Frustration over delays in revamp plans for Athlone's westside

There is growing frustration on Athlone's westside over delays in publishing a long-awaited regeneration plan for the Connaught Street and environs area of Athlone.

Five years on from funding being awarded for the development of proposals for a regeneration project on Athlone's westside, including Connaught Street, no plan has yet been forthcoming.

In November 2018, Westmeath County Council was awarded funding from the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund to support the preparation of masterplans and feasibility studies for an Athlone Tourism Cultural Quarter, the Loughanaskin Urban Quarter, and the expansion of the Athlone town centre regeneration into Irishtown.

The latter project is under construction, and the plan for Loughanaskin (former St Mel's Terrace area) has recently been published.

However, recently, it emerged that there would be no standalone plan for the Connaught Street and environs area, and instead it would be subsumed within a joint urban area plan for the town of Athlone which is being prepared by Westmeath and Roscommon County Councils.

The delays have prompted a local community group representing residents and traders on Connaught Street to prepare to publish their own regeneration plan for the west side of Athlone.

Tim Dowling, a local architect and member of the Connaught Street Traders, Residents and Environs Committee, confirmed last week that the group is currently working on its own “visionary plan” for the area which it expects to publish “by early February.”

Mr Dowling said there is “huge frustration” at what he described as the lack of urgency by Westmeath County Council in publishing a long-awaited regeneration plan for the area.

“We have been waiting, waiting and waiting for anything tangible to be put before us, but all we have seen so far is a draft plan which contained no detail at all,” he said.

Referring to the Loughanaskin Regeneration Plan, Mr Dowling said it had been “turned around very quickly” and the community of Connnaught Street and environs “are deeply disappointed” at the slow pace of progress for their own area.

This has prompted them to produce their own plans, and they have also formed a limited company which has placed a bid on four derelict properties on Connaught Street currently being offered for sale by Westmeath County Council.

Mr Dowling added that the local community is also “deeply frustrated” at the broad nature of the plans being prepared for the west side of Athlone, and is fearful that the core issues facing the area will not be addressed as part of a broader framework plan for urban regeneration.

“We need to try to find a substantive way forward, and we are hoping to do this by publishing our own plan for Connaught St, O'Connell Street and other areas across the west side of Athlone” he said.

He added that the Connaught Street community group was “always willing” to work with the local authority, but that this cannot be done unless the council “engage in meaningful conversation and consultation with the people who will be most affected”.

In a presentation given to local councillors last month, it was outlined how Connaught Street and its redevelopment would now be considered a 'focus area' within the 'Athlone Tourism and Cultural Quarter' section of a new 'Athlone Urban Design and Framework Plan' - a plan that itself would "inform the new Joint Urban Area Plan for Athlone" for 2024-2030.

Councillors were told that the council's aims for the Connaught Street area would include 'revitalising' its architectural fabric, tackling dereliction, supporting a 'day and night economy', 'fostering creative expression', and encouraging town centre living.

The new Joint Urban Area Plan for Athlone, being developed by Westmeath and Roscommon County Councils, which is effectively a new local development plan or town plan for Athlone, is unlikely to be approved until September 2024, however, as the pre-draft consultation process only began last week.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke admitted he was “somewhat disappointed” at this news, but said he and fellow councillors have been told that the proposals for the west side including Connaught Street were always intended to be part of the joint urban area plan.

He said he understood the area would have its own chapter in the new joint urban area plan.

“The fact that it was included in the urban area plan, that has led to the delays,” he said. “If it was a single standalone plan, then we would have seen it by now.”

Cllr O'Rourke said the foundation of the Connaught Street Traders, Residents and Environs Committee was “one of the most significant things” to happen during the last few years.

He said the group “has the bit between their teeth and is pushing the council”.

“It's all very well councillors pushing the council, but when we are backed by a local group of stakeholders things always begin to happen.”

Cllr O'Rourke said the regeneration team in the council has been working on plans for the westside of Athlone.

“There are a lot of things in the pipeline,” he said, adding that 2024 would see work on the ground in the vicinity of Athlone Castle and Market Square.