Plaza and rainwater garden among Moate Town Team goals

A rainwater garden and the creation of a community plaza are just two of the plans that Moate Town Team hopes to bring to fruition for the town.

Tasked with regenerating Moate, Moate Town Team was established in late 2023 under a government scheme as a pilot project in Westmeath.

The idea of the scheme is to tackle dereliction and regenerate town centres and while Moate was the first town selected in Westmeath, it has since been joined by Castlepollard, Kilbeggan and Kinnegad.

There has been a lot of work behind the scenes in the intervening time period, but it is only now that the committee behind the initiative feels there is tangible evidence of that hard work. Many of the buildings on the town's main street, including the old post office, have undergone a facelift, with the Town Team organising for them to be painted. There are also plans to finish out the painting on both sides of the road this year and next.

Before the end of the summer, the group hopes to erect heritage signs on the eight approach roads to the town and have a website - www.moate.ie - up and running.

Street furniture and benches will also be purchased and there are plans for the development of two areas at either end of the town - The Harbour area opposite The Tanyard and the area beside Nick Cooney's Harp (at the junction with Station Road).

Chairman of Moate Town Team Nick Linnane said: "We're going to spend, before the end of 2025/early 2026, about €120,000, including what we've already spent on the painting.

"Then we're also applying this week for additional funding from 2026 onwards of, we hope €300,000, which will go some way towards finishing the painting in the town, the development of the two areas potentially, fees associated with that and ongoing work of the Tidy Towns," he explained.

Moate Town Team works in conjunction with all of the groups in the town and many of the committee members sit on other committees in the town, such as Moate Tidy Towns, Moate Railway Group, sporting organisations and residents' associations.

In relation to the plans at The Harbour area, vice-chairman Turlough O'Brien explained that the group hopes to create a rainwater garden at this location.

"The whole idea is that it was seen as a problem area. There was always flooding down there, so we thought how we could address this and that seemed to be the natural solution," said.

Committee member John Galvin, who is also chairman of Moate Tidy Towns, added that the group had been looking at developing the area and last year were discussing this with Cathal Flood of LAWPRO (Local Authorities Water Programme) when he suggested that it would be the ideal position for a rainwater garden, which would help to alleviate flooding at that particular spot.

"It's the lowest point in the town. The river that goes through the town divides the diocese and parish at that particular point," explained John. "He felt it would be an ideal position to filter the surface water from the streets, from both ends of the street into the river and it will be planted with suitable planting. "We're at the initial stages of planning for this and we're applying for funding and working with architects to draw up a proper plan for it. We also hope to have some form of sculpture in that position."

At the opposite end of the town, on The Harp site, Station Road, the group envisages the establishment of a communal area.

John explains this would be: "A large plaza area to have for events like St Patrick's Day, the turning on of the Christmas lights, festivals, anything like that. It would also help with traffic calming in that there would be ramps there and just to make the town more pedestrian-friendly because there can be a lot of traffic going through the town at high speed.

"These are at very initial stages, drawings have to be worked on, and funding has to be sourced, but this is a vision that we have for either side of the town," he said.

Another project the group is undertaking is the establishment of a website, which PRO Shane Lynam explains will be up and running before the end of the summer.

“It's primarily to give us a digital footprint. If somebody is looking for something to do on their trip to the Midlands, that Moate pops up first, because we've got so much going on here, and they don't miss out. I volunteer in Dún na Sí at the moment and the amount of people who visit, maybe from Mullingar or Longford and they say they didn't know it was here. So, we want to be searchable and bring people into Moate.”

Moate Town Team is also working closely with Moate Railway Group to deliver a €400,000 project which will see work carried out on the footbridge at the railway station.

Turlough, who is a member of both committees, explained that €180,000 has been earmarked for the footbridge, which is of historical importance and will be revamped and made safe.

"That will be a huge addition to the aesthetics of the station," he said.

The group also hopes to open a community office at the old fire station building in the next 15 to 18 months, which will open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and will carry out a lot of the admin work associated with grant application for the various groups, as well as providing a home for Moate Town Team. The committee thanked the Carmelite Centre for the use of its facilities for meetings until it has its own office.

And while these are the immediate aims of the group, chairman Nick Linnane explained: "The plan was a vision and every year circumstances will dictate that the vision changes somewhat. As an example, when we were initially drafting the plan, Aldi wasn't on anybody's radar, so that wasn't part of the plan."

He added that the plan is fluid and will adapt to meet the needs of the community.