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THE PRIVATE OWNERS of land on the Castletown House estate, in Celbridge, Co. Kildare, have limited public access to the historic site by permanently closing access from the M4 motorway entrance.
While visits to the state-owned site – which makes up 225 acres of the estate – will still be permitted, the Office of Public Works (OPW) notified the local community last week that, from 16 September, car access to the estate will be via the Celbridge Avenue entrance only.
The decision comes as locals believe that the privately owned 235 acre site, which the state failed to secure after being outbid by a private developer earlier this year, will be developed in inappropriate ways for the historic site.
The road closure will permanently cut off road access to the privately-owned 235 acres of the estate.
This decision has angered many from the local community and has received backlash from two local TDs, as residents blocked the road this morning believing the owners intended to renovate the site immediately.
This morning all gates to @castletownOPW are blocked by due to the plans to bulldoze gates, and close M4 access, and destroy a large tract of parkland in public use for decades.#SaveCastletown
— am blaney, (@anne_blaney) September 11, 2023
Please sign the petition.@KildareCoCo @CathMurphyTD @ivanabacik @comm pic.twitter.com/VFRaLiYS4Q
The estate was built in 1722 for Speaker of the Irish House of Commons William Connolly. Since 1965, ownership of the estate was divided between the state and private owners until earlier this year.
According to the OPW, 235 acres of lands around Castletown House were sold on the open market this year.
“The OPW subsequently entered negotiations with the new owners regarding the terms of a licence which, since 2007, has ensured access to Castletown House and Parklands from the M4 motorway,” the letter told residents.
“Unfortunately, it was not possible to agree reasonable and feasible terms for access,” it added.
Castletown House and Parklands Update
— Cllr Aidan Farrelly (@Aidan_Farrelly_) September 8, 2023
This really is such a disappointment- public access will be maintained but it seems very much reduced now. With no agreement between the new owner and the OPW to facilitate access from M4 - the OPW are trying to secure access Celbridge gate. pic.twitter.com/iVCDajF8Vq
Local Social Democrats councillor Aidan Farrelly said that the failure of the state to secure their bid was a “real, real error”. Farrelly believes that the developers plan to build housing in the area.
Farrelly told The Journal that the local community were reliant on using the site for various amenities, which he says have been dwindling with the increase in private residential units being placed in the town in recent months.
The Clane-Maynooth councillor said that public land being bought by private developers for housing is leading to “reduced infrastructure” in Celbridge – the opposite of what the community was promised when developments began in the area.
The OPW said that it will work with Kildare County Council and An Garda Síochána to ensure that visitors have access to the site, including the provision of on-site parking facilities at the publicly owned portion of the estate.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy shared her displeasure with the decision to close the access, labelling the closure of “awful news“.
The Kildare North TD said on Twitter that she had “no doubt” there would be public backlash to the decision to close the access to the public space in Celbridge.
Fianna Fáil TD James Lawless said on Facebook over the weekend that he was “very disappointed and frustrated to learn of the latest developments at Castletown”.
“I have raised this latest twist with the relevant Ministers again and [I] am prepared to work with all concerned to reach a permanent, acceptable solution for the people of Celbridge and the users of Castletown,” Lawless added.
“This is and was and should be a public space,” Farrelly said.
Locals have since started a petition to stop permission being granted to develop the site in Celbridge, which as over 10,000 signatures at the time of publication.
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In order for development the land would require rezoning, no? Does this not put KCC in the driving seat?
Sounds sore.
@lastfewchocices: sounds like gross ignorance from someone low-type individual.
@mcleixlip: if you own a piece of land you can stop people going through it if you want….. building is a different story im sure KCC in the driving seat on that
…. but residents giving out about access to land they don’t own ….who do they think they are
@mcleixlip: Technically its residential land tho?
@and the hit’s just keep coming: contemptible attitude too. Hope the owner has this place stored up with rifles , shot guns and blood hounds . Trespassers to be shot in sight .
@mcleixlip: This is interesting. Janus Securities Ltd., owned by Rhatigan Brothers and McMullan Brothers Ltd. (they mainly build business parks and industrial buildings) offered the 130 acres of land, originally part of Castletown Estate lands, to the government in 1999, in turn for permission to build a business park on 85 acres of land north-east side of the Estate.
