Latest news with #communityinfrastructure
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Waverley council to review homeowners' CIL bills
Homeowners in South West Surrey who believe they have been wrongly charged for work to their houses will be able to appeal under a new Borough Council says homeowners who believe they have wrongly received community infrastructure levy (CIL) bills for work including home extensions and annexes will be able to ask to have their charges new review system comes after residents protested in April, saying they had incorrectly received bills up to £70, for the review scheme went before the council on Wednesday, 4 June ahead of a decision on 1 July, with more information set be released on 12 June. Liz Townsend, Waverley portfolio holder for planning and economic development, said: "We know that the Community Infrastructure Levy legislation has been a source of stress and concern for some of our residents who believe they have been unjustly charged and unfairly penalised by these complex and inflexible rules."This is a new process for the council, and we have taken independent legal advice to ensure our approach is both robust and fair."I want to assure them that we are absolutely committed to addressing those concerns through a fair and transparent review process."CIL is typically charged to developers as a contribution towards essential infrastructure. However a number of homeowners across Waverley have also faced the the new scheme, cases would be reviewed by someone independent from the council previously said that, in most cases, it had been correct in issuing the bills despite anger from exception, it said, was the case of Steve and Caroline Dally who were billed £70,000 for a home extension and given no opportunity to argue their will go before the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 23 June.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘It's ridiculous – we've nothing here': Co Kildare village to lose its last shop
'Older people and people with disabilities are so shocked, there was no forewarning really,' Johnstown resident David Stynes said as news filtered through the village that the only shop in the locality, Jordan's Centra, is due to close this week. 'It's ridiculous, we've nothing in the town,' the 65-year-old said. Located just off the N7, between Naas and Kill in Co Kildare , Johnstown, like 11 other Johnstowns in the east of the country, owes its name to the order of St John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, said local historian Brian McCabe. 'The original church is up the way. Since the 1300s, there has been a village here,' he said. From Naas originally, Mr Stynes has lived in Johnstown for the last three years and is a wheelchair user. He was candid about how the shop closure will affect him. READ MORE 'As you can see I'm not very mobile. I'm lucky I have an electric wheelchair, but if you're sitting at home and you realise eight, nine, 10 o'clock you have run out of bread, where are you supposed to go now?' He has already experienced some of the hardship that the shop closure will bring. 'I have to rely on the buses to get to Kill or Naas. But last week I was going up the ramp and the wheelchair toppled over and I ended up in hospital, so I can't really trust getting on the buses now,' he said. Mr Stynes, like many others, is critical of the lack of communal infrastructure in the village. 'What's the town going to be left with, a Chinese restaurant?' he said. 'For older and disabled people, it's going to be a nightmare.' Amenities in the area have not kept pace with significant population growth of recent times, say villagers. Photograph: Stephen Farrell The owner of the shop, Alan Jordan, who lives locally and whose children have worked in the store, said closing had been a difficult decision that was not taken lightly. 'The business has been growing and expanding, but unfortunately the premises is no longer fit for purpose,' he said. 'It has been outgrown by the size of the community, it can't provide the range of products that the community deserves. On three occasions over the last 12 years we have tried unsuccessfully to secure alternative sites in the village.' [ Irish post office network requires annual funding of €15m to avoid 'rapid closures' Opens in new window ] One of these sites, located across the road from the shop, remains vacant. 'We would have built a 4,000 sq ft store there with 44 car-parking spaces ... But that didn't come to pass; a group of local people weren't in favour.' The Jordan Centra group is the largest Centra chain in Ireland, with stores in eight other locations in Kildare and Dublin. The Jack and Jill Children's Foundation , whose administrative offices are located above the Centra store in Johnstown, has agreed to purchase the shop, pending the owner getting planning approval for its change of use, said Deirdre Walsh, chief executive of the charity. However, some locally have queried the need for increased storage space at the shop. Katelyn Dunne (19), who lives in Johnstown and works in the local Chinese restaurant, said: 'They were saying that you can't store everything in the shop, but you don't need everything in it, just the essentials: food and bread.' For many, the impending closure of the shop is further evidence of the hollowing out of a village and its environs, which has more than 1,300 inhabitants who already have no school or post office of their own. The local community centre has been closed since 2000 as the local council did not take it over, said Johnstown resident and Fine Gael councillor, Fintan Brett. There are hopes for the reopening of the Johnstown Inn pub this year. Photograph: Stephen Farrell However, one bright spot on the horizon is that the Johnstown Inn at the top of the village, which closed four or five years ago, has new owners and may open again at the end of the year, say locals. Another possible positive development for the village may involve the vacant site across from the Centra store, Mr McCabe said. 