A 'space age plan' for Nenagh

Nenagh councillors are thrilled over plans to develop a whole new urban heartland off Martyrs Road, a project they say will transform the town.

“It's a very exciting initiative,” declared Fine Gael councillor Ger Darcy, after hearing a presentation on the ambitious plan at last Thursday’s meeting of the Nenagh Municipal District authority.

“It’s a no-brainer - it’s going to be fantastic for the town,” enthused Labour’s Fiona Bonfield.

“A fabulous project,” chimed in Cllr Hughie McGrath.

The Cathaoirleach of the District, Cllr Michael O’Meara was even more gushing after hearing the presentation by Tipperary County Council Senior Planner, Brian Beck.

“It really sounds space age what you are saying,” said Cathlaoireach O'Meara.

Central to the plans is the creation of a new national Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Energy. But a lot more too is being looked at for the ten hectare site that is set for regeneration to incorporate shopping amenities, new homes and open spaces for people to enjoy.

Mr Beck stressed that the site would not compete against the existing town centre; it would expand and complement the town, he said.

It was a regeneration project that would grow the town and support Nenagh as a whole.

Names for the area were being considered as were ways of how flow could be created to integrate the new urban space in to the traditional the town centre.

Mr Beck said they wanted to engage with local businesses and communities to make them fully aware of the project from its start right through to its end.

The aim was, that by the time planning permission was being sought, everyone would be fully aware of what was being proposed and would have an opportunity to give their views on the concept.

‘A NEW ENVIRONMENT’

Mr Beck told councillors the project leaders were seeking engagement with local landowners to create “a new environment” in that area of the town.

They were also working with the ESB, which owns property on Martyrs Road, and CIE to see how best to incorporate lands in the area into the new urban concept - the railway lands also being looked at as part of the plan.

Mr Beck said the aim was to create a new urban space, while integrating open spaces for people to enjoy in the centre of the town.

The intention was to blend the new urban area in with nearby Abbey Lane and Friar Street to create a flow to the traditional town centre.

He said Lidl, which has a superstore at Martyr's Road, had also agreed to work with the team to see how it could best utilise its open space for the benefit of the town.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

Mr Beck said the proposed Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Energy planned for the former Abbey Machinery site would be a building of1,600 square metres. It would be fitted out with over 100 working spaces and would provide multi-purpose training in efficient energy use and be a showcase for renewable technologies.

The design of the building would be "very high end", and among those operating within its walls would be PhD and Masters students doing research in renewable and sustainable energy.

It was envisaged that the centre would draw people from all over the country to attend training courses in renewable technology, including builders, architects, engineers and other people interested enhancing their skills in sustainable energy.

What was planned was a building that would be very different in standards to what people were used to. It would be the first of its kind in Ireland, and there were currently only a few of similar kind in existence in Europe.

The aim was that the building would be fully let out on the day of it is opened.

It is envisaged that it will be the first zero-carbon building in the state that will accommodate a mixture of enterprises, housing 130 people working on various energy projects.

It was proposed that national energy training initiatives would be run in the building, all ultimately leading to further job creation around the country.

An aim was that the building would not only be zero-carbon, but would become carbon positive and ultimately generate energy that could be sold to the national grid.

Mr Beck, who is Chairperson of both the Steering Group and Delivery Group for the project, said people trained there would go back to their own areas and hopefully create jobs from the skills they acquired.

The project leaders were looking to Europe, to talk to experts, and see how the centre of excellence would link in with similar projects being conducted on the wider European level.

A meeting had been held over two hours with the relevant government department last week and a team was being put together in the department to work on the project. Mr Beck said the Government's input would be very important over the next couple of years.

A letter of approval to proceed with plans for the regeneration project has received from Government in August and considerable ground work had been done on progressing plans since then.

The Steering Group involved in the project was comprised of, among others, representatives of the council, Tipperary Energy Agency, North Tipperary Development Company, the Technological University of the Shannon and Community Power.

A Delivery Group had also been formed to drive the project forward and deal with the day-to-day issues involved in ensuring the project came to fruition.

An internal audit had been conducted which concluded that the system put in place to drive the plan and deliver the project was robust.

The company, Grant Thornton, had been commissioned to prepare a preliminary business case. It was being worked on currently and it was hoped to have a draft from that company in February.

That preliminary business case would have to be submitted to the Government which, it was hoped, would sign off on the document, paving the way for the procurement of a design team for the project.

NEW ROADS PLANNED

Cllr Hughie McGrath hoped that the Transport Hub planned for the railway station and lands owned by CIE in the area would be upgraded and incorporated into the overall plan.

Cllr McGrath said it would be important to see the proposed new orbital route that was planned to link Tyone with the Dublin Road integrated into the overall plan as access to the planned new urban area was currently limited.

Mr Beck said the planned Transport Hub at the Railway Station would be key to the development of the overall area along Martyr's Road.

He said ways of creating a new road linking the Dublin Road to the railway station through backlands on the periphery of the site were also being explored as a way of taking traffic pressure off Martyr's road.

The concept of a new orbital route linking Tyone with the Dublin Road coming out from the old Lidl entrance was also an aspiration of the County Development Plan.