A NEW development of 14 houses with a state-of-the-art community centre costing €4m is set to begin in the village of Kilmeena.
Mayo County Council have plans to build the houses and centre in the heart of the village at Moyna and will be in close proximity to the school and Church, with provision for childcare facilities.
Speaking at last week’s meeting of Westport Electoral Area, Mr Martin Keating, Director of Services said the County Council had been looking for a site for a substantial amount of time. A lot of time and effort had been put into the design and planning so it fitted in with the rural character of the village. It would be a mixture of social and affordable housing.
Four submissions had been received in relation to the proposals. These had been lodged by Kilmeena Community Hall Committee and other residents of the area. One of these was in support of the proposals but asked for clarification on the control of use of the community centre and requested that the use of the hall would not adversely affect the residential amenities of those living in the village.
In response, officials of Mayo County Council said they were only providing the site for the hall. “The Kilmeena Community Hall will carry out the development of the community hall element of the scheme. The licensing laws, control of noise and disturbance, etc are controlled by legislation separate to planning and can be acted upon if and when nuisance occurs.”
Issues of concern over inappropriate house density and design; sustainability of the proposed development; interference with views; noise and traffic and unzoned lands, lack of a village plan and pressures for development were also dealt with by the council.
They found the development was undoubtedly respectful of the rural setting of the village; the road system was adequate to accommodate the development and it would integrate well with other buildings in the village and help develop the visual coherence of the village rather than interfere with views.
Cllr John O’Malley said this would be a great piece of infrastructure in the area. In the past, Kilmeena had been neglected, in a way, in terms of infrastructure. There have been people who objected to developments in the past but when they were completed, they were complimentary of them.
This will be a fine addition to the area and he looked forward to it getting started.
Cllr Austin Francis O’Malley said any development in this area would be good for it.
Cllr Frank Chambers complimented Cllr John O’Malley who pushed for this development. He said the area had grown a lot and the proposed community centre would add a lot to it.
“It is a fine spaceous site with a good bit of green around it and will give a good environment for rearing children. It will be the central and focal point of the area.”
Cllr Margaret Adams also complimented Cllr O’Malley on bringing the scheme forward. In all of the schemes development in the area, such as Aughagower, Glenhest, etc, they saw the standard of housing.
They were well built, well designed and eco-friendly. It was great to see the mix of housing included. The old community centre was badly in need of repair.
