Huge Relief as local councillors come to rescue of Lucan Village
The Lucan Village Business and Services Group is hugely relieved by the outcome of yesterday’s SDCC Chamber meeting, where an amendment was passed by councillors to the Part 8 development plan for Lucan Village. The amendment, tabled by local councillors Vicki Casserly and Paul Gogarty, essentially means that Lucan Village will still receive substantial investment, with major upgrades to local amenities such as the Weir Promenade, the Demesne and the Village Green all going ahead, but crucially without the loss of any parking spaces from Lucan Main St.
Over 99% of the 7,317 submissions received by SDCC during the consultation period were in objection to the initial plan. We believe the amended plan is the best possible outcome for all the major stakeholders in Lucan Village, who had clearly voiced their objection to the initial plan. The unprecedented volume of submissions for a project of this scale represented a genuine cross-community sentiment, and included objections from many thousands of residents, multiple residents’ associations, all 3 churches located on Lucan Main. St., healthcare providers, sports clubs and of course, businesses.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all our local representatives who invested a huge amount of their time and energy on this complicated and at times contentious issue. We would especially like to thank councillors Vicki Casserly and Paul Gogarty who ultimately tabled the amendment that was passed by the chamber, as well as those councillors from the local area committee who spoke out and voted in favour of the amendment and the need to respect the wishes of the vast majority of local people. These include councillors Liona O’Toole, Gus O’Connell, Alan Hayes and Shane Moynihan.
Councillor Paul Gogarty summed it up well in a Facebook post this morning in response to an article which appeared in the Irish Times. “The article writer believes it's about 10 parking spaces, not true; it's about removing 24 spaces at a sensitive location beside a very busy GP surgery and the only remaining convenience store out of 10 that were in Lucan village area 20 years ago. It's a specific argument about parking spaces at a specific location in a plan that offered nothing to stop cars rat-running to Lucan bridge to avoid the M50 and thus would not have quietened the area one iota.”
Finally, we are now looking to the future and are hoping for a speedy and successful delivery of the parts of the development plan that were given the go ahead at yesterday’s SDCC Chamber meeting. We are excited that Lucan is set to receive such a substantial injection of investment and we genuinely hope it stands to benefit residents, visitors and businesses alike.
LVBSG Committee
