Athlone councillors to meet this week on 576-home Lissywollen plan
Athlone-area councillors are holding a special meeting this week to prepare their submission to An Bord Pleanala on the largest housing development ever proposed in the town.
The special meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District to discuss the 576-unit Alanna Roadbridge development in Lissywollen will take place by video conference at 4pm on Wednesday (March 24).
The views of the elected members at the meeting will be compiled to form their collective submission on the plan, though councillors will also have the option of making their own individual submissions to the planning authority.
The planning application from the developer went to An Bord Pleanala under the strategic housing development process last month. March 30 is the deadline for submissions on it.
The project would see 285 houses and 291 apartments being created on a 17.6 hectare site next to the existing Brawny houses in the townlands of Lissywollen, Kilnafaddoge and Retreat, and partially traversing the townlands of Curragh and Cloghanboy.
Two creches and a 'community hub' building are also included in the proposals.
Among the existing local residents, the most controversial element of the project is the new access road through the development which would connect the Ballymahon Road roundabout, at the Athlone Regional Sports Centre, with the Garrycastle roundabout.
Earlier this month, residents' group The Brawny Homes Association called for the planning application to be withdrawn. It argued that the plans, particularly in relation to the design of the new road, differed from those which its sub-committee, the Brawny Liaison Committee, was shown during consultation meetings late last year.
The tallest building in the plans would rise to five storeys, and the developer has admitted that the project may be in breach of local area guidelines on housing density and building heights.
However, Alanna - Roadbridge urged An Bord Pleanála to approve it on the basis that it's of "both strategic and national importance" in helping Athlone become "a regional growth centre" in line with long-term Government strategy.
An Bord Pleanala's decision on the project is due by June 15.