LATEST: Very ambitious draft Masterplan for growing Tipperary town revealed

The draft of the much anticipated new Town First Masterplan for Roscrea has been published and although highly ambitious in its scale, it charts out a blueprint for Roscrea's evolution into an modern and welcoming town.

The draft of the Masterplan was published last week and is available for the public to download and examine from the Tipperary County Council website. It features several very impressive artist's renditions of what Roscrea's redesigned streets will look like and gives an in-depth presentation on how the multi-pronged Masterplan will be implemented and what the results will be.

After several well attended public consultation sessions and a long window of opportunity for the public to contribute via an online portal, Town Champion, Brian King and Roscrea's Regeneration Officer, Áine McCarthy have presented a visionary plan that, if turned into a reality, could make Roscrea a booming tourist town.

Some changes are very dramatic and require significant construction works to achieve, while the draft Masterplan is also filled with very imaginative and cost-effective ideas that would bring about welcome and long-lasting changes on a small budget.

Pedestrians are the winners and motorists lose the lion's share of the streets in the new Roscrea and parts of the town usually accessible on four wheels will now be only open to those on foot.

Reimagining the town's warren of lanes and alleys and opening up a new pedestrian route linking Rosemary Square and Castle Street via the Castle gardens will greatly enhance the pedestrian experience and will see on-street parking space change to greatly widened footpaths replete with new street furniture, lighting and attractive paving.

Rosemary Square will be radically changed to create a new pedestrian friendly plaza, while the brownfield former Antigen site will be transformed into a new quarter, where a walkway linking Roscrea Train Station with Lourdes Road and a new green area is proposed.

Above: The building designed by architect Claire McManus, a native of Roscrea, was chosen as the winning design for a key part of the redevlopment of Gantly Street

An enhanced Glebe Park, the upgrade of Gantly Road into a modern urban commercial street and harnessing the potential of the Moneen are all explored.

The Masterplan is available to view on the Council website in a very impressive presentation and the public are encouraged to examine the plans for the evolution of Roscrea Town.