O’Brien’s decision will hold back development of Drogheda
After 15 years of planning and preliminary work the single most important project for the future development of Drogheda, the Port Access Northern Cross Route (PANCR), this morning looks as if it is dead in the water.
Today Minister or Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Fianna Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien, announced €35.1 million in funding for three regeneration projects in the North-East region but sadly for the town of Drogheda the PANCR was not one of them.
The only project in County Louth to get funding under this round of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) was €7.49 million for the regeneration of the St. Nicholas Quarter and Backlands area of Dundalk.
The other two projects in the North East to receive funding are: Abbeylands Regeneration Project (Cavan County Council) – €14.49 million) and Dublin Street Regeneration (Monaghan County Council – €13.11 million.)
The PANCR is designed to take the heavy traffic from Drogheda Port out of the town by linking it directly to the motorway thus making the streets of the town less congested and safer.
The route would have opened up vast tracts of land to the North of Drogheda for badly needed housing and the current Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien had expressed his enthusiasm and support for the PANCR and had promised an announcement before Christmas.
Today’s decision has caused much dismay in local political and business circles with the general consensus being that it will hold back the development of the town for at least a decade.
Local Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd said this morning that he was “gravely concerned” that the Drogheda Port Access Norther Cross Route has once again been overlooked in the URDF application process.
“I have expressed my strong views to Minister Darragh O’Brien in a telephone call early this morning and the Minister has committed to providing me with me a written update later this afternoon” he told Drogheda Life.
“The Minister has also indicated that a significant amount of funding has been held back for key projects that have not been successful in this round of the URDF.
“The PANCR must be one of these projects.”
