Malcolm Noonan in the house

KILKENNY -- Malcolm Noonan took time out of a loop around Kilkenny to meet with me and two of the creatives behind The State of It. The teenagers writing about "the state of it" in Kilkenny want politicians to act on the dearth of activities for young adults. Malcolm Noonan is listening.

Noonan think developers should be forced to embrace community interests when they erect new commercial structures in Kilkenny. This means Chesterbridge Development should provide more youth-friendly features in McDonagh Junction, the largest commercial project for Kilkenny City in a decade. It also means integrating green spaces or playing pitches into the plans of every new housing estate. And bike lanes connecting housing to schools. It might be useful to construct a map of Kilkenny city to see the lack of walking paths and the congestion resulting from high-density housing that causes residents to park on sidewalks and to pave over lawns to make them suitable for heavy use.

Give Noonan a few months to find his stride. His vision is clear enough to force-feed a vision of sustainability on county planners. That would be a welcome perspective.

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Posted by Bernie Goldbach. x_ref19