Council to seek new planning approval for Railway Field Road
Westmeath County Council is to seek fresh planning permission for the long-delayed Railway Field Road in Athlone, it has emerged.
The town centre road, from the Crescent junction to St Vincent's Care Centre, is seen as a key plank in the council's traffic system for Athlone.
First raised almost 20 years ago, the road has been beset by difficulties, most recently over protracted negotiations between the council and CIE, which owned land at the Railway Field.
The realignment of The Crescent junction in 2007, around the time the Athlone Towncentre opened, was regarded as the first phase of the Railway Field Road development. Agreement was reached at the end of 2018 with CIE over a deal.
Now, however, it appears there will be another delay as the council is to publish revised plans for the road and seek public views under the Part 8 planning procedure which facilitates bodies such as local authorities to obtain planning approval for their own development projects.
The council, in a reply to a question on the issue by Cllr Jamie Moran, has confirmed that after a review of the existing planning approval for the project it had concluded that it would be prudent to undertake a new planning process.
The council said this new planning process would commence within the next six weeks.
The previous planning permission for the project dates back to 2004.
The Westmeath Independent previously revealed that, even though ground has not yet been broken on its construction, the council had already spent more than €6.5 million on the road project by May 2019.
In a written reply to Cllr Moran last week, the council said: “Having considered the Part 8 consent for this road, which was undertaken in 2004, and having consulted with the Traffic Section, the Planning Section and our consultants, we have concluded that it would be prudent to undertake a new Planning process.
“This is due to the changes in planning legislation in the meantime, the subsequent finalisation of the accommodation works for CIE and the necessary changes to the design of the scheme to make better provision for cyclists and public transport. It is intended that this process would be commenced within the next six weeks.
The decision to review the existing planning approval for the road was first indicated at a council meeting in September.
At that meeting, the council's director of services, Barry Kehoe, indicated that the review had been prompted by the length of time which passed since the original planning process for the road.
"What I've asked the road design section and the consultant to do is confirm that all the necessary consents are in place for us to carry out the project, and that they're sufficiently robust," said Mr Kehoe.
"That's the process that is underway, because since 2005 various standards would have changed in terms of environmental considerations and so on.
"I wanted them to make sure that the project is robust and that, if we need any further assessments or further approvals, they are in place before we go to tender."