Residents 'irate' over possible rezoning of Kelly's Field

Residents are ‘Irate’ following a potential rezoning of Kelly’s Field in the Ballinderry area of Mullingar, and held a community meeting in the Greville Arms Hotel on Monday evening, August 11.

The meeting aimed to inform residents of the proposal to rezone Kelly’s Field from amenity use to residential use.

Cllr Mick Dollard attended the meeting and answered many of the concerns that residents had.

Much of the residents' anger stemmed from the lack of consultation from Westmeath County Council. Andrew O’Rourke said: “We had very little information about it.”

He continued: “After we found out about this, we held a meeting with the view of getting as many submissions as possible to Westmeath County Council, to state our objections to the proposed rezoning, for many reasons.

“People are irate over the idea that they would possibly consider changing the field to a residential area, as well as the lack of information about the whole process.”

At the meeting, residents expressed their concerns.

Andrew said: “The only access to the field is through Lynderry Court, and we feel that it would be unsuitable for construction traffic to go down this small road, with children playing in the area.

“Along with that, there is already a dangerous junction at the entrance, and we do not want more traffic coming out of our area.

“Along with that, people are concerned with the devaluation of their properties, which may happen if a new development goes up just beside us.”

During the meeting, many residents gave their thoughts on what the field should be used for, many settling on keeping it as a piece of nature in the area.

Fiona Hynes, a lifelong resident of Lynderry Court, spoke at the meeting: “The estate always had access to the green space as a community area, and if this rezoning goes ahead, it would be the opening up of Lynderry Court.

“The message and key point of this is that I don't think anyone in this room wants to live adjoining a construction site.

“I also think Kelly’s Field is a nature reserve, and that is something that should be protected; it could even be an archaeological piece to look into.”

The Westmeath Examiner sent a query to Westmeath County Council, and they stated: “The meeting was not attended by representatives of Westmeath County Council; rather, it was a private meeting of citizens.

“The meeting was associated with a published Variation 1 to the Westmeath County Development Plan - all details are available on the Council’s Consultation Portal.”