Planning application for Hodson Bay Waterfront Park to be submitted

A planning application for the multi-million euro waterfront park at Hodson Bay is expected to be made by the end of the summer.

South Roscommon councillors were given a presentation at last week’s meeting of the Athlone Municipal District  (MD) on the local authority’s large scale projects around the municipal district, among them the €30m Hodson Bay Waterfront Park project.

Senior engineer Rachel Lowe of the council’s regeneration team told the councillors that the project was at the planning and design stage. Under the proposal, the existing marina would be doubled in size, the area's paving would be enhanced, and transport measures, such as improving facilities for cycling and walking, would be made. Improvements would also be made to the site's carparking. A new watersports pavilion building and cafe were also part of the project.

She explained that the public consultation on the project in April was very well attended and that there was ongoing engagement with the key stakeholders.

She said it was hoped the planning application would be submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála by the end of July or early August. Due to the environmental sensitivities of the area, the planning regulator, rather than the council, will have to decide on the matter.

The Monksland Community Hub, which is estimated to cost €15m and received planning permission in October of last year, was also at design stage and was “significantly advanced”. It was hoped that a comprehensive and robust application for this project would be ready for submission to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund by the end of July.

Cathaoirleach of the MD Domnick Connolly welcomed the presentation, saying that there were projects planned for all over the district, Cllr Laurence Fallon said a “tremendous amount of money was coming into the county” through various schemes to improve amenities.

“The Hodson Bay project will be a game changer,” he said. He asked that road access to the location would be looked at carefully as “this was one of the challenges that will hinder the development of Hodson Bay”.

Cllrs Emer Kelly and Valerie Duffy also welcomed the update. Cllr John Keogh asked how long would it take for the Hodson Bay project to be fully delivered.

Ms Lowe said that the access road to Hodson Bay was highlighted during the public consultation, specifically traffic calming measures. She also said that the delivery of the project would be done on a phased basis to minimise disruption.

“Car parking is obviously critical,” she said. “We don’t want to remove car parking while we are constructing something else.” In terms of a timeline, she estimated that the planning application process could take at least 12 months, and, if permission was granted, funding would be sought to process the next stage of the project.

She added that she could not envisage construction work starting this year on the Monksland Community Hub.

*Published under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme