Draft Roscrea Town Centre First plan welcomed by public

Roscrea's Black Mills was busy last Wednesday when two public workshops took place in on the Draft Town Centre First Plan.
Members of the public from Roscrea attended the workshops to hear about the vision for Roscrea and the proposed transformational regeneration projects for the heritage town.

The event was hosted by the Town Team and Tipperary County Council and provided consultants O’Mahony Pike Architects with the opportunity to present a number of exciting propositions to the community.

The consultants, appointed by Tipperary County Council, to support the delivery of a Town Centre First Plan for Roscrea advised those in attendance how they had been looking at the spaces in the town and where they can be utilised more effectively in terms of enhancing the public realm to attract people into Main Street and Castle street, through urban greening, wider footpaths and reorganising parking.

Pictured above chatting about the new Town First Masterplan at the recent public consultation session in the Black Mills complex in Roscrea are Seamus Brown, Michael Delaney, Joan Murray, Noel Ryan, Andrew Walsh, James Shanahan and Anne Keevey. Photo: PJ Wright

Cormac Murray from O ‘Mahony Pike highlighted the potential of the unique historical laneways in Roscrea and suggested how these could be enhanced to improve access from Gantly Road to Main Street and onto Roscrea Plaza linking easy access to all of the parking areas.

He informed the public that the Draft Town Centre First Plan looks at the green and blue infrastructure of Roscrea such as Glebe Park and the River, and that these could be improved to thread more biodiversity and nature into the centre and create a green spine through the town.

The consultants also mentioned the potential of Roscrea becoming a Smart Town and part of the EU Smart Villages project facilitated by North Tipperary LEADER. The former Tesco premises to the rear of the shopping centre is currently identified as the location for the REACH (Roscrea Enterprise and Community Hub) project, which has secured Rural Regeneration Development Funding via North Tipperary Development Company and Tipperary Council, could act as a catalyst for the Smart Town initiative.

The well attended event in the Black Mills complex

The general consensus from members of the public at the workshops was very positive towards the propositions and there was a keen interest in the proposals for Main Street, Castle Street, and the Roscrea Smart Town initiative. Some attendees did raise concerns in relation to safety around the town and how this could be addressed.

Áine Mc Carthy, Town Regeneration Officer with Tipperary County Council, informed the workshop that they are working in the background on the cost benefit analysis and cost-effective analysis of some of the proposed projects.

In relation to the next steps now that the draft has been presented to the town, she commented “We welcome the feedback received at the Black Mills and thank the community for engaging with us. We’ll endeavour to address the matters raised in the final plan. The plan will be completed early summer and the County Council and the Town Team will need to look at the various funding streams available to match with the projects identified, working together to secure funding over the lifetime of the plan.”

The event heard several interesting questions and proposals from the public