Local business park proposed for North Kildare provokes debate

Kildare County Council (KCC) was asked by two councillors to provide a full update on the progress made on the proposed Business Campus for Kilcock.

Fine Gael Cllr and Cathaoirleach of the Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD), Tim Durkan, and Fianna Fáil (FF) Cllr Paul Ward both put forward the motion at the latest MD meeting, which was held on Friday, October 6 last.

Their motion was seconded by Social Democrats Cllr Aidan Farrelly.

Jacqui McNabb, Head of Economic Development and Enterprise in the Local Enterprise Office at KCC, was present at the meeting.

She provided the following answer to their joint motion in a report, which was made available at the meeting to the councillors: "KCC’s Enterprise and Economic Department commissioned Cunnane Stratton Reynolds Land Planning and Design Consultants to conduct a Business Campus Feasibility Study on lands in Kilcock currently in the ownership of the council, but not yet zoned industrial.

"The report has just been received by the Department."

KCC continued: "It must be noted that given the independence of the study, this land use proposal has yet to be reviewed through the lens of KCC’s planning departmen,t and as a proposal, will still require all the necessary due diligence and evidence-based assessments, as normally required in the formation of all land-use plans prepared by and presented to the members of the council.

"The report will require circulation to the planning team and executive in the coming weeks for their review and guidance on the potential (or otherwise) to realise the the objective of utilizing this particular landbank for industrial and business use."

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The report was welcomed by Cllr Durkan, who praised Ms McNabb for her work so far, and added: "The fruits of your labour are finally coming to fruition.”

"Personally, I would like to see a public consultation on this project soon... if we can get a Part 8 process going, that would be ideal," he added.

Labour Party Cllr Angela Feeney said that while she accepted the report and also thanked Ms McNabb for all of her work to date, she admitted that she was disappointed to find out that no childcare facilities are being proposed at the site.

"The report said that such facilities would be inappropriate, but could it be incorporated in some way? We have a childcare facilities crisis (in Ireland) right now," she said.

FF Cllr Naoise Ó Cearúil also commented on the matter, saying: "I think its very positive news, but is there a survey on demand? If we look at the business campus in Maynooth, for example, there’s a lot of variety there.

"A lot of time and effort has gone into this; is the juice worth the squeeze, as they say?"

In response to Cllr Feeney, Ms McNabb said: "My knowledge when it comes to planning matters is limited, but one of the reasons that the childcare facilities weren’t permitted is that there is already zoned land there that is in private use.

"If we made it mixed use, it could complicate things," she added.

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Ms McNabb also suggested that vacant buildings left over from businesses that have left Kilcock could be refurbished and made into childcare facilities.

She also said that the land survey will be released in about four to six weeks.

"We are assessing growth in the area to match demand," she said.

Green Party Cllr Peter Hamilton said that while Kilcock 'needs business supports,' he pointed to apparent access issues at Maynooth Business Campus, and added: "Some businesses will need the motorway."

In response, Ms McNabb said: "The main goal is to deliver the land. Unfortunately, I don’t have a secondary solution for members at the moment."