We, the residents of Kiltealy, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, welcome some aspects of the proposed “Safe Routes to School” plan, particularly the inclusion of much-needed safety features such as speed ramps, pedestrian crossings, and better lighting.

However, the plan laid out in the Scheme Preliminary Design Sheet Layout (March 2025) is far more than a safety upgrade – it is a complete redevelopment of Kiltealy Main Street, and as such, it is deeply flawed and as a result, rejected by the local community.

This plan would:

1. Remove children drop off area at school by installing pencil bollards.
2. Create parking spaces for school staff in front of the school
3. Inconvenience parents and families by forcing park-and-stride from distant, in unsafe and impractical locations: Kiltealy Hall, the cemetery, and the Church car park.
4. Put children at greater safety risk when compared to the current drop-off at the school gate.
5. Widen footpaths to 2 meter in width,
6. Pencil bollards at the school would remove up to 26 parking spaces, vital for village and community.
7. Reduce overall village parking, negatively affecting residents, elderly visitors, tourists and local businesses.
8. Narrow the main street, making it dangerous for two-way traffic, agricultural machinery and delivery trucks.
9. Require the school bus for tours/swimming to park at the bottle bank – an area full of broken glass, no traffic calming, and unsafe ground.
10. Introduce a new bus stop that will block traffic when in use.
11. Turn cemetery parking to 90° angle, making it hard to reverse and likely to block the main road.
12. For children who cycle to school, the proposed plan makes things more dangerous, not safer. The road will be narrowed, and since bicycles are not allowed on footpaths, they’ll have less space to cycle – right alongside moving traffic.
13. At the busiest car park – the Hall – where most parents will be forced to park, the smallest members of our community attend Playschool. With lots of cars during drop-off and pick-up, exhaust fumes will expose young children to harmful air pollution every morning and afternoon. This is not a safe or healthy solution.

The proposed plan FAILS TO ACHIEVE their core aim – SAFER ROUTES TO SCHOOL. In fact, it does the opposite: it places children of all ages at greater daily risk, disrupts village life, and damages the social and economic function of our community.

Therefore, we, as members of the Kiltealy community, formally REJECT IN FULL the “Safe Routes to School” plan as outlined in the Scheme Preliminary Design Sheet Layout dated March 2025.