The National Transport Authority (NTA) supports the amended plan for the Tallaght Village Enhancement Scheme, it was confirmed at a council meeting last week, and NTA officials have confirmed this. The NTA said the detailed design of the councils village project can conform to its Tallaght/Clondalkin to City Centre Core Bus Corridor Scheme.The project was approved by a clear majority of councillors of South Dublin County Council, with 22 voting for, 12 against and 2 abstaining.At the meeting when the project was approved, a number of councillors complained about misinformation spread online against the project.But despite officials reassuring councillors at the council meeting that the NTA now supports the village project, a Facebook group against the project reposted an advertisement they ran in the local Echo newspaper, which included the claim that the NTA objects to bus throttles and the gate on Main St in this Part 8.The throttle is a reference to the throttle gates, a type of chicane traffic calming which the NTA had objected to because of their potential to delay buses. The number of these kinds of pinchpoints in the plan has been reduced, while officials outlined that the bus gate in the revised design has been moved on Main Street to the west of the Old Greenhills Road junction.IMAGE: A screenshot of the council meeting showing a new draft drawing with the new bus gate location (in purple). The lines show how private motorists will not be allowed to drive through the bus gate, but all local access for car drivers will be maintained. After its approval, the council hopes the project will go to construction in early 2027. The plan is to construct the local BusConnects changes at the same time. AmendmentThe approved ammenment for the project said: The proposed development of the Tallaght Village Enhancement Scheme as recommended in the chief executives report is hereby approved, subject to further liaison with local residents and businesses during detailed design to address their concerns where possible, including, to retain 6 spaces on Main Street for existing Main Street resident parking permit holders, engage with local disability services around crossings and subject to engagement with the NTA to ensure that the proposed development is fully compatible with the approved Bus Connects scheme.It was proposed by Cllr Mick Duff, Cllr Louise Dune, Cllr Kay Keane, Cllr Adam Smyth, Cllr Jess Spear and Cllr Niamh Whelan.Cllr Niamh Whelan (SF) said: So firstly, I just want to start by thanking management and the [project] team for the work on this part date. Weve been back and forth for months to try and get to some sort of plan thats taken into account the concerns we have weve brought forward. So thanks a mill for the extensive engagement.Despite the hugely negative message that has been shared largely online about this process, Ive never seen another Part 8 project that has had as much public engagement. Whether as an elected rep or Community Council, its all of our responsibilities to ensure that the information we are sharing with the general public is accurate and factual, she said.Cllr Whelan said: Its unfortunate to see the waters muddy by misinformation being shared throughout the process. And it has made our role as councillors all the more difficult. Ive been approaching several occasions, asking, Why are SDCC removing disabled parking? Its not true; Why are cars being blocked from accessing Main Street? Thats not true, and Why are SDCC taking all 40 parking spaces? Again, thats not true.She added that while she thinks the village improvements are needed, she was still extremely conflicted on the decision because theres a small number of residents who are dependent on the parking spaces and that she was looking for reassurance from council management to resolve that issue as they had with the crossings issue.Its a heritage area and has an ancient structureCllr Britto Pereppadan (Fine Gael), who, with his party colleagues, voted against the scheme, spoke against the scheme, saying that relocated parking is not the same as convenient parking. Its not only a case of how many spaces but also regarding where the new spaces are. Weve already seen it happen in Dundrum and Lucan, where my colleagues in Lucan can confirm the impacts on the local residents and businesses, he said. Cllr Pereppadan pointed out that the village is an Architectural Conservation Area.Cllr Kay Keane (People Before Profit) questioned Cllr Pereppadan on how many meetings he attended about the project. She said that, in her many years as a resident of the area, her experience has been that people drive through the village centre to get to places, especially since the Square shopping centre opened. She said people will still have access to the businesses. Cllr Patrick Holohan (independent), who also voted against the project, said he didnt want to be a part of changing the villages ancient structure. But Cllr Mick Duff (independent) said that the village has been crying out for investment since the N81, which bypasses the village, was built. He said many people have said that its fine as it is, but he said its not. Gary Walsh, a senior engineer with the council who is working on the project, said: The parking is the big element were working on many solutions and weve involved councillors on what we are trying to work on.This is an apparent reference to the council trying to work with unnamed landowner/s to provide parking space. While members of the public commenting online