Race against the clock for N4 neighbourhoods

Residents of the towns, villages and country neighbourhoods straddling the N4 in Westmeath, Longford and Roscommon have just a matter of days left to have their say on proposals for an extensive new route corridor development between Mullingar and Roosky.Of a number of public meetings which have taken place in north Westmeath over the past fortnight, the largest took place at St. Cremin"s National School, Multyfarnham on Tuesday night of last week, where anywhere between 150 and 200 people gathered to voice their concerns. County Council members Dan McCarthy, Johnny Penrose (Labour), Paddy Hill and Robert Troy (Fianna Fáil) also made an appearance to show their support for the residents.Communities are up in arms about the project which, they charge, will impact negatively upon the social, economic and environmental life of rural towns and villages.With the deadline for submissions and observations on the propose routes approaching on October 10, residents have also expressed their anger about the lack of time which they have been given to assess the potential impact of a new road.As last week"s meeting in Multyfarnham took place, there were still many communities in Longford and Roscommon who weren"t aware of the proposed corridor.Mullingar businessman and Multy" resident Niall Murray, who chaired the meeting, said last week that people living along the N4 were given a week"s notice in the local press about the recent public consultation, after which they had just a few weeks to carry out research with a view to making submissions.Mr. Murray was joined by a working group comprising a number of local residents, which included Claire O"Neill, ecologist Catherine Jessup, Pascal Fagan and Mairead Greene (Multyfarnham Youth Club, Parks Committee). Presenting research amassed in a short space of time, the group members explained how the route would affect locals on a variety of fronts.First to speak to the meeting, Ms. O"Neill said that community input was part and parcel of the road planning process, and that people along the entire 50km stretch of the proposed route would be affected. 'It"s up to the NRA to inform people, so effectively we"re doing their job tonight,' she said.Those present were told that the objective of the scheme was to build a 50km route from Mullingar to Rooskey, uninterrupted, with a limited amount of junctions.'As we know, there"s very little money going around in the current climate, and we have to think of the possibility that there may even be a toll on this road eventually,' Ms. O"Neill said. 'The NRA"s official position is that they have no plans for a toll, but they haven"t ruled it out either.'The NRA is like a bad word. These are the same people who put a route through a UNESCO World Heritage Site,' she added, referring to the construction of the M3 near Tara. 'These are the same people who see this kind of thing as progress.'It"s important that communities along the route come forward. We can influence the future; if we put our submissions forward, the consultants have to consider them, and when it goes to An Bord Pleanála, the submissions will be considered there too.'Ms. O"Neill said that Ireland is the 'second most car dependant country in the world', and proposed that the improvement of existing roads, as well as the provision of a better rail system, should be priorities.Last week"s meeting was attended mostly by people from Multyfarnham, but also from nearby Rathowen, Ballinalack and Bunbrosna. Prior to the gathering, similar meetings had been held in Rathowen and Streete, while one held in Cullion early last week was attended by over 50 people.Pointing out that Multyfarnham"s 'beautiful surroundings' was its strongest asset, the working group told Multy" residents that a plethora of small towns and villages straddling the N4 would be hit hard, and the countryside with its local heritage torn up.Also speaking at the meeting was local ecologist, Catherine Jessup, who told the audience how the proposed route would affect local ecological landmarks such as Scragh Bog, Garriskill Bog and Lough Garr.'These areas are raised bogs and everyone here knows that a bog will be damaged if its water supply is reduced or if the outflow is altered,' Ms. Jessop told the meeting.'The proposed road would change the water level and cause severe damage to animals and plants important in Europe. Scragh Bog has a huge number of plant species including a plant species very rare in Europe; it has a number of invertebrates that are extremely rare in Europe. 'It has three flightless beetles that are indicative of very old wetlands. Scragh Bog supports a population of Marsh Fritillary butterfly (Euphydryas aurinia). This scarce species is of high conservation value and is listed on Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive.'The water supply to Scragh Bog is on the South East side, obviously, building a road here will change the water levels in the bog and severely damage this SAC.'Pascal Fagan, a local farmer, told residents of Multyfarnham and surrounding areas about what effects the proposed routes may have on village, rural and family life and water supplies, while Mairead Greene - speaking as a parent and an organiser with youth and community groups in Multyfarnham - also had her say.'After Westmeath County Council spent so much money on Multy", it"s inconceivable that the NRA are thinking of putting a motorway within half a mile of here,' said Ms. Greene.As the working group encouraged residents along the route to have their say, chairman Niall Murray said that a divide and conquer strategy lay behind the NRA"s decision to present three routes to the public.'The lines on the map are up to 600 metres wide, and the whole thing is designed to split communities and set them fighting against each other, so eventually one of the routes would be chosen,' he said.'That"s why this working group will oppose all three, and look for alternatives.'When asked if a committee was going to be formed on the night, Mr. Murray said that this wasn"t the objective.'The working group involves everyone in this room,' he remarked. 'We need people to work together, and not to walk away and say, "There"s a committee looking after it"'.Residents living in towns and villages along the N4 have been urged to make submissions regarding the proposed N4 route corridor between to National Roads Design Office at Culleenbeg, Mullingar before Friday of this week, October 10.The working group has vowed to fight tooth and nail against plans for the new route, which they say will have negative consequences for the economic and environmental wellbeing of communities along the existing N4 route.The group has set up an e-mail addressed - N4concerned@gmail.com - to allow concerned residents to contact them about the campaign"s progress once the submissions period has expired.