Meeting called as N4 route concerns intensify

Residents of rural communities in north Westmeath are gathering in St. Cremin"s National School, Multyfarnham on Tuesday night of this week as opposition to plans for a new N4 route corridor between Mullingar and Roosky, Co. Roscommon gathers pace.At a recent public consultation meeting in the Mullingar Park Hotel, Westmeath County Council proposed three possible routes to the public, rousing concerns along the 50km stretch that the route would trample on a host of historic and architecturally and ecologically sensitive sites, as well as upsetting family farms, residents and local businesses.Mullingar businessman and Multyfarnham resident Niall Murray, who was appointed to chair the meeting, said that plans for the route was 'akin to the M3 going through Tara', and expressed disappointment that residents have not been given more of an opportunity to have their say.'The public consultation was advertised once in the local newspapers, and people have been given until Friday of next week, October 10 to make a submission,' Mr. Murray told the Westmeath Examiner.'At the consultation, people were shown the three routes. They were also shown a map demonstrating some of the plan"s archaeological and ecological constraints, but they weren"t made any wiser as to what these were.'The red route, which runs parallel to the existing N4, was described as more costly as it would involve traffic disruption.'The green route was described as the cheapest, but this cuts across the unspoilt rural countryside of north Westmeath, in areas like Bunbrosna, Ballinalack, Rathowen and Streete, and into rural Longford and Roscommon.'This route would run across bogs, preserved areas, heritage sites, monuments, standing stones, and homes and farms which have been owned by local families for generations. The plan means that the route would have no intersections or junctions, and communities would be split by it,' he said.Reports this week have also suggested that in the event that should the green route be chosen, the Scragh Bog Nature Reserve outside Multyfarnham would be surrounded by a triangle of three roads - the old N4, the new N4, and the local access link to the new N4.No preferred route has yet been identified by the Department of Transport, and a decision on which option to take is not expected until May 2009, when the route of choice will be referred to An Bord Pleanála.'But we still have only eight or nine days to have our say,' Mr. Murray continued. 'And it"s important that we do, because people missed their chance with Tara.'It"s going to be difficult for us to organise people along a 50km route in such a short space of time, but we"ve got to do it, and the aim of tonight"s meeting is to inform people about what these proposed routes will mean for their area.'Mr. Murray said that a working group has been formed to start a campaign in Westmeath, and he invited concerned residents to contact Claire O"Neill in Multyfarnham with their support. An e-mail address will be available in the near future.on page 4