“If we confine it to the town centre, we’re doomed to fail”.
That was one Carlow councillor’s response to plans for funding for Tullow at the monthly Municipal District meeting.
It’s one of 26 urban areas nationwide to be allocated €100,000 by Minister Heather Humphreys. (More on that here).
Cllr Will Paton says while the funds are welcomed, they need to be spent wisely as covering just the core retail strategy area of Church Street, Market Square, Bridge Street and parts of Mill Street and Barrack Street would see other serious issues across the town not being addressed; “For instance, there won’t be any mention of the outer relief road and the construction of that badly needed road to relieve traffic in Tullow, I think another point would be that we would miss out on perhaps finding a new school for the girls in Tullow and it would also fail to address the redevelopment of Tullow Town Park, and they’re just three straight-forward, easy issues you can pick that would be missed if it’s confined to town centre alone”.
Calls were also made at the most recent gathering for meetings to be held with the local authority’s Director of Services Michael Rainey to establish the definition of the geographical parameter of what’s to be included, while it’s also been suggested that councillors meet too with Develop Tullow Association who have applied to Carlow Leader for funding for their own plan.
Cllr Will Paton says tying both together would be of benefit to all; “The most important thing for us in Tullow, for all of us, is to get the synergies between two plans so that overall we get a really good masterplan for Tullow that addresses the issues, not just retail but the educational needs, the recreational needs, the transport needs of Tullow and there are many, many needs that Tullow has but I would like to see them all addressed in one plan, I’d like to see a really good masterplan like the Carlow Town 2040 plan”.
