localnews.ie

Public consultation for this Kildare town 'is long overdue'

By Ciarán Mather, Leinster Leader

Public consultation for one County Kildare town 'is long overdue'.

The claim was made by Fianna Fáil councillor Brian O’Loughlin at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting, which took place on Wednesday, May 20.

The conversation initially arose when he submitted the following question to Kildare County Council (KCC): “Can KCC provide an update on when Public Realm expect to begin the Rathangan public consultation process which is now overdue?”

In response to this motion, KCC said via the report it presented at the meeting: “The project is currently on hold due to resource constraints within the Strategic Projects and Public Realm team. The Town Renewal Masterplan (TRMP) cannot be completed or brought forward for consultation until adequate resources are available to allow the project to be responsibly progressed.”

KCC also told Cllr O’Loughlin: “We will continue to monitor resourcing capacity, and once sufficient resources are in place to complete the TRMP to the required standard, a further update can be provided in respect of the timing of public consultation.”

Speaking further on the matter, Cllr O’Loughlin said that while he ‘understood the limitations’, he emphasised to KCC that he would ‘really appreciate it’ if the consultation could be ‘pushed ahead’.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme