Council to undertake maintenance works at Coosan Point amenity

Westmeath County Council will investigate the current state of Coosan Point and will undertake general maintenance works there in the coming weeks. These works will include repairs to or the removal of damaged fencing on the northern edge of the car park, removal or repair of existing signage and repairs to damaged play equipment in the playground. Speaking at a recent meeting of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Aengus O'Rourke raised the issue, saying that there was a need for enhancement works in Coosan.

“There are a number of groups who use that area widely, swimming groups, fishing groups and people who obviously visit their families as well and so on and the need is there certainly for enhancement and we've kind of faltered a little bit in relation to getting a plan together for it,” stated Cllr O'Rourke.

He added that he was making the case for this motion on foot of meetings that he's had with residents in Coosan for remedial works to be carried out in advance of any large scale works.

The Fianna Fáil councillor said: “I'm very happy with the response to the motion that at least some spring cleaning would be carried out and some necessary remedial works out there as well.” However, he added that he didn’t want this work to take away from the main enhancement works that the local authority is planning and that they’ve asked for consultants to work on.

Cllr John Dolan supported the motion and said that Coosan was always a really popular place but that the amenity needs to be presentable. He also said that they need a timeframe for the completion of the works.

Cllr Frankie Keena added that the consultants’ work was “vitally important” but that they had to remember the residents living in the area when carrying out works.

Cllr Paul Hogan fully supported the motion and welcomed the response given by the executive. He asked if the council had looked at other grant schemes to leverage other funding in terms of outdoor recreation.

“I will certainly look forward to the publication of the consultants report in consultation obviously with residents and stakeholders out there.”

Cllr Hogan asked the council officials to comment on the possibility of bathing being restricted at Coosan Point in the future. “I would certainly have some concerns with restrictions based on that because as I said, it is a major amenity and I certainly want to see works carried out if there are issues there after the works carried out in advance of peak season so that that facility and amenity can be used by all in Athlone over the summer period.”

Mayor of the district, Cllr Louise Heavin said that she agreed with everything that the members had said. “I agree that we haven’t had focus on Coosan Point enough. It is our water amenity, we are on the water here in Athlone.”

The Green Party councillor said that the council applied to get bathing water status there, but they were refused because it's unsafe for a variety of reasons. “It's important that while we still have people bathing there every day, every week, nearly all of the year that we focus on delivering a cohesive plan and implement it ASAP.”

District Manager Willie Ryan said the motion was a good suggestion. “The amenity is in good shape generally speaking. There’s some obvious flaws that can be addressed with little or no cost. He added that there was a consultants’ framework in place.”

He said that unfortunately, the council hasn’t yet tendered on the works but that it will be “imminent.”

“In relation to the designated bathing area that will fall under the enhancement plan, that will obviously be a part of stakeholder discussions around the facility. It’s not a designated bathing area but people do bathe there,” he concluded.