Columb Barracks marches ahead

OPINION: by the Columb Barracks Restoration and Regeneration Committee (CBRRC)

‘New developments chart exciting future for historic town centre barracks site’

Sometimes we take a step forward and two steps backwards, but Columb Barracks has just taken two steps forward. Firstly, the Columb Barracks Restoration and Regeneration Committee (CBRRC) has taken delivery of a master energy plan for the barracks, which will have the effect of propelling this historic town centre site into a renewable energy-based 21st century future.

Secondly, the Land Development Agency (LDA) has produced its public consultation report, and it supports many of the recommendations and proposals made by the CBRRC in its Community Vision report of July 30.

The master energy plan opens up the possibility of the barracks becoming a renewable energy hub for Mullingar, supplying electrical energy to surrounding homes, and training people in the skills needed for a low-carbon, zero waste future, in line with the Whole-of-Government Circular Economy Strategy and the Climate Action Plan, 2021, ‘Securing Our Future’.

The master energy plan demonstrates that solar photovoltaic (PV) installed at the barracks could supply approximately 380MWh of renewable electricity per year, more than the current demand at the barracks site. If the buildings were renovated as planned, the potential for energy export would be greater, and could be used to benefit surrounding homes.

In many other European countries, electricity consumers and micro-generators can buy and sell electricity independently of the national grid; more than 200 communities act in that way, encouraged by grants from the European Commission.

In Ireland, that type of community energy system is being promoted by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), which has grant-aided the production of the master energy plan for Columb Barracks.

The LDA’s public consultation report (available at columbbarracksproject.ie) provides an overview of feedback from the public when the agency hosted three webinars on the themes of community, education and business, in July; the LDA also distributed leaflets and questionnaires for people to express views.

The webinars provided for exchanges of ideas and suggestions, especially from the community side, but they were attended by small numbers.

An initial summary of local community desires and wishes was published in the CBRRC Community Vision report last July, but the LDA public consultation report provides greater detail.

The CBRRC welcomes the LDA’s initial public consultation report as a milestone on the road ahead. It achieves the aim of drawing together the results of the agency’s engagement with community groups, businesses and other stakeholders interested in the future of the barracks.

The consultation report quotes the CBRRC Community Vision for Columb Barracks as: ‘a vibrant centre which will contribute socially, environmentally, and educationally to the town, and which will be a hub for community-based innovation, serving the needs of the town and the county, providing education and other community services, based on renewable energy, efficiency in the use of natural resources, zero waste and other environmentally sustainable and economically viable practices’.

• Rejuvenation of the barracks as a multi-purpose and multi-cultural facility, with a guaranteed place for current users;

• Use of the barracks as a ‘Multipurpose Community Education Space’, to demonstrate and develop skills, ideas, arts and culture, theatre, physical apprenticeship, holistic education, environmental awareness; and linked with more than one existing third-level institution;

• Development of a centre of excellence for the built environment, to provide an example of environmentally and socially sustainable architecture;

• Creation of a centre for technological innovation and teaching, especially in the area of construction, in accordance with the new national apprenticeship strategy, together with a workspace and support for start-ups and SMEs in early stages of development;

• Prioritisation of the cultural and heritage potential of the barracks; so that maintaining the integrity of the architecture should be top priority, and new uses should respect that uniqueness and integrity;

• Establishment of a ‘veterans village’ for retired military personnel, with residential and other facilities, including a dedicated community centre;

• Residential uses of existing buildings, and the construction of new houses (eg, veterans village, and a limited number of eco-homes around the perimeter of the Camp Field), should include accessibility for disabled persons;

• The restored and rejuvenated barracks should be a welcoming and secure place to live and access; a safe and people-friendly environment, and a car-free zone to the maximum extent possible;

• Utilising some of the protected buildings in Columb Barracks to house a military museum and a music museum;

• The green area not occupied by the barracks buildings, ie, the Camp Field, should become part of the ‘green infrastructure’ of Mullingar by providing space for vegetable and fruit growing, organic gardening, horticulture training, allotments, a mini urban forest, a small lake or pond for biodiversity, a quiet area for therapy, wellbeing and communing with nature; with a strictly limited amount of housing around the perimeter of the field, to provide the necessary degree of natural surveillance of the entire area by residents;

• Provision of community, recreational or leisure activities, especially outdoor activities, in the field adjacent to the barracks; and,

• A market, primarily for local produce.

These are only a selection of suggested uses that could be accommodated in the barracks; and the next steps outlined in the LDA public consultation report include presentation of the report to the advisory group established early this year, and possibly a seminar or workshop to present and discuss the report.

The next step suggested by the LDA is that the public consultation report “will inform a regeneration plan for the barracks”.

1. Organisation of a small number of community meetings (which would probably have to be online) to examine how competing or conflicting uses could be negotiated and resolved (competing or conflicting uses are not examined in the LDA report, but are considered in the CBRRC Community Vision Report);

2. A survey of all the social and community activities ongoing in Columb Barracks, with information on the numbers of people involved, what they do, their needs, aspirations and hopes, and descriptions of the spaces and buildings they currently use, and would like to use in the future;

3. A detailed survey (or structural audit) by a heritage or conservation architect and engineer of all buildings and structures in Columb Barracks, reporting on their condition, historical and conservation importance, and on the essential work or repairs needed to ensure their survival and future use, and to take them to the standard necessary to comply with current and forthcoming health and safety regulations and building standards;

4. A survey of all existing services and infrastructure in the barracks; eg, water supplies, wastewater treatment and disposal, surface water management, electrical services and connection to the national grid, heating system and distribution of heat (these have been addressed in the energy master plan, but further work is needed), external and internal telecommunications;

5. Applications to potential funding sources which could grant-aid or financially support actions described above; including and EU sources such as the Military Assets as Public Spaces (MAPS) project, funded under the URBACT programme (it is understood that URBACT IV was to be submitted to the European Commission for approval in mid-2021);

6. Visiting, inspecting and learning from other former military installations or sites which have been transformed for community use; for example, Richmond Barracks, Dublin; Connolly Barracks and the Northern Quarter of Longford Town; the former Ebrington Barracks, Derry City; Spike Island, Cork Harbour; Camden Fort Meagher, Crosshaven, County Cork; and others which may be relevant; and,

7. Preparation of a community-oriented integrated master plan for the entire site, including a conservation management plan and maintenance regime for the historic protected buildings and structures, and a landscape and biodiversity plan for the open areas (the Camp Field green spaces), and the presentation of this plan to the LDA and to Westmeath County Council, with the intention that the CBRRC and other community groups, the county council (as planning authority), and the agency (as owner of the barracks) would co-operate and assist each other in transforming the barracks.