‘Show us the plan’

Members of Athlone Moate Municipal District joined forces this week in a bid to obtain details of the long-awaited plan for the regeneration of Athlone's west side.

Councillors expressed disappointment that the finalised report of the Athlone Urban Design & Regeneration Framework Plan, which had been expected before the May meeting of the municipal district, was not on the agenda for discussion.

Turley Consultants were appointed by Westmeath County Council over three years ago to come up with what was described at the time as “a visionary, ambitious and creative” design masterplan to map out Athlone's future development as a growth centre for the Midlands.

This was to include a blueprint for the future of the westside of Athlone

The project was designed to complement a number of successful regeneration initiative undertaken in Athlone, including the regeneration of Church Street and environs, and was also required to address years of urban decline on the west side of the town by implementing a suite of proposals for the regeneration of Connaught Street and a number of adjoining streets.

The west side regeneration plan would see the area being transformed into a vibrant tourism and cultural quarter, but despite the fact that funding was awarded to Westmeath County Council in November 2018 from the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) to support the preparation of masterplans and feasibility studies for an Athlone Tourism Cultural Quarter on the west bank of the Shannon, no plan for the area has yet been made public.

Acting Director of Services Ambrose Clarke explained to Monday's municipal district meeting that “due to circumstances beyond control” it was not possible to bring the finalised plan before the meeting “The Executive Summary is nearly there, but not quite yet, as it has not been completed and signed off,” he added.

He suggested that the issue be discussed at an online 'in-committee' meeting of the council later this month, which resulted in objections from a number of councillors, including Cllr Frankie Keena, who said there was “considerable public interest” in the contents of the plan. “People want to know what's in this plan and if we are going to hold a meeting behind closed doors I think we should leave it up to the next council to look at this,” he suggested.

An 'in-committee' meeting is one which is held behind closed doors with no members of the press in attendance to record proceedings.

Cllr Keena asked if there was “any reason” as to why the council would want to exclude the public from a meeting on the Framework Plan, while Cllr Aengus O'Rourke said he would also prefer to see “an open meeting” and added that an online meeting behind closed doors would “not deliver for the people on the west side of Athlone.”

In a bid to diffuse the situation, Cllr Paul Hogan proposed that an 'in-committee' meeting be held first, to be followed by an open meeting, and this was seconded by Cllr Frankie Keena.

Councillors eventually agreed to participate in an online 'in-committee' meeting to discuss the Urban Framework Plan for Athlone at 9am on Thursday, May 23 next, to be followed by an online normal meeting at 10am. The finalised plan is expected to be made available for scrutiny by members of the public at an Open Forum day at a later stage.

Mayor Louise Heavin strongly expressed her opinion that the long-awaited regeneration plan for Athlone “needs to be out in the public domain” particularly in view of the fact that the council have been talking about it “for the past three years.”

“I still need to see the plans, designs, drawings and everything else related to this urban framework plan at a face to face meeting,” agreed Cllr O'Rourke.

Cllr O'Rourke had been told at the February meeting of the municipal district that a hard copy of the plans for the regeneration of the west side of Athlone would be made available in early March.

A written response from the council executive in February confirmed that the plan was undergoing “final review and edits” and was due to be finalised “in early March.”

Earlier this month, a Westmeath County Council meeting in Mullingar was informed that the item would be on the agenda of the Athlone meeting in May.