The Other St Kevin’s Way

St Kevin’s path TUES1MAR22

he neighbours of the old, overgrown Church Lane path into St Kevin’s school weren’t too impressed.

The day that the annual 6-month ban on hedge-cutting comes into effect, and Wicklow County Council have their chainsaws turned up all the way to 11.

Getting there… FRI8NOV24

“It’s basically ripping apart all the wildlife habitat in the area,” says one resident who got in touch with the Guide earlier today. “Surely they could have waited until August 31st, when the ban is over…”

Turns out the clearing is all part of the Safer Routes To School programme launched last June. And being WCC work, such bans as the hedge-cutting hiatus doesn’t apply.

Here’s the official word from the Greystones Municipal District Office…

Wicklow County Council, An Táisce, the NTA and St Kevins National School are working in partnership under the Safer Routes to School Programme. The main aim of the programme is to encourage the use of modes of transport other than the motor car for school goers to travel to and from school. It does this by improving the safety and convenience of routes to school from surrounding residential areas

In this instance funding has been allocated by the NTA towards improving access to St Kevin’s NS. As part of this holistic relook at how kids travel to school the old rear access into the school from Church Lane is being assessed and if feasible to reopen it could cut walking times to the school by up to 15 minutes for residents in Hillside and Heatherview.

St Kevin’s 1962

The current works are simply to clear the lane for surveying, there are no plans to reopen it at this stage. Further steps in the process will include the carrying out of a detailed design, not only of the laneway but of Church Lane and Rathdown Road too. The design process will include all parties.

With regards to the hedge-cutting, it should be noted that these works are exempt from the prohibition as per the particulars of the Wildlife Act, 1976. Notwithstanding this, every effort had been made to carry this clearance work out in advance of the March 1st deadline.

However, due to other hedge-cutting and landscaping commitments and a lack of resources due to Covid-19 the clearance works will regrettably go over the deadline date by a matter of a few days.

You can find out more about the Safer Routes To School programme here, here, here and here. And on the Guide here.