Following a turbulent week of discussion with residents and several meetings, the four councillors from the Kilbeggan area agreed this week to adopt the draft Local Area Plan for Tyrrellspass village, subject to a series of variations.
A number of local residents attended Monday’s meeting of Westmeath County Council, at which the Manager’s Report on variations to the plan was proposed by Cllrs Joe Flanagan and Paul Daly.
However, the decision was not without controversy, as Cllrs Gerry Corcoran and Michael Newman expressed serious reservations about different aspects of the plan, particularly the zoning of land around the village’s school.
A number of locals had objected to the zoning of land near the school as ‘residential’ as they said it might increase the child protection risk from overlooking houses. However the county manager’s report stressed that issues regarding overlooking from future residential development would be considered at the development stage.
Proposing the plan, chair of the Kilbeggan area Cllr Joe Flanagan said that some “crazy statements” had been made, but that he was proposing the report to “ensure children will be catered for in the years to come”.
Complimenting the county manager and engineers on the report, Cllr Paul Daly said he hoped they had made the right decision amid a wealth of divided opinion. “I am seconding the report in the interests of youth and education,” he said.
Expressing serious concerns about the zoning of land adjacent to the school, Cllr Gerry Corcoran said he was “not convinced that the future development of the school is dependent on development nearby”.
Meanwhile Cllr Michael Newman pointed out that zoning does not mean that planning permission is guaranteed, but said he objected to an area near the chapel gate being zoned ‘light industrial’. “It is not the place for an industrial site; why not zone it for one house?” he remarked.
He agreed with Cllr Corcoran regarding the school, but added that it had been suggested that the school might be moved to a greenfield site.
