Concern as ‘huge chunk’ of Burgess Park to close

A large section of Athlone's main public amenity, Burgess Park, is to be closed to the public for a number of years, it has emerged.

It follows a decision by Westmeath County Council on Monday to lease over 9,000 square metres of council-owned land in Burgess Park to contractors Ward & Burke Construction Ltd, for use as a temporary working area and machine depot.

The exact timescale of the licensed agreement for the six plot of lands in Burgess Park involved is not clear as the lease extends for the unspecified duration of the works by Uisce Éireann (formerly Irish Water)

It is in addition to other lands in the area already secured either by compulsory purchase or license agreement by Uisce Éireann.

“It’s a huge chunk of our park area in the heart of Athlone,” Westmeath County Council cathaoirleach Cllr Aengus O'Rourke told Monday's monthly meeting.

Whilst he warmly welcomed the huge investment in Athlone, Cllr O'Rourke said the transfer of land in Burgess Park represented a “surrender of a prime park in the centre of town.”

Cllr Paul Hogan, who formally voted against the transfer of the land to Uisce Eireann, said he believed there were alternative temporary sites that could be used for machinery depots. He also highlighted existing traffic congestion in the Golden Island area.

However, Director of Services Barry Kehoe pointed out that Uisce Eireann has gone through the planning process and also secured necessary compulsory purchase orders and wayleaves through An Bord Pleanala.

He said the six plots of land sought by Uisce Eireann would have been out of commission to the public during the works in any event.

“It's land that essentially won't be available to the public over the next couple of years as it will be a construction site,”

Stating that there wasn't an additional landbank that could be used, he said: “This will facilitate the safe and expeditious construction of the project and the land would be out of public use in any case.

Uisce Éireann has previously stated that the €114m project is scheduled to be completed in late 2025.

It will involve works at multiple locations across Athlone including: Golden Island, West Bank (The Quay), West Side, Abbey Road, Coosan West, The Strand, Burgess Park, Payne's Lane, and under the River Shannon.

Uisce Éireann told this paper recently that work at Deerpark Road and the Canal Bank junction is pencilled in for the first quarter of this year. This is then to be followed by works on both sides of the river, including at Burgess Park and Golden Island.

Two separate tunnelled crossings under the Shannon are due to be constructed as part of the project, along with new pumping stations at Golden Island and Coosan West, and almost three kilometres of new sewers.

The work is due to finally address the longstanding problem of sewage flowing into the River Shannon in Athlone during times of heavy rainfall.

The project is likely to result in significant traffic and other disruption

However, Uisce Éireann has stressed that it will making a particular effort to reduce disruption.

A tunnelling method is set to be used for the installation of some of the new wastewater pipelines in the town, rather than using open-cut trenches.

It said the project will have a full time Community Liaison Officer in place, who will be "on the ground to deal with any queries or concerns from the public and local businesses," and will attempt to resolve any issues that arise.

Uisce Éireann said its long-planned investment would bring an improvement in the water quality of the River Shannon, and would facilitate the "future growth and development" of Athlone.