Playground plan for Longwood village lodged with council
Plans for a long-awaited playground to serve Longwood village have made significant progress with a part eight planning application now submitted for the development.
The community has campaigned for close to two decades for the amenity in the village which has seen its population grow hugely in that time.
Meath County Council has recently progressed a part eight application, which is essentially the planning process for local authority's own developments and the plans are currently on public display.
The new playground is to be located on the green in the centre of the village on lands owned by the Diocese of Meath.
An agreement was reached between Meath County Council and St Finian's Diocesan Trust which has given its consent for the planning application to be made on the village green.
The footpath on the L80314 will be extended to the playground as part of the plans and a footpath will be provided from the playground along the green to tie in with the existing footpath on the R160.
The playground will be surrounded by a 1.2m high metal fence and the existing mature trees will not be impacted by the development.
Meath West TD Aisling Dempsey who has worked on the project for several years said welcomed the progress.
“This has been a long battle. The people of Longwood have long looked for a playground. Many people have tried to source sites and have tried to secure this site and others. We have never been able to source one before.
“I was delighted to work with Vinny Byrne and others on the original funding from the town and village renewal scheme which unfortunately we didn't get. Then we started out work with the Longwood Playground committee, with Laura Mullen, Laura Ryder and all the other women involved who really made this a community effort to make the application for funding successful".
However while funding was received, Deputy Dempsey said they still had no site.
“It has been really difficult to source a site in Longwood over the years and the green has always been one of the top choices.
“I am delighted the council now has consent from the landowner to apply for planning permission for the playground and I encourage all the people in the locality to ensure they take part in the process and to make their submissions on what they would like to see in the playground and what this facility could mean for them.”
Plans are on display until 7th February at the Council's Planning Department at Buvinda House in Navan, at the Trim MD offices in Mornington House, Trim, and at Enfield Library.
Submissions and observations can be made up to 13th March.