The land swap would have put all of Castletown Estate lands in government hands, and the OPW could have restored the estate lands, including a restoration of the Victorian avenue that aligns with Castletown House.
However, it seems, the land swap never took place, and instead Janus Securities Ltd sold the land they originally offered to the government for free in 1999, and more, for €5 million to Killross Properties and Springwood, who will build houses on it.
@mcleixlip: you mean the developer could do the council a “favour”, in reward the developer will get planning.
No public consultation prior to this by OPW regarding an area of huge biodiversity about to be decimated. Their hand was forced today by collective protest from a very large group of residents in Celbridge. There is momentum to keep this protest going and people are sick to hell of this kind of shabby trick being pulled.
It seems that greenbelts aren’t that important anymore, no? Some people only will be happy when every inch of land is sucked up by greedy developers.
Time to step up and make the voices heard. Enough is enough.
So they are going build on half it, sounds like a good idea to me. It’s not like we don’t need housing.
Where exactly, and what the housing looks like can still be controlled by the state through planning. .
@P.J. Nolan: sure lets fire up a load of estates up in the Phoenix Park so. Over 30,000 people live in the local and green spaces are becoming increasingly limited with estate after estate shooting up in the area. This is the final straw.
@Larry Whack:
So you just don’t want houses near you
@P.J. Nolan: There’s thousands near me, zero problem with that. All we’ve had in the region in the last 10 years are houses. No extra schools, no extra creches, no extra roads, no extra train carriages, no extra shops, no extra facilities of any kind.
@P.J. Nolan: perfectly happy for more houses to be built but not on what should be a historic parkland . The country is covered in green fields but some spaces should be sacrosanct . Should we build houses on Stephen’s green or the Phoenix park ?
@Larry Whack: that’s any big town or city it the country….it definitely comes across like don’t build near me…. stradbally hall and estate now have refugees in tents living on it …so why is it a problem to build houses..
@and the hit’s just keep coming: because you need a plan for amenities too. It’s thinking like yours that got us all the soulless sprawl estates around dublin. Pile the gaffs high and then wonder why kids are so violent and have nothing to do.
@Larry Whack:
There is 235 acres in it, make it a condition of planning to build the schools or at least provide space for them.
The regularly force developers to include creche facilities, a development that size in theory could have up to 25-30,000 units, it would certainly need schools in its own right.
@P.J. Nolan: who on earth would want blow ins , especially the undesirables , in an estate near them ?
@P.J. Nolan: what do planet are you on? What communist rubbish. Lol . The little people are in no position to dictate to the land owner who could buy and sell you within a heartbeat
@Garret Fawl: lol. Blaming developers of estates for the s c u m bags that are raised in them ? Lol. They are s c u m bags because their parents are s c u m b a g s . Don’t make excuses for these people . Time and time again , when developers do create public facilities , these s c u m bags will and do trash them , graffiti them and make them no go areas
@Christy Dolan: blame councils and govs for bad planning. Devs just build but the government have a civic duty to provide services and not just cow tow to developers wishes to make a profit.
@P.J. Nolan: you’d think, but simply hasn’t happened.
CPO access simple
@Brendan O’Neill:
If the didn’t already have access that would certainly work but they own 235 acres, surely improving access through that would make more sense.
Another alarmist article from The Journal. Access is still there, for cars and pedestrians. Just speculation about what might be planned about housing. To think they ask us to pay for this tripe
@Ian McDonald: not really, the main access point where people can drive in is going. The other side cannot accommodate the excess traffic. It’s a shambles. The developers have signs up everywhere saying the land is now poisoned.
@Ian McDonald: wrong, main access is gone and proposal is to build a car park on limited parkland
@Garret Fawl: but there is still access, albeit not as free-flowing as it used to be, which i agree is unfortunate for those who enjoy visiting the venue
@Paul Flinn: so, how is what i said “wrong”?
@Ian McDonald: it’s ridiculous, Celbridge has bad traffic as it is, alot of new estates too. People from Leixlip use the entrance that is closed. Pushing that into the village is just dumb.
