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THE EU DIRECTORATE General for the Environment has said that it will investigate plans by Kilkenny County Council to demolish houses in the city’s Vicar Street, to make way for a new roadway.
A local group has said that medieval remains – a gable wall and a shouldered chimney – at one of the 19th century houses should be protected by the council. MEP Nessa Childers subsequently wrote to the commissioner in support of a formal complaint that was made to the council about the plans to demolish the ‘heritage houses’.
The complaint stated that the proposed demolition of 20-22 Vicar Street, to make way for a proposed Central Access Scheme, could be in breach of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessments.
In reply to the MEP, a senior official in Brussels responsible for environmental law enforcement said the complaint will be raised with the Irish authorities. Commenting today, the MEP said:
My understanding is that the County Council were considering demolishing the houses in Vicar Street in October. This must not happen. These houses are an important part of Kilkenny’s built heritage and the Kilkenny County Council comply fully with the law in relation to them.’
In a statement, the council said that investigations by consultant archaeologists are continuing on the gable wall but stressed that “there is not sufficient evidence” to definitively date it yet.
“Substantial portions of the wall are modern, and the architectural building survey and archaeological investigations currently underway will inform this process,” the council said.
“It is clear from the extent of the ongoing investigations being conducted at the site, that the utmost consideration has been and is afforded these structures.”
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Buy a old house and try do it up,the council would break your balls with you can and can’t do,but when it’s in their way f@ck the red tape bulldoze it
Brown Envelopes. Thats is all. Problem solved.
Good point Martin. If that was a random joe’s house and he asked the council for permission to knock it or even alter it slightly they would laugh him out of their office!
This central access scheme should never go ahead in Kilkenny City, its poor planning and it;ll split the city.
Instead the council should finish the outer ring road around the city,
City?
Must……..not………bite……….
more corporate vandalism.
Does Childers live in KK? No se doesn’t. It’s three shabby houses. Doze the lot.
Just finish the feckin ring road
Amateurs. The professionals come up with a rare species of snails to get a road blocked.
I think members of the council are a rare species of slug, so they may get a veto.
For a historical city that is trying to attract tourism as it’s main income, it is incredible that the town’s own authorities go out of their way to destroy the very few historical structures left.
There is more to the life of a city than just it’s roads. Structures and it’s people are what make towns and cities, road just get you in and out.
Haven’t they little to be doing. It’s a wall and a chimney for chrissakes, know it down and build the bloody road, and less of this nimby crap
Short sighted Cpm. Where do you draw the line?
It’s a wall and a f’n chimney, a little perspective would do no harm, how is it of any value? It’s not like we have a shortage of medieval ruins.
Why not save the outrage for something a little more deserving, like two walls and a chimney
‘how is it of any value?’ do you normally come on the journal to display your ignorance?
Try read my second sentence, Alan… and again, it’s a wall and a chimney.
A wall and a chimney.
I suppose you would also have supported the building of the Dublin civic offices over the remains of a viking village on Wood quay also? They weren’t even walls and chimneys.
A better solution is to complete the ring road around Kilkenny, not to bulldoze houses and build a road through it.
A lot of ruins historic and otherwise are made up of walls and chimneys. Should we knock them all?
Completely different, John. One was a viking settlement with archaeological remains, the other is a medieval chimney and wall. Yeah sure, build a ring road, at a massive expense to the taxpayer, just to save a chimney and a wall. Good man.
“A lot of ruins historic and otherwise are made up of walls and chimneys. Should we knock them all?”
If they’re of f’k all value and getting in the way of progress, yes. Definitely.
Cpm, actually it’s a nice row of houses that could look better if done up. This is what makes a town a town. Enough of more roads!
And in years to come those houses will have historic value if they don’t have already. Have some foresight.
Cpm, an awful lot of people in Kilkenny see this road project as very very poor planning,
It will split the city and bring alot more traffic into the city centre, its poorly thought out.
Well said CPM did you ever hear such shite about a wall and a chimney
Declan, fair point about the houses. I’d be far more concerned about them.
