Tag Archives: ongar

Education

Castleknock Parents to Protest Outside Dail over Lack of School Places

Minister Mary Hanifin TD has received an invitation from Deputy Joan Burton to meet with parents in Dublin 15 who cannot get find a school place for their child for next September. Parents from the Castleknock – Diswellstown area will be coming to the Dail tomorrow at 1.30pm to put their case to the Minister and the Taoiseach. They will be presenting a petition from worried families who find that they cannot get a local school place for their children.

The school places issues is one of the most pressing issues in the run up to the General Election for parents in Dublin 15 who have failed to see adequate delivery of primary and secondary school places over the 10 years that this government has been in office. Despite all the fine words and boasting of the Minister for Education that the ongoing saga of the shortage of school places would not continue, this year promises another round of stress and misery for the parents of Dublin 15.

Currently throughout Dublin West, there are parents in Luttrellstown, Diswellstown and Castleknock, Aspen, Limelawn and Clonsilla, Ongar and Littlepace in Clonee and parents in Tyrellstown – all new development areas with thousands of houses built over the last 10 years – where school places continue to be in short supply.

To compound the problem, where new schools have been built such as St. Patrick’s in Diswellstown and Mary Mother of Hope in Clonee, they have been based on reduced sized school sites so that the capacity for the schools to cope with the huge numbers of children is almost impossible.

At secondary level there is need for a new school in Castleknock aswell as immediate provision of the long promised secondary school in the Ongar Phibblestown area.

As well as tomorrows picket by parents from Diswellstown, parents in Clonee are arranging a major public meeting for this Thursday the 26th of April in the Paddocks, Clonee.

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Uncategorized

Joan to Host Informal Q and A Session at Douglas and Kaldi in Ongar Village

Joan Burton is hosting an informal Questions and Answers event at Douglas and Kaldi’s diner in Ongar Village on Wednesday April 18th at 7.30 pm.

“Many residents in Ongar and District are new to the area and want an oppportunity to know more about the coming election and its impact on the area. This will be a simple conversation over tea and coffee in a very pleasant cafe setting. Do come along if you can. ” says Joan


Local Issues, Uncategorized

Only 10% of New Buses for Dublin West

100 New Buses for Dublin!! This has been announced at least 10 times by Government. But now Deputy Burton Labour TD for Dublin West has been told that only 10% of the buses will go to areas such as Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Clonsilla and Clonee in Dublin West.

At a meeting this week, Dublin Bus revealed to Deputy Burton that they will only be getting 10 new buses for the Dublin 15 area. Dublin Bus originally hoped for 28 more buses to develop the Blanchardstown route.

Deputy Burton said, “Despite Blanchardstown having the longest journey times in the city, with record journeys of over 3 hours for the 8 mile journey from Ongar, only 10% of the new allocation of 100 buses is being put on the route. With so many thousands of new homes people are desperate for more buses and trains. Just 10 buses, when the Government talks in Billions every day, is very disappointing

There is better news on the promised review of bus services for Dublin 15.

Dublin Bus have told Deputy Burton that the first stage of the review of bus services and routes in Dublin 15 has been completed. They hope to complete the second stage of consultation in March and to begin re-designing the bus routes and bus schedules in April. Deputy Burton said that at that time she hopes that Dublin Bus will consult particularly with the public who use the service

Dublin Bus are proposing to offer much more express services straight from areas such as Littlepace and Ongar to the city centre and to review the routes of all existing services.

This follows a public meeting on Transport organized by Deputy Joan Burton last November when the Divisional Manager of Dublin Bus Declan Murray promised a sweeping review of the entire local service for the Dublin 15 area.

While we welcome the review of existing routes and hope that it will bring a substantial improvement in the service as promised by Dublin Bus, it’s extremely disappointing that Blanchardstown has not been given a high priority in the allocation of the new buses” said Deputy Burton.

