Civic centre proposal by Christmas

Civic centre proposal to be put to councillors by Christmas


Denise Horan

THE development of a civic amenities ‘campus’ on Westport’s old convent site may have to be done on a phased basis and may cost up to €4m, on top of the purchase price of €3.9m.
In the coming two to three months discussions will take place with a number of ‘partners’ with a view to coming up with a proposal for the site, including funding options, and it is expected this will be brought before the members of Westport Town Council for consideration by Christmas. Including a new town library on the site is part of the ‘master plan’, according to Town Manager, Peter Hynes, but the availability of funding will dictate when this happens. He also told members at last week’s monthly meeting of the Town Council – the only local authority meeting in the county to be held in August – that having the Hooker O’Malley collection housed on the campus, as proposed by Cllr Margaret Adams, would be desirable.
During a lengthy discussion on the topic of the civic centre project, members were broadly welcoming of the announcement that a booking deposit had been placed on the 4.4-acre site by Mayo County Council. Cllr Peter Flynn described it as ‘one of the happiest announcements in a long, long time in this chamber’, Cllr Declan Dever described it as ‘very good business’ on the Council’s part and ‘a great day for Westport’, while Cllr Tereasa McGuire – in congratulating Cllr Martin Keane on his role in the deal – said it was ‘a very sweet time’ to be Cathaoirleach and advised him to ‘savour it’.
Some questions were also raised by the councillors, however, and these were responded to by the Town Manager, who said members ‘need to trust the process and see where it takes us’. Cllr Peter Flynn said he did not understand why Mayo County Council was involved in the project, as the Town Council had its own fund set aside for projects, and it was the goodwill of the people of Westport that led to the deal being secured. He asked that the County Manager, Des Mahon, come before the Council and explain how the project would be funded, as he feared Westport Town Council would end up ‘subsidising Mayo County Council’.
Similarly, Cllr Keith Martin asked who was purchasing the site, who would own it, what public services would be included and what was the budget for the project. Responding to these queries, Peter Hynes said the civic centre would be the site for the provision of public services for the entire electoral area, including the islands. He said Mayo County Council will act as project manager and will do the design, while the question of ownership of the campus will be a matter for discussion ‘further down the line’. He said that ‘other partners’ will be needed to make this project work and what finally goes into the centre will depend on discussions with these partners in the coming months.
Cllr Dave Keating said that while he broadly welcomed the project, the fact that a public-private partnership was being used to fund it was sad. “It’s sad that in order to get funding for the project we have to cut the site in half and sell it off to the highest bidder,” he said, before suggesting that Westport Town Council leads the project and Mayo County Council becomes a client.
Cllr Brendan Mulroy said it was important that new civic offices were finally to be built, as staff had been working in very cramped conditions since moving to Altamont Street, and members of the public did not have sufficient confidentiality when doing their business in the office.
Noting that the people of the town were ‘very excited’ about news of this project, Cllr Myles Staunton said the devil would be in the detail. He complimented Peter Hynes and Des Mahon on their ‘vision for Westport’, while Cllr Margaret Adams said she had ‘every faith in Mayo County Council to bring this to fruition’, as it had done with projects in other parts of the county.
Cathaoirleach, Cllr Martin Keane, said it was a ‘proud day’ for him when he visited the site with the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council and the Cathaoirleach of the Westport Electoral Area Committee, and he hoped people would recognise that it was ‘the members around this table and the Town Manager that secured this for the people of the town’.
In response to questions from Cllr Dever and Cllr McGuire, respectively, Peter Hynes said that appropriate parking would be provided for within the site and the playing field beside the school would be retained as a green area and may even be developed for use by the public.