There were no declarations of interest from the Members.

Roscommon Municipal District Meeting – 23^rd September, 2021

Roscommon Municipal District Budget Meeting – 27^th October, 2021

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Leyden

            SECONDED by Cllr. McDermott

It was AGREED to adopt the Minutes of the Roscommon Municipal District Meeting of 23^rd September, 2021.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. McDermott

            SECONDED by Cllr. Leyden

It was AGREED to adopt the Minutes of the Roscommon Municipal District Budget meeting of 27^th October, 2021.

·         Cllr. McDermott raised the issue of cars speeding at the Walk and other parts of Roscommon Town and enquired if there was any update on this matter since it was previously raised.

Neal Geraghty confirmed that our Area Engineer, Anthony McDermott is following the matter up with the local Gardaí in Roscommon Town.  They are going to assess the situation in terms of the volume of traffic versus the level of excess speeding at these locations.

·         Cllr. Leyden requested an update on lowering the speed limit at Cloverhill National School and requested that John Mockler address the matter with the TII in Q1 of 2022 if no reply is received in the interim.  Neal Geraghty agreed to speak with John Mockler. 

·         Cllr. Waldron commented on the existing ramps at Lisnamult and Cllr. Waldron and Cllr. Leyden requested ramps for the Thornfield Drive area of Lisnamult. 

·         Cllr. Fitzmaurice requested an update on the prospect of a pedestrian crossing in Castlerea.

Neal Geraghty explained that we have received no correspondence from the TII regarding this matter but the TII have visited Castlerea and carried out a survey.  We are expecting a full report before Christmas and we will bring it to the members at the January meeting but feedback so far looks positive.

Cllr. Waldron pointed out that the existing pedestrian crossing at the Church in Castlerea is not visible enough and asked that John Mockler look at the pedestrian crossings in Ballygar as their design would be more suitable for this area.

·         Cllr. Leyden requested an update on active travel, resurfacing works and ramps at Lisnamult

Neal Geraghty confirmed that there is a contract in place to surface the section of road from Roscommon Community College up to the GAA facility and ramps will be included as part of traffic calming measures.

Specified Development in accordance with Section 179 Subsections 3(A) and 3(B) of Part XI of the Planning & Development Act, 2000 (as amended) & Part 8 of the Planning & Development Regulations, 2001 (as amended).

Specified Development (Planning Ref. 21/466) – A residential development at Cluain Airne Traveller Accommodation Site, Killerney Townland, Lanesborough Road, Roscommon consisting of (a) 2 no. single storey two bed detached houses, (b) all associated site development works including construction of footpaths, access road, street lighting, ducting for utilities and upgrade to foul & surface water drainage networks

Specified Development in accordance with Section 179 Subsections 3(A) and 3(B) of Part XI of the Planning & Development Act, 2000 (as amended) & Part 8 of the Planning & Development Regulations, 2001 (as amended).

(Planning Ref. 21/466)

A residential development at Cluain Airne Traveller Accommodation Site, Killerney Townland, Lanesborough Road, Roscommon consisting of (a) 2 no. single storey two bed detached houses, (b) all associated site development works including construction of footpaths, access road, street lighting, ducting for utilities and upgrade to foul & surface water drainage networks.

Conor Fallon outlined the details of the project to the members including the procedure that was followed as outlined in the Chief Executive’s report (included with the Agenda).  There were no third party submissions.

The Members all welcomed the proposed development.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Shanagher

            SECONDED by Cllr. Leyden

It was AGREED to proceed with the specified development without amendment as outlined in the Chief Executive’s report.

Request from Councillor Shanagher:

“That Roscommon County Council honour at the next civic reception, Eoghan Carthy from St Coman's Handball Club.  Eoghan won the All Ireland U17, 60x30 2020 recently”.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr Shanagher

            SECONDED by Cllr Leyden

It was AGREED that Roscommon County Council honour at the next civic reception, Eoghan Carthy from St Coman's Handball Club.  Eoghan won the All-Ireland U14, 60x30, 2020 recently.

Ciaran McAlary, Senior Resident Engineer gave the following update on the Public Realm Project-

·         All of the works will be finished before the Christmas Fair except for the area in front of the Bank of Ireland

·         Roscommon town is looking well and Roscommon County Council is happy with the end result  

·         There will be minor snagging work to be done in January

The members thanked Ciaran McAlary and complimented him on a job well done and in particular commended him on the excellent communication between all parties during the entire project.   They hope that the new enhanced town centre will bring more footfall into Roscommon town. 

The members made the following comments:

·         Is there any provision for bus or coach parking in the town?

