Work set to begin on Athlone's largest housing project

Construction work on the largest housing development ever to be planned in the Athlone area is due to get underway early in 2025.

After a series of delays over recent years, an agreement was finally concluded last week between Westmeath County Council and developer Alanna Homes in relation to the 576-unit estate in the Lissywollen area of the town.

When complete, the project is due to accommodate more than 1,500 residents across a 17.6 hectare development site.

The 576 homes, which include 174 social housing units, as well as two creches, are to be situated next to the existing housing in Brawny, to the east of the Athlone Town football stadium and the Scoil na gCeithre Máistrí gaelscoil.

The council had been in the final stage of discussions with developer Alanna Homes for several months, as the legalities of the agreement were being finalised.

That process formally concluded with the signing of a contract between the two parties in Mullingar on Monday, December 16.

In a statement the council said the development, which will be called 'Plovers Wood, Kilnafaddoge' was now due to begin construction "in early 2025".

The first phase of the work is to involve the creation of a new link road through the development site, which would connect the Ballymahon Road roundabout with the Garrycastle roundabout.

Planning permission for the new housing has been in place since June 2021, when An Bord Pleanála concluded that the development would have "significant direct positive effects" on Athlone due to the increase in housing stock which it would bring.

The start of construction was severely delayed, however, when the Roadbridge construction group, which was part of the original development consortium for the project, became insolvent in 2022.

Athlone Mayor Cllr Frankie Keena welcomed last week's contract signing, saying: "This is the biggest housing development ever in the Midlands region.

"On completion it will be of major benefit in helping to reduce the high demand for housing in the Athlone area.

"There will be a choice of private, affordable and social housing on offer. The site itself is strategic, close to the town centre, services and schools," said Cllr Keena.

"The construction of the through road will be carried out first, and the developer has confirmed with me that they will work closely at all times with residents living in Brawny and the school management in Scoil Na gCeithre Máistrí.

"I have also been informed that the construction of the houses will start on the Garrycastle end and continue westwards," added the Athlone Mayor.

"I would like to thank council chief executive Barry Kehoe, director of services Jackie Finney, and all our capital housing team for their ongoing work to getting this major housing development over the line.

"I also would like to extend every good wish to Alanna Homes. It is my understanding that they will be launching these houses in the new year."

Westmeath County Council said the development "will be one of the largest of its kind in Westmeath," and it hailed the contract signing last week as "a significant milestone".

Council Cathaoirleach Liam McDaniel said: "Westmeath County Council are delighted to announce this large mixed-tenure development, in conjunction with Alanna Homes.

"This project will go a long way to bring much needed homes to families and individuals in the Athlone area in the coming months and years."

A website for the new housing - ploverswood.ie - describes it as "a stylish new development of houses and duplexes," which is "coming soon".

Prospective homeowners are encouraged to register their interest on the website, which states that their details will be passed on to estate agent Sherry FitzGerald.

At last week's monthly meeting of Westmeath County Council the contract signing was welcomed by Cllr Keena, while Cllr Paul Hogan also praised and thanked the council's chief executive and director of housing, saying this would be a "fantastic scheme" that would provide "much-needed houses to meet the demand".

Chief executive Barry Kehoe said a lot of work had been carried out in the background in order to make the contract signing a reality.

"It's taken a huge amount of work to get it to this point, and I'd like to thank the Director for Housing and all the team in housing for the work they've put into this scheme over many years to get it to a point where we were ready to sign the contract, and to thank our legal advisors, the project board, and then to thank the contractor as well for their engagement with us over that period to get to a satisfactory agreement for all concerned," he said.

"So hopefully that scheme will go well for everybody and we'll get units into use as early in 2025 as we possibly can."

The development is being supported by the Department of Housing, Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) for the delivery of the access road, the Department of Housing (Social Housing Investment Programme) and the Housing Agency.

The council added that the housing development was "a key project in the Westmeath Housing Delivery Action Plan under the Government’s Housing For All Plan and Project 2040."