Sallins station car park finally opens

After months of waiting, grating and anticipating the new parking at Naas & Sallins rail station finally opened this week. The facility is part of the overall complex in the Waterways which includes a supermarket and apartments but the underground piece is exclusively for rail users. The old car parks on both sides of the station still exist but will also become pay parking and have been altered somewhat to allow link up with the new facility. Cars now enter the old Naas side and the underground facility via the entrance to the Waterways at the traffic lights. The Sallins entrance and parking remains unchanged although that will also now become chargeable. A net total of 202 extra spaces will be created by the development.

The charge will be 2 EURO a day or better value 5 EURO for a 7-day ticket. Whilst there were some quibbles over this my personal view is that it is not unreasonable. There is a brand new facility provided so it is not just charging for what used be free. Also whilst it is not an option for everyone, the charge may incentivise some to now walk, cycle or feeder bus to station rather than driving.

NASRUG have lobbied on this issue since the start and with the opening of this car park we negotiated an initial waiver of the pay-parking period until the new year to at least get people accustomed to the facility. So until the 31st Dec no charge applies.

With my Fianna Fáil hat on I also sought a form of tax relief on commuter parking. Whilst it was not granted in this budget I understand it will be considered over the next year and may well form part of the taxsaver scheme in future. (Some coverage here although typo on my name)

Many will breathe a sigh of relief that the new facility is finally in operation. Obviously the many motorists who had struggled day in, day out for the past year or two as the old car park creaked at the seams. Similarly the village had begun to suffer the effects of the overspill and parking all around the main street, community centre, canal view, nearby estates was becoming a nightmare for local residents and businesses. Not all due to rail users but it must be acknowledged the station shortage was a major factor. The extra spaces will hopefully encourage more people to use the service which again can only be a good thing. Less cars on the roads to Dublin and more people on the trains.

There is more to be done but this is definitely the right direction. With increased usage comes the need for greater capacity in car parking and greater capacity on trains. Continued investment in public transport is required to bring our service up to speed but I am heartened by the capital spending pledges of the budget. And the promise of Transport21 with all that will bring…

As my home broadband is switching providers this may be my last post of 2007. Seasons greetings and happy new year to all!

NASRUG negotiate extra train in evening gap

NASRUG (Naas and Sallins Rail Users Group) is a commuter lobby group serving the users of Naas and Sallins railway station. A strong advocate of public transport, and a daily commuter to Dublin myself, I have been involved with the group since its inception.

We lobby on a number of matters but primarily on timetable changes, station facilities (parking, shelters, buildings), service levels (punctuality, reliability, announcements), ticketing and fare structures and longer term projects such as Transport 21 and route upgrades.

Looking back over the last few years I would say we have consistently punched above our weight and no less this week.

Platforms at Heuston Station

As in previous years, we received an advance copy of the timetable and whilst it was reasonable overall and included a few sweeteners (such as a later last train at 11pm which we’d always listed as a ‘nice-to-have’), there was one outstanding issue.

This was a gap in the evening service between 18.35 and 20.05 returning from Heuston to Sallins. For many people working a little later than the traditional 9-5 this posed significant problems in getting home. Allowing for the fact that Heuston itself is a bit away from most workplaces, many folk were stranded between these trains until the 20.05 and were stuck getting home at 9pm daily as a result.

Previous years negotiations had seen repeated improvements (we made a lot of breakthroughs in the 07 timetable including an improved evening service and a Sunday service) but this gap was the one remaining ‘black spot’ in the Sallins timetable.

Armed with a flood of protest from the online group I approached our contact in Irish Rail and made him fully aware of the difficulties posed. There were challenges around rolling stock and conflicts with mainline trains, but we kept on the pressure and IR kept with it, and I finally got the good news on Wednesday that we would indeed get an additional train.

From Monday, 10th December, the 18.50 service ex-Heuston will stop in Sallins. It will not be printed in official timetables, being an 11th hour concession, but it will operate.

Credit where credit’s due and Irish Rail took our points on board here. They showed flexibility and a willingness to meet us halfway and I am certainly appreciative.

NASRUG have always had a policy of positive engagement and whilst we can and do get tough when the occasion calls for it, equally we listen to the other side at all times and usually we meet in the middle.

Communications build trust, trust builds communications. It’s certainly worked out this time.

