Sir, - I refer to the letter from Brendan Duggan (February 6th). it is true that Labour Party councillors supported a proposal from the Kildare County engineer to zone lands to the east of Maynooth that would allow for the building of a ring road to be funded by development levies. That was in February 1996.
During the summer of 1996, proposals were developed for a motorway interchange east of Maynooth that would service Intel and Hewlett Packard. This project removes the need for the inner ring road and the need for the zoning of approximately 130 acres. Labour councillors announced in September 1996 that they would no longer support the zoning of this 130 acres. I can confirm that this is still our position.
That leaves an amount of land in four separate areas (Moyglare, Newtown, Celbridge Road and Straffan Road) amounting to some 100 acres in all, which Labour councillors supported for zoning in February 1996. These rezonings also had the support of the county planner. No final decision has been made in Maynooth.
Following the intervention of the Minister for Environment in the zoning controversy in Kildare, a land use audit has been carried out and proposals have been tabled for a county strategy plan. Labour will review its support for the zoning referred to in light of this audit.
Our position contrasts sharply with that of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Progressive Democrat councillors. They support the zoning for residential use of 279 acres in Maynooth. This includes land on either side of the famous Carton Lime Avenue and right up to the walls of Carton Estate. They restated their support for this particularly outrageous proposal as late as last week, when they voted down my proposal to have these lands preserved from future development. I trust Mr Duggan now understands our position. Yours, etc.,
Greenfield Drive,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.