Sir, Dean Swift divided the Lilliputians into two main factions, Big Enders and Small Enders, depending on which end they ate their boiled egg from. Our local councillors in Clane like to refer to the group to which they themselves belong, together with a handful of land owners and builders, as pro development and to the other 99 per cent as anti development. If they insist on dividing us, we of the latter group would rather see ourselves as "7,000 people" and the others as "10,00 people".
We are presently 3,500, having doubled in the last five years. We think that to double again in the next five years would be as much as any community could suffer but they are not happy with that. There are 138 acres as yet unbuilt on from the last revision of the plan, and hence the potential to double, but they are proposing to rezone 139 extra with a potential for 3,100 persons over and above. As on the present occasion, we supported the county planner when he opposed rezoning in the last revision of the plan but a fat lot of good it did us.
All across north Kildare the story is the same. The planners recommend and the councillors over rule. One councillor, who was asked recently if they availed of any technical or professional advice, replied that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael obviously had their advisers. Who are these faceless people and is public consultation a thing of the past? Is this not exactly the reason why de Valera brought in the Manager's Act? Yours, etc., Loughbollard, Clane, Co Kildare.
