By Ryan Sands
A PLANNING application for the Kilkeel Lower Square and River Walk Environmental Improvement Scheme has been submitted.
In May, the council carried out a public consultation on the project, which ‘seeks to improve the access to and along the Aughrim River and to provide a new play area at Rooney Road’, and, at the start of this month, lodged plans for it.
The proposal’s description – for ‘environmental improvements to Kilkeel Lower Square, Aughrim River Walk and Rooney Play Park’ – includes: ‘replacement of the existing pedestrian footbridge linking the Square to the River Walk; resurfacing of asphalt footway and provision of a new footway connection to the ramped footbridge access within the Lower Square car park; enhancement of the riverside walkway to include new pathway surfacing; wildlife friendly lighting, seating, signage and planting along the route of the existing path; and edevelopment of existing play park to include new surfacing, play equipment, fencing and connecting path’.
A design and access statement says that the 0.97-hectare linear site ‘runs the length of Aughrim River from Kilkeel Lower Square to Rooney Play Park’, adding that the application ‘seeks to upgrade the amenity value of the River Aughrim corridor and public access to it’.
It is noted that, whilst there are no listed buildings or scheduled monuments on or close to the site, it is ‘located in an Area of Archaeological Potential’, which has necessitated the submission of an archaeological impact assessment that recommends ‘undertaking construction-led archaeological monitoring’.
The statement stresses that the proposal is ‘targeted at improving amenity and recreational space’.
‘It does not involve the introduction of trip-generating uses that would trigger issues relating to traffic impact and parking,’ it continues.
‘This notwithstanding, there is adjacent parking provision for approximately 60 vehicles at Kilkeel Lower Square and patrons of the Rooney Park play area are likely to be residents within walking distance of it.’
