Classroom capacity, school traffic, commuter traffic and crime
With regards population and housing growth on the old Citywest Golf Course, several factors must be given due consideration in order to ensure the smooth and safe running of the local community.
First, the context. Saggart and Rathcoole are growing 'commuter towns' meaning homeowners in these areas increasingly demand four things: reasonable travel times to and from work; high-quality and sufficiently-resourced services, including schooling and healthcare; clean and pleasing recreational areas; and safety.
At present, both areas are falling far short in at least three of the four areas. (Recreational areas are currently adequate for the population size, but may also need to be scaled in time.)
Commute times are unbearable, whether by car (>40 minutes to the M50 at peak times!) or bus (1.5 hours from Holy Family Community School to Dublin City Centre on an "express" bus, each way!) or train (30+ minutes to the Hazelhatch park and ride train line due to narrow, congested country roads).
School capacity may be increasing, but major issues remain unaddressed. First, the diversity of child education levels in the Holy Family primary school in Rathcoole (which servers Saggart too) means teachers - who are already stretched thin with large class sizes - must teach a curriculum at the pace of the slowest learners in the class. There are insufficient SNA support in the Holy Family primary school to allow faster learners to rise and shine. The diversity that SDCC so deerly champions must come with necessary supports. Second, the road network to and from both Holy Family schools is not fit for purpose. Together, both schools will house well over 2,000 students. Traffic congestion in Rathcoole is already at breaking point. SDCC building a mega-school without due consideration for how students reach it is poor planning. And equally, SDCC thinking that 'active travel' in rainy and cold Ireland is the way forward is poor planning. Plan for reality, not utopia! The reality is that it is cold and rainy in South Dublin more than it's hot and dry. Parents today do not subject their children to these conditions and instead drive them to/from school. Either build a better road network or put in place a drop-off zone and shuttle service - at least for the secondary school.
Finally, crime is not being well managed in both areas, as several high-profile news stories has highlighted in the Saggart area. In Rathcoole too, nitrous oxide canisters line the parks, roadsides and footpaths. A part-time Garda Station is unable to provide the responsiveness needed when serious crime is detected. Cannabis smells fill too many public areas, subjecting passersby - many with newborns or young children - to this anti-social smell. A community Garda car and/or Gardai on pushbikes is needed in the area AT ALL TIMES.
Scaling housing must come with proper planning. Not SDCC's utopian dreams. Put in place what is needed, then build. Why is it that IDA Ireland can do this for multinational investment, but SDCC falls short? Residents deserve proper, true planning.