·         The importance of temporary disabled parking bays being made available over the next few weeks

·         Enquiries regarding the 2hr parking signage for Roscommon town centre

·         The public need to be careful when parking in Roscommon Town Centre and to be mindful of not blocking other people.  No parking lines and disabled parking bays should be respected at all times

·         Roscommon County Council should consider using the area at the front of the new car park for bus and coach parking.  This would involve moving the existing disabled parking bays down near the footpath at the entrance to the Allée de Chartrettes which would be a more suitable place.  The entrance also needs to be widened to accommodate coaches.  The members impressed the need to address the lack of coach parking in Roscommon town 

Ciaran McAlary responded to the matters raised:

·         There will be further phases of work in Roscommon town and a design team is in place for that already

·         The final road surface will be completed during the first week of December and the permanent markings for the disabled bays will be done as part of this.  In the interim, temporary disabled parking bays will be in place.  The permanent signage for the 2hr parking will be done as part of the finishing works

Cllr. Paschal Fitzmaurice reported on behalf of Castlerea Town Team as follows-

·         The painting scheme in the town is finished, it has rejuvenated Castlerea resulting in some shop units and derelict properties being let or sold. 

·         The Town Team have been involved in a number of projects at Somers Park.  The walking track and exercise machines are progressing well and funding has also been received for picnic benches which will be a welcome addition.

·         Somers Park is the only park in County Roscommon nominated for an award under the Community & Council awards. 

·         Somers Park has been awarded €250,000 towards an outdoor arts and entertainment venue in Castlerea.  This will be a great project and Harmac are very excited about this development at Somers Park.  It should come before the Municipal District meeting for a Part 8 next year.

·         Some members of the Town Team were involved in a number of projects with An Chistin and they have been put forward for the Volunteer Awards at the end of the month.

·         The Christmas lights are being erected at the moment.

·         Cllr. Fitzmaurice thanked all the members of the Town Team and all the volunteers in Castlerea town.

Cllr. Shanagher reported on behalf of Roscommon Town Team as follows-

·         The weekend of 11^th & 12^th of December will see the unveiling of the wonderful new streetscape in Roscommon town and the Christmas lights will be switched on prior to this.  There will be entertainment, Christmas markets and various events taking place over the two days.  It is a great opportunity to showcase the new public space that everyone can enjoy.

·         Cllr. Shanagher thanked the volunteers involved with the various town team projects during the year.

There were no votes of congratulations or sympathies.

The following items were raised-

·         Cllr. Shanagher congratulated the 25 towns and villages who participated in this year’s Tidy Towns Competition in County Roscommon and thanked all the volunteers for their hard work during 2021.  The groups received the following awards, Roscommon Town gold, Cloontuskert and Ballintubber bronze with Ballyleague receiving a highly commended award in the water and community’s category.  Kilteevan won a heritage award for biodiversity for the Cloonlarge Bog Walk and Granlahan an endeavour award.

·         Congratulations were also extended to the community of Cloontuskert who won a special An Taisce Green Flag Community Award for the Cloontuskert Community Orchard marking it as a quality green space of international standards.

·         The members complimented the work of all community groups despite the limitations of Covid-19 and remarked that Cloontuskert is an example of what can be achieved through their sustainable communities’ energy master plan with features such as community garden and sculptures.

·         Cllr. Waldron acknowledged the great work being carried out in Ballintubber and Ballymoe on the Suck Valley Way which will hopefully attract tourists to this region.

·         The members commented on how the collaboration approach involving the various groups working in association with Roscommon County Council is very effective and that the towns and villages are looking really well. 

·         Cllr Waldron requested that the fence on the right hand side of the road as you exit Castleplunkett village heading to Tulsk be replaced with barriers.

·         Cllr. Fitzmaurice enquired about progress at Cloonkeen junction.Neal Geraghty confirmed that we have the signs and they will be erected soon.

·         Cllr. Fitzmaurice requested an update on ramps at the Fairways

Neal Geraghty agreed to follow this up with Colm Kennelly as they have been procured

·         Cllr. Fitzmaurice enquired about the one-hour parking spaces in Castlerea as they are quite faded

Neal Geraghty agreed to speak to the lining contractor to see what we could do in the short term.

·           The members acknowledged the great work at Ardeevin and thanked the residents for their patience

Neal Geraghty confirmed that the Ardeevin surfacing will be carried out in 2022, probably in January.

·           Cllr. McDermott spoke about how dangerous the junction is at Corrib Oil and the number of bad accidents at this location.  The traffic coming from Castlerea is going too fast and the people are parking on the road outside Corrib Oil.  Cllr. McDermott suggested writing to the TII and asking them to install a camera system similar to what was fitted at Oran to get feedback on driver behaviour and the extent of speeding at this location.  Hopefully this will lead to additional road signage and other safety measures such as a driver feedback radar system to alert people that they are speeding and get them to slow down.

Neal agreed to follow the matter up with the TII and advised that it could be included as part of ongoing issue at Cloverhill National School and the proposed periodic speed limit coming into Roscommon town.

·           Cllr. Shanagher spoke about the Social Inclusion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.21

It was agreed that thenext Roscommon MD Meeting will be held on 20^th January, 2022 at 2 p.m.