Enfield and a ‘ground-breaking approach in town-first planning’
Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, and Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell TD last week published the first ever Town Centre First plans for 26 towns across every county, including Enfield in Co Meath.
The plans, which were developed in consultation with local communities represent the vision of local people for their area and contain proposals for a diverse range of projects.
The Ministers were joined at the launch by the new Town Regeneration Officers who have been appointed in every local authority to drive implementation of the new plans including Pat Shore, Town Regeneration Officer with Meath Co Council.
The Enfield Town Centre First Plan, was prepared by consultants Paul Hogarth and Company with input from the Enfield Town Team and the local community. It contains a list of 15 actions identified as priorities for the town.
In the foreword to the plan, Town Team chairperson Shane Foley described the Town Centre First policy as “one of the most ground-breaking approaches in Irish planning history for the regeneration of smaller towns with specific challenges and rapidly growing populations”.
The plan looked at various areas of the town that could be improved upon including the Main Street, the Square, the Bypass and the Dublin Road as well as the bus and train network, schools, walking and cycing network, the canal, and community spaces.
Top priority was the town's Main Street with the plan recommending that a public realm and streetscape scheme to increase space for pedestrians and cyclists while managing vehicular speeds and parking.
The plan notes that Enfield “lacks a central civic space where the community can come together and events can take place” and that the opportunity exists for the local authority to develop the site vacated by Enfield Community College. However, just recently a new community special school has been announced for Enfield which will temporarily be located on the site so any plans for this site are now on hold including controversial plans for a car park.
Referring to this site, the plan states that “the town team has identified that car parking does not present the optimum use for this site” and while “it is acknowledged that commuter car parking does present an issue for Enfield Town Centre”, the town team's preferred solution “could be to make the most of existing car parks, to relocate the bus stop and to provide a designated commuter parking facility elsewhere in the town”.
Another aim of the plan is to improve usage of the town's bypass and reduce traffic congestion in the town, and also in the longer term to look at lighting to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrian and cycle links should also be improved throughout the town, more use of the canal should be encouraged and the possibility of a town park between the canal and the town centre was mooted.
It notes that location of the bus stop on Main Street generates traffic and parking problems and relocating it should be looked at. It also suggests that Enfield train station is underused and should be redesigned as a multi-modal transport hub.
The need for community space is also highlighted and it suggests that access to existing town facilities should be enhanced so that their use is fully maximised such as the community hub, schools and clubs, and that current projects such as the community hall must be progressed and new projects should be brought forward such as the civic space.