Council seeks design team to advance town regeneration project

A design team is being sought to progress The Plots regeneration project in Ballaghaderreen.

In a recently advertised tender, Roscommon County Council is seeking to hire a multi-disciplinary integrated design team to advance the regeneration of The Plots, an underutilised 9.5 acre site in the heart of the town.

Despite its unique heritage and environmental assets, the area has suffered from vacancy, fragmentation, anti-social behaviour and illegal dumping in recent years.

The council’s vision is to transform these lands into a vibrant, accessible and sustainable town-centre quarter that reconnects the town’s core with surrounding residential, commercial and community areas.

A design team is now being sought to take forward a recently completed masterplan, for the redevelopment of The Plots.

The brief will involve delivering the next stages of development, including preliminary design, statutory planning approval process, detailed design and handover.

The masterplan includes a wide range of recommended public realm and infrastructure improvements.

These include enhanced parkland and biodiversity areas; a looped walking trail; new pedestrian and cycling links; community and sensory gardens; children’s play spaces; improved historic laneways; an events space focused around the spring well; sustainable parking facilities with electric vehicle charging provision; and a new internal road network.

The relocation of the existing civic amenity facility also forms part of the proposals.

The project, supported by the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), is viewed as a key element in the town’s long-term regeneration strategy.

The successful design consultant will be asked to fully familiarise themselves with the “parameters of the RRDF capital funding scheme” to create a design and specification to align with a construction cost estimate not exceeding €3.5m.

The masterplan was completed in September 2026 by DWG and Reddy Urban Architecture.

The process included two formal public engagement events in Ballaghaderreen.

The tender details outlines that the value of the contract is €420,000 with a potential project duration of four years.