Council outlines plans for 32 new homes beside canal
Westmeath County Council is planning to build a 32-unit housing development on a site overlooking the Royal Canal near the Springfield tunnel.
A detailed update on how the planning for the project is progressing was given to members of the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District at their monthly meeting in Mullingar on Monday last by council architect Paul Hogan, who said the council’s intention was to initiate the Part VIII planning process within the coming four weeks.
The ‘Corn Mill’ apartment development will be six storeys in height at its highest point, but will have two floors below canal level and two or three above canal level, Mr Hogan explained.
The development is to be constructed in the Corn Mill/Friars Mill Road area as part of the regeneration of the Canal Avenue surroundings and also as part of the Rebuilding Ireland plan.
Mr Hogan said that in the design an attempt has been made to give an ‘urban edge’ to the canal. Challenges the planners have been attempting to deal with include the need for a sense of security and to eliminate potential antisocial behaviour; and the means of effecting access to the site, especially from The Friars Mill Road side.
Mr Hogan also said two units currently standing on the site have to be demolished and there is also a Japanese knotweed issue.
“There are 13 one-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom and nine three-bedroom units and it is designed to meet the housing need with some element in terms of future-proofing for larger family units,” Mr Hogan said.
Twelve of the units will be suitable for older people as they can be accessed without need for a lift or stairs.
A welcome for the proposal came from Cllr Mick Dollard, who remarked that the site was in an old and historic part of Mullingar. He said that around 20 years ago, thanks to an urban renewal programme fostered by Westmeath County Council, developments such as the Harbour Place Shopping Centre and Buckley’s SuperValu had sprung up in that area.
Cllr Dollard urged that the new housing scheme be of a standard comparable to that of the award-winning council development at Saint Laurence’s Terrace and encouraged the installation of CCTV to counter potential anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Hazel Smyth asked whether energy efficient measures such as solar panels, heat pumps and rainwater harvesting systems were to be installed. She also asked if mature trees on the site that have to be removed could be replaced; and said a playground should be provided.
Cllr Ken Glynn expressed frustration at the fact that it can take three years to get a project from Part VIII planning stage to construction. Cllr Aoife Davitt felt the allocation of 0.8 parking spaces per unit was not adequate.
Cllr John Shaw remarked that he hoped the building materials chosen would be appropriate for the Irish weather, stating that many apartment buildings that look great when newly built end up looking less impressive after some years due to the effect of weather on the finish chosen.
Responding, Mr Hogan said the buildings would be built to high energy efficiency standards and added that there were no mature trees on the site that had to be removed.
Mr Hogan said the council was taking steps that it hoped would speed up the process from planning to completion stage. On the question of parking provision, he said that there were other parking spaces available nearby.
Mr Hogan said the project would be going out for public consultation and following that it would be returning to the councillors for their consideration.