Garrycastle GAA land issue raised at council meeting

A plot of land at the rear of FAS in Garrycastle should be transferred to the GAA club there as soon as possible, a local councillor has stated. At last week"s Athlone Area meeting of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Frankie Keena put forward the following motion: 'Under a previous agreement by this council to dispose of a landlocked plot of land to the rear of FAS to Garrycastle GAA club, I am now requesting that as much as possible of this land be disposed immediately to this club and the remainder following the completion of the traffic management proposals in the area.' In its response, the council stated that it would seek to have the road proposals for the area finalised as soon as possible. 'In the meantime, if Garrycastle GAA club require a particular portion of the lands to execute a particular project, then they should document their requirements and those will be considered by the Council Roads Section,' it said. Cllr Keena commented at the meeting that this issue had been ongoing for eight years. 'Youngsters playing for the club - they don"t wait for things to happen. They need training facilities and I think we should move on this and help this club,' he said. Council Director of Services Barry Kehoe replied that 'if the club has a particular need for a corner of a training pitch then let them put it on a map and I will take a look at it.' A related motion put forward by Cllr Keena asked 'that the council again open discussions with the National Roads Authority (NRA) to examine ways of alleviating the traffic congestion on the off-ramps from the motorway to the Garrycastle interchange and also the traffic congestion on the Moydrum road at the same location.' The council responded by stating that the Westmeath National Road Design office had commissioned a report on this interchange in 2007 and the draft report was completed. 'However, the NRA has decided to hold this report for further review following the opening of the M6 from Kilbeggan to Athlone. As this section has been operational for more than three months, the council has formally asked the NRA to finalise the report and bring it to this (Athlone Area) committee,' the council said.