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1st November 2016 • Volume 23, Issue 38 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
Urban Forest For Swords Proposed Local councillor, Joe Newman (NP) has identified an opportunity to develop a new urban forest on the fringe of Swords, which he feels has great tourism potential for the town and its environs.
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would work its way back down to River Valley Regional Park, eventually ending up at Swords Castle,” he said. There already is an objective in the County Development Plan to develop the Ward River Valley Regional Park up as far as Rivermeade and Newman believes that this area would tie in perfectly with this plan. “I believe that this would be a huge benefit in boosting tourism and encouraging visitors to the area. This represents an ideal opportunity, not to nestle Swords by creating urban sprawl, and it really needs to be examined carefully. The planners have agreed to do a survey on this land to find out the best possible use for it and I intend, as well as other councillors in the Swords area, to contribute towards developing this area for the benefit for all the people of Swords and improving their natural environment,” he said.
Newman believes that this proposal could be included in the daa’s Community Gain Fund, which is attached to the new runway, where daa will support local projects within the immediate airport communities. Indeed he took the opportunity to broach the subject with Paul O’Kane from daa, when they met in River Valley Community Centre last week at the Public Information Meeting on the proposed new runway, between daa and the local residents.
Great Day For Lusk National School The first bricks were laid on the foundations of two brand new state of the art schools for Lusk National School. There will be a new junior and a senior school, replacing the current combined school, which will be demolished at some time next year. This is a further boost to the educational development of Lusk, with the recently opened Lusk Community College having recently been approved for an extension. Chairperson of the Board of Management, Lorcan O’Toole told the County Leader, “This is a fantastic day for Lusk National School and it’s the start of a major project that will see us develop two new schools and a fantastic hall for the community to use. We will manage the hall ourselves and the school has set up a committee to manage the hall. It will be available for all kinds of purposes. Lusk is a thriving and growing community and the school is now seven or
from €
Pictured laying the bricks for the two new schools at Lusk National School, are pupils, Adam Waldron, Mia Gibbons and Hernan Maher
eight times the size it was 20 years ago, and it is continuing to grow. Lusk National School has always been at the heart of the community and we cater for a wide range of nationalities, ethnicities and cultural groups here at Lusk National School. A number of pupils were included in the brick laying operation, which was attended by Chief Executive of Fingal County
Council Paul Reid and by acting County Mayor and local councillor, Ken Farrell. Principal, Paul Comiskey was full of praise for Cllr Farrell and the role he played in this project being achieved. For his part, Cllr Farrell thanked the County Council for having the foresight in making €1.2 million funding available, so that the schools could be completed.
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Paul O'Kane from daa and Cllr Joe Newman have a frank exchange of opinions at the Public Consultation meeting at River Valley Community Centre, Swords about the new runway, and how it will affect local residents on Wednesday last
He told the County Leader, “Just recently there was a motion put forward to rezone lands in the Knocksedan area, backing on to the Ridgewood and Brookdale area. This is an area that is under agricultural use at this point in time. I objected to the rezoning on the basis that all we are doing is continuing an urban sprawl in Swords,” he said. Newman eyed this as a location, which is situated off the Naul Road south of Knocksedan, as a unique area that could help to transform Swords into a town that people would like to visit. “We have the local castle and we have the regional park, with the objective to grow this westwards towards Rivermeade. This area could be turned into an urban forest, which would facilitate forest walks and cycling taking into account Knocksedan House, which has a preservation order attached to it. This
The Parents Committee of Rush National School held their annual Halloween fundraising Cake Sale at the school on Friday, 28th October. Pictured displaying some of the cakes on show are pupils, Clare Whyte, Lizzy Larkin and Freya Carrick
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