Drogheda left in ‘limbo status’ in programme
THE Drogheda City Status Group (DCSG) is worried that the Plan for Government currently being considered by members of Fianna Fail; Fine Gael and the Green Party appears to have ignored what they call Drogheda’s “limbo status”.
DCSG is calling on those voting members of the three parties in Drogheda; South Louth and East Meath to demand that the needs of the Greater Drogheda area should be clearly set out in the Plan before voting on it, as it is being ‘ treated effectively as two commuter towns rather than an emerging, self-sustaining city.”
“Right now, Drogheda can provide the State with almost 5,000 private, social and affordable new homes with planning permission, as soon as Government expedites Drogheda’s Port Access Northern Cross Route,” explains Anna McKenna, chair of DCSG. “This is also critical for the North East and Drogheda Port as Brexit approaches. It is beyond belief in the middle of Ireland’s worst housing crisis that, currently, this does not even get a mention in the plan”.
DCSG stresses this modest investment can create immediate, much needed and substantial employment for construction workers from throughout the North East; will deliver thousands of more energy efficient new homes (and community facilities); a new railway station on an electrified route – and green field sites on which to develop state of the art post Covid-19 retail and work places to create much needed local employment, ending the scourge of long daily commutes to work in Dublin for many locals.
“A key step to enable this transformation is the creation by the State of an appropriate Local Government structure “fit for purpose” for what has been “the Cinderella City,” plagued with decades of discrimination and neglect, caused in part by treating Drogheda as two commuter towns on the Louth-Meath border rather than one self-sustaining city,” she adds,.
“Not one Local Government; IDA; Enterprise Ireland or Failte Ireland official responsible for the economic; tourism; heritage or planning functions for Greater Drogheda has an office in what is Ireland’s largest town that can boast a 25 mile catchment population of 750,000”.
DCSG also points out that urgent action is also needed in creating local jobs by IDA and Enterprise Ireland – with the development of a new IDA Business Park being a top priority.
“Drogheda has the scale and much of the infrastructure already in place to rapidly become Ireland’s next city,” says Ms McKenna. “What it needs most is expediting the Northern Cross route and political commitment to deliver its evolving CITY STATUS including the appropriate Local Government and local job creation structure.”