Pool Action Group gives Blackhall plan the thumbs up
Mullingar Pool Action Group (MPAG) has endorsed the council’s new plan to locate the town’s long called for swimming pool in Blackhall.
MPAG chair Lisa Corcoran and vice chair Robert Keane, along with Deputy Robert Troy, met council officials last week to discuss the local authority’s revised plan for Mullingar’s new regional sports centre that will see the swimming pool developed in the town centre as part of a significant multi-sports indoors facility, while the rest of regional sports centre will be built as originally intended at a site in Robinstown.
The primary reason for the change of plans is that the executive believe that it will be able to access funding through the government’s Urban Regeneration Scheme, in addition to any financial support it may receive through the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund. The overall cost of the new regional sports complex has been estimated at €75m.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, vice chair Robert Keane said that while the MPAG originally had concerns relating to accessibility and capacity issues if the pool is developed in Blackhall, these were alleviated when they met with members of the executive.
Mr Keane says that council officials put forward a strong argument that building the new pool in Blackhall could help ensure the future viability of the town centre.
“I think having the pool in the town centre would have a positive footprint on the town. The expanded pool that they hope to build would retain the existing people that come into the town to use the current pool and would also bring new people into the town. The council have this in mind.
“They think that it will be a good thing from the view of secondary spending, that when people are finished in the pool they will go up and visit businesses in the town centre, whether it be cafés, clothes shops or other retailers. I think that’s a good thing for the town, to be honest.”
Mr Keane, who praised the current swimming pool staff for their service to the community, added that if the funding is secured for the swimming pool, it is important that the chosen design will be “future proofed” to meet the needs of population growth in the decades to come.
“We all want a pool that addresses capacity issues and we want it to be more accessible to the wider public. One argument is that the town will be congested [if the pool is located in Blackhall], but the access to that particular part of Blackhall is more accessible than the current pool. We have to bear in mind too that 20 per cent of the people that currently use the pool don’t use cars.”
Deputy Robert Troy has also voiced his support for the council’s revised plan.
“The bottom line is that the council has a hugely ambitious proposal on the cards, a proposal that will cost multiples of what they initially envisaged and they looked at where the best funding opportunities lie.
“The overall projected cost of the project is over €70m, while the national budget for the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund is €120m.
“The Urban Regeneration Fund, which is a multi-billion euro fund, opens up a much realistic funding opportunity for this state of the art proposal, for a regional sports centre of substance, that will also facilities for boxing, basketball and other indoor sports.
“It’s a hugely ambitious proposal based on the sports need assessment carried out earlier this year and the huge volume of submissions from the public have been taken on board.”