I wish to make the following concerns and observations in relation to the planned expansion of the Leixlip/Confey area under the amended masterplan (Amendment No. 1 to the Leixlip Local Area Plan 2020 - 2023 (as extended to 2026) )
- Construction Timeline. There is a significant issue with the timeline of the development plan - referring to the phases (1-5) laid out in the Draft Confey Masterplan (page 53). It lays out 3 phase periods, the first (phase 1a) with 450 units, the second (phase 1b) with 211 units, and the third (phase 2) with 450 units, totalling 1111 units. This is due to start construction in 2026, with all of these units in excess of 1100 before any primary school in this area is built. Where does the plan expect the children of the families that move in to go to primary school in the meantime? The new primary school, after the majority of the residential units are built, is not due to be completed and operational until at least 2031. The post primary school then is even further scheduled after this.
Then with regards the roads, it is a similar story according to the master plan. Plans for a link road north, a link road south, improvements to existing roads all happen from phase 3 onwards, after 1111 residential units have been built.
Its not feasible, or any way good planning practice to go with this timeline.
- Road through St Catherine's Park. The masterplan has contained within it a diagram layout for a road through St Catherine's Park. It is in the Strategic Transport & Mobility Section and features a plan for an M4 link to put a road through St Catherines Park (page 22, figure 2-4). Within the masterplan, there are various vague options described to alleviate the understated impact this planned development will have on road traffic. The fact there is a timeline to build houses before any decision on how the area will deal with the influx of road traffic is not well thought through. You can't come back in 10 or 20 years and suddenly land on one of the options, which may include a road through St Catherine's Park. The road infrastructure has to be in place first, and must absolutely not go through this valuable amenity in the area not only to Leixlip, but the surrounding areas of Kildare, Meath & Dublin. It is well known of the local opposition and beyond to any road being planned to go through the park.
- Car parking spaces . The masterplan states that the aim is to reduce the car parking facilities for both residential and leisure areas. Where do you think people are going to park? People still need cars, as much as the proposal hints otherwise. The DART is still years away from completion even if it were given the green light tomorrow, and we have no direct bus service to the city. You may be able to walk to areas in and around Confey, but people travel outside of that, and most families will have a minimum of 1, and likely 2 cars. So if these residential areas are being built with reduced spaces, then I ask, where are all the cars going go? On the grass? On the footpath? Blocking some parts of the two way road? Creeping into other estates further down? Houses, and each house, needs car spaces. So again another ill thought out idea with no practicality in the real world.
Parking at the train station is already an issue which feeds in to neighbouring estates such as Glendale, and the Riverforest carpark, and with the planned expansion of the DART and growing population, this will only grow further with people coming from further out to avail of the train services into the city.
- DART. The proposed DART out to Leixlip and the Maynooth line (Strategic Transport & Mobility Section) has been said for the past 40 years, being rolled out as a carrot with each transport plan by successive governments. This masterplan is basing a lot on the DART finally coming to fruition. And that may be, but until it actually is, you can't plant XXXX amount of houses based on that, when the reality is the the current train service has not been expanded upon and has lessened in the last number of years. There are no longer any direct trains to Pearse Station, only as far as Connolly station, which now takes longer to get to as well with the increased number of stations on the line since 2021.
The masterplan is also very generous with its description of the frequency of existing trains on the Maynooth line, with "15 minutes peak time" absolute nonsense. One look at the current timetable will show you that is not the case in the morning or evening.
All of this, and coupled with the loss of the direct bus service from Leixlip Confey, passenger loads have increased but the services have not.
In relation to the DART, the masterplan does not take note that the commuter rail line is only 2 track, and is shared with the Intercity services to Longford and Sligo. There are only so many train and DART services that can run on a 2 track rail system when Intercity services will have to get priority, which at the moment is every 2 hours off peak, and every hour peak times in both directions. One only needs to take the DART services north of Connolly and experience the slow services on the 2 track lines that are shared with commuter lines to Drogheda and Dundalk, and the Enterprise service to Belfast.
There would have to be expansion to 3 tracks along some areas of the Dublin to Kilcock line to accommodate train passing, otherwise it will be a DART service that will only be bogged down in delays.
