Connectivity and transport issues hold up masterplan
Connectivity and transportation linkages are the biggest challenges in relation to agreeing a masterplan for the extension of Trim's town centre and once these issues are resolved, the draft masterplan will be presented to councillors for their input.
Meath County Council's Director of Planning Gareth McMahon told councillors at their October meeting on Friday that they were not yet at a stage with the plan where they would be happy to present it to councillors, as there are still a number of points that need to be addressed.
The update was arranged after concerns were expressed at the September meeting of Trim MD that the plan appeared to be developer driven and that not all landowners within the masterplan area had been consulted by the developers. Councillors were also anxious that they could give their input at an early stage.
Mr McMahon explained while the masterplan is being driven by private property owners, it is being overseen by the planning section of Meath County Council with significant input from the transportation section and he said councillors would be given every opportunity to input into the plan before it is finalised.
Meath County Council is one of the landowners in the masterplan area.
Mr McMahon outlined that they had engagement with the developers in May of this year and gave them feedback on the draft and they had only just recently received another version of the masterplan. Having gone through it, he said it still didn't fully address the points raised and feedback they gave.
"We will be sitting down and having a meeting with them and going through it in great detail- where we think the masterplan falls down, where we think it needs to be improved and also in regards to engagement with property owners that are contained within the masterplan. That was something they had given commitment to and it has come as bit of a surprise to us that commitment hasn't been followed through on but we will be pressing again for that. We will do it in coordination with them if that is what is needed. We will do whatever is required to make sure the appropriate people are engaged with. You have to bring them with you- the masterplan won't work otherwise."
Cllr Noel French once again reiterated his view that the site could make or break Trim and said that developers come from a certain viewpoint while the council would look more at the overall community benefit. He also said it "frightened him" that the council did not seem to have known that not all property owners were involved.
"If not everybody in the whole masterplan area is involved and you are having to push the private consortium to involve all the property owners, that does not seem good to me," he commented.
Cllr Joe Fox said the masterplan was an opportunity to transform the centre of Trim and was keen to momentum going after what he said had been many "false dawns over the guts of 30 years".
Cllr Ronan Moore said he would like to see a community sensory garden included and planners agreed to explore this.
When Cllr Padraig Coffey asked about a time frame, he was told that from the developers' perspective, they would like to see it agreed tomorrow and get moving as soon as possible and it is the council side that is holding it up as they would not agree the plan until it is at a point they are happy with.
Mr McMahon said they would go back to the consultants/developer one more time with a view to getting the transportation links in particular resolved, and come back to councillors then with a broad outline of the masterplan is and how it is going to be accessed and get their input before moving on to more detailed finalisation.
While the plan is not yet agreed, broadly speaking councillors heard it is likely to include a retail anchor tenant and housing from the developer's perspective and that from the council's perspective, age friendly housing is being considered and they also see an opportunity for a public plaza and seating space around the OPW building.
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