Athlone Town Council set for the chop

Athlone Town Council is set for the chop as part of controversial new reforms of the system of local government, revealed today by Minister Phil Hogan. The Environment Minister is proposing the abolition of all 80 town councils across the country, including Athlone, Ballinasloe, Tullamore and Mullingar. In their place will be municipal districts within county councils, with councillors elected to the municipal districts in the first instance and then sitting on the county council. An electoral review will determine whether Athlone will become part of Westmeath County Council or Roscommon County Council, but it would appear the likelihood will be that it will be part of Westmeath County Council and the Monksland area, located in county Roscommon could become part of the Athlone Municipal District, governed by Westmeath County Council. The report stated that municipal districts will be based around principle towns and key urban centres. The Minister's report, brought before Cabinet on Monday, states that in cases such as Athlone, which is located on the Roscommon/Westmeath border "suitable agency arrangements or service level agreements should be implemented to ensure that one authority has responsibility for all functions (including development plans) and services throughout the entire area of the town, notwithstanding county boundaries". It is expected that the number of councillors in Westmeath will be reduced from 23 to 21, with the five electoral areas becoming three municipal districts with seven representatives elected to each area. It is planned to have the changes in place for the 2014 local elections. For in-depth coverage of the changes planned for the local government system and reaction from current councillors, check out Wednesday's bumper Westmeath Independent.