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In light of the upcoming elections, I thought it might be interesting to see what posters here actually want for the area. It might prove useful for candidates to see our thoughts on what the residents of the peninsula actually want from them before they start making their promises.
Personally, the issues I'd like to see our representatives push for would be:
Increased capacity on the commuter line during peak hours and / or more frequent direct bus services to the city centre
Better traffic management
No planning permission for any new developments (or changes to existing planning that increase the number of units) until such time as we have the transport infrastructure to deal with it (and no, the new distributor road does not count as infrastructure - it's just a means of making land available for development)
Increased Garda presence (or a station of our own)
Tighter limits on the level of new development that can be used as social housing (e.g. the council should be prevented from buying/renting any property for a social housing tenant in any estate where more than 10% of tenants are already in social housing). Might slow the interest of REITs in our area.
Increased development of the community centre - a town with a projected population of 20k should have it's own pool. Some might see it as a "nice to have" but with no local option for swimming lessons for our kids when we're literally surrounded by water, it becomes a public safety issue.
Funding of a Youth Centre (something along the lines of The Gaf that used to operate in Galway
Ken wrote: ↑15 May 2019, 11:59
We need a solution to the the Hearse Road/M1/R132 junction. That's going to become a major bottleneck very quickly.
the problem is that as far as i know, an improvement of the hearse road junction to the M1 isnt even on the councils radar.
if this is true then it shows the complete contempt that FCC hold the Donabate area in and the people of Donabate/Portrane in.
you're correct in saying its going to be a major bottleneck very quickly. although that is an understatement. We are effectively going to become blocked in to the peninsula at peak times. of course when that happens and there is uproar the council will firefight. rather than plan.
population is doubling and public transport train capacity is reducing (trains are getting fuller and fuller before arriving at Donabate hence effective capacity reduction for Donabate). where else would you get it? why cant a condition of planning permission be that public transport has to improve? Surely its a very simple piece of legislation to enact. How are the hundreds of people who will be working in the new hospital/prison get to work? 90%+ by car I presume. I drive to work 4 days out of 5 now because the trains are awful. I have lots of friends who do the same as me for similar reasons.
Will the councillors do anything about it? Have the current councillors done anything about it during their 5 year term?
We need councillors who will properly represent and advocate for us, and not spend hours on end waxing lyrical on social media about what a great person they are.
We elect PUBLIC representatives, not developer representatives or narcissists.
I’m another one who has given up on the train. I now have to drive in to the city centre. All the posts here are correct and I agree with you but if the last two posters ever run for election I’d vote for you. In the meantime I will be quoting these on my doorstep. It would completely make sense to increase the population of Donabate when the train capacity increases. End of argument.
Yes, the dire train situation is the biggest concern.
We may as well be living in Donegal if we don't have access to Dublin City.
I did read an article (can't find now) where someone suggested towns like Donabate should be self sufficient - give us planning for a business park or the like... not just more and more housing...
A playground in d village for the little ones and an astro turf football ground or basketball facility open to all the older kids to use, like the one in Seabury Malahide would be great.
More GP options.
Better restaurant options.
Montessorri's that don't charge for what are suppose to be free ECCE years.
More Creche facilities for working parents.
Better footpaths.
Litter wardens the place is filty
Derek wrote: ↑15 May 2019, 15:21
We need councillors who will properly represent and advocate for us, and not spend hours on end waxing lyrical on social media about what a great person they are.
We elect PUBLIC representatives, not developer representatives or narcissists.
We have been very well represented over the last five years.
What are people moaning about?
I’d like to see you get out there and just even try and get one single vote.
That's interesting about people preferring to drive despite the dreadful traffic - I have been doing the same for a couple of years when I can't deal with the train.
The recent halting of travel past Connolly after peak hours is also a major deterrent. There is 3 billion euros in votes for fast broadband to farmers in the middle of nowhere. Hard to understand how a workable interchange at the largest train station in the country is off the table.
It's well known already but the rolling stock is not fit for purpose with the majority of the space given over to a few people from Drogheda and Balbriggan sitting on oversize seats with tables and a couple of firmly shut tiny windows at the far ends.
Would love to see better cycling infrastructure around the village, to Swords and the opening of the greenway to Malahide. Also, having the trains going back to pearse again would be really great.
There are a lot of people in cars unnecessarily I feel around the village. People going to the shops etc that really adds to the congestion, who if there was better cycling infrastructure and wider paths may be more likely to walk/cycle to the shop than sit in traffic trying to get there.
Agree with all suggestions!!
Is it a case of emailing it directly to each candidate and seeing what kind of response we get with just days til the elections??
Still quite new to Donabate and not sure who to vote for! I missed a meeting where there was a vote for a moratorium and apparently only a couple supported it, can anyone tell me who they were?
PS: What we really really DON'T need is more stupid posters littering the place next election time! I'd encourage everyone to hop onto this website and send the open letter provided to local MP's and the tidy towns committee for Donabate.
It's 2019 and completely unnecessary to have the same faces plastered every 10 feet on single use plastic! It nearly makes me not want to vote for any of them!!
The more locals that get on board and push for it the more likely we are to be a poster free town for next elections
I run a montessori school in Donabate and I know most of the other owners. No school I know charges for items covered by ECCE as this is not allowed. Like myself we charge for extras like extra hours or organized classes run by professionals who come into the school on a weekly basis. And to be fair the wages in this sector are very low & this is the only option owners have to pay their hard working staff a fair wage.
I don't want to get into a debate here about whether montessorri's should charge or not another thread should be started on this debate, but it is not up to them to charge in order to pay their staff as some parents cannot afford it. Also i know it is illegal to charge for ECCE classes but extra classes are not neccessary and puts financial strains on the parents,what do you say to the child who can't afford it? Sit over there and do jigsaws?? I wouldn't have a problem with it if it was the norm everywhere, but i have spoken to a number of people who have kids in malahide, coolock and Rush montessorri's and none of those charge extra. My children do attend a montessorri that don't charge, here in Donabate and it is the best one by far its all about the kids and not about the money and awards.