have taken issue with the lack of transparency, negotiations on this issue are apparently ongoing. Were working really hard to get a good outcome for residents with parking permits in the village, said Walsh. Im more than happy with the amendment we want to work so hard to get this right for people in Tallaght. were going to try to do everything we can.He pointed out that adjusting the crossings so that all are fully signalled shows they can adapt the plan based on feedback. Walsh added that consultation would also continue with local stakeholders. Despite claims from objectors that there are no traffic counts, Walsh said that the council has traffic count data and that a conservative estmate is that 70% of the traffic on Main Street does not stop in the village. In other words, it is rat-running traffic. The council meeting was broadcast online and can be watched back in full at sdcc.public-i.tv.After the meeting, the Save Tallaght Village page on Facebook took issue with the approved amendment. In a post last week, the group said: They put in the words where possible, giving the council a get-out clause. Their spin is as bad as the CEO of SDCC. They accused this Facebook page of spreading misinformation regarding Part 8. We will stand over everything that was posted on this Facebook page.The group also pointed out that, with the number of parking spaces included for removal as part of BusConnects, up to 40 spaces would be removed.Misinformation But the Facebook page does seem to have repeatedly posted misinformation.The page has posted links to a petition which claims: The proposed enhancements may seem appealing at first glance, but they come with serious drawbacks. Under these plans, all business and resident parking bays will be removed, and the roads will be restricted solely to buses and bicycles. This approach could potentially split our village in two, creating barriers for local businesses, residents, and visitors.But it is untrue to claim that roads will be restricted solely to buses and bicycles. Through traffic will not be able to rat run via Main Street, but access for private motorists and deliveries will be maintained. And while detailed design and planning are ongoing, objectors may be on safer ground claiming parking bays on the public street are to be removed, no private or business-owned parking bays are to be removed, so it is misleading to claim all all business and resident parking bays will be removed.A post last week implied that the NTA did not support the scheme after it was made clear that they do. When contacted by this website, a spokesperson for the NTA said: Following discussions with the Council Executive, the NTA is satisfied that the Council will develop the Tallaght Village Enhancement Scheme through the remaining design stages in conformity with the Tallaght/Clondalkin to City Centre Core Bus Corridor (CBC) Scheme, which forms part of the overall BusConnects Dublin programme.The NTA also confirmed that the removal of that parking on Old Greenhills Road is included in the BusConnects CBC, for which they have planning approval.As another example, when Cllr Jess Spear appeared on RTE News speaking about the project, she mentioned places for children to play. The Save Tallaght Village page posted a clip of the councillor speaking and said: More fake news There is nothing in the Part 8 about a childrens play area. There is a proposed teen space that is completely different.But the council officials have outlined how the plan includes incidental play areas for children, and, in any case, teenagers under 18 are also children. Incidental play areas are not playgroups but rather informal spaces designed where children can play in public spaces. The group also shared the video claiming Puffin crossings are less safe than the standard signalised pedestrian crossings used in Ireland, known as Pelican crossings, but as covered last week research shows otherwise.Back in April, when the decision on the Part 8 plan was postponed, the group also said: They are expecting a new design then in June which they can push through with out consultation with all the stakeholders. However, this is a misrepresentation of the Part 8 process the new design is part of the Part 8 process and was developed based on feedback from the public and groups. But even when feedback is acted on, the group has taken issue with that. In a post today, the group said: We dont trust you, as you didnt listen to us. and then tagged councillors and said: you were both ok with the crossings until it was pointed out to you that they were not fit for purpose. Isnt that why you included them in your amendment?It is also unclear which page/s councillors were referring to regarding misinformation. At least some amount of misinformation was also posted on the Tallaght Community Council Facebook page. The group yesterday shared a post from Cllr Linda de Courcy (Independent Ireland) whos known, amongst other things, for posting a conspiracy theory that Brennans bread has become halal certified. In the post, Cllr de Courcy claimed that she lives in the real world, not La La land or some non-existent green utopia.She said because of this she could not support the proposal to remove vehicular traffic AND parking spaces from Tallaghts Main Street and replace this with a bus lane at last Mondays council meeting. But there is no proposal or plan to remove vehicular traffic or put in a bus lane to replace it car access is to be maintained to all car parks around Main Street.