“I want to thank all the individuals and families who participated in the Labour Party survey and questionnaire on buses and trains we have passed the details to Dublin Bus and Irish Rail and I know that they’ve been very useful in giving feedback to the transport companies on their services”

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Education

Still No Definite Date for When Castaheany Second Level School Will Open

There is still no answer from the Minister of Education about when the planned second level school for Castaheany will open its doors to students.

The Minister stated in reply to a parliamentary question by Deputy Joan Burton (see below) that they have requested the VEC to submit their accommodation requirements so that temporary arrangements can be made for the school to start before the completion of the permanent buildings.

The Minister for Education told Deputy Burton that the permanent buildings for the planned new second level school in Castaheany/Phibblestown are targeted for completion in time for the 2009/2010 year.

The Minister stated that the procurement process for a designer of the new school is well advanced and a Design and Build contractor will soon be appointed to design and build the new school.

Deputy Burton said, “6000 new houses have been built in the Ongar Castaheany area, and all of the families that moved into these homes are depending on the speedy construction of this new second level school.”

“The Minister has recently launched another multi-million plan for investment in Education. This particular site has been reserved for 10 years now without a brick being laid. I am calling on the Minister to direct the huge resources at her disposal to fast track the construction of this new second level school so that local pupils can start attending the school at the earliest possible date”.

Uimhir:1459

Ceist Pharlaiminte

Chun an Aire Oideachais agus Eolaíoctha
To the Minister for Education and Science

To ask the Minister for Education and Science when the new post primary school
for Phibblestown will start; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
– Joan Burton.

* For WRITTEN answer on Wednesday, 31st January, 2007.
Reference Number: 1147/07
Freagra

Minister for Education and Science (Mary Hanafin, T.D.)

I have given the go ahead for a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school in
Phibblestown, Dublin 15. This new school will be delivered along with new
schools in Donabate and Laytown under a design and build contract that is aimed
at delivering 3,000 school places for these rapidly developing areas. The
inclusion of these three projects in one bundle will further facilitate the
achievement of value for money.

The Phibblestown school has taken longer than expected due to difficulties in
acquiring the site. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that as part of my
Department’s partnership with Fingal County Council the site purchase can now
be concluded. The site is almost 8.5 acres in size and the legalities on the
site purchase will be completed by County Dublin Vocational Education
Committee. My Department has appointed Project Managers to oversee the delivery
of these projects and they are currently arranging for the sites to be
surveyed.

The procurement process is well advanced for a Design Team to do the initial
design of these 3 new schools. Thereafter, a Design and Build contractor will
be appointed to complete the designs and build the new schools. My Department
is working closely with County Dublin and County Meath Vocational Education
Committees on the delivery of these projects. Assuming there are no delays
during the design and planning permission phases it is envisaged that the
schools will be completed as close as possible to the 2009/2010 school year.

In the meantime my Department has requested the two VECs to submit their
interim accommodation requirements so that the new schools can become
operational in advance of the completion of the new permanent school buildings.
The Department will ensure that these interim accommodation requests will be
dealt with speedily and positively in order to ensure that appropriate school
provision is in place in these rapidly developing areas.

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Education

Burton Calls on Minister Hanifin to Establish Castaheany Second Level School.

As the Minister for Education launches another multi-million plan for investment in Education, parents right throughout Dublin 15 at both primary and secondary level will be wondering what 2007 holds for their child.

Despite there now being more than 6000 houses built and occupied in the Ongar Castaheany area, not a brick has been laid of the new second level school.

This site was reserved by the Council before building began, 10 years ago.

Deputy Burton said, “I am pleased to announce that Minister Mary Hanifin has advised me that the difficulties surrounding the acquisition of the Castaheany/Phibblestown site have now been cleared. (See PQ Reply No. 302 from the Minister below)

“I want the Minister as a Christmas present to the many anxious parents in the area to establish the school now and in particular to establish an interim board and appoint a school principal. Once these steps are taken, planning for the school can really commence.”

“If the Minister acts now, the school can begin some enrolments from next September.”

