Mullingar Chamber wants 50pc population growth by 2040

The population of Mullingar should be “permitted to grow a minimum of 50 per cent or 10,000” by 2040 and there should be significant investment in developing Westmeath’s lakes into international standard amenities for locals and visitors.

That’s according to the chambers of commerce in Mullingar and Athlone. The two representative bodies recently put their inter-town rivalry aside to make a joint submission to the statutory review of the National Development Plan (NDP).

In their submission, the chambers warned that unless policy makers review the population projections for the county, Westmeath “might well be victim of a flawed national spatial strategy as set out in the NDP’s Regional Spatial Economic Strategy [RSES]”. Mullingar, in particular, could accommodate a major population expansion over the next 20 years, the chambers believe.

At the time of the last Census in 2016, there were 89,000 people living in Westmeath. The RSES population target for the county in 2030 is 104,000. Two thirds (10,000) of that projected increase of 15,000 is earmarked for the Athlone area and the remainder is spread across Mullingar and the rest of county.

In their joint submission, the chambers express the view that the strategy is “highly flawed” and could reduce economic growth in the county.

“Notwithstanding the priority given to Athlone, if this were to play out, the county as a whole would grow by only 15,000/16% over 11 years, just over 1% per annum, in a country that is growing in GDP terms [pre Covid] at 6%. We feel this is a highly flawed strategy and, if adopted, will lead to massive stagnation in this area and region for no logical reason whatsoever.

“Furthermore, it might be worth noting that Mullingar has infrastructure capacity for an additional c.20,000, and as much as 35,000 without further capital investment in sewer infrastructure. Mullingar town has doubled its population twice in the past 40 years and we, as promoters of a town with rail and motorway infrastructure and less than 80km from Dublin, cannot see why we cannot grow from 20,000 to 30,000 during the next decade, apart from these illogical constraints.”

The chambers have also called for an “expansion of the scale and services” offered at the Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar and major investment in public transport, which would lead to major reduction in journey times between Mullingar and Athlone and Dublin.

“Public transport and rail can be a superbly efficient and environmentally friendly way to travel and facilitate the movement of people. For this reason we are advocating that a comprehensive feasibility study be carried out to evaluate the benefits and costs of upgrading this system [same speed as 1920] to bring journey times down by 33%+ and facilitate growth and development of the region,” the submission stated.

Interestingly, the chambers also want the government to explore the feasibility of transforming Westmeath’s four main lakes (Derravaragh, Owel, Ennell, Ree) into recreation hubs.

Lakes and natural amenities offer enormous tourism potential to foreign and local tourism in a post-Covid world and these amenities are currently massively underdeveloped in terms of accessibility and amenity. For this reason we are advocating that a comprehensive feasibility study be carried out to evaluate the benefits and costs of creating central access points at each of the four lakes to be developed in a sensible manner, with car parking, food and beverage, lake access and boat hire and watersport activities available.”

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Mullingar Chamber of Commerce president said that on the issue of Westmeath’s population projections “the numbers don’t make any sense”.

We have been campaigning on this point for three years and have got absolutely nowhere. From 89,000 now to 104,000 in 2030. It’s a tiny amount of people for a county the size of Westmeath.

The NDP determines how the council zone land and what can be done in Athlone, Kinnegad and Rochfortbridge. Athlone is prioritised in this ahead of Mullingar. Athlone has earmarked for 10,000 of the 15,000, while the rest of the county is only getting five. To cap that off, as I understand it, the sewer in Athlone is at capacity or near capacity. Mullingar has got a capacity for 55,000 people with a population of 20,000.

“To my mind, we have spent about €100m on infrastructure over the last 15 years and this will allow us to have an extra 10,000 or 15,000 people, but government policy is driving this spatial strategy that doesn’t make any sense. If we go with these numbers, we will only have 23 or 24,000 in 2030. The town will be curtailed.

“We think that the spatial strategy should be revisited in light of Covid-19. Westmeath should get an increase in its potential population growth in the next 10 and 20 years. We think it is important because if it isn’t done. We are going to lose economic growth and fall behind the rest of the country.”

On the chambers’ proposals for the development of amenities at local lakes, Mr Geoghegan believes that it is time “to treat our lakes with a bit of respect”.

“We are saying that tourism is so important to our country, indigenously and internationally. The most beautiful assets in Ireland are our lakes. When you stand back and look into a lake, there is nothing like it.

“We are looking for a commitment from the government to examine the feasibility of developing four access points to each lake, where you have car parking and cafe facilities at the lakeside. Where you can rent out a boat or host a wedding or a retirement party, whatever you want. The same way the UK has developed their Lake District and to build something beside them that is magnificent.”

Mr Geoghegan says that any developments should be built on public land, if possible, and leased to local businesses in the hospitality sector.

To ensure the future viability of Mullingar as a place to live and work, Mr Geoghegan says it is vital there is a significant upgrade of public transport.

“Our train journey to Dublin takes the same time as it did when Winston Churchill stayed in Knockdrin. That is outrageous and we aren’t willing to stand for it any more. We want to see a feasibility study done for an upgrade on the rail line to Dublin. To give people accessibility to the city in an hour or less, and additional capacity in the meantime so you can get in and out of Dublin without being crammed on a train.

“The two chambers are looking for this. That their rail lines are assessed to upgrade the speed of the service. This may involve serious infrastructural development but we should look at it and see what the benefits and costs are.”