Council to move ahead with sports centre plans

Westmeath County Council, plans for a new state-of-the-art integrated sports centre at Robinstown, Mullingar moved to the next phase, and all going well, the c. €19 million centre could be up and running by 2010.Elected members agreed to commence the public consultation process in accordance with 2001 Part 8 Planning and Development Regulations.This means that members of the public will be invited this week to inspect the plans for the complex, which will be available for inspection in the offices of Westmeath County Council and on the Council"s website, www.westmeathcoco.ie, and to make submissions by September 1. Any submission received will be considered by the Council in its decision on this project.Over the last decade in particular, people"s expectations in relation to the provision of amenities such as sports halls, indoor leisure facilities, and sporting opportunities generally have increased significantly. In this context, Westmeath County Council commissioned a feasibility study on the provision of a new integrated sports and leisure facility in Mullingar.The study concluded that a range of facilities are 'desirable, necessary and financially viable in the context of Mullingar"s profile within the region'.It recommended the provision of a 25 metre six lane swimming pool; a children"s leisure pool; a health Suite comprising sauna, steam room and spa pool; a three basketball court sized sports arena; a 400 square metre fitness gym; an exercise areas for aerobics, boxing and spinning; two all-weather floodlit pitches; two natural turf training pitches; four all weather 5-a-side pitches; a 'drop in' Children"s centre and a junior playground facility.S&P Consultant Architects have been engaged to progress the project, and the site is located within the Robinstown Local Area Action Plan catchment.This plan comprises of c. 267 acres, is located immediately north-west of the existing town centre, and aside from the sports development, it is also expected to be the future home of 5,000 people, an expanded business district, and a local neighbourhood.The proposed location of the sports and leisure complex is central to the Robinstown area in a highly accessible environment. The complex on completion will have strong links with existing sports clubs including St. Loman"s GAA Club, Mullingar Shamrocks GAA Club and Mullingar Town Soccer Club.The project is designed to provide sporting and leisure infrastructure on a scale necessary to cater for the existing and future population of Mullingar.Cllr. Mick Dollard (Labour) praised the County Manager, Danny McLoughlin and his staff for their 'vision' in promoting plans for the integrated sports centre. 'This project has the footprints of the Manager all over it, and it will be enormously beneficial to the town of Mullingar,' he told the June meeting, adding that it bode well for social inclusion in Mullingar.The next phase of the process was 'warmly welcomed' by Cllrs. Ken Glynn and Jim Bourke (Fianna Fáil), with the former expressing his delight that the facility would be 'affordable for families' and built to meet the demands of young people in the area.'I"m getting worried by the amount of praise being given to the County Manager, I"m wondering how well criticise him at all after today,' Labour"s Cllr. Dan McCarthy joked, while Fine Gael"s Cllr. Fintan Cooney said that he saw the project"s proximity to the town as an attractive prospect.