All eyes on the big man

Budget 2008 will be presented on Wednesday and for political anoraks there’s something terribly satisfying about the fact that Minister Cowen has restored the hallowed nature of the occasion and the air of revelation and expectation that surrounds it. In recent years the ceremony of budget day had begun to diminish as the month long drip feed of information that was the estimates process meant that surprises were fewer and farther between. But the spectacle has been restored this year and all information will again be released upon the same day.

As always there is much speculation about what exactly he will do. Will he reform stamp duty, will he cut the top rate, will he revise the PRSI ceiling, will he cut spending, current or capital, how much will go on the pint etc…

We’ve been hearing for months how his hands are tied due to tighter than expected economic contraints. It’s not all that unexpected though – McWilliams has been warning us for years! And I’m sure it won’t be all that big a surprise to Tánaiste Cowen either. He’s a clever man and he didn’t come down in the last shower so I’m sure he will make a good fist of it, making perhaps some necessary tightening measures whilst keeping the broader economy intact and ensuring social justice is met.

After the huge increases in child benefit in recent years and the €1,000 a year under-sixes payment (due next week, thankyou Minister) he will hardly revisit childcare again this time. He will keep the focus on pensions though moving towards the government’s stated target of €300 a week old age pension by the end of the current term. The PRSI ceiling revision was a component of the election manifesto and I think it is a just and sensible measure, removing an artificial protection for high earners which meant the lower end paid disproportionately more. Alarm bells seem to be ringing that he will leave the top rate unchanged at 41%, rather than reducing again and quite frankly I think he’s right – one small concesssion for the individual, one giant cost for the state.

I do fervently and confidently believe he must, at minimum, maintain capital spending at the current level, or better again, increase if he has any scope to do so. Whatever about an economic blip now, it is essential for the long term economic outlook that we put serious infrastructure in place in this country that will stand us into the future. In the recent International competitiveness report this was cited as one of our weak points, it is being addressed through huge spending programmes, particularly Transport21, but that must continue. No slippage there is acceptable. I’ve often made the argument that we are a young nation, that we were levied by a foreign land for centuries, it’s only a generation since we gained real economic freedom, and all of that is true, but now at last we do have some money so lets get the house in order.

On stamp duty I think it is inequitable, the reform was over hasty and I would have preferred us continue preaching the fiscal rectitude gospel which ironically the Minister will be practising by now anyway. The biggest flaw with the reform that was introduced is that there is no upper limit on first time buyers duty free purchases – which allows for obvious abuses of the system. I don’t think we’ll see changes there this time though.

It is expected we will see a curtailing of the many high end loopholes which currently enable accountants siphon millions for their wealthy clients – however I am sure new and more innovative ways will be uncovered instead by the collective creative acumen of the financial consulting industry – a constant game of cat and mouse there in every country me thinks..

Lastly on a personal interest area, my own pet request in this budget is a relief on commuter parking. A month or so back I made a pre-budget submission to the Tánaiste, through Deputy Brady’s office, for an extension of the taxsaver scheme to park and ride fees, giving every possible encouragement for use of public transport, ultimately getting people out of their cars and onto the train or LUAS. It shouldn’t cost a whole lot and it would be a nice sweetener now that pay parking is being rolled out across the commuter network. Any minor reduction in revenue should be offset by economic and social benefits as people free up time to spend at homes or in their communities rather than being stuck in traffic jams.

Anyway on Wednesday, all will be revealed.. I look forward to the grand unveiling!

Sallins Bypass – the saga continues

The story of the Sallins bypass has trundled on for many years now but it seems at last we have some light at the end of the tunnel.

To give some background, the village has grown from probably 500 people in the mid-nineties to nearly 5,000 by the early naughties and the nature and geographic spread of the village has changed accordingly. Whilst there was always a need for a bypass, ironically that need became most pressing just as the route threatened to slice the village in two as the expanded community now sits on both sides of the original route. Many people who bought houses in Sallins Pier, Sallins Wharf, Castlesize in particular but also Hunters Wood, Oldbridge and others were blissfully unaware that council plans showed that lovely green space in front of their houses to be actually ‘road reservation’ i.e. the proposed location for taking all the HGVs and through traffic off the main street but into the estates instead.

