Freecycle: Give away stuff you don't need
I cam accross this site, it's pretty cool
LeinsterFreecycle : Part of the Freecycle Network(TM) The Leinster Freecycle(TM) Network is open to all who want to "recycle" that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano or an old door, feel free to post it. Or maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself! Nonprofit groups are welcome to participate too!
One constraint: everything posted must be free. This network is brought to you by The Freecycle Network, a nonprofit organization and a movement of people interested in keeping good stuff out of landfills. Check out freecycle.org for other cities and info on the movement! E-mail LeinsterFreecycle-owner@yahoogroups.com for questions or improvement ideas!
And have fun and keep on recycling with Freecycle!
Village Clean Up To Begin May 20
Make a note in your diary. Volunteers are need to help clean up Julianstown. As you know, last year we competed in and were prize winners in Meath's Pride of Place competition. This year we are going to double our efforts to improve Julianstown.
Meeting at the school at 10:00AM on Saturday May 20th please bring appropriate tools and equipment. There will be a lunch provided.
Keep an eye out for the residents' association newsletter which will be distributed next week with more details. See you all then.
Julianstown Wins Litter Award
Julianstown received 1st place in the category for villages with population between 500 - 1500 at the Meath Co Council Anti Litter League awards ceremony in Navan last night. The judges remarked that Julianstown was keeping up its impeccable record and while we were a new group we had been very successful in these initiatives. We received a beautiful Newgrange Crystal trophy and a cheque for €1000 which will be used to further enhance our village.
Julianstown Residents Association meet next Tuesday and we will be finalising the plan of action for this summer. We would love to hear from you if you have any ideas for projects. Also anyone willing to lend a hand over the coming months - we will be continuing with periodic litter pick ups as well. Congratulations and thanks to all who came out in good and bad weather over the spring to clean up the village - a job well done! Also the National Spring Clean last weekend resulted in us filling 2.5 skips!
Forum Repaired
Looks like there was a problem with the Julianstown forum. I created a new one, but you'll have to re-register.
http://www.julianstown.com/forum/
Julianstown traffic volumes continue to increase.
Figures released for the first three months of this year show traffic volumes increased by 5% over the same period last year. Comparing February 2006 with February 2005 on average there were over 1000 extra vehicles per day using the small village.
The
National Roads Authority maintains a network of traffic counters on various roads around the country and details volumes of traffic, volumes of HGVs and various statistics based on the data, which supposedly are fed into road planning decisions.
For Julianstown the latest numbers show two significant trends. Firstly the number of HGVs is marginally decreasing or at worst staying the same as use of the toll has become more widespread and the significant traffic congestion in Drogheda deters HGVs using Julianstown as a through route, at least during the day. On the other hand non-HGV traffic has increased by 6% buoyed by the significant population increase in the area.
Julianstown is the only convenient way in or out of South Drogheda or the coastal villages for people heading South towards Dublin. And with the population of both these areas set to double over the next several years it there would appear to be no end to he increase in traffic volumes and congestion in Julianstown. As our graph show, the trend in year on year growth is such that volumes will be back to pre M1 levels in 2-3 years time.
There is no reason to suspect that traffic volumes are going to decrease or level off given the level of development in the area. In fact there are several new large scale housing developments under construction or at the planning stage in the Bryanstown/Stameen area and with the 64 acre Lyons farm on the market there will be more population expansion in Laytown/Bettystown.
At the same time Meath County Council are about to erect traffic lights and undertake road narrowing work in Julianstown in an effort to slow traffic down. This will no doubt, in the short term at least, exacerbate village congestion.
A solution to this mess is being presented in the form of a link road from Beamore to Colpe, taking in South Drogheda and Grange Rath, but with the exit planned for the North Side of the tolls it is hard to see why this will not be a white elephant with commuters opting for the shorter, free route through Julianstown.
ESB Reduces Charges in Julianstown
An interesting letter from the
ESB popped through the door the other day. It notified me that Julianstown has now been reclassified from 'rural' to 'urban' meaning that the standing charge is reduced from €101.04 to €65.04 annually. Check your bill to see if you get the benefit.
ESB can be contacted on 1850 372 372
Roadworks to Begin in Summer
In a welcome development Meath County Council have informed Julianstown Residents association that planned village improvements worth Euro 300K will begin in the Summer. The council has committed to spending the NRA grant on new footpaths, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. The road will also be narrowed and extra traffic islands installed to encourage traffic to travel at reduced speed through the village. There is also the possibility of extra trees planting and various other village improvements.
