Last year we successfully made a detailed submission for public realm improvements via the Westmeath Public Participation Network (PPN) to the Municipal District as part of the County Councils upcoming budgeting process. Our submission was based on feedback from the community and focused on 4 key asks, 3 of which are either complete or currently in progress! These were:
A new pathway along the R446 from the village towards Kinnegad (Done)
A pedestrian crossing between Wrights Car Park & The GAA Pitch on the R446 with associated lighting, signage and road markings (In Progress)
Bus Shelters (In progress)
Upgrades to Lighting in the centre of the village (Not Brought Forward.... yet!!)
Naturally we were delighted to get 3 out of our 4 asks from last years submissions. But that doesn't mean we're giving up on getting proper LED street lighting to brighten up our village!! So we've gone ahead and included it as one of our 4 asks again this year. Here's hoping it will be a case of second time lucky on that one!
Read on for more details of our submission for this year...
Issue 1 - Footpath Extension (Mullingar Road)
On the approach to Milltownpass via the Mullingar Road, the current footpath terminates outside Millview Estate leaving a number of houses on the periphery of the village without suitable pedestrian access or any public lighting to access the village safely on foot.
Suggestion
Legend:
Blue Line – Existing Footpath
Yellow Line – Proposed Extension (approx. 170 meters)
Aligned with our Milltownpass Village Plan, we would like to see plans realised to build a safe and accessible pathway through the village. As such, we would like to see an extension of the existing footpath network to extend further north outside the village along the Mullingar Road.
Doing so would service the 10 additional households on this side of the village, providing a safe, accessible route for walking promoting connectedness and enhancing public health
Issue 2. Road Verge treatment
The old Galway to Dublin Road, now the R446 is the main approach to Milltownpass from the Kinnegad side with relatively high volumes of traffic. At present the road side verge is primarily grass on this side of the village. As a result it gets mucky and is often driven on by heavy goods vehicles creating an unsightly approach to the village with limited to zero visibility of road markings or reflective road cats eyes.
In comparison, the west side of the village on the same road has kerbing and as a result is far neater, enhancing the approach to the village.
Road: Galway to Dublin R446
Leaving Milltownpass on Kinnegad side of the village
Suggestion
Legend:
Blue Line – Existing Kerbing
Yellow Line – Proposed new kerbing (approx. 780 meters)
We would ask the MD team to support us by installing concrete road side kerbs to provide a solid and uniform approach to the village of Milltownpass. Doing so will also provide a more solid divide between the road and the existing footpaths which run along this road. Once kerbs are in place, we would ask that refreshed road markings are put in place in the interest of road safety.
Issue 3 - Public Lighting
Consistent feedback we received was that the centre of the village is very dark at night and does not create a safe environment for pedestrians, particularly during winter months. According to the Deadsure App Database, there are currently 57
lights in total within the village of Milltownpass. Of which, 28 or 49% are non-LED light (shown in blue pins bellow). In particular, the centre of the village is mainly serviced by older, non-LED lights (~75%), greatly reducing visibility at night.
Suggestion
Legend:
Aligned with Westmeath CC Public lighting policy and sustainability goals, we would like to see an acceleration in the replacement of these older non-LED lamps to newer LED lights which would not only be more energy efficient and cheaper to run, but crucially give much stronger light in the centre of the village.
Converting these to LED would greatly enhance the visibility within the village as well as represent cost savings for Westmeath County Council.
Based on feedback from our 2022 MD Submission, we appreciate it may not be feasible to replace all 28 non-LED Lights immediately but we would ask that the ones in the centre of the village are given high priority and replaced proactively.
The following are the 9X pole reference numbers we are requesting be proactively converted to LED in the interests of public safety:
Pole: 16 Milltownpass
Pole: 15 Milltownpass
Pole: 14 Milltownpass
Pole: 13 Milltownpass
Pole: 23 Milltownpass
Pole: 12 Milltownpass
Pole: 11 Milltownpass
Pole: 9 Milltownpass
Pole: 8 Milltownpass
Issue 4 - CCTV Monitoring of Recycling Area to combat illegal dumping
The Milltownpass TidyTowns group have regularly had to clean up household waste that has been dumped at the Recycling Bring bank facility located on the Mullingar Road, just up from St. Joseph’s National School.
This has become a little blackspot in our village and has been commented on in our 2023 TidyTowns Adjudicators report.
We are committed to maintaining the recycling facility in our village as it helps households to recycle, however we cannot continue to put our volunteers at risk cleaning up unknown household waste, glass etc.
Suggestion
Aligned with the recently enacted Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022, we are aware that the use of CCTV and mobile recording devices can now be used for the purposes of enforcement of litter and waste legislation.
As soon as the code of practice in Westmeath County Council has been put in place, we would ask that Milltownpass be included as a pilot site to deter illegal dumping at this important local recycling amenity.
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