A chara, – Further to Frank McDonald's article on the new bridge currently under construction in Kilkenny ("Kilkenny is a city divided over bridge and access scheme", Opinion & Analysis, August 5th), Frank is untypically wrong on some points. The former county manager did not opt for early retirement; he reached the end of his seven-year contract. The risk of councillors being personally surcharged, as suggested in the article, was removed in June 2014. At no point has Kilkenny County Council stated that traffic on Dean Street would reduce by 20 per cent.
It may be the case that over 7,500 signed a petition to complete the ring road in Kilkenny (a position supported by all elected members) but it simply cannot be deduced that all are specifically against the new bridge.
And finally, Frank need not have ventured down the Freedom of Information route as all relevant documentation is available on the council’s website.
But all the foregoing is beside the point.
Frank seems to overlook the fact that sustainable town planning lies at the heart of this scheme. Kilkenny City centre depends on good access, strong permeability and proper urban planning. While it seems that there is no issue in building new bridges in our ancient capital city of Dublin, equally it seems the construction of a bridge in Kilkenny or any similar regional urban centre is a mortal sin and that such provincial centres are not entitled to accrue economic or social advantage as a result.
The preferred and clear choice from a strategic viewpoint is to develop Kilkenny city centre rather than opt for a model of out-of-town development on the edges of the city.
There is simply too much at stake from the perspectives of employment, job creation, educational opportunities, economic, cultural and social development for the new bridge and street scheme not to have gone ahead as planned.
The bridge, approach roads and cycle ways will facilitate the sustainable development of Kilkenny City Centre and in so doing maintain commercial, economic, social and cultural vitality in the historic core of the city.
It will provide access to develop in a sustainable and cost-effective manner over 20 acres of brownfield city centre sites, including the former Diageo site. This is critically important for job creation and investment in the city and county.
The scheme meets the need to increase permeability within the city and to ease traffic congestion arising from the inadequate Green’s Bridge (built in 1776), John’s Bridge and adjacent medieval streets and junctions.
The scheme is integral to the overall transport strategy for Kilkenny as set out by An Bord Pleanála in its determination in 2011 that the central access scheme and northern ring road extension are complementary.
The scheme provides a safer and more convenient route as an alternative to Green’s Bridge and on completion will assist further progress under the Smarter Travel programme for Kilkenny City. It will also provide better and more efficient routes for public transport and emergency vehicles.
The scheme will open up and present new vantage points and viewing areas to national monuments and points of interest heretofore inaccessible to the public. For all intents and purposes what visitors see now as they walk from Kilkenny Castle to St Canice’s Cathedral and Tower in Irishtown will ostensibly be the same, bridge or no bridge.
The visitor experience will improve, however, in the period ahead and this is in response to a perceived need to increase the dwell time of tourists in the city. Even though tourism and cultural tourism are performing relatively well in Kilkenny, there is a view that they are structurally fragile and require continuous improvement and imaginative intervention.
It is very much the role of Kilkenny County Council to make every effort to provide an environment for job creation, social enterprise and economic development in the city. The new bridge is of critical support in this regard. – Is mise,
KEVIN HANLEY,
Director of Services,
Corporate Affairs,
Kilkenny County Council.