The Mayor of Athlone Councillor John Dolan.

Major €3 million Church Street project delayed after mistake by council

PLANS TO rejuvenate Church Street in Athlone, at a cost of €3 million, have been delayed after an embarrassing mistake by Westmeath County Council, it has just emerged.

The council did not erect a site notice on the street, as is required under planning regulations, in advance of commencing the planning process for the work on the street.

The council had issued details of the project on its website, inviting submissions before next Wednesday, February 1. However as it did not meet all of the requirements under the regulations, it will now have to recommence the process as that which has been ongoing since late last year is now invalid. It means that the deadline for submissions from those with views on the project will now be put back by two months.

As part of the proposal for the Church Street Enhancement Works, the traffic flow would change from the current two-way system to a one-way westbound flow along Church Street. The council has received European funding of €1.5 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is to match this from its own finances.

A statement issued by the council this lunchtime stated: “Due to an administrative oversight, Westmeath County Council must recommence the Part 8 planning process for the Enhancement Works to Church Street, Athlone. The particular issue is that a site notice was not erected on the street, as required under the Planning and Development Regulations 2001.”

The statement added: “A new public notice will be published next week and site notices will be erected. The Council apologises for any inconvenience or confusion this matter has caused.”

The Mayor of Athlone Municipal District John Dolan said while it was regrettable mistake, “at least it was spotted now”.

“It shows that the council are subject to the laws of the land like everybody else. It's only right that the process is followed,” he said.

He said that people who have lodged submissions to the council will have to resubmit once the new process gets underway next week, after which the new public notice and site notices are issued.

Traders along Church Street are opposed to the change in the traffic flow to the current two-way system to a one-way and have held a number of meetings about it in recent weeks. They say that the change in traffic flow will lead to traffic backlogs around the Crescent Junction and that people will do their shopping in other towns, in an effort to avoid traffic chaos, leading to potential business closures.

Councillors are meeting with traders on Friday evening to discuss the project.