Town Centre First, Ireland

Small town spirit

Historically, Ireland’s towns and villages have played an important role in supporting the nation’s economy – as market towns, agricultural hubs and even scenes of international trade. At the local scale, they were places of community and activity where people would congregate, shop, and spend time. These days, the role and identity of some of Ireland’s towns have shifted. This is what we discovered when we and a team of consultants were commissioned to develop plans for three towns under the Irish government’s Town Centre First policy, prepared by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Rural and Community Development.

Context

The policy follows the ‘Town Centre First approach’ which encourages Government Departments, Local Authorities, businesses and communities to ‘put town centres at the heart of decision-making’ – a central theme of the ‘Our Rural Future’ policy framework. The Town Centre First policy seeks to breathe new life into these town centres, with a focus on tackling vacancy and dereliction to more strategic interventions that support local communities while accommodating future growth. Can we refurbish and repurpose existing structures? Are there infill and backland sites which can accommodate new uses? Where can there be new homes? Where will the employment spaces of the future be? How can we improve climate resilience? These are the types of questions that we are addressing.

A key feature of the policy is the involvement of local people, not only in the development of each plan itself but in implementing its ideas and output projects. ‘Town Teams’ have been established, which bring together individual citizens and local community groups – the people who know their town well. For the first time, each will have a dedicated Town Regeneration Officer. Their job will be to assist the Town Teams in delivering each plan’s ideas and aspirations.

So, these are not plans that will gather dust on a shelf. This Town Team approach hardwires enthusiasm and capacity into the process. Teams work with officers to apply for funding and implement projects. A substantial investment spread across major government schemes from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund to the Town and Village Renewal Scheme enables it all, and these schemes are tailored specifically to foster tangible, timely change.

Challenge

As urban planners, we have a role to play as storytellers, so our first step is to really get to know the town. Identity emanates from the past stories of a place, which instils a sense of local pride, belonging and wellbeing. This heritage is our starting point.

The first of the towns was Moate in County Westmeath, which started life as a Motte and Bailey settlement, developing into a Quaker village and an important and successful marketplace. That legacy is seen in its handsome historic buildings, a Quaker burial ground, the remnants of the Motte’s earthwork, and a sixteenth-century castle.

More recently, it has been better known as a traffic bottleneck on the main Dublin to Galway road. Yet since the opening of the M6 motorway, traffic has quietened down on Main Street, leaving an impact, but presenting an opportunity for redefinition. While Moate is a place of focus for its local rural hinterlands, many local people end up choosing other town centres to shop or spend time in.

So, how can Moate’s identity be shaped to better represent its strong history and community? What of its streets and spaces, and how they can work?

Sixmilebridge has a different story, a stronghold at the crossing of a key road and the O’Garney River, and one of Ireland’s original ‘plantation’ towns, with the influence of its English, French, and Dutch settlers still evident in street names and local materials. The name, Sixmilebridge, is said to derive from being six old Irish miles from Limerick’s Thomondgate Bridge. And it was here where oil mills and tanneries sprouted up, where leather shoes, port, soap, and rapeseed oil were internationally traded. Today’s town centre isn’t the hub of activity of its former heyday. Its remarkable seventeenth-century bridge now restricts vehicular movement, barely wide enough for two cars. Quite the access and accessibility challenge.

Yet Sixmilebridge bustling legacy is seen in the town’s attractive historic buildings, and its industrial spirit remains in the town’s industrial estate in the Mill Yard. It’s also quietly evident in the three urban squares now disguised by parked cars, traversed by the O’Garney River once critical to Sixmilebridge fortunes.

The third town in our work is Carrick-on-Shannon. A historic market town on the west bank of the River Shannon, it has borne witness to the comings and goings of rival groups and was the site of an Iron Age fort. It was granted a royal charter in the seventeenth century and has since played an important role in the wider region. Regular markets and annual festivals bring people together and nurture local trade. It is also home to the Costello Memorial Chapel, the smallest chapel in Ireland.

It draws tourists from across the country and overseas with its river activities and reputation for a great night out, confirmed by its coveted ‘Purple Flag’ status, awarded for excellence in managing its night-time economy. Its historic Court House has recently been reborn into an arts centre and its Main Street has seen positive investment in its public realm. Although the town has plenty to shout about, there is more potential to be realised in its many assets – namely the river which gives it its name.

With each of these stories as our point of departure, we went on to craft a vision statement for each – painting a picture to demonstrate each town’s potential.

Process

Working closely with Westmeath County Council, the Moate Town Team and A2 Architects, transport and engineering specialists Arup, and leisure and tourism specialists Repucon Consulting, we developed a plan for Moate which seeks to fulfil the town’s potential, first by tackling vacancy and dereliction through the retrofit of key historic and derelict buildings. New uses – flexible workspace, town centre homes and community spaces – bring new life. The plan identifies opportunities for infill sites to provide town centre homes, workshops, and makers spaces; off-street parking to alleviate congestion on Main Street; and there is a shopfront improvement strategy.

