Schools situation in Johnstown 'an almighty mess'

Meath County Council senior planner Wendy Bagnall expressed annoyance at two separate submissions from the Department of Education on the Local Area Plan for Johnstown at last week's meeting of Navan Town Council. Ms Bagnall attended the town council meeting to hear feedback on submissions made on the Local Area Plan from the members of the local authority. One submission from the Department of Education indicated the need for a number of schools in the area; the other, from the Department's building section, said that more engagement was needed with the planning authority. "That is how they operate," she said. "Hopefully, the Local Area Plan will get things going." Cllr Shane Cassells had pointed out the need for cohesive planning for the educational requirements of the area, where there were four schools identified: St Stephen's NS, Educate Together, St Mary's Special School and, more recently, the Ard Ri project. "We need to be strong in planning - we can't have four schools acting independently of each other in that one area," Cllr Cassells said. He said Meath Vocational Educational Committee (VEC) had also made a submission concerning the requirement for a further secondary school. "We have no information from the Department of Education on that, either," he added. A letter from the Minister for Education's offer in response to a request for a meeting with the council "says nothing". The council needs to know where the department is on this, he said. And a big problem is the implementation of these plans, he added. "It's all very well having them on paper, but we need the agencies out there working with us - what has been infuriating over the past few months is that some State agencies seem to have been working against us." Cllr Jim Holloway said the Department of Education was one of the most frustrating departments to deal with, from any aspect, be it school management or other. "This has gone on for generations, a secretive attitude compounded by vested interests, where one hand doesn't know what the other is doing," he added. "It clearly has not facilitated the needs of Johnstown today." Transport issues to the schools needed to be examined, he added. Cllr Joe Reilly said that the schools situation in Johnstown seemed to be "an almighty mess". The big question in all of this was where is the Department of Education? "We are no wiser today than in 1997 when lands were first zoned for educational use there," he added. The failure to activate previous plans had led to the pressure at the moment, he added. Access to the schools through estates and transport issues were also raised by Cllr Reilly and Cllr Peader Tobin, who also highlighted the need for community infrastructure and playground areas. Car and bus parking for those dropping off pupils were also necessary, councillors added.