The masterplan seems to be treating the DART out to the Maynooth line as some sort of silver bullet, when in fact the above will be the reality.
- Bus service. This is a direct quote from the masterplan on (page 15) regarding existing transport and mobility: "Bus services within Leixlip have seen significant improvements when the NTA's Bus Connects scheme was implemented. Bus Connects C Spine, which launched on 28th November 2021, serves Leixlip via the C3."
I dare anybody who wrote this masterplan to actually come to Confey and ask how the bus service is, how it has improved, and how the C3 serves the area. On the 28th November 2021, Leixlip lost its direct bus service to the city centre, the 66A. The masterplan doesn't seem to mention that. What is factually correct in that quote is that the C3 serves Leixlip - however, it does not serve half of it, being the area up the hill called Confey where the masterplan is focused.
This was an essential bus service that was used by the community that was removed under the guise of an improved system called Bus Connects.
It has been a disaster for the local area, with 2 buses to Celbridge, but no direct bus now to Liffey Valley or the main issue, the city centre. It has also increased travel time to the city centre when having to take 2 or more buses. There is a lack of connectivity within the Bus Connects system and results in residents waiting for up to 15 minutes in the village Main Street for the connecting bus, when they would already have been beyond Palmerstown by the time some connecting buses arrive.
The masterplan does not address this, with a section only on a new bus terminus in the Strategic Transport & Mobility Section, but again nothing on a direct bus service, pinning everything on a DART expansion that is not set in stone.
- Cars in Confey/Leixlip. The masterplan has a section dedicated to "Will I need a car?" (Draft Confey Masterplan page 33) and lays out that currently everyone in the area can walk their children to school etc. Has anyone associated with his masterplan actually been out here on a weekday during the school run? Try 8.30am or 4pm in the evening. Cars could be backed up to the back of Riverforest (almost a kilometre), and then the same for the hill all the way down from Cope Bridge to the village. There are more cars dropping kids to the same size schools as there were 20 years ago. And that's before you take into account weather conditions.
Then there is the focus on the canal path for both walkers/cyclists, which as a completed Greenway, is still years away from being finished in both directions, especially to Dublin. The Leixlip Confey to Louise Bridge section alone was supposed to take 3 months, but it took 9 months before people were permitted to walk on it. Even now, this section is not completed on the Confey side, with no proper provision to enter/exit the canal greenway safely.
- Cemetery. The proposed site for the new cemetery is, as stated in the document not even within the boundaries of the Confey Masterplan (Draft Confey Masterplan pages 41 and 48). It is located outside of it, with a site proposed but boundaries yet to be finalised to the north, almost 1km from the current location. This information within the masterplan would contradict where it states that this is to be completed in phase 1. The current cemetery is nearing capacity as is, with flooding issues cited as the reason for no expansion on the current location. So how is it that there will be other amenities for this masterplan, even housing around the current cemetery, but not for a cemetery itself?
This should be an absolute priority, before any houses are built. I would question the credibility of the flooding report within the masterplan based on this aspect alone.
- Swimming pool. This proposed swimming pool has been talked of for 30 years now. It is once again being brought out front and centre in relation to this masterplan, even though when you get past all of the fine pictures and plans, it only says "a site for a possible leisure centre/pool". Never going to happen.
- Roads/traffic. Where is all the increased traffic going to go? As mentioned earlier, the plan states that everywhere is walkable in Confey, and that there is no great reliance on cars - which is false. Its not just people from the area who go to the schools, creches or shops here. There are people from all of the neighbouring towns - Lucan, Celbridge, Maynooth, Dunboyne and beyond. These are extra cars on the road now - and that's before any new houses over Cope Bridge. Captains Hill and Riverforest roads are at capacity as it - this is only going to create another Maynooth where it is a disaster to drive through. The existing residents will need to be able to get to their homes, and currently if there is one issue anywhere from the Springfield Hotel to Cope Bridge, it could mean sitting in traffic for 30 minutes.
As mentioned in the timeline section above, there are plans for a link road north, a link road south, improvements on existing roads, as well as new cycling routes - all after 1111 residential units have been built. This should be a priority to be done before any new housing units, to assist with the growing traffic problem on the existing network.