The distinctive wide Main Street, once known for its heavy traffic, can be rebalanced to provide space for an improved public realm, greening, markets, improved crossings and a canvas for walking and cycling, making the most of its position on the Old Rail Trail Greenway. Moate’s disused railway buildings could be reimagined as a cycle café and hire shop, encouraging exploration of the town. The plan also seeks to complement the town’s existing visitor offer, through enhanced visibility and improvement of unique historic assets and their surrounds, including the Motte and Bailey and its historic castle.

An illustrative sketch of the Moate masterplan

In Sixmilebridge, we worked with Clare County Council and the Sixmilebridge Town Team, alongside heritage conservation specialists Southgate Associates, TOBIN Consulting Engineers, and leisure and tourism specialists Repucon Consulting.

The plan was developed through regular discussion with the Town Team and local people. Feedback throughout the process repeatedly centred on a few key issues. The town’s narrow bridge and the challenges it presents. A lack of open or green space. The need for more activities, particularly for young people.

Through lively debate and discussions with local people, our heritage and conservation specialists and engineers, a scheme for a new pedestrian bridge was settled upon which aligns with the historic bridge. This will be key to unlocking safe pedestrian and cycle movement in the town.

The southern end of the new bridge would land into a new public space for the town, recreating the former town square and providing much needed additional open space for events and a Sixmilebridge market. It provides a more attractive approach and outlook for shops fronting the square, making best use of the attractive riverside setting.

Another of Sixmilebridge’s former squares, Frederick Square, is Sixmilebridge’s main employment space and a prominent threshold space on the town’s northern approach. It is framed by businesses, a refurbished and repurposed bar, the O’Garney River weir, and Gleeson’s Bar. Our proposals seek to reinvigorate the square with breakout space for workshop activities, outdoor pub seating, and walkable public realm.

To provide more things to do for young people beyond just sport, the plan includes a scout or community riverbase to encourage river-based activities; a greater programme of events in town supported by a new culture and events centre; and improved youth and community facilities, supported by opportunities for an improved youth café, multi-functional sports and community facility, town park, and community garden.

Other proposals include a riverside walk alongside the O’Garney River to Bunratty; a heritage trail which tells the town’s story through its key historic buildings and structures; a trail head and bike hub; and a rural enterprise and innovation centre.

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An illustrative sketch of the masterplan

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The bridge of River O'Kearney

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A rendition of the main square by Adriette Myburgh

Carrick is an attractive and popular town with a strong community and dynamic evening economy, which hosts regular markets and an annual festival and regatta, bringing in visitors from across the wider region.

So, our approach asked how future town centre vitality can be better supported, the environment improved; the community, identity, heritage and culture strengthened; and access and movement enhanced.

Through regular meetings and workshops with Carrick-on-Shannon’s Town Team, Leitrim County Council, and discussions with local people – and supported by our team of consultants, which included A2 Architects and TOBIN Consulting Engineers – we developed a plan which seeks to strengthen and rejuvenate the town’s relationship with the River Shannon by overcoming the physical barriers which separate it from the town centre and create new spaces to enliven the town. The main barriers come in the form of the N4, a busy road with few pedestrian crossings, and a range of car parks which occupy the river edge. Flooding presents a challenge for these lower-lying areas of the town and therefore limits opportunities for new development.

The plan therefore seeks to reimagine the N4 to improve the pedestrian experience and encourage more sustainable movement. Proposals seek to minimise the carriageway and introduce a segregated cycleway to link into a green loop – a walking and cycling route which links the town’s green spaces and connects into the proposed ‘Blueway’ – a walking and cycling route which follows the River Shannon. The existing feel of the road would be softened, with surface improvements, better pedestrian crossings, greening, and the integration of sustainable urban drainage to help mitigate flooding impact and enhance biodiversity.

The existing Quay Road West and Quay Road East car parks provide additional parking for the town and for those taking part in river leisure activities such as boat tours. However, these spaces are relatively underused and do not take full advantage of their scenic riverside position. So, the plan seeks to transform them to better accommodate people. There would be new seating and planting, and improved surfaces and infrastructure to enable events and activities to be held in these areas, including the annual regatta, themed markets and festivals. By making these areas more inclusive, it unlocks the potential for ever more events and activities for the town – strengthening the local character and attracting those from further afield.

Impact

The resulting plans, although varied in their approach and outcomes and tailored to their local particularities, each set out a menu of projects and ideas which meet the objectives of local people and make the most of pre-existing assets and qualities.

This is not an approach of imposing something new onto each town, but about bringing out what is already there. It is a rooted form of sustainable planning, place-specific, and fine grain. Each plan is a practical tool to support each Town Team and council to apply for funding opportunities to deliver these much-needed improvements. In stimulating sustainable growth, coupled with an emphasis on high-quality design interventions, these important towns have the chance for genuine rejuvenation – an evolution which is their natural next chapter in their long and rich stories.

At this moment in time, there are already Town Teams across Ireland working with their respective council Town Regeneration Officer to further develop ideas set out in Town Centre First Plans and apply for funding to implement them.

City: Moate, Sixmilebridge, Carrick-on-Shannon
Use: Mixed
Client: Government of Ireland
Status: Current