“When the Hartstown Community School and the Castleknock Educate Together were built when Labour was in government in the mid 1970’s, they were hosted on a temporary basis in other second level schools in the Dublin 15 area to get them started.”

“The Minister with all the money at her disposal can act now and get the ball moving but she must make clear the start of the school as soon as possible so that parents can plan appropriately.”

PQ Reply: Uimhir:302

Ceist Pharlaiminte

Chun an Aire Oideachais agus Eolaíoctha
To the Minister for Education and Science

To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position in relation to the
promised secondary level school in Castaheany; when it will open its doors to
students; if the site has been acquired; the cost or estimated cost and the
size of the site; the number of pupils the school will cater for; when
enrolments will commence; if a principal has been appointed; and when these
appointments will take place.
– Joan Burton.

* For WRITTEN answer on Wednesday, 6th December, 2006.
Reference Number: 41872/06

Freagra

Minister for Education and Science (Mary Hanafin, T.D.)

The new post-primary school for Phibblestwon has taken longer than expected due
to difficulties in acquiring the site. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that
as part of my Department’s partnership with Fingal County Council the site
purchase can now be concluded. The site is almost 8.5 acres in size and the
legalities on the site purchase will be completed by County Dublin Vocational
Education Committee. Due to the commercial sensitivities, I do not intend to
comment on the agreed price at this time.

The completion of the site purchase enables progress to be made on the delivery
of the new school which will be as part of a design and build contract. It is
too early at this stage to give a precise timeframe on when the school will be
completed. However, a Principal Teacher will be appointed some months before
the school is due to open to ensure efficient planning and organisation can
take place, and a decision on the enrolling of students will be taken by the
school management authority at that stage.

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Local Issues, Transport

Bus Journey to Town from Clonsilla Takes 2 Hours 14 Mins

On Tuesday this week, November 7th, the No. 39 bus left Ongar just beyond Clonsilla at 8.24 am and arrived at its terminus in Hawkins St in the city centre at 10.38, an all time record for this particular service. What should be an hour’s journey time turned out to be 2 hours and 14 mins. By contrast a train journey took about the same time to reach Belfast from Dublin yesterday while a 46 A bus using a Quality Bus Corridor from Dun Laoghaire to town took less than an hour.

Tuesday’s problem was that the whole road system in the Castleknock Blanchardstown Lucan area, the M50, the N3 at Blanchardstown and the N4 at Lucan all backed up with tailbacks of 10-15 miles.

This startling information on the current delays on the local Blanchardstown bus services was revealed by the Dublin Bus local manager at a public meeting organised by Deputy Joan Burton, Labour Party TD for Dublin West, in Littlepace on Tuesday night. He accepted that the situation had become intolerable for local commuters and he promised a sweeping review in the coming months of the entire local service. This would include offering much more express services straight from the area to the city centre and providing a circular route of the area linked to the Town Centre intersection to replace the current hotch potch of local services.

Commuters spoke feelingly at the meeting of their endurance of commuting from Dublin 15 – the 6.15am rise in the morning to get a bus at 6.45 which is often full by the time it arrives in Clonee and Littlepace and the so called Sardine Syndrome on the trains which are so packed that people are regularly taken off for fainting. “Not for nothing is the Clonsilla Line more popularly known as the Calcutta Express” said Deputy Joan Burton.

“The announcement of the review of services by Dublin Bus is very welcome” said Deputy Burton. “The 39 route and other local services are supposed to be served by a Quality Corridor just like the no 46A but it is really a fantasy QBC as it uses a dedicated bus lane for only 22% of its route.”

“A huge additional population has settled in Dublin 15 over the past decade but the number of buses serving the routes has not kept pace with the population increase. A wholesale review of the service rather than routine adjustments is fully justified and I hope it can be carried out with all due urgency in order to restore some confidence in the local services”

Transport 21, the government’s masterplan, targets improvements in Dublin West for the 2009-2016 period, if they happen at all. At the same time government have encouraged developers to maximise construction in the Dublin West area so that 3000-5000 new homes are built and occupied every year.

