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Letter to the Mayor

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Letter to the Mayor

Mayor Pat Clear,

1 The Gallops,

Naas,

Co Kildare. 

28/11/09 

Dear Mayor 

We as the principal officers of Naas A.F.C. are writing to you on behalf of our club. We have both been in the club for ten years and eight years respectively and together with many others have invested a lot of time in building the club from the strong base given to it by its original founders. We admire their forethought in founding the club and their willpower and perseverance in obtaining and developing the grounds with the help of the council at the Carragh Road. The club has grown exponentially in recent years and now numbers well in excess of five hundred members. In the past year we have added a ladies team and a girl’s under twelve team. We simply now do not have adequate facilities to train and provide matches for this number of boys and girls. Our pitches have been closed for four of the past five weeks and our grass training areas are unplayable. We have limited access to the astro pitches on the Carragh Road as they are shared with other users. We also have to charge the kids for training on these pitches. 

We are asking for your help. You are aware of the proposed new campus, which will give us the level of facilities we require to take the club forward. We have heard feedback from recent meeting with our sports group directors and understand there are a number of planning issues. We feel these issues are surmountable and can be dealt with in the planning process. We would ask you as our councillors to focus on the merits of the campus and the level of facilities it will offer the three member clubs and the wider community. 

1. A fifty thousand square foot multi purpose sports hall (ten times bigger than the current one which will also be retained.)

1. Three full sized floodlit astro pitches to cater for soccer and hockey (critical to winter sport in our climate.)

1. Three sand based grass pitches (also needed to play through the winter, the current clay pitches do not drain well.)

1. A floodlit tartan athletics track with facilities for field sports.

1. Covered spectator seating for each discipline. 

The campus will be of highest standard and will be able to cater for national events in the three sports and also other sports in the indoor facility.  

We have read the specialist reports from the developer in regard to the light, sound and the bridge and have confidence all issues will be dealt with properly. 

As the children in 1991 needed a club and local representatives with foresight, the children of 2009 in Naas need the same. Please help on behalf of the children to achieve the next critical step in our club’s existence. We are not going to give up on this ambition. 

Mark Flanagan     

Chairman      

086 2414683      

James Hilliard

Hon Secretary

086 6044900  

 Letter To The County Manager

Mr Michael Malone,

County Manager,

Kildare County Council,

Naas,

County Kildare.

30/11/09 

Dear Mr Malone 

We are writing to you as the two principal officers of Naas A.F.C.  We represent a club with well in excess of five hundred juvenile members. We together with our partners in the Naas Hockey Club and Naas Athletics club have combined memberships in excess of one thousand playing members. Having met with the F.A.I. you will be aware of our intention to lodge planning for a new state of the art sports campus.  

The campus will provide state of the art facilities to the three member clubs and will be capable of holding regional and national finals in the three disciplines. It will also be designed to cater for many indoor sports to the highest standard. Our current facilities no longer suffice and our grounds have been closed for four of the past five weeks We are now two years trying to get this scheme to the planning stage. We are very disappointed by the lack of interaction of the officials with the members clubs and they seemed to have formed views without seeking any input from us. We are voluntary organisations, who provide a valuable public service between us. The football club alone has trebled in numbers in the past ten years but we have always gone about our business quietly and privately. We have always been self funding. This below the radar approach seems to now have backfired as we are finding it difficult to get taken seriously. At the risk of sounding churlish we feel we get a much better hearing if we were a G.A.A club of the same size. We think there exists a mindset of ‘it’s ok for soccer.’   

We have had feedback from the developers, the FAI and others from various meetings that have been held.  The most disappointing thing about the feedback is no one has mentioned the obvious positives of the campus and that it will put the three codes plus others Kildare onto the sporting map regionally and nationally. We have heard only some planning negatives. 

The Site is Hostile.  

We strongly dispute the statement. The other users of the area have totally different peak hours than us. The setback from the motorway is sufficient that traffic noise is not a major factor. We have visited the site at nights and weekends and the noise is definitely not a major issue. The motorway is not even visible from the proposed playing surfaces.

The N.R.A.  

Will have difficulty because it may interfere with widening plans. There appears to be plenty of room for a number of new lanes without affecting the site. 

Will have a problem with the lights. The correct screening will be used and all build structures are sufficiently set back from the road. 
 

The Site is Rural. 

This was a strange comment given the site is five hundred metres from the biggest population centre in Naas. It is closer to town that Naas Rugby Club, Naas Golf Club, Naas Driving Range and other sporting facilities that service Naas and it’s hinterland.   

The Bridge

The bridge has drawn the most comment. We have read the engineer’s report and are satisfied it can be dealt with. The move does not have to happen if it is not. This should be a condition of planning not a reason not to advance the project. 

We are not planning experts but we have the ability to size up issues. None of the above reasons should stand in the way of a project of this scale. We are asking for open minds and a proper full evaluation of the scheme with a focus on the positives for the community. We on behalf of our club members’ are asking your help to ensure we get a full fair hearing. We will be submitting a petition with the planning application. We will not, as a one of the biggest voluntary organisation in the area let inertia jeopardise a facility that is key to our future and our ability to provide sport for hundreds of children. Sorry if we are airing frustrations at you but we need someone to engage with us and understand our needs.

Mark Flanagan     

Chairman  Naas AFC    

086 2414683      

James Hilliard

Hon Secretary Naas AFC

086 6044900  

Letter To Town Clerk

Mr Ken Kavanagh,

Town Clerk,

Naas Town Council,

Naas.

Co Kildare. 

30/11/09 

Re New Sports Campus 

Dear Ken 

We refer to your conversation today with Mark Flanagan and agree the first part of this project does not involve you directly. However we would like to point out the facility will mainly cater for the children of Naas and its hinterland. Our current grounds no longer suffice for our needs and have been closed four of the past five weeks. In this day and age you will agree proper astro pitches and floodlights are a basic requirement of any well-structured sports clubs.  

We can assure you the member clubs on the Naas Sports Group fully support this initiative and feel all planning issues can be overcome.  The football club with its juvenile membership of in excess of five hundred deserve, a committee who fight to obtain the best facilities. We as a volunteer committee deserve the support of our town officials in delivering these facilities. Whether the land is technically in Naas or outside Naas is not relevant to our children or us. Most of facilities we use in Naas are outside this invisible border.  It is interesting in the two years since this has been discussed no one has proposed an alternative. We believe as a club that this is a critical move for our club to bring it up to a par with facilities in much smaller towns.  

We are asking you on behalf of this club to respect our wishes and take a keen interest in the proposal. Such is the unique nature of the proposal particularly given the current financial climate we sincerely hope that the council officials will step back and look at the merits of the scheme for the clubs and the wider community. Think of what a fifty thousand square feet hall alone can offer the various clubs and voluntary organisations. We will not be sitting back and allowing this project fail due to lack of support, fear of change or technicalities. We will leave no stone unturned and ask for your support.  Please bring this letter to the attention of the town manager. We enclose a copy of a letter sent to all councillors.   

Mark Flanagan     

Chairman  Naas AFC    

086 2414683      

James Hilliard

Hon Secretary Naas AFC

086 6044900