Potential solution to school bus congestion in residential Wexford street was rejected by locals 20 years ago

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Traffic has been a problem in Talbot Green for so long that Wexford County Council (WCC) is now revisiting ideas which were first rejected over 20 years ago. Following a traffic survey earlier this year, it was proposed that the green area in Talbot Green be sacrificed so that school buses can park safely in this residential street during drop-off and collection times.

Currently, buses are forced to park on the side of the road, with large numbers of students navigating their way in and out of traffic as they board their transport home. As a result, families in the area have repeatedly raised safety concerns and reported several instances of alleged anti-social behaviour from students.

At the July meeting of the Wexford Borough District (WBD) chief executive Eddie Taaffe reminded county councillors that plans to cut into the grass at Talbot Green had been proposed during his time as senior engineer.

“I remember presenting maps to the residents 20 years ago and they were rejected,” said Mr Taaffe. “I don’t know if those maps are still available in our system, but there was work done on that at the time.”

Despite this precedent, it appeared that an agreement had been reached to re-tread old ground and present those living in the Talbot Green with an updated version of this previously rejected plan. Mindful of the public reaction, Councillor Leonard Kelly asked that any plans be presented in full to residents with council engineers on hand to answer any queries.

District manager Anthony Bailey was receptive to this idea, suggesting that any drawing or maps could be displayed in County Hall for residents to scrutinise for themselves.

However, Cllr Biddy Walsh was not so sure that this newly-devised plan would not be met with the same reaction as 20 years ago.

“Eating into the green area is a whole new protest, it will be a bigger issue,” she said.

“The people don’t want the green space being taken away,” agreed her Labour colleague Vicky Barron. “These drawings aren’t going to solve the problems, are they just being done so people can look at them?”

Current senior engineer Eilís Furlong confirmed that any drawings would be devised with “the intention of acting upon them”.

"It’s the only way we have of showing the councillors and the public what this might look like,” she said. “If the feedback is positive then we would need to look for funding to progress this scheme.”

With the schools set to return in the coming weeks, Cllr Ray Shannon called for urgency, asking that any plans be brought to the Talbot Green residents before September. Yet, after more than 20 years of searching for a solution to the traffic issues in the area, Wexford Mayor Gary Laffan said it was pointless hurrying the project along at this point.

“If it takes an extra few weeks or months to find a solution we should allow it,” he said. “They’re not going to be happy with cutting into the green, but everyone has to take a bit of a step back here, this is not going to be the ideal solution, that’s why it’s been going on so long.”

“Can I be realistic here?” he asked. “The area engineer has loads of other things to be doing, so we’re not going round the houses on this. It definitely won’t be done in time for the new school year. There’s plenty of other communities that need assistance. This was proposed 20 years ago and it was dismissed out of hand, albeit by a different group of people.”

“The problem is this is the only solution that’s ever been offered by the council,” replied Cllr Tom Forde. “That’s where a lot of the frustration is coming from.”