“Inevitably every advertisement for a new home carries a picture of beautiful buses and trains. I sometimes wonder whether these are pictures from some Tir na NOg that exists only in a developer’s flight of fantasy” said Deputy Joan Burton.

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Education, Local Issues

BURTON SENDS OPEN LETTER TO HANAFIN ABOUT PLANNED 2 SCHOOLS FOR ONGAR GREEN

Following from a packed local meeting last night, called to discuss plans to locate 2 primary schools on a 4 acre site in Ongar Green, Deputy Burton has sent an open letter to Minister Hanafin, calling on her to engage in the consultative process to find a solution to this extremely difficult situation.

Deputy Burton said, “The two schools along with community facilities will be located on only four acres, which is considerably less than the usual size for schools with such numbers. I have been advised that only three acres of the site have been reserved for educational use. I have been told that the Department of Education and Science plans to provide a 40-classroom facility on this three or four-acre site potentially catering for up to 1,200 children. Local residents are extremely concerned that the access to the two schools for the 1,200 children and the community facility will be through one housing estate in which, because of high densities, roads are designed to be narrow, with no free parking. Residents are very limited in the amount of parking available.”

“I am calling for a round table conference with the Department of Education, Fingal County Council, public representatives, to allow all parties to actively participate in addressing the resident’s planning issues.

“I raised this matter in the Dail this week in an adjournment debate. The Minister seemed to wash her hands of the issue by saying that “it is a matter for the planning processes to iron out any remaining issues”.

It is not good enough for minister to stick her head in the sand and turn her back on residents. She should not be putting the Educate Together school or the future Catholic school at odds with local residents. These schools will serve the community for decades so we need to get a sustainable development plan that is a win-win for local residents and for the children and parents who will attend the school.

Open letter to Minister for Education Mary Hanafin Follows.

7th July, 2006

Dear Minister

You are well aware from my repeated PQs about the urgency of the primary school places issue in Dublin West.

Part of your response has been to sanction the construction of 2 new primary schools at a site in Ongar, one under the patronage of Educate Together and the other under the patronage of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin.

A number of planning issues have arisen in connection with this site and these were the subject of a packed local meeting last night (Thursday). These relate both to the density of development on the site and certain traffic access issues. Your own local party representative was there so she can give you a direct report on the views expressed.

My anxiety is to solve any of these problems quickly so that no delay will occur on planning grounds that might hinder the construction of these schools in the coming year. However if your Department persists in its present attitude as expressed in your reply to my Adjournment Debate in the Dail this week, then it is likely that local residents will object to the plans as they currently stand.

I am convinced that a more diplomatic and consultative attitude on the part of your Department could allow this matter to be resolved.

I do appeal to you to look again immediately at this matter. Is it wise to pack 2 large schools on a site that really is too small for the number of classrooms, pupils and staff that will be using it on a daily basis? A different site is earmarked for a school in the proposed Hansfield development nearby and possibly this could be an alternative location for one of the schools.

The traffic issue is one for local negotiations and might be solved in an amicable and speedy manner if approached properly. The boundary of the proposed campus runs right along the new Ongar Road. It would be possible to create a direct access from this Road to the site, thus eliminating car traffic through the Ongar Green and Williams estates.

Ongar Green and other housing in the area is built to very high density arrangements, which include narrow roads designed to impede all but direct local access traffic. The development is subject to a management company and hence questions arise about who controls the roads within the area. I believe there are serious safety issues about the proposed access being on such limited roads particularly as regards any school buses and emergency vehicles.

I know that local residents and representatives are anxious to have both schools built as quickly as possible. These schools will be in operations for decades to come so it is important to get the details correct at this time in a proper consultative process. I hope you will agree to engage in this in the coming weeks.