Now living in one of those houses myself, I first became aware of the issue when we asked our solicitor what the faint dotted line on the plans were! It was the day we signed so we had little option or appetite to withdraw and find out more at that stage.

Anyway things moved on and between myself and some concerned colleagues on the residents association we set about making our case to the various authorities that we would not take this lightly. Deputy Fitzpatrick also threw his support behind a route review having discussed the matter with me and other residents, to cut a long story short all our efforts were rewarded when Kildare County Council earlier this year put on display a number of route options, including the original through our estates, but with enough alternatives to suit anyone’s fancy but a grumblers (to quote my nan!)

click the map to enlarge

There was much local debate about the various options and we sought to find consensus with at least one public meeting in the community centre which I chaired, and eventually the majority view appeared to favour the cyan/red route as shown hatched on the map and endorsed by the community council. Although this route makes much sense in terms of traffic flows in and out of Naas as well as linking with the proposed N7 interchange, I had slight personal concerns about this route, as it crosses over the Liffey and Canal and ventures into hitherto green belt territory in some of the rare amenity spaces we have. However assurances were given that the route would be sympathetic to environmental surrounds and should be far enough out to leave a green belt in place around the village environs and preserve heritage such as the Leinster Aqueduct.

This was borne out in submissions to the council where over 75% of feedback backed this route and it now looks set to proceed. There will be a further public consultation as some residents in the direct path of this route have requested a slight deviation to minimise the disruption so this proposed alteration will go on display shortly and the process will repeat only this time with a focus on the selected option and variants.

At the end of the day the road is needed, it has to go somewhere, it’s no longer cutting through the housing estates and it’s spent twenty years gathering dust in the county engineer’s offices, so it’s progress, it’s positive and now bring it on.

About James Lawless

Hi, I’m James Lawless and this is my first blog.

I live in Sallins, beside the railway tracks as it happens, where I share my home with my wife Ailish, our two children, a dog, a cat, a guinea pig and a goldfish.

Living in Sallins gives easy reach to the capital to which I commute daily, with the train providing an escape route to purer pastures once the day is done. I am an outdoors person and enjoy walking, fishing and believe in making the most of the natural environment and heritage we have around us. We are particularly spoiled in Sallins with the canal and Liffey both within easy striking distance and unique features such as the Leinster aqueduct enrich the landscape. Where I live is Osberstown, a townland serving as the traditional divide between Sallins and Naas and there is a natural walkway right into Naas town along the Grand Canal which runs only a puck of a sliotar from my door.

A sports fan, and especially Gaelic games, in 2003 I was part of the first adult hurling team fielded by Sallins GAA in nearly twenty years. Whilst I have since hung up my boots, I consider hurling a sport without equal in terms of skill levels and pace of the action. I also play the odd round at Bodenstown Golf Club although we’ll be making backup plans for provision of our Christmas turkey again this year! In recent times I have extended my repertoire to include less traditional games even managing the company cricket team to near victory last Summer whilst being partial to the Gee Gees is almost mandatory around these parts.

I enjoy cooking and, with a young family, a simple meal at home with good wine and good produce, locally sourced if possible, forms the mainstay of many a weekend. In fact I’ve a leg of lamb in the oven as I type, generously sprinkled with rosemary and garlic (perhaps too generously but blame the kids:)

In the day job I’m a Technical Architect where I design computer systems to basically make sure they do what they’re supposed to do. Being interested in almost every subject in school, I followed a scientific route through college and ended up with a B.A. in Mathematics and an M.Sc. in computing, both from Trinity College. History and the arts, I read for pleasure..

Outside the workplace I keep myself busy with political activity through a number of local community groups and through Fianna Fáil. My initial motivation for getting involved was a purist dedication to the Republican cause and a sense of social justice and whilst my policy interests have broadened since I remain passionate on those core beliefs.

My politics remain green (in every sense) but like De Valera, I came to understand that ultimate freedom and is about good governance as much as borders and about enabling the people be the best they can be. On a local level there are many issues where one can achieve immediate results to immediate betterment of ones community. I have worked on many of these in the past and will continue to do so into the future.

In future entries I may share some thoughts on commuting, on local and national governance, on our local environment, on sport, on food, on family and on life in general. Maybe even the odd tip for Punchestown – watch this space!

But for now ….. Slán go fóill…