Town council diverts funds to Beechmount retail park road

A decision by Navan Town Council to divert €350,000 of funding from the Watergate Street/ Market Square refurbishment project to improvement works at the local Beechmount Home Park has created a storm of controversy among local representatives. While work will start on the Watergate Street/Market Square project this year, it will be to a lesser scale than originally planned, and the bulk of the the work is now expected to take place next year. Meanwhile, the improvement work at Beechmount Homepark will start shortly and is expected to be complete before the end of the year. While a number of councillors welcomed the change in plan as a positive one for retail business in Navan, Cllr Shane Cassells expressed concern at the council's handing over €350,000 to what he described as a "private refurbishment scheme". However, Navan Town Clerk Shane Donnelly pointed out that the work at Beechmount will be on a public road for which the council has responsibility. The park's roads and essential services, which are the responsibility of Navan Town Council, will be upgraded. He explained that the council would not have been able to spend the €350,000 in question, which was part of the block road grant, on Watergate Street/Market Square project before the end of the year and would be in danger of losing that funding, which was why it was decided to divert it to Beechmount. Mr Donnelly said the transfer of funds would not prevent the council from completing the works in the centre of the town and indicated they were making a number of further applications for funding through other mechanisms. "The work at Market Square will begin before the end of the year, but there will be a complete cessation of non-essential works for the month of December to keep the area clear for the business community," he said. The Mayor, Cllr Joe Reilly, and Cllr Peadar Tóibín both welcomed the major investment which would be made into the Beechmount Home Park over the next few months. According to Cllr Tóibín: "Beechmount Home Park is an important retail site in the town. It is made up predominantly of local businesses. The park has carried out good work in the past number of years in marketing not just their own business but Navan as a whole as a place to do business." Cllr Tóibín said retail industry in Meath was suffering a double whammy of decreased disposable income due to the recession and a yawning differential in prices with the north due to differing exchange and tax rates and to solve this problem, his own party is seeking the equalisation of tax rates and currency across Ireland, north and south. "The problem is so bad at the moment that 40 per cent of all shoppers leave the county on a daily basis to do their shopping," he said. He said that, in the meantime, Meath retail needs to be shored up with proper investment and a clear focused strategy. "The Beechmount Home Park, which employs 260 people, has itself come up with €150,000 which when added to the Council's €350,000 will mean a significant investment into the customer experience on offer from the park." Cllr Shane Cassells said the substantial sum of money going to the Beechmount Park was part of the block grant from government towards road and footpath improvement works in Navan for 2009. "It has now been simply handed over to this retail park." He said he had sought drawings and specific details as to the exact items the public's money would be funding in this scheme. "I did not receive that information because the councillors voted to simply hand over this money to Beechmount Traders Association. Not one of these councillors sought to even find out the smallest detail as to how this money would be spent," he said.