Major overhaul of Athlone's Traveller housing site planned

Westmeath County Council is seeking planning approval for a multi-million euro overhaul of Traveller housing at the Blackberry Lane site in Lissywollen, Athlone.

The plans would include the demolition of all of the current dwellings at Blackberry Lane, which would be replaced by 41 new single-storey homes developed over four phases.

Discussions with residents and local representatives on an upgrade of the Blackberry Lane site have been taking place for several years now, and its redevelopment was one of the key objectives listed in the council's Draft Traveller Accommodation Programme for 2025-2029.

The council said initial funding of some €18 million towards the upgrade of the site was approved by the Department of Housing in 2022.

Four years on, the project has now taken a step forward with the council announcing this week that it's seeking approval for the work under the so-called 'Part 8' process which is used by local authorities to secure approval for their own developments.

According to the plans, the work on site would see "the demolition of existing day units, dwellings and concrete hardstanding areas" and the construction of 41 "single-storey dwellings in four phases, along with all associated site development works including temporary access routes, temporary serviced hardstanding areas, and the partial realignment and extension of the existing estate road".

The new housing units would include an initial phase of 10 semi-detached dwellings, which would be a mixture of four-bed, three-bed, and two-bed units.

This would be followed by three more phases of 13, 11, and 7 dwellings, which would be constructed in a variety of four, three, and two-bedroom configurations.

The council said the development had undergone Appropriate Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment screening, and that "no likely significant effects" on the environment had been identified.

The plans are due to be made available for inspection online - at consult.westmeathcoco.ie/en - from this Saturday, June 20, and they will then be open to public submissions until Tuesday, August 4, at 4pm.

Westmeath County Council's Draft Traveller Accommodation Programme for 2025-2029 stated that the local authority, "with the continued agreement of the residents on site" was working to progress plans for the refurbishment and upgrade of Blackberry Lane in order to "deliver permanent group housing" at the site.

"Agreement was reached with the residents of Blackberry Lane for the upgrade of the site to replace permanent and transient bays with group housing," stated the local authority.

The council outlined the approval, in 2022, of an €18 million allocation from the Department of Housing and said "ongoing consultation" had been taking place with the residents in subsequent years to discuss the details of the redevelopment project.

During the five-year period between 2019 and 2024, some €680,656 was spent by Westmeath County Council on the management and maintenance of its halting sites and group housing at Blackberry Lane and St Michael's Park in Mullingar.