@Garret Fawl: I am a firm believer that those who make decisions about roadways never actually use those roadways, hence the chaos that ensues
@Ian McDonald: @Ian McDonald: Access for cars is not present at the other entrance, it is pedestrian only. 100s of cars are parked there on a weekend, a cafe, park runs, markets and events in castletown will now only be available to those within walking distance
…..and you are….?
Just stipulate in planning that a through access is required…
State can’t buy every bit of land that comes up for sale no matter how many votes the local councillor is trying to buy with public money
Grave error. Code word for brown envelope
@Joe lynch: people aren’t trying to stop this for the laugh, 10s of thousands use the park recreationally a beautiful historical building with great walk ways miles of lush green meadows the kind of place humans need as an escape from this concrete jungle of a city. There are plenty of areas to build housing and hospitals etc they don’t need to be on historical sites or right bang smack in the middle of town where nobody from the rest of the country can get to!
The company that bought the land is called Janus Securities Ltd., a company controlled by the Rhatigan Brothers and McMullan Brothers Ltd.. They mainly build business parks and industrial estates.
Interestingly, in 1999 Janus Securities Ltd. proposed that they would had over 130 acres of former Castletown House lands to the government, restoring the entire estate, in turn for permission to build at business park on 85 acres of land bordering the north-east side of Castletown House estate lands.
The regained lands could have enabled the OPW to complete restoration of Castletown Estate lands to its original configuration, including the Victorian avenue that trended north-west of historic house, that aligned with the house. I thought the avenue was an original part of the house, but it was added later, so it’s not a critical loss.
That said, the lands owned by Janus Securities Ltd, include some nice woodland, including the Enchanted Forest.
See this map:
https://vanessaliston.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Castetown-Lands-Ownership-Map.jpg
@David Jordan: Correction. Killross Properties and Springwood bought the land from Janus Securities Ltd. in April 2023. When I saw Janus lands on the map in the link above, I assumed they were the new owners.
So Janus Securities Ltd sold the land they originally offered to the government for free in 1999, for €5 million.
@Someone Financing The Welfare Leeches: I presume you responded to the wrong comment? Meant to say that to P.J. Nolan above. Yes it is a disgrace.
The land, previously owned by Janus Securities Ltd., was offered for free to the government as part of a land swap in 1999, and if the swap happened, all Castletown House lands would have been in government hands and the park would nave been safe from development. But it seems the land swap deal fell true and the offered land, and more, 225 acres in all, was sold to two housing developers, Killross Properties and Springwood.
The land is currently zoned as Open Space and Amenity, it is not possible to build houses on the land. Te LAP can be seen on MyPlan. It’s Celbridge Local Area Plan 2017-2023 i.e. the plan will be changed soon.
It is unlikely the developers would have bought the land unless they had an expectation that the zoning designation would be changed in their favour. It’s up to locals to ensure the zoning remains the same.
See Map 13.1 Land Use Zoning Map in this link:
Judging by the timing of the last LAP, the proposed 2024 – 2029 plan will be released in December and members of the public will have about 6 weeks to submit comments and objections.
The next local elections will be held in May 2024. However, suspect the area plan will be amended before the local elections, before Leixlip residents have a chance to elect new councillors who object to changes in zoning.
Councillors for Leixlip are Joe Neville (FG), Bernard Caldwell (FF) and Nuala Killeen (SDs).
imagine connor pass gets sold to private new owners and they close it off to public access. the state should really think twice if public access to green land is more important than saving a few millons. wasn’t someone recently winning euromillions jackpot in ireland? that would be money well spent, can’t take it with them anyway
It’s not even that great. Looks like a fancy apartment block. Anyway, whatever ..
if that was my gaffe i.d release the Hounds ,,good look with that Vegans
Even if that car park was always full , mostly of the people will be parking close to the houses near to the main street entrance
We need more houses . I am sick to the teeth of people stopping development because they don’t want housing built near them but then constantly moaning about the lack of housing.
Wake up and smell the coffee people need housing.
@Joe Lynch: this isn’t about houses.
Entitlement
Brown envelopes galore when that land wasn’t secured by the OPW
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