Tidy Towns report finds Connaught Street "needs some investment"

While the core centre of Athlone was “thriving with little or no dereliction” when adjudicators from the national Tidy Towns organisation visited on June 9 last, they noted the clear need for "some investment" on the Connaught side of the town.

The detailed report, which examines the town under a number of headings, including community; sustainability; tidiness and litter control and approach roads, streets and lanes, concluded that Athlone is now in “a great time of change” with a lot of investment underway “that is potentially transformative” and urged the local Tidy Towns group to “keep up the great work” over the coming year.

While the Connaught side of the town was “a hive of activity” with many “great bars and restaurants to choose from” particularly in the vicinity of Athlone Castle, the adjudicator said it was “clear” that Connaught Street itself “needs some investment” despite the presence of “many fine businesses” operating there. “The challenge now is to reimagine the street and develop a new identity for it,” the report noted.

The adjudicator said it was their firm belief that the way forward for Connaught Street is for “a mix of housing” comprising of social, private and rental as a means of revitalising the area. The report also noted the presence of a Derelict Site Order on one of the vacant properties on Connaught Street and expressed the hope that such interventions “will be of some benefit.”

In sharp contrast, the adjudicator found the Leinster side of Athlone to be “vibrant, with plenty of independent shops operating” and lots of people out shopping in both Golden Island and Athlone Town Centre.

The presence of a number of interesting monuments, including one at the old burial ground in Connaught Gardens, the obelisk remembering those who lost their lives on the Shannon and the sculpture in St Mary's Square “all add interest to the town” the report said.

Despite being such a large town, the adjudicator found Athlone to be “generally litter free” and accepted that the Tidy Towns group had “greatly contributed” to this. While the Bottle Bank in Connaught Street was litter free “the bottle bank themselves could do with a good wash” and the presence of one new solar litter bin was also noted.

Under the sustainability heading, the adjudicator praised the fact that Athlone has the first fully electric bus system in the country and also noted the “cheap and extremely accessible” bike hire system in operation in the town.

The nature and biodiversity category in the national Supervalu Tidy Towns competition is “potentially a strong category” for Athlone, said the report, due to the fact that the town has “one of the most important freshwater systems in Ireland” in the river Shannon.

“The investment by Uisce Éireann will greatly reduce pollution into the river system, ” the report stated, while the work of the local Tidy Towns group in protecting bees was also noted.

"The use of bait boxes is very innovative and more importantly it seems to be working with all enjoying the honey as a fruit of the bees' labour!”