Councillors have agreed to refrain from changing the zoning on a site in Kilbeggan, in the hope that plans for a new school on the site will come to fruition.
The site, which is owned by the Catholic schools trust CEIST, had been zoned as educational, but the new County Development Plan had proposed to rezone it as agricultural.
However, speaking at the special meeting on the development plan on Monday, Cllr Colm Arthur proposed to leave the land as educational, following correspondence with the board of management of Mercy Secondary School.
He was supported in this by Cllr Paul Daly, who said he understands that the site, which is being proposed for a new school, is to be made available free of charge from CEIST.
“I understand this site will become available for the purposes of a school, and if this happens I am anxious that the zoning would be in place. I’m reliably informed this will happen,” he said.
Westmeath county manager Dan McLoughlin acknowledged that discussions on the site are “at an advanced stage”, and agreed to have the members’ wishes reflected in the plan.
Cllr Daly also asked that the option of a second site across the road from the school be “left open”, in the event of the first site not working out. However Mr McLoughlin said it was important that the development plan emerges with a fixed site rather than a few sites.
“We will go with the current position, and can review it if necessary,” he concluded.
The draft Westmeath County Development Plan goes on display to the public for 10 weeks from Friday February 1.
