Roscommon Municipal District councillors recently agreed to amend the new Roscommon Town Local Area Plan, in order that a major apprenticeship training college for the county can be progressed.
A two-and-a-half-acre site in Roscommon town on the Circular Rd has already been identified by Galway Education and Training Board (GRETB) for a proposed apprenticeship centre for the county.
The matter came up for discussion recently when the Roscommon Town Local Area Plan 2024-2030 — in draft form and currently on public display — was discussed at a special meeting of the Municipal District.
The main item on the agenda was the chief executive’s report on submissions received on the draft plan.
Part of the site proposed for the training centre was identified in the draft plan as a “Residential Opportunity” site and the board requested that these lands be zoned only as “Town Core” to enable it to advance its plans.
In his report, chief executive Shane Tiernan’s response noted that the local authority’s initial identification of the lands was for residential purposes as part of the draft plan preparation.
His response welcomed the potential development of such a centre and recognised its benefit to Roscommon town and county.
Mr Tiernan said that, given the potential scale of the development and the extent of land area required to accommodate the project, it is considered appropriate to remove the “Residential Opportunity Site” identification and retain the ‘Town Core” land use zone only.
The chief executive’s recommendation to remove the identification of the lands in question as a “Residential Opportunity” through relevant amendments to the draft plan was unanimously agreed by councillors.
The proposal for a board apprenticeship training centre in the county town is currently with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science for consideration.
Responding to a query from the Roscommon Herald, a spokesperson for the GRETB said: “‘We are continuing to engage with our funder and parent department in an effort to move the proposed purchase forward”.
The Roscommon members of the board are councillors Kathleen Shanagher, Laurence Fallon, and John Cummins.
Cllr Shanagher, who is currently vice-chair of the board, said she and her Roscommon colleagues were hoping that they could get this significant project over the line before a new board was elected in September.
