BACK TO THE FUTURE: The probable return of Tullamore Town Council

FROM the fire of 1785 up to the present day, the growth of Tullamore has been dictated by sound planning principles.

The town, as we know it today, is a combination of the layout decreed by its landlord Charles William Bury and the mid 20th century vision of the town planner Frank Gibney. The framework they created was fleshed out over the years by ambitious and skilful developers from Thomas Acres up to Jimmy Spollen and Christy Maye in recent times.

For the past fifty eight years the expansion of the town has been guided by six Development Plans. These were ratified by farsighted Tullamore Urban District Councils - later to become Tullamore Town Council - with the support and advice of astute local politicians including Johnny Flanagan and Tommy McKeigue.

These plans delivered the Bypass and the Lloyd Town Park. Water and sewerage services were improved. The northern side of O’Connor Square was pedestrianised. New Main Street was built. The Esker Arts Centre arrived. Elegant bridges spanned the River and the Canal. The Tanyard and High Street were linked.

But today Tullamore flounders in a vacuum with no plan to guide its future development. All it has is a broad brush zoning map without specific policies or objectives. No new local amenities are planned. No new roads are to be built by the Council. There are no specific proposals for the delivery of social and affordable housing. What obsolete areas will be renewed?. There is little clarity as to where public money will be directed in the future.

Simply painting colours on a map is not a plan.

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A Local Area Plan

In 2014 Tullamore Urban District Council was disbanded and replaced by a new entity - Tullamore Municipal District Council (TMDC). In 2021 a Local Area Plan for the town was promised by Offaly County Council.

But this never appeared and today Tullamore shares with Lifford in Donegal the dubious distinction of being the only County capital in Ireland without its own Local Area Plan. Birr, Edenderry, Portarlington and Clara already have their Town Plans or Local Area Plans. Mullingar, Portlaoise and Athlone have had theirs for many years now.

So, not only is there now no Plan to guide the future of Tullamore, but the delivery of several other key initiatives appears to have stalled also.

The Hidden Bridge

Back in 2004 the energetic County Planning Officer Vincent Hussey proposed linking O’Connor Square with Market Square across the ‘Hidden Bridge’ and the Councillors enthusiastically adopted his imaginative initiative. Eventually, in September 2023, eminent consultants were appointed by Offaly County Council to provide designs.

Almost two years later their proposals have yet to be revealed.

Architectural Conservation Areas

The 2010 Town Council Plan committed to examining the feasibility of designating Architectural Conservation Areas in Tullamore.

Fifteen years later, whether for reasons of lack of resources, interest or skills, the TMDC has apparently abandoned the examination; leaving Tullamore as the only County town in the whole of Ireland which doesn’t regard even one of its streets or squares as being of any architectural merit whatsoever.

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Grand Canal Harbour

Last June, to great acclaim, the renowned international designers Grafton Architects - headed by Tullamore native Yvonne Farrell - unveiled their exciting visions for the future of the Harbour.

The essential first action to deliver this long promised project of immense importance was to be the establishment of an active Working Group which would prioritise opportunities for development, identify funding pathways and investigate comparable operating models.

Presumably, as the appropriate local authority and joint owners of the lands, TMDC along with Waterways Ireland would be the lead agents and drivers in the Group. But sixteen months later silence has descended and no progress has been reported on its establishment.

Local Democracy Taskforce

There would appear to be general agreement that the Local Government reforms of 2014 have not worked as well as hoped. In the planning area at least, and in the light of the above, it must be conceded that the performance of Tullamore Municipal District Council has not dramatically surpassed the productivity of its predecessors.

Last June the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne and the Minister of State with responsibility for Planning and Local Government John Cummins, announced the establishment of a Local Democracy Taskforce. Its remit is to identify a programme of reform which will strengthen Irish Local Government.

It is widely anticipated that the Taskforce will recommend that Town Councils be restored for all defined urban areas with a population greater than 5,000, and with over 1,000 dwellings.

Possibly Councillors will be given more control over their budgets including the ability to raise their own discretionary revenue from sources such as hotel beds and vacant property.

It may be a while before any such reforms are agreed or implemented. Hopefully before then, Tullamore Municipal District Council will have gone some way towards seizing its present opportunities.

A native of Tullamore, Fergal MacCabe is a retired town planner, now living in Dublin