Portlaoise Tidy Towns will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss how the town’s River Triogue can be protected and enhanced.
The meeting will be held in the Parish Centre Portlaoise at 7pm (August 24) to discuss the future of what is described as one of the town’s ‘greatest assets’, the River Triogue.
“Anyone with even the smallest interest in the protection and enhancement of the Triogue is asked to attend,” the organisers say.
This meeting will be addressed by Basil Mannion from Local Authority Waters and Communities.
“The Tidy Towns committee is of the opinion that this watercourse has been neglected over the years but that an opportunity now exists to ensure that the River Triogue takes it’s rightful place in any future development plan for the town and that the necessary resources are invested therein,” the committee outlined on social media.
Plan
Under the Portlaoise Public Realm Plan 2040, plans are included to enhance and allow greater use of the River Triogue.
The strategy proposes creating a continuous pedestrian and cycle route from the People’s Park through Portlaoise town centre, along the Triogue Linear Park, to connect with the residential areas to the north of the town.
The draft County Development Plan 2017 – 2023 requires a 15m riparian buffer zone from the waterways’ edge, which will provide a wide ecological corridor along the river.
“This presents an opportunity to provide an amenity corridor to facilitate both pedestrians and cyclists,” the Public Realm strategy notes.
“By exposing and enhancing the Triogue, the unique ambience and nature of the river corridor becomes a character area of the town, a place with its own identity…” the strategy outlines.
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