Kilkenny’s councillors will today (Monday) vote on a route that’s divided public opinion.
The discussion on the Part 8 for Loughmacask Link Road (details here) is on a thoroughfare from the Freshford Road which, if it gets the go-ahead, would travel between two housing estates to the currently land-locked site where the new, expanded CBS secondary school’s to be located.
It’s understood to be a key piece of intrastructure.
But some residents have expressed concerns, among them Brian Buggy.
He’s been telling KCLR News that they’re not anti-school, just anti-school traffic, saying “We’re 100% behind the school, the school is definitely needed but we feel we haven’t been listened to by the council as regards the access road into the area, it’s effectively going to block off all the residents when it comes to school time in along the avenue, they say this is the only route, this is the cheapest route, but we feel there are other options out there that they haven’t explored”.
He says the proposed route can’t be the only choice, noting “There is other options, there’s access from the Tullaroan Road, there’s access from Lousybush so a no vote to this road is not a no to the school, it means that the council have to go back and review and come up with a different plan for the school, a better plan for the school because the proposed road and the access is not going to work”.
And he adds other possibilities have been put forward, saying “We’ve put a separate access road onto the Dunningstown Road on the table and that wasn’t even discussed, that’s not an option, but we feel as residents that we have been the ones that have been to the fore here trying to solve this issue and we’re getting nothing back from the council, it’s a stone wall that we’re dealing with”.
The meeting is a public one – access to it can be obtained from the council.