Writes Leo McMahon
It was very frustrating that houses were being built and childcare facilities only being thought about afterwards in a catch-up situation, said Cllr Una McCarthy (FG) at the recent meeting of the county council’s Carrigaline Municipal District (MD).
Her motion asking that the lack of facilities be acknowledged by the MD and taken into account when drafting future planning policy, was unanimously adopted and it was agreed to forward it for discussion by the full county council.
Thanking assistant planner Megan Geaney for a report in response to her motion, Cllr McCarthy said: ‘This issue was highlighted significantly by constituents when canvassing during the recent local election. I met many mothers who had to give up their job because they can’t find childcare and a lot of these were employed in sectors in high demand such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and nursing etc.
‘It’s so frustrating that houses are being built and childcare facilities being thought of afterwards and we’re playing catch-up. It’s important that we have childcare facilities built in tandem with new housing because it’s hugely frustrating for families’, she added.
In support, Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) proposed Cllr McCarthy’s motion go to full council. She said she was aware of an empty creche for the past 25 years in a large estate. When the contractor went to build more houses in the same area, the council should have first requested the creche in the first estate be up and running before the new estate was built.
Cllr Buckley said the sale price for the what was originally earmarked as a creche building in an estate she referred to that had remained empty for 25 years was now unattainable. It was very unfortunate that the response of the developer, when asked to do a feasibility for a creche in a newer estate, was that there was a perfectly good one down the road that no one wished to buy. This, in her opinion, was not good enough.
Seconding the motion, Cllr Jack White (FG) said the issue was discussed previously. ‘The whole economy of modern Ireland is built around both parents working so childcare is an absolute must. If you have people having to pause their careers because of a lack of childcare provision, other sectors of the economy get hurt so it has to be an absolute priority in planning going forward.’
He also agreed with Cllr Buckley about the many new houses being delivered in the MD but no answer from some developers and planning regarding childcare being operational at the same time.
she raised and the motion could be something for the council’s Planning Strategic Policy Committee to look at as well as by the full council. This was agreed and Cllr McCarthy’s motion was adopted.
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