Ashbourne
Dear Sir / Madam,
I wish to put forward my support for amendments 7 and 8 to the Meath County Development Plan.
My parents moved to Ashbourne in 1981 and my [Redacted_Personal Information] and I grew up on [Redacted_Personal Information]. I consider myself a very proud Ashbourne and Meath man. I was fortunate enough to have a very enjoyable and wonderful childhood living in Ashbourne, so much so, there was only one place I wanted to lay down roots. I'm very fortunate to have my parents living close by (now in [Redacted_Personal Information]) and my [Redacted_Personal Information] have also settled in Ashbourne and are living in [Redacted_Personal Information]. My wife Eimear also grew up in Ashbourne. Her [Redacted_Personal Information]and [Redacted_Personal Information] are my next door neighbours and my [Redacted_Personal Information] live [Redacted_Personal Information]
I've witnessed first-hand how Ashbourne has changed over the years from a very small village to the second largest town in Meath. Throughout my childhood years, because Ashbourne was such a small village there was a large abundance of safe green spaces to play on. There was a green opposite my family home ( [Redacted_Personal Information]) which we used to play football on at every opportunity. We also had the benefit of living close to Milltown pitch which I also spent many hours playing football and representing local clubs. [Redacted_Personal Information] was a great place to grow up, with great proximity to the village. When I compare [Redacted_Personal Information] today, and as how I remember it, along with the development of the town, it's changed so much. No longer a quiet road, there are multiple developments off [Redacted_Personal Information]. This has been the case all over Ashbourne as the town has grown significantly over the past 20 years as green space after green space has been developed on.
This growth in development on lands surrounding the town has been detrimental to amount of green space available for the children and teenagers of Ashbourne to enjoy in a safe environment. Ashbourne has gained very little in terms of adequate green play space in comparison to other towns across Meath. The local playground was long overdue when first opened, and despite the recent upgrade works, the playground is not adequately sized for the amount of children living in Ashbourne and only caters for the younger age groups. I have [Redacted_Personal Information] and [Redacted_Personal Information] on my side of the family. I would love for my children to one day settle in Ashbourne and be proud of their town and county as I am. However, access to green space is in my opinion, a major issue for the town which will negatively impact the prosperity of the town and ultimately lead to further unsociable behaviour. Ashbourne is full of young families desperate for adequate, safe park space to spend and enjoy time with their families. It's not acceptable to continue developing the town without further consideration for a public park.
I strongly support the re-zoning of land in order to provide Ashbourne with at least an 80 acre park land which will support the growth of the town and provide a key central attraction for the town with easy accessible access for all, catering for all age groups and sport clubs / societies. This is a key milestone in the future of Ashbourne which will benefit the lives of Ashbourne people and those living in the surrounding areas for years to come.
I urge those within Meath County Council to please consider the much needed public park and make this a reality for the health and wellbeing of the wider community and the generations to come.
Regards and thanks,
Bryan