Granard has its say on village status

A proposal to reconsider the downgrading of Granard to a village is being examined by the East Midlands Regional Assembly, writes Thomas Lyons. A draft spatial strategy drawn up by the Assembly could have economic implications for the north Longford town.
East Midlands Regional Assembly is representative body for 12 local authorities. They are charged with implementing Regional Planning Guidelines as part of regional spatial and economic strategies.
If the plan is implemented, some of Longford’s largest urban centres could be downgraded under the strategic planning framework. Granard Traders Association hosted a public meeting last week to canvass the views of locals on the matter.

Local business person Pascal Masterson said that he was happy with the outcome of the meeting: “It went all right. They [local authority representatives] had their homework done and I think they revised the figures that were originally bandied about. They said that the new figure is 800, so we are above that.”

Mr Masterson said the matter has not been finalised and will be discussed at assembly level: “The councillors and council officials gave us assurance they would meet with the Board to ensure Garnard won't be downgraded to a village. At the moment we are quite happy,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed by businessperson Sinead Fay: “It was good that we aired our views. We have to wait for them to come back with a decision. We are hoping that the Regional Assembly will take heed of the submission of Longford County Council.”

“It is hard to see how we could be considered a village, we have two international companies headquartered here. Historically we are a market town and, although we have experienced population decline through migration and emigration, we are still here. There is a lot of planning permissions lodged for new houses in the town, so we can see the population increasing. It is important that we are given time to prosper,” Ms Fay said.

Cllr PJ Reilly is a member of the East Midlands Regional Assembly. He believes there is a need to make changes that are reflective of the county: “It's in the proposal that any town that has a population under 1,500 would be downgraded to village status. Granard is a town with less than 1,000 of a population, so it would be in that category, but the regional assembly itself stated that there will have to be consultation done for smaller population counties.

“You cannot compare County Longford with larger population counties. Longford has a low base. There will have to consultation on those regions so town in counties with smaller population can hold their town status,” Cllr Reilly said.

He points out that the town has a lot of industry with names like Pat the Baker, Kiernan Milling, Lite Pac and Enplast all having national profile: “Even the two secondary schools. They facilitate quite a large rural area. Students travel here from Cavan and Westmeath,” the elected representative told the Celt.

He acknowledged that downgrading Granard to a village would have a negative effect on the urban centre: “It wouldn't be good for the town. It would affect further development if it did not have the status of a town. It could have repercussions for grant funding and in time to come it could cause issues.”

The last census in 2016 showed that the population slumped from 1,021 in 2011 to just 816. It was the only town in the county to experience a decline: “There are no major housing estates, and there are benefits to that, but at the same time there are down sides. The Assembly will have to be open to negotiations on towns like Granard and counties like Longford where populations are quite low.”
The people of Granard will have to wait on a final decision from the East Midlands Regional Assembly to make its final decision.