Calls have been made to restart talks between the OPW and Lar McKenna’s Killross Properties, which owns at the access fields to Castletown House and Parklands in Co. Kildare, a popular State-owned attraction,which has been largely closed to the public due to a stalemate over car access.
The OPW has invested around €25m in restoring the historic 1721 Palladian mansion and its surrounding parklands, making it a top attraction drawing 700,000 annually.
The closure was triggered when the OPW lost access to a car park and laneway on land sold to Straffan-based developers, Lar McKenna’s Killross Properties and Springwood, leading to protests and restrictions on pedestrian access to the site.
Efforts to resolve the issue, including the potential purchase of the land, have been hindered by disagreements between the OPW and the new owners of the adjoining lands.
Fingal County Council paid €4.5m last June for a 60-acre bank of land near Lucan for biodiversity, a price which would value Castletown at around €18m acre for acre.