- Confey GAA - its mentioned in the masterplan that "a new street design connecting Confey Train Station to a new central community hub will be developed in consultation with Confey GAA and at a later phase". It doesn't go on to explain what it is that will happen with Confey GAA, or on their site in the masterplan. There are however significant changes to the areas that are currently the Confey GAA grounds in relation to the upgrades and expansion of Cope Bridge. Aspects like this, along with the cemetery, schools and roads, need to be finalised and confirmed before any housing units or redevelopment of the area takes place.
- Utility Services - Given the issues the Leixlip area has had with energy, but in particular water shortages, I'm not confident that the expansion to the north of Confey will do anything but make this worse. There was a period in the first half of 2022 where the water was disrupted at no notice on an almost weekly basis, and last year saw intermittent interruptions on a monthly basis from April - October, with the community having to search from answers from Uisce Eireann and the local politicians. The recent media campaign by Uisce Eireann (January 2024) has already highlighted water issues, and asked people in the Dublin, Kildare and Meath areas to conserve water to ensure there will be no shortages. Not a good omen of the existing areas, and given the state of the water network in the Leinster region, I am not confident of the masterplans ability to cope with the demand for water.
In summary, a LOT, has to happen before any houses on that scale are built. The backroads need to be invested upon and expanded, link roads need to be built, primary and post primary schools, the Confey direct bus service needs to be restored, the DART needs to come to fruition, the new cemetery needs to be built/expanded on, the canal greenway needs to be completed, all BEFORE the housing goes in. And this is only the basics. Facilities need to go in first, not after.
The fact that so many (1111) housing units are primed to go down first, and the key facilities such as a cemetery and schools are not, shows where we are at with this masterplan. Such disregard for the existing local community, promises of swimming pools and great community hubs and a world without cars, its fanciful stuff drawn up by people who have never set foot in the place.
You simply cannot shoehorn in a new town and road through existing facilities due to a lack of proper planning by successive governments and state bodies.
Tuairimí
To whom it may concern,
I wish to make the following concerns and observations in relation to the planned expansion of the Leixlip/Confey area under the amended masterplan (Amendment No. 1 to the Leixlip Local Area Plan 2020 - 2023 (as extended to 2026) )
- Construction Timeline. There is a significant issue with the timeline of the development plan - referring to the phases (1-5) laid out in the Draft Confey Masterplan (page 53). It lays out 3 phase periods, the first (phase 1a) with 450 units, the second (phase 1b) with 211 units, and the third (phase 2) with 450 units, totalling 1111 units. This is due to start construction in 2026, with all of these units in excess of 1100 before any primary school in this area is built. Where does the plan expect the children of the families that move in to go to primary school in the meantime? The new primary school, after the majority of the residential units are built, is not due to be completed and operational until at least 2031. The post primary school then is even further scheduled after this.
Then with regards the roads, it is a similar story according to the master plan. Plans for a link road north, a link road south, improvements to existing roads all happen from phase 3 onwards, after 1111 residential units have been built.
Its not feasible, or any way good planning practice to go with this timeline.
- Road through St Catherine's Park. The masterplan has contained within it a diagram layout for a road through St Catherine's Park. It is in the Strategic Transport & Mobility Section and features a plan for an M4 link to put a road through St Catherines Park (page 22, figure 2-4). Within the masterplan, there are various vague options described to alleviate the understated impact this planned development will have on road traffic. The fact there is a timeline to build houses before any decision on how the area will deal with the influx of road traffic is not well thought through. You can't come back in 10 or 20 years and suddenly land on one of the options, which may include a road through St Catherine's Park. The road infrastructure has to be in place first, and must absolutely not go through this valuable amenity in the area not only to Leixlip, but the surrounding areas of Kildare, Meath & Dublin. It is well known of the local opposition and beyond to any road being planned to go through the park.
