aside and “we would need to be putting away more money.”
And Cllr Bob Quinn said if approved this would “handcuff future councillors who are not currently elected.
He said the property tax provides about €1.2m a year for the Naas Municipal District and €100,000 is a big amount of this. He said there are other commitments that also have to be addressed.
“If we do this it would mean we have little room,” he said, adding that Kerdiffstown Park, Oldtown Gardens and Monread Park all need to be resolved and “we need to get these longstanding projects finished.”
KCC official Eoghan Ryan said even to develop a single pitch could cause €100,00 partly because of the irrigation systems required because of climate change.
Naas Mayor Bill Cleare said €100,000 a year would go a long way towards improving facilities which are already in place “because land is so expensive in Naas.”
Cllr Carmel Kelly said the councillors should not be looking at any other projects until those already planned are delivered, including the development of amenity lands in Sallins.