‘Parts of Flowerhill have struggled for decades’ – call for progress on Navan’s long-promised regeneration scheme
An Aontú councillor has criticised the lack of progress on the long-promised Flowerhill Regeneration Scheme in Navan.
Cllr Emer Tóibín said that six years of delays mean the original funding will no longer cover today’s soaring construction costs.
In 2019, funding of €10.3m was awarded under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) for four projects — the Ashbourne Road and Public Realm Improvement, the Flowerhill Regeneration Project, the Navan Active Land Management Project, and the Railway Street Regeneration and County Archive.
Two years later, in 2021, €7.6m was provisionally allocated to Meath County Council’s project for public realm and other works in the Flowerhill and Abbeylands areas, aimed at tackling decades of dereliction and decline.
“Parts of Flowerhill have struggled for decades, and the community was promised transformation,” said Cllr Tóibín.
“Despite this, there has been very little visible or tangible progress on the ground, which is both staggering and deeply disappointing. Once again, the taxpayer will be hit by the jump in costs — it’s completely unacceptable.”
She acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic slowed many capital projects but said the extent of the delay was “unjustifiable.”
“An Urban Design Plan was developed following public consultation, but residents are still waiting to see meaningful progress. Costs have soared in recent years, and this funding will no longer stretch nearly as far as planned,” she said.
The Flowerhill Regeneration Scheme, led by Meath County Council, aims to revitalise the area through public realm upgrades, including new paving, lighting, street furniture, trees, cycle lanes and safer pedestrian crossings.
It also includes developing a River Park along the River Blackwater to open up public access and link to the wider greenway network.
In addition, the plan provides for the redevelopment of derelict sites for housing, business and community use, as well as active travel infrastructure to improve pedestrian and cycle connections between Flowerhill, Abbeylands and Navan town centre.
Cllr Tóibín said that there had been a “small but welcome development.”
“I have received confirmation from Meath County Council that Navan councillors will be presented with a Part 8 planning application in February next year for the pedestrian and cycle connections,” she said.
“That’s a positive step forward, but the broader project urgently needs to move beyond the planning stage. Unless momentum is maintained, the original funding will fall far short of what’s now required.”
She added that further delays would be “terribly unfair” to local residents and the taxpayer.
“This project has the potential to transform a neglected gateway into Navan, but delivery must be accelerated before costs and dereliction worsen further,” she said.