- Car parking spaces . The masterplan states that the aim is to reduce the car parking facilities for both residential and leisure areas. Where do you think people are going to park? People still need cars, as much as the proposal hints otherwise. The DART is still years away from completion even if it were given the green light tomorrow, and we have no direct bus service to the city. You may be able to walk to areas in and around Confey, but people travel outside of that, and most families will have a minimum of 1, and likely 2 cars. So if these residential areas are being built with reduced spaces, then I ask, where are all the cars going go? On the grass? On the footpath? Blocking some parts of the two way road? Creeping into other estates further down? Houses, and each house, needs car spaces. So again another ill thought out idea with no practicality in the real world.
Parking at the train station is already an issue which feeds in to neighbouring estates such as Glendale, and the Riverforest carpark, and with the planned expansion of the DART and growing population, this will only grow further with people coming from further out to avail of the train services into the city.
- DART. The proposed DART out to Leixlip and the Maynooth line (Strategic Transport & Mobility Section) has been said for the past 40 years, being rolled out as a carrot with each transport plan by successive governments. This masterplan is basing a lot on the DART finally coming to fruition. And that may be, but until it actually is, you can't plant XXXX amount of houses based on that, when the reality is the the current train service has not been expanded upon and has lessened in the last number of years. There are no longer any direct trains to Pearse Station, only as far as Connolly station, which now takes longer to get to as well with the increased number of stations on the line since 2021.
The masterplan is also very generous with its description of the frequency of existing trains on the Maynooth line, with "15 minutes peak time" absolute nonsense. One look at the current timetable will show you that is not the case in the morning or evening.
All of this, and coupled with the loss of the direct bus service from Leixlip Confey, passenger loads have increased but the services have not.
In relation to the DART, the masterplan does not take note that the commuter rail line is only 2 track, and is shared with the Intercity services to Longford and Sligo. There are only so many train and DART services that can run on a 2 track rail system when Intercity services will have to get priority, which at the moment is every 2 hours off peak, and every hour peak times in both directions. One only needs to take the DART services north of Connolly and experience the slow services on the 2 track lines that are shared with commuter lines to Drogheda and Dundalk, and the Enterprise service to Belfast.
There would have to be expansion to 3 tracks along some areas of the Dublin to Kilcock line to accommodate train passing, otherwise it will be a DART service that will only be bogged down in delays.
The masterplan seems to be treating the DART out to the Maynooth line as some sort of silver bullet, when in fact the above will be the reality.
- Bus service. This is a direct quote from the masterplan on (page 15) regarding existing transport and mobility: "Bus services within Leixlip have seen significant improvements when the NTA's Bus Connects scheme was implemented. Bus Connects C Spine, which launched on 28th November 2021, serves Leixlip via the C3."
I dare anybody who wrote this masterplan to actually come to Confey and ask how the bus service is, how it has improved, and how the C3 serves the area. On the 28th November 2021, Leixlip lost its direct bus service to the city centre, the 66A. The masterplan doesn't seem to mention that. What is factually correct in that quote is that the C3 serves Leixlip - however, it does not serve half of it, being the area up the hill called Confey where the masterplan is focused.
This was an essential bus service that was used by the community that was removed under the guise of an improved system called Bus Connects.
It has been a disaster for the local area, with 2 buses to Celbridge, but no direct bus now to Liffey Valley or the main issue, the city centre. It has also increased travel time to the city centre when having to take 2 or more buses. There is a lack of connectivity within the Bus Connects system and results in residents waiting for up to 15 minutes in the village Main Street for the connecting bus, when they would already have been beyond Palmerstown by the time some connecting buses arrive.
The masterplan does not address this, with a section only on a new bus terminus in the Strategic Transport & Mobility Section, but again nothing on a direct bus service, pinning everything on a DART expansion that is not set in stone.
- Cars in Confey/Leixlip. The masterplan has a section dedicated to "Will I need a car?" (Draft Confey Masterplan page 33) and lays out that currently everyone in the area can walk their children to school etc. Has anyone associated with his masterplan actually been out here on a weekday during the school run? Try 8.30am or 4pm in the evening. Cars could be backed up to the back of Riverforest (almost a kilometre), and then the same for the hill all the way down from Cope Bridge to the village. There are more cars dropping kids to the same size schools as there were 20 years ago. And that's before you take into account weather conditions.
