Progress on Roscrea's Town First Plan and Gantly Street design

Plans to deliver a transformational change to the public space in Roscrea town centre which will see the creation of a new street and several other ambitious projects are progressing.

The members of the Municipal Council for the Roscrea, Thurles and Templemore areas received an update on projects across the district at their monthly meeting last week.

Plans for Roscrea include an extensive redevelopment of Gantly Road and to promote the regeneration of town centre brownfield land through the activation of the surrounding lands.

The project will be the catalyst and first phase in the implementation of the Gantly Street Age Friendly Neighbourhood, an ambitious masterplan to create a more vibrant and appealing place for people of all ages to address specific social, environmental and economic challenges within the community.

The works will involve the realignment of Gantly Street to provide for improved pedestrian and cycle infrastructure in accordance with Age Friendly principles; the creation of high-quality public realm areas and footpaths; extensive bio-retention rain gardens and the provision of water service and utilities infrastructure to service the Gantly Road Age Friendly Masterplan area.

“The regeneration and re-imaging of Gantly Street is critical to the overall delivery of the Gantly Street Age Friendly Neighbourhood masterplan area into the future. Development of the Gantly Street masterplan area will transform a central area of Roscrea, create opportunities to provide homes, business and amenity space for local residents to enjoy and lead to knock-on socio-economic benefits for the whole of the town”, the meeting heard.

The Project Management Plan for the delivery and implementation of this project is ongoing.

The total project costs amount to €6,174,648 and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) grant approved is €4,939,719.

A design team was appointed in May and the preliminary design is complete, with a detailed design in progress.
The next step in the project will see the appointment of an archaeologist to monitor ground conditions and to complete the final site surveys required. A complete detailed design is expected in Q1 of 2026.

TOWN FIRST PLAN

Roscrea's Transformational Regeneration Town Centre First proposal involves the preparation of Part 8 Planning and detailed design for the development of a proposed community centre and community creche close to the town centre, public realm enhancements on Main Street and reactivation of three pedestrian laneways off Main Street.

The proposal seeks to deliver a key project contained in the Roscrea Town Centre First Plan. The three pillars represent a comprehensive approach to the physical and economic regeneration of Roscrea town centre in a way that is both respectful of the historic character of the town and ambitious in its future growth and economic development.

The project aims to drive greater economic activity and footfall, create employment opportunities and address vacancy and dereliction.

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The total project costs amount to €1,214,005 and RRDF grant approval for €971,200 was granted on October 10, with approval in principle received from the Department on November 25.

The next phase of the project will be a complete review of all costings and complete verification tables for the Department this week before signing the funding agreement.