Work begins on summerhill enhancement project

Preliminary drainage work has commenced at the village green in Summerhill ahead of major refurbishment works in the area.

Summerhill is one of 10 towns and villages throughout County Meath to benefit from €1.5 million in funding as part of the 'Renaissance' project - a village enhancement initiative co-ordinated by Meath Leader.

The scheme offers access to expertise in community planning and landscape design free of charge. It also provides up to 75 per cent of capital costs associated with the selected projects.

Over the coming months, new wheelchair-friendly footpaths will be installed on the village green in Summerhill in addition to new lighting and new or refurbished bollards.

The area will also be landscaped and some older trees replaced, while the ponds - which have remained empty for a number of years - are currently being filled in. The preliminary works are being conducted by Meath County Council and, once complete, an independent contractor will take responsibility for the remainder of the works.

According to Fine Gael councillor, Joe Fox, the project is now coming to fruition following more than three years of hard work by the local community.

'This project started in 2011 with a public consultation to get the public's view on what they wanted,' he said. 'We then applied to Meath Leader and were selected as one of 10 villages to get funding.'

Cllr Fox added that the local Renaissance committee, chaired by Aidan Holmes, was pivotal to securing the funding.

'There was a lot of work put into getting the application right,' he said. 'We had to do most of the donkey work ourselves but eventually we got there after a lot of hard work and late nights.'

The committee has raised €25,000 with Meath Leader funding the remainder of the project's cost. Work on the village green is scheduled to conclude by the end of 2014.