Covered outdoor community space in the offing for Moate

Photo: Flashback to when the canopy was under construction in Athlone as part of the streetscape scheme.

Funding of €50,000 has been secured by the council to develop what's described as a “community shared but covered space to facilitate outdoor eating, meeting and coming together” in Moate and Kilbeggan.

€25,000 per project will come from the Town and Village Scheme 2020 in a bid to assist both areas to adapt to the Covid-19 environment, as well as supporting the economic and social recovery of rural towns and villages, the monthly meeting of Athlone-Moate Municipal District was told. The provision of Christmas lighting in both towns is included in the grant in a bid to encourage footfall in the run-up to the festive season.

Barry Kehoe, the council's Director of Services, explained that one of the reasons for developing such a facility is to allow people to have say a cup of coffee together, and this will act as a safe focal point for social interaction while respecting the fabric of the place.

“It can be tricky to get it right,” he admitted, but “we will be consulting with the locals and yourselves members.”

Earlier, Cllr Tom Farrell said it would be important that the canopy fits in with the streetscape works, and asked who would decide where exactly the canopy would go. Mr Kehoe said that he hoped that a “consensus of opinion” would decide where the canopy would be located as the project needs “community buy-in” to succeed.

Welcoming the news for Moate, Green Cllr Louise Heavin commented that there is a covered space here in Athlone, the canopy, located to the side of St Mary's Church of Ireland on the approach to Athlone Civic Square, and she wondered whether restaurants had been approached with a view to using this facility.

Expressions of interest were sought at the end of last year or early this year for use of the canopy, and a number of groups applied mainly for events, and there was one market proposal, Ms Finney replied. Unfortunately, a lot of those events didn't take place because of Covid-19 but another call can be put out, she said.

Director of Services, Barry Kehoe, stressed the canopy is available for use – applicants just need to get a licence and apply.

Cllr Liam McDaniel, who is a Fianna Fáil representative for the Kilbeggan area, said the provision of covered public spaces in towns and villages is now really important, and he believes there will be interest in Kilbeggan in the proposal.

Westmeath County Council has submitted applications for projects under three rounds of the Town and Village Scheme 2020 programmes to date in 2020, and the Moate/Kilbeggan allocations come from Round one. The allocation constitutes 90% of the project cost. The local authority is awaiting funding announcements on round two and three in the coming months.