Proposals would be ‘final nail in the coffin’ for village

PROPOSALS by the council to restrict private cars in Clondalkin Village has met firm opposition by residents as a “hair brained” idea which will be the “final nail in the coffin” for the village.

No decision has been made yet, but consultation is underway for the Clondalkin Local Area Plan (LAP), with deadline for submissions to an online consultation survey being this Thursday, March 28. 

Find the survey on the council’s consult portal. 

Up to 200 people attended a workshop with planners in Áras Chrónáin this week, to vent criticism of the proposals.

South Dublin County Council introduced the village proposals to “make cycle and walking safer”, and to meet emission and climate change targets.

Cllr Eoin Ó Broin (SocDems) encouraged residents on his Facebook page to attend the workshop and make their own submission, stating that the proposal aims to reduce congestion.

However, nearly all of the comments in the post were aghast at a “ridiculous proposal” that will “create gridlock.”

An artist impression of the plans

Cllr Trevor Gilligan (FF) said to date “€400K has been spent on consultants in relation to the plan to ban cars in Clondalkin Village.”

“What should be a short trip in the car, can take up to one hour in the morning.

These proposed measures will double this time,” said Gilligan.

“I’m speaking as someone who cycles daily, cycles with my kid to school and these measures will make it even more unsafe, as you have less road space for the same number of cars.

“It rains in Clondalkin. A lot. People have to drop kids to school and get to work.”

The current proposals will ban private vehicles from turning from Main Street onto Tower Road, from Orchard Road onto Main Street, and a left turn only from Mill Centre to Tower Road.

Gilligan says this has been met with a “huge backlash from the public and SDCC must take this on board.”

“I have never seen so many at a consultation since Rally Round The Tower group back some 20 years ago.

“The submission process is not conducive to residents who wish to object.

“It should be a simple email or contact form to support, or object, rather than multi choice questions which is confusing and does not allow residents to offer an opinion.

“The submission process is cumbersome and is geared towards gently veering residents to support the plan in general.

“We have far more pressing issues at hand.”

Cllr Francis Timmons (Ind) who has worked with stakeholders in the community on the Vision for Clondalkin project, said following concerns expressed at the workshop, SDCC will go out again to the public with more options for consideration before a draft plan is published.

“The timelines for that next (3rd) round of pre-draft public consultation will have to be decided and will depend in part on the feedback they get from the surveys and the amount of work required to prepare,” said Timmons, who expects a final vote on the plan to be made in June 2025.