Stamullen

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

Initial groundwork will soon begin on a new residential housing development at Stedalt.

The site in question is located at the rear of the former Potato Store. Currently there are a number of local commercial businesses fronting onto the road where the `spud-store` once stood. The site is bounded on the east with the former Stedalt Mill Yard and on the west with the grounds of Stedalt House while to the south lies an extensive area of marshy ground, a natural flood-plain and wildlife habitat that is bordered by the Delvin River.

It also appears that construction work may soon begin on the Silverstream Road at Kilbreckstown on a large site that has been standing idle since the collapse of the `Celtic Tiger`.

Meanwhile, work is continuing on the residential construction site on the Stamullen Road at the location of the former St. Patrick`s Gaelic Football pitch and the site of the old Stamullen Community Centre.

So inevitably, as a result of this latest development, the population of the Stamullen village area is set to increase yet again. Where once the sleepy village stood surrounded by fertile fields and age-old hedgerows, now it`s noise, constant traffic, light pollution and people passing one another on the roads without speaking.

he `floodgates` are well and truly open and, if anyone is in any doubt regarding a dramatic changing landscape, just take a look at places like Bettystown, Balbriggan, Swords, Ratoath and Blancardstown.

Sometimes change and progression isn’t always for the better!

FLOODED STREAMS

With all the heavy rain of late, the smaller streams across the parish are full to capacity. Last week, a 120 metre stretch of the Ballestrand road was like that of a fast running stream as water cascaded down the road after the smaller stream had burst through the bank adjacent to the roadside.

However, on taking a closer look at some of these roadside streams, it is also clear that many of them are clogged with domestic rubbish of all sorts, from plastic bottles, to glass wine bottles, to black domestic rubbish bags and the odd fridge, etc. Some years ago, local County Council workers would, on a regular basis, clean such smaller streams and they would also create small water-cuts through the roadside banks which would also allow for surface water on the roads to drain away into the adjacent streams.

The council workers of yesteryear would often work along such rural roads, often alone or perhaps there might be two or three or even four council employees carrying out such work on the rural roads across the parish and beyond.

This has now become a thing of the past, council workers are a pretty rare sight nowadays and so, as a direct result, the small streams are clogged with heavy vegetation and domesticated rubbish.

Why can there be no Social Employment Schemes that could possibly deal with such issues? Not all people wish to go or to be placed on, yet another `computer course` as part of their training and/or `work experience`.

Many would relish the opportunity of cleaning such streams and collecting the rubbish that clogs them, clean the weeds and let the council take it away! Instead, what appears to be happening in recent years is that the Local Authority takes a back-seat and waits until a local and voluntary community group is set up and their members head out on Saturday mornings to the work which is the initial responsibility of the County Council.

Examples of such voluntary schemes are the Local Tidy Towns groups which have sprung up all over the country and local Graveyard Committees. Perhaps our `favourite C. Council are now awaiting news that a local `Tidy Townlands` group has been set up to deal with the filth, the rubbish and the over-clogged streams across the rural parish of Stamullen and beyond!