Council’s €115m three-year spending spree

The Council plans to spend €115 million over the next three years to develop towns and services across the county.
Included is the €7.7 million refurbishment and redevelopment of local authority offices, with an architect now on board to assess “all options” including the potential development of new offices at a greenfield site.
At present, the Council operates across three separate sites on Farnham Road, including the upper floors of the Johnston Library building and the Courthouse.
The refurbishment, which will be funded from the local authority’s own coffers and also a loan facility, comes in three parts with €700,000 to be spent next year, followed by €2m in 2020, and €5m in 2021.
However, CEO Tommy Ryan told local elected members at their recent monthly meeting his “preference” would be for the Council to continue to operate from within the centre of the county town. “To have offices in the heart of the town is a very good option,” Mr Ryan told the meeting.
He added: “Our business is in sustainable town development and a move out to a greenfield site would not feed into that.”
Stating it was important to “practice what you preach” and that there is “no quick fix” to the current situation involving all three sites, Mr Ryan said: “Whatever I have my name to, I want it to be right.”
The statutory presentation of the estimated three-year expenditure reflects “ongoing infrastructure provision” by the Council. It takes into account Department Capital allocations notified to date for 2019, as well as estimated allocations for 2020 and 2021 based on the local authority's infrastructural investment programme.
Council Director of Finance, Des Maguire said the €115,518,904.76 outlay covers “every area of the county and affects every aspect”.
To see the plan through to fruition, the council will need to provide matched funding to the tune of more than €23m, €7.6m which will be derived from local authority coffers, €5m to be taken in through development contributions, with close to €11m to be borrowed.
“It’s an ambitious programme and it will present its own challenges,” Mr Maguire said of the 29 headings under which funding will be spent. “It’s spread as best we can.”

Housing
Among the headline allocations is more than €22.5m to be spent either completing, building, or acquiring housing in Ballyhaise, Butlersbridge, Mullagh, Ballinagh, Cootehill, Ballyjamesduff, and a flagship plan to redevelop 12 units at Breffni Terrace in Cavan Town. The funding will come from the Department of Housing.
Almost €31m, it’s estimated, will be received from Transport Infrastructure Ireland for continued improvement in national primary and secondary roads; with €2.1m to be spent in assisting the development of group water schemes across the county.

Town Hall renovation
Through grants and local contribution, nearly €1.7m will be spent on the Town Hall renovation, due to be completed next year; €4.5m on the Virginia Library and Ramor Theatre redevelopment plan; and €4.45m on the new proposed state-of-the-art Cavan Sports Campus.
The Sports Campus will see a sum of €450,000 spent in the initial phases, 2019 and 2020.

 

Fire stations
Also to be progressed at a cost of €3.5m are new fire stations in Virginia and Ballyjamesduff; €362,000 on new dog pound facilities; and €1.6m to fund economic development sites.
Further investment has been earmarked over the next three years for the Cootehill Enterprise Park (€1.1m), Cavan Urban Regeneration Project (€5.3m), Cavan Urban Greenway (€1.4m); a combined €3.1m on the Belturbet to Ballyheady Greenway, via Ballyconnell; Amenity Parks (€600,000); €1.25m for Ballyjamesduff and Kingscourt regeneration projects respectively; Museum (€591,000 2019/20 only), and €596,150 for carparks.
But Mr Ryan told members that, while estimates for year one of the three-year plan was “fairly accurate”, in the latter stages things were “not so certain”, and became increasingly dependent on what grants were available.
“Not everything is going to happen. But it’s our best attempt at trying to outline our contribution for the next three years.”
At the same meeting, councillors were also provided with a financial update for 2018 up to the end of September, with Mr Maguire telling elected members that “things are running according to plan” with a “small surplus” of €511,228.