Yours Sincerely

Joan Burton TD

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Education, Local Issues

TWO NEW PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO SHARE SMALL SITE IN ONGAR

The announcement in April by the Minister for Education of an additional new primary school, St. Benedict’s, for the Ongar/Castaheany area this year was welcomed by all in the community. However, it has now been revealed in answer to a PQ by Deputy Joan Burton, that St. Benedict’s will share the site reserved for the Castaheany Educate Together National School.

. The two schools will be located on only 4 acres, far below the usual site size of 3-5 acres per medium sized school.

St. Benedict’s will house sixteen classrooms, to cater for approximately 480 children and is due to be completed by September 2007.

Deputy Burton said, “The government simply will not take on their friends the developers and demand that when vast tracts of land are zoned for housing, school sites should be acquired at the same time”

St. Benedicts will be located in temporary accommodation on the Mary Mother of Hope National School site until the new building is completed.

Deputy Burton said, “There is good reasoning behind the recommended size of site for a primary school. Children should not be crammed into a small, multi-storey building with limited playground facilities. Given the amount of land available in Dublin 15 for profitable development, I cannot accept that the Minister is unable to obtain a suitable site for this badly needed new school.”

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Education, Local Issues

Burton Welcomes News of New School for Littlepace/Ongar

Deputy Burton has welcomed Minister Hanafin’s announcement that a new primary school will be provided in the Littlepace Ongar area this year. “Finally, after years of campaigning, the Minister has opened her ears and taken a step towards addressing the schools places crisis in Dublin 15” said Deputy Burton.

“Thousands of houses have been built in the area over the last 10 years, and yet no provision was made to provide an education for the children that moved into the area”.

“Now that the Minister has taken this step, I hope that she will continue to recognise the needs of children and parents in Dublin 15 and commit to:

· Completing the permanent buildings for the Castaheany Educate Together Primary School
which is currently based in temporary pre-fabs
· Building an extra primary school in Castleknock
· Providing a new secondary school in the Porterstown/Castaheany area to cater for families
in houses that were built ten years ago in the area.”

I note that the Minister proposes that schools in the area will grow to 32 classrooms. This means about 1,000 pupils in a school – very large schools by Irish standards. I hope the Minister will commit the resources to ensure that Dublin 15 are guaranteed not just a school place but also a quality education.

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Local Issues

Oral Hearing for Hansfield SDZ

Deputy Joan Burton was the only public representative from Dublin 15 to make a presentation to the oral hearing, Planning Enquiry by Bord Pleanala into the proposal by the Government to allow over 3,000 houses and apartments to be developed in a strategic development zone at Hansfield, Clonsilla, Dublin 15.

Deputy Burton said that strategic infrastructure, such as public transport, bus and rail and schools and community facilities must be a pre-condition for allowing a small town to be built beside St. Joseph’s Hospital in Clonsilla.

She said that the recent Transport 21 programme had little to offer Dublin West until after 2009. In fact Dublin West would only see the benefits of a Dart style Clonsilla line in 10 years time in 2015.

The Metro proposed between Tallaght, Blanchardstown and the Airport was welcome but again there were grave doubts as to whether or not it would ever actually be built by a Government now notorious for its failure to build big projects on time and within their capital budget.

Schools are another sore point. The Hansfield proposal includes reserved sites for another primary school and for a possible additional secondary school. How can residents have any confidence in these proposals when so far the Minister for Education has not even acquired the secondary school sites for Littlepace, Castaheany and Ongar, even though some houses in the area are now occupied for almost 10 years. Similarly, the Government has promised more primary schools for the Castaheany area but has yet to finalise the acquisition of a site.

The Bord Pleanala hearing was attended by a battery of well-paid barristers and consultants acting on behalf of the landowners, while I was the only public representative at the hearing, along with the Dublin 15 Community Council.

If An Bord Pleanala allows this enormous housing proposal, without adequate infrastructure, then permanent damage will be done to the development of sustainable and communities in Dublin West.

The needs of the people of Dublin West must come before the naked greed of developers for profit, said Deputy Burton.

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