Athboy playing fields approved

Area councillors approved the leasing of 10 acres for playing pitches beside Coille Dios, Athboy, to the town"s Social Needs and Recreational Company for 35 years, at a meeting of councillors in Kells last week. The company will pay a €100 rental annually and members also welcomed the upcoming tenanting of the 10 houses at Coille Dios by mid-December. One of the remaining houses will be developed as a community centre, with the house beside it requiring some alterations before it goes for tenanting early in the New Year, area manager Brendan McGrath told them. He welcomed the four-pitch development, including one all-weather one. Construction could begin early in 2009 and be completed on the pitches 'within months'. Cllr Liz McCormack praised the 'filling of the last piece of jigsaw' which she was grateful for in her post as chairperson of the Social Needs and Recreational Company. It had taken a lot of hard work both by its members and council officials to bring it to this stage, she said. Mr McGrath said the project has been driven forward by the company and its chairperson, in particular, all of whom deserved praise for their civic spirit.