Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the Camlin Quarter urban regeneration application by Longford County Council. It is a project to co-ordinate the development of the northern area of Longford town, utilising key assets and connecting the functional area in a strategic way that maximises ongoing and future investment. The plan incorporates an area of more than 55 acres, encompassing the 18 acre Sean Connolly Barracks site, with a new focus on the River Camlin.

Longford has a high ratio of jobs to resident population, which indicates a need to provide suitable and attractive residential development in proximity to those jobs, as well as to develop more sustainable travel patterns and ensure the town derives economic benefit from the jobs it supports. If that is done, the town will be able to provide an enhanced range of services and facilities to the surrounding rural community and associated economises. Substantial investment from Fáilte Ireland under Government initiatives and directly by the local authority have worked towards achieving these aims. The project will represent a consolidation of that investment. The project involves an area in the northern portion of the town covered by the Camlin quarter masterplan. It will be a major investment in the areas of Connolly Barracks, Little Water Street, the mall complex, Abbeycarton and the Providers innovation hub.

The project was a significant priority of mine while I was a member of Longford County Council. Since being elected to Seanad Éireann, I have worked to ensure the continued support of the Government for the project. In December 2018, the then Taoiseach, now Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, visited the area and met members of Longford County Council and local business people who described in detail how the lower part of Longford town had been ravaged in recent years by the closure of a substantial number of businesses. The project is designed to improve the sustainable mobility and physical connection between the major functional areas in the northern section of the town core. It aims to enhance environmental quality and liveability and to provide an environment that attracts and encourages inward investment and increased footfall in this part of Longford town. The proposed works will require detailed design, environmental assessment, planning and, potentially, compulsory purchase orders in some instances. If funding is received for the project, it is hoped that the works will be completed by 2027 at an estimated cost of €13 million.I ask the Leader to raise this issue as a priority with the Minister so that this much-needed project for our county town is prioritised when allocations are made.