Local Work Archives - Councillor Derek Mitchell

Greystones DART cancellations. Irish Rail to investigate Shuttle & Bus alternatives

Posted by | Bus/Train, Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

Irish Rail met with Greystones Councillors about the disruption from many weekend closures for engineering works. Rail staff emphasised the need for the works. Following discussion councillors agreed with this but asked for replacement transport. The journey time from Greystones to Dun Laoghaire increases from 30 minutes by rail to 70 by normal bus. Whereas a special bus to replace the Rosslare train took 45 minutes. I asked for a replacement bus for a couple of stations. Also for a shuttle DART to Bray if that section of the track…

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Mitchell concerned about Greystones Bus Connect changes

Posted by | Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

Bus Connects have published changes to the bus routes agreed 5 years ago with the intention of implementing them this Summer. A key part of the changes was to provide a circular route replacing the 84 & 184, connecting Greystones, Kilcoole, Newcastle & Newtown. However the circular route has been eliminated and there is no connection between from Newtown to Kilccole or Newcastle. These large villages need to have a bus service between them. It is said this is being cut out because the road is not wide enough for…

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Mitchell suggests empty Commercial building should be used for school classes

Posted by | Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

Mitchell suggests empty Commercial building should be used for school classes. There is a shortage of Secondary School places in Greystones for September 2024 and many parents are worried. At a recent meeting Cllr Mitchell said there were 2 empty new buildings next to Shoreline. These could be used for classes until the Community College is built. One is owned by Cairn and the other by the County Council which has bought it for use as an Enterprise Centre.’ I am urging the Department of Education to rent some space…

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Greystones Station finally has accurate Timetables

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The picture shows Cllr Derek Mitchell and Fine Gael candidate Louise Fenelon Gaskin checking the timetable. ‘Finally the correct timetable is shown 10 weeks after it came into force. I had to write 3 EMails to get management to put up the correct ones. At one stage there were 4 different timetables showing different times. This is a basic error for a railway to make. No wonder people complain of unreliability. We also need a longer term plan to improve the rail service South of Bray,’ said Cllr Derek Mitchell.

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Mitchell says Greystones DART needs an Upgrade and better management

Posted by | Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

Greystones DART passengers have 3 different rail timetables available to them: The Journey Planner which is now correct, an older one on the Internet and a different older one in front of the station. 5 weeks ago I told them that there were 4 different ones available and one has since been removed. Showing passengers a single correct timetable is a basic part of rail operations especially where the station is unmanned most of the time. I have also had complaints about unreliability. This is bad management. There have been many works…

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Greystones Development Plan must provide more Schools & Facilities

Posted by | Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

Cllr. Derek Mitchell has made a submission to the pre-Draft Greystones Development Plan showing that the population at Census time 2years ago, was over the target population for 2028!. Since then many houses have been occupied and more granted permission and I expect that the population will be 26,000, which is 20% greater than Target, in 2028. I want to see the town facilities planned for the higher number not the Target including: ·       Another Primary and Secondary School should be zoned over and above Greystones Community College which has…

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Wicklow Rail Fares reduced but service still poor

Posted by | Local Work, Press Release, Wicklow | No Comments

Changes to the Rail Fares have reduced the cost to Wicklow Town commuters which is welcome. However the rail service is the worst in the Greater Dublin Area with only 2 trains at rush hour.  I produced a Plan 6 years ago to provide 3 longer trains at rush hour from Gorey as well as more  Greystones DARTs but nothing has happened to implement this. We need to provide an alternative to commuters using cars on the N11.

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Mitchell welcomes Council purchase of Enterprise Centre in Greystones

Posted by | Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

The Council has purchased a building built for an Enterprise Centre in Hawkins Wood. It will now get it fitted out and open it later in 2024 with an emphasis on start up businesses. ‘I welcome this as Greystones has the least local employment of any town in Wicklow, we can’t all commute in the future’ said Cllr Derek Mitchell (FG). This was zoned with an Enterprise Centre as a compulsory condition, about 15 years ago following a campaign by the then Chamber of Commerce. The site was later sold…

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Greystones DART cancellations to be reduced but Sunday service reduced

Posted by | Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

The new train timetable, from the 10th December,  which has been promoted as having more trains has a 1.5 and a 2 hour gap between northbound DARTs on Sundays in the afternoon/evening. Visitors and residents expect a more frequent service. We should be trying to get people out of their cars by providing a good train service and encourage visitors. This does the opposite. The top complaint nationally on the new rail timetable was the need for more trains on the Rosslare line. Also many complained about the need for…

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Greystones DART cancellations to be reduced

Posted by | Greystones, Local Work, Press Release | No Comments

Irish Rail has eventually replied to me to say they will change the instructions to the DART Controllers so that when trains have to be cancelled they will consider the long interval between trains in Greystones and try not to cancel that service. This is a problem, especially at the weekend when the interval is hourly and people have been left waiting for nearly an hour. ‘I hope this will improve the weekend service especially’ said Cllr Derek Mitchell.           The information on the station electronic signs and on the…

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