‘Report should have been more in-depth’ — Kildare councillor
Comments: The councillor also offered some suggestions to KCC
A councillor has said that a report presented by Kildare County Council (KCC) in relation to Arts Awards and Bursaries 'should have been more in-depth.'
Independent Cllr Fiona McLoughlin-Healy made the comments while appearing via video-link at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District (MD) meeting, which was held on Wednesday, June 21 last.
She criticised what she believed to be a lack of information provided by KCC in relation to its Arts Awards and Bursaries report for 2023 for the Kildare-Newbridge MD.
The report was proposed by Fine Gael Cllr Kevin Duffy, and was seconded by Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender.
Explaining her view, Cllr McLoughlin-Healy suggested that potential conflicts of interests and information relating to unsuccessful applications and the assessment panel could have been included in the report.
"It just seems like rubber-stamping," she told KCC: "We are doing very well with (providing information in) other grant applications, so it should be the same here."
A representative for KCC replied that the council can advise unsuccessful applicants why they were not successful, and can give them feedback.
Cllr McLoughlin-Healy made similar comments about seeking more information when it came to a report on proposed grant allocations for cemetery maintenance in 2023.
She said: "I just want to ask (KCC) why one cemetery gets more money than another."
Cllr McLoughlin-Healy also put forward two other motions at the meetings, where she once more asked for as much clarity as possible.
The first one read as follows: "That KCC clarify in detail the reasons for: the delay in delivery of the social housing approved beside Mountain View at Athgarvan; to include a history of negotiations/discussions with state department and with private landowners/ developers for whom the social housing development and the building of access routes have relevance; clarifying who benefits and/or pays for the new road."
In summary, KCC replied that the reasons for the delay was 'due primarily to the pandemic, Ukraine war and consequent price inflation factors.'
“This project was tendered three times, with details of approval process outlined below,” KCC added.
For the second motion, she asked KCC 'to clarify whether the council owned land, sold to a private individual in 2019, to facilitate the building of homes, not yet delivered is also potentially a route of access to residentially zoned land currently on the market.'
KCC responded to Cllr McLoughlin-Healy via a report, which read: "Any proposals on adjoining lands and access to these will be considered on their own merits during the planning application process, if and when an application is received."