Barry, I don’t know much about the planning or the impact it will have on the city, if it’s that bad, well then they should look for alternative solutions, but I’d disagree with the concept of re-routing solely for the purpose of saving a wall and a chimney.
CPM, it,s not a case of building a ring road at huge taxpayers expense, most of the ring road is already built, they just have to finish the thing. It’s not about a wall and a chimney, it’s about a poorly planned road that will pass through the city, effectively dividing it in two
Shane, this article is about a wall and a chimney
This article is about a wall and a chimney, yes. A wall and a chimney that will need to be demolished to build a road through the heart of the city. A project which a huge number of people are against. So, it’s so much more that just a wall and a chimney.
Cpm… I think your understanding of ‘progress’ is skewed. Do you only consider major infrastructural projects as progress? Tourism is a major industry for Kilkenny, and destroying the medieval town, the main product, is not progress. The progress may not be as visual as a road but it is certainly there and needs to be protected.
“This article is about a wall and a chimney, yes. A wall and a chimney that will need to be demolished to build a road through the heart of the city. A project which a huge number of people are against. So, it’s so much more that just a wall and a chimney.”
You possibly misunderstood my comment, my fault, I didn’t explain it completely. What I meant was, my comments relate to the article alone, I’m not commenting on the effect it would have of dividing the city, etc. as I don’t know much about them.
As I said to Barry, above “I don’t know much about the planning or the impact it will have on the city, if it’s that bad, well then they should look for alternative solutions, but I’d disagree with the concept of re-routing solely for the purpose of saving a wall and a chimney.”
Giraffe, see the previous paragraph.
Cpm… Essentially this wall and chimney is believed to form part of St Canices Cathedral complex, all of the medieval period. The road would sever this from the town, which is medieval also or the Medieval Mile which Failte Ireland is promoting as the tourism product.
Sure feck it, build the road through the Castle, it only has medieval walls and a few chimney’s.
As long as there are cretins like ‘cpm’ and the other troll on this thread we will need to be extra vigilant in the fight to save our heritage. Whats the odds he was/is a fianna failure voter?
If you can stop a road being build with a wall and a chimney, I think CPM is underestimating the value of the wall and chimney. The chimney is mightier than the road
This article is about a wall and a chimney, yes. A wall and a chimney that will need to be demolished to build a road through the heart of the city. A project which a huge number of people are against. So, it’s so much more that just a wall and a chimney.
Oppose The Kilkenny City Central Access Scheme. Like the page and petition against this scheme. This will ruin our beautiful city.
@ CPM.. “Without prejudice, after three of your comments I got bored, I don’t know if you mentioned it in your other comments but I would be intrigued to know where abouts you live?, I don’t live in kilkenny but I spend a lot of time there and to be honest I’ve never heard of the likes of it, it is in my opinion, irrelevant of the wall/chimney, this is nothing more than political egos, there are very few places in Europe that would allow a road of this sort that is planned to pass through any town/city of this stature, size and most of all its historical relevance , it is absolutely ridiculous when there is a ring road already constructed that can be completed but it seems to me certain people would like to become martyrs in documented statements stating ” I had that road built”…!!! People in power should really be concentrating on “”"weight restrictions”"” through a majority of the areas in this country and not encouraging the opposite, it appears to me, being in close contact with a lot of people opposed to this project, that it has become a political agenda and they have to find any objective from every angle, and I support them wholeheartedly, it is in my opinion places like kilkenny should be nurtured and to be blatantly honest common sense tells me the ring road should be completed ……….. P.S. my apologies for any mistakes in my two penny’s worth, as I am using speech recognition on my computer
Ah don’t get rid of those lovely houses. They have great character and could make more money for ya than a main rd. Think about it…..
Did anyone mention the wall and chimney?
Affecting tourism? Its a wall and a chimney…. I think traffic concerns trump some crumbly old Viking crap or whatever….. Seriously just knock it… We got plenty of other old stuff in this country… quit the whinging
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