“Part 8, Creation of a Community Space in Fore”

To whom it may concern,

According to Westmeath County Council in its development plan, Fore village and its hinterland is designated as a ''special heritage area''. It goes on to state that the ''richness of the archaeological and historical remains of Fore village, together with the attractive landscape in which they are set, mark this area out as one of national importance''.

If this be the case, why then does Westmeath County Council believe it is not necessary to carry out an environmental impact assessment in such an important area?

As Fore is designated as a special heritage area, it should be standard practice for such an assessment to be carried out.

My main concern with the plan is the provision of 17 street lights along the footpath extending from Fore village past the abbey entrance to the start of St. Feichins way trail. These lighting columns will look unsightly as they are to be positioned across the valley in what is now an open and attractive landscape. As these lighting columns are adjacent to a Proposed Natural Heritage Area which is of significance in the promotion of wildlife habitats and in particular the preservation of rare bat colonies. The light pollution emitted will be a major cause for concern. With the current number of street lights in the village (from the start to the end of the speed zone) at 23, the proposed installation of 17 extra street lights will give a total increase of almost 74% further light pollution.

My submission for the provision of lighting along by the footpath is similar to that used by other special heritage sites such as Glendalough where a system of low level lighting is used. Lights are positioned approximately 1 meter (or less) off the ground at regular intervals along a wooden fence etc. providing adequate light on the footpath without illuminating the entire area. As there is already a wooden fence in place this should be a simple system to install.

Also in the plan, ''creation of community space in Fore'' there is a line which states that there is a 65 meter stretch of existing historic stone wall that is missing right in the heart of the village. This seems to be quite a misleading statement as it infers that the wall now covered by bushes and brambles is missing while it is still there. The only part of this historic stone wall that is really missing is the part which Westmeath County Council demolished in the 1980's, which was replaced by a modern stone wall, built 2 meters back from the original foundation.

As Fore has become a member of the Walled Towns of Ireland, this project should be treated with extreme sensitivity and the time of build determined with associated history. The plan also states that ''this project aims to reconstruct this missing section of wall in keeping with style of the existing wall'' This definitely should not be the case as the referenced stone wall is a modern build and should not be replicated. The style of rebuild should be age appropriate to the wall.

Creation of Community Space in Fore - Aighneachtaí

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