'Town Teams to be established in Kinnegad and Kilbeggan'

Public meetings are to take place in Kilbeggan and Kinnegad this month with a view to establishing a “Town Team” at each location - and a local councillor has told The Westmeath Examiner that this is an opportunity that the communities should grasp with both hands.

“Moate and Castlepollard already have Town Teams, and Kinnegad and Kilbeggan are next in line for them,” said Cllr Denis Leonard this week.

“The idea is that you would get together business, tourism interests, local community groups, the education sector, voluntary groups and business associations in the area into one room and try and get a committee together.

“A Town Teams committee in Kinnegad would look at what Kinnegad most needs over the coming years. We did do a Kinnegad Action Plan in consultation with the council in 2018/19 and that looked at areas like transport, economic development; it looked at tourism, it looked at sport and recreation; it looked at all the different aspects that make up a town, and why this is so important.

“Kinnegad is the third largest town in the county: we have an awful lot going for us in terms of location and we are beside two motorways, the N4 and the N6. But we're still waiting on a business park. We're just getting a library and a town park this year, and we still don't have a community hall. So it's hoped that when this group comes together, they would identify the needs.”

Cllr Leonard said that there was a survey carried out by the council last autumn and the results of that survey will be revealed at the first of the Kinnegad meetings, on March 12, while at the second meeting, there will be further information and a committee will be formed.

“The idea is that somebody would represent tourism, someone represents sports, some will represent business, some will represent community development, some will represent the elderly, some will represent youth issues, etc. There can be up to 24 people on these Town Teams. But the idea is that, rather than individual groups putting in grants for specific areas, that we work together in terms of identifying the priorities of the town.”

He said decisions on what are needed begin with the survey: “Then there's a walkability study. We walk around the area, look at, say, what derelict sites that could be redeveloped, which is something that's a national kind of an issue.

“At the moment, you're looking at a business park being developed, looking at a park and ride, because you have so many people parking on the main street that could be parking off the bypass.

“We want to look at housing development, because there hasn’t been a private house built in Kinnegad in a long time.

“In a nutshell, it's to bring all the stakeholders together under one umbrella, so that everyone sings from one voice, and that we agree as a group, no matter what sector we come from, what the priorities are for the town and its development, and we work to make sure they become a reality.”

Cllr Leonard explained that a similar approach would be taken in Kilbeggan and an advantage for both towns is that officials from the council’s Community Development Section would be working alongside the members and providing guidance on what funding opportunities exist and how to access them.

Those welcome to the meetings are members of the public, residents, property owners, businesses, sporting, community and voluntary groups and local schools.