Needs of local clubs 'ignored" in Ratoath plan

The needs of Ratoath Harps soccer club and Ratoath Rugby Club have been completely ignored by Meath County Council"s planners and the Meath County Manager in the report on the Ratoath Local Area Plan (LAP), according to local public representative, Cllr Nick Killian. 'Community gain for both these clubs is essential for their future survival,' he said in a statement. 'This is a great disappointment to these clubs who have expressed deep anger to me at this report issued by the county manager. It"s obvious that the planners don"t live in the village or are recognising the census statistics that 32 per cent of the population are under 14 years as per the 2006 census,' he said. He added that clubs need land to develop pitches for the large amount of members that they have. 'This is a kick in the teeth to the hardworking committee members of both clubs, who give of their time so willingly to working with the youth of Ratoath. The report has also knocked the free site that was being given to Meath County Council for the swimming pool for the Dunshaughlin area, again a disappointment to the local swimming pool committee.' Cllr Killian also said he was astounded that the Dunshaughlin area office of Meath County Council was nominated for a design of architectural merit awards by the RIAI, describing it as the most non-user friendly office in the county. 'The staff work in limited, cramped conditions,' he said. 'The council chamber is like an icebox. The public gallery is so far up in the building that the public have to hang over the rail to hear what is being said. You can"t even pay your car tax there any more or inspect planning as senior management, in their wisdom, have centralised all services, except housing, back to Navan.' Meanwhile, a Labour Party candidate in the area, Michael McLoughlin, said that the population projections in the draft LAP for Dunshaughlin are way too high and would involve more than doubling the population of the town with very few guarantees that proper facilities will be put in place to deal with such growth. Mr McLoughlin said the projections are based on some very unsound predictions such as the Navan-Dublin rail line arriving and a redesignation of the town as a moderate growth centre. 'I think most people would be shocked to see plans for such a dramatic expansion of population when already there are issues around schools, the finishing of estates and providing proper support to clubs and sports organisations,' he said. 'Dunshaughlin GAA are still waiting for land to be transferred to them as part of previous developments, a lot of work needs to be done in the Community College, there are atrocious water problems and people are very unhappy with the finish, or lack of it, to their estates. To talk of more than doubling the population with all these things going on seems a bit far fetched, in my view,' said Mr McLoughlin.