'We have plans for the site of the old Johnstown Garden Centre, we're in consultation with the council about developing that as a community area,' he said. In response to queries, Kildare County Council said it was 'actively pursuing' the provision of a community development facility for Johnstown, but due to commercial sensitivities was unable to disclose further details. While Johnstown may be something of a quiet village, the lack of services is frustrating for its residents especially as the area has seen significant population growth in recent times. The 2022 Census said the Johnstown area had a population of 1,320, with the largest age cohort being in the 15 to 19-years-old category. Ms Dunne is fully aware of the effect the shop closure will have on her peers. 'So many people around here have jobs there and lots of lads around here do work experience there and they won't be able to do that either,' she said. Johnstown has been bypassed several times – by the Naas dual carriageway in the 1960s and more recently by the N7. Locals are now wondering whether the village will remain permanently bypassed in terms of amenities. 'For the population, it's kind of ridiculous,' resident Alan Browne (43) said.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘It's ridiculous – we've nothing here': Co Kildare village to lose its last store
'Older people and people with disabilities are so shocked, there was no forewarning really,' Johnstown resident David Stynes said as news filtered through the village that the only shop in the locality, Jordan's Centra, is due to close this week. 'It's ridiculous, we've nothing in the town,' the 65-year-old said. Located just off the N7, between Naas and Kill in Co Kildare , Johnstown, like 11 other Johnstowns in the east of the country, owes its name to the order of St John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, said local historian Brian McCabe. 'The original church is up the way. Since the 1300s, there has been a village here,' he said. From Naas originally, Mr Stynes has lived in Johnstown for the last three years and is a wheelchair user. He was candid about how the shop closure will affect him. READ MORE 'As you can see I'm not very mobile. I'm lucky I have an electric wheelchair, but if you're sitting at home and you realise eight, nine, 10 o'clock you have run out of bread, where are you supposed to go now?' He has already experienced some of the hardship that the shop closure will bring. 'I have to rely on the buses to get to Kill or Naas. But last week I was going up the ramp and the wheelchair toppled over and I ended up in hospital, so I can't really trust getting on the buses now,' he said. Mr Stynes, like many others, is critical of the lack of communal infrastructure in the village. 'What's the town going to be left with, a Chinese restaurant?' he said. 'For older and disabled people, it's going to be a nightmare.' Amenities in the area have not kept pace with significant population growth of recent times, say villagers. Photograph: Stephen Farrell The owner of the shop, Alan Jordan, who lives locally and whose children have worked in the store, said closing had been a difficult decision that was not taken lightly. 'The business has been growing and expanding, but unfortunately the premises is no longer fit for purpose,' he said. 'It has been outgrown by the size of the community, it can't provide the range of products that the community deserves. On three occasions over the last 12 years we have tried unsuccessfully to secure alternative sites in the village.' [ Irish post office network requires annual funding of €15m to avoid 'rapid closures' Opens in new window ] One of these sites, located across the road from the shop, remains vacant. 'We would have built a 4,000 sq ft store there with 44 car-parking spaces ... But that didn't come to pass; a group of local people weren't in favour.' The Jordan Centra group is the largest Centra chain in Ireland, with stores in eight other locations in Kildare and Dublin. The Jack and Jill Children's Foundation , whose administrative offices are located above the Centra store in Johnstown, has agreed to purchase the shop, pending the owner getting planning approval for its change of use, said Deirdre Walsh, chief executive of the charity. However, some locally have queried the need for increased storage space at the shop. Katelyn Dunne (19), who lives in Johnstown and works in the local Chinese restaurant, said: 'They were saying that you can't store everything in the shop, but you don't need everything in it, just the essentials: food and bread.' For many, the impending closure of the shop is further evidence of the hollowing out of a village and its environs, which has more than 1,300 inhabitants who already have no school or post office of their own. The local community centre has been closed since 2000 as the local council did not take it over, said Johnstown resident and Fine Gael councillor, Fintan Brett. There are hopes for the reopening of the Johnstown Inn pub this year. Photograph: Stephen Farrell However, one bright spot on the horizon is that the Johnstown Inn at the top of the village, which closed four or five years ago, has new owners and may open again at the end of the year, say locals. Another possible positive development for the village may involve the vacant site across from the Centra store, Mr McCabe said. 'We have plans for the site of the old Johnstown Garden Centre, we're in consultation with the council about developing that as a community area,' he said. In response to queries, Kildare County Council said it was 'actively pursuing' the provision of a community development facility for Johnstown, but due to commercial sensitivities was unable to disclose further details. While Johnstown may be something of a quiet village, the lack of services is frustrating for its residents especially as the area has seen significant population growth in recent times. The 2022 Census said the Johnstown area had a population of 1,320, with the largest age cohort being in the 15 to 19-years-old category. Ms Dunne is fully aware of the effect the shop closure will have on her peers. 'So many people around here have jobs there and lots of lads around here do work experience there and they won't be able to do that either,' she said. Johnstown has been bypassed several times – by the Naas dual carriageway in the 1960s and more recently by the N7. Locals are now wondering whether the village will remain permanently bypassed in terms of amenities. 'For the population, it's kind of ridiculous,' resident Alan Browne (43) said.
