Published: Wednesday, 28th July, 2010 6:00pm

Local government cutback plans could strangle Athlone area

A diminishing role for Athlone Town Council as well as the merger of Westmeath County Council with Longford County Council and Roscommon County Council with Mayo County Council could be on the cards if the recommendations of the Local Government Efficiency Group get the go ahead.

The group published its report on Friday of last week, July 23, outlining its recommendations for savings the Government could make.

If the recommendations receive approval Athlone Town Council could lose many of its powers, handing over certain areas of responsibility to the county council, such as responsibility for planning, roads and housing functions. The group also recommends that town councils should lose their rateable powers, with commercial rates to be set instead by county councils. At present Athlone Town Council receives half its income from commercial rates.

However, perhaps even more detrimental for the Athlone area would be the amalgamation of Westmeath County Council with Longford County Council and Roscommon County Council with Mayo County Council, meaning many of the decisions made regarding the Monksland area could well be made from an office in Castlebar, Mayo's county town, while on the Westmeath side decisions would be made from County Buildings in Mullingar, or indeed, Longford, something that already is a bone of contention for many Athlone councillors.

The thinking behind the amalgamation of 20 local authorities nationwide is to reduce cost in cutting the number of county managers by a third while also reducing the number of directors of services by 10%.