Then there is the focus on the canal path for both walkers/cyclists, which as a completed Greenway, is still years away from being finished in both directions, especially to Dublin. The Leixlip Confey to Louise Bridge section alone was supposed to take 3 months, but it took 9 months before people were permitted to walk on it. Even now, this section is not completed on the Confey side, with no proper provision to enter/exit the canal greenway safely.
- Cemetery. The proposed site for the new cemetery is, as stated in the document not even within the boundaries of the Confey Masterplan (Draft Confey Masterplan pages 41 and 48). It is located outside of it, with a site proposed but boundaries yet to be finalised to the north, almost 1km from the current location. This information within the masterplan would contradict where it states that this is to be completed in phase 1. The current cemetery is nearing capacity as is, with flooding issues cited as the reason for no expansion on the current location. So how is it that there will be other amenities for this masterplan, even housing around the current cemetery, but not for a cemetery itself?
This should be an absolute priority, before any houses are built. I would question the credibility of the flooding report within the masterplan based on this aspect alone.
- Swimming pool. This proposed swimming pool has been talked of for 30 years now. It is once again being brought out front and centre in relation to this masterplan, even though when you get past all of the fine pictures and plans, it only says "a site for a possible leisure centre/pool". Never going to happen.
- Roads/traffic. Where is all the increased traffic going to go? As mentioned earlier, the plan states that everywhere is walkable in Confey, and that there is no great reliance on cars - which is false. Its not just people from the area who go to the schools, creches or shops here. There are people from all of the neighbouring towns - Lucan, Celbridge, Maynooth, Dunboyne and beyond. These are extra cars on the road now - and that's before any new houses over Cope Bridge. Captains Hill and Riverforest roads are at capacity as it - this is only going to create another Maynooth where it is a disaster to drive through. The existing residents will need to be able to get to their homes, and currently if there is one issue anywhere from the Springfield Hotel to Cope Bridge, it could mean sitting in traffic for 30 minutes.
As mentioned in the timeline section above, there are plans for a link road north, a link road south, improvements on existing roads, as well as new cycling routes - all after 1111 residential units have been built. This should be a priority to be done before any new housing units, to assist with the growing traffic problem on the existing network.
- Confey GAA - its mentioned in the masterplan that "a new street design connecting Confey Train Station to a new central community hub will be developed in consultation with Confey GAA and at a later phase". It doesn't go on to explain what it is that will happen with Confey GAA, or on their site in the masterplan. There are however significant changes to the areas that are currently the Confey GAA grounds in relation to the upgrades and expansion of Cope Bridge. Aspects like this, along with the cemetery, schools and roads, need to be finalised and confirmed before any housing units or redevelopment of the area takes place.
- Utility Services - Given the issues the Leixlip area has had with energy, but in particular water shortages, I'm not confident that the expansion to the north of Confey will do anything but make this worse. There was a period in the first half of 2022 where the water was disrupted at no notice on an almost weekly basis, and last year saw intermittent interruptions on a monthly basis from April - October, with the community having to search from answers from Uisce Eireann and the local politicians. The recent media campaign by Uisce Eireann (January 2024) has already highlighted water issues, and asked people in the Dublin, Kildare and Meath areas to conserve water to ensure there will be no shortages. Not a good omen of the existing areas, and given the state of the water network in the Leinster region, I am not confident of the masterplans ability to cope with the demand for water.
In summary, a LOT, has to happen before any houses on that scale are built. The backroads need to be invested upon and expanded, link roads need to be built, primary and post primary schools, the Confey direct bus service needs to be restored, the DART needs to come to fruition, the new cemetery needs to be built/expanded on, the canal greenway needs to be completed, all BEFORE the housing goes in. And this is only the basics. Facilities need to go in first, not after.
The fact that so many (1111) housing units are primed to go down first, and the key facilities such as a cemetery and schools are not, shows where we are at with this masterplan. Such disregard for the existing local community, promises of swimming pools and great community hubs and a world without cars, its fanciful stuff drawn up by people who have never set foot in the place.
You simply cannot shoehorn in a new town and road through existing facilities due to a lack of proper planning by successive governments and state bodies.
Sincerely,
Kevin Noonan (Leixlip)