Athy halting site upgrade expected to commence this year

The pre-existing halting site at Ardew in Athy has many new proposed upgrades in the pipeline, which will offer more services for residents.

The proposed plan includes the conversion of four semi-detached day Houses into two detached Day Houses including space for Mobile Home parking, and the provision of five group houses, with one three-bed unit suitable for five people and four five-bed, age-friendly units suitable for nine people, and the demolition of the existing caretaker unit and construction of a new caretaker unit onsite.

The proposed caretaker unit is being designed for possible repurpose in the future into an accessible house for older people.

Areas of concern have been included in the planning, including anti-social behaviour, density of housing and location.

Local councillors were given this information in the chief executive’s Part 8 report at the latest Athy Municipal District meeting.

Cllr Vera-Louise Behan raised local concerns around the council’s response time to anti-social behaviour. 

“It’s one concern over everything that we come across.” 

She noted that improved reaction time by the council would be a “comfort for residents”. 

One significant problem that was integrated into the planning was the issue of things being thrown over the wall of the halting site. Developers are proposing to build a 2.4 metre boundary wall to address this issue.

For concerns related to density of housing and location, the council has proposed building a road and a green buffer area to separate the group houses and Ardew Meadows estate.

The works are scheduled to begin by the end of this year and will be done in phases with full completion by early 2026.

Cathaoirleach Aoife Breslin expressed her gratitude for the plan. 

“Thank you for your work on it. Athy will really notice the difference.”