Council pledge €18m spend on lands for council housing over the next three years

Meath County Council intends spending €18,000,000 on acquiring land for council housing over the next three years.

The details were given in the €604m Capital Investment Programme 2023-2025 and the initial spending next year will amount to €5,000,000 followed in the next two years of amounts of €6m and €7m. A total of €4,591,634 on halting sites will be spent over the next three years and this is subject to government approval.

Retrofitting and improvement of homes to meet present-day energy standards will cost €19,373,000 between 2023-2025. Works will include energy upgrades, remedial works, pre-lets, planned maintenance. Active travel measures are also planned for various towns throughout the country over the three years of the capital spending programme – Navan 2030 project €10.1m; Navan Cycle Network €23.4m; Ratoath Cycle Network €6m; Dunboyne Cycle Network €4.2m. Other projects throughout the county will cost €4.5m. All these projects will be financed by the National Transport Authority.

Greenways are also on the council’s spending agenda – €1m will be spend on the Boyne Greenway Navigation (Oldbridge to Navan while €3.2m will be spend on Boyne Valley to Lakelands County Greenway (Navan to Kingscourt). The Boyneside Trail (Mornington) will see spending of €50,000. Traffic management projects are also included in the spending programme, including at Kilberry, Julianstown, Batterstown.

Upgrading of public lighting throughout the county will see expenditure of €10m on PLEEP (Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project). €150,000 will be spent in the three years on parking meters and related technology.

The council has said that notwithstanding the “difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves”, significant progress had been made throughout 2022 in the planning, commencement, and completion of projects in the entire spectrum of council activities. These included projects related to housing, library provision, recreation and amenity, enterprise and innovation, transportation, flood alleviation, energy efficiency and climate action.

“The social and economic value of this capital investment, as we emerge from a very challenging public health and economic crisis, cannot be understated,” the council said. There was a positive impact on employment, the local economic investment multiplier effect and the positive contribution to the quality of life for present and future generations were all understood by this “very comprehensive programme”, it said.