Meath County Council to give detailed update on long-awaited Bettystown park plan

Meath County Council is to give a detailed update on the proposed new park for Bettystown in the coming weeks. The long-awaited project is earmarked for a six-acre site on the new Tara Road and has been discussed for years. The formal planning process began a few months ago and local people were asked for their views. The new chairperson of the Laytown-Bettystown Municipal District Council, Cllr Maria White, has confirmed that the proposed new park will be discussed at the next meeting of the area council in September, with Meath County Council officials providing an updated briefing. She said: 'I am so hopeful about this project and can't wait to see it come to fruition. 'At the September Municipal District meeting we will hear how the plan is progressing and I am really excited about this because we are going to have so many amenities in this park. 'We need it and it has been such a long time coming. I am really looking forward to the learn-to-cycle track, which will be a great help to all the young children in the area. 'There is going to be an orchard, an outdoor classroom, a pump track, a fantastic community centre with multifunctional rooms, padel and pickleball courts, a basketball court, parking spaces, changing facilities and a café. It is going to be fantastic. Read more Increased Garda patrols over summer welcomed in Meath coastal villages 'I know I often complain about the lack of infrastructure. In fact, I complain a lot about it. I believe infrastructure should not come 20 or 30 years after there is a massive increase in population. 'However, we are where we are and better late than never. I am just so hopeful about this project and I can't wait to see it come to fruition.' No date has yet been fixed for when work will start on the new park or what the estimated cost will be. It also remains to be seen how much central government funding Meath County Council will receive towards the project, if any. The population of Mornington, Bettystown and Laytown was almost 16,000 in the 2022 census and has grown further since. It is one of the few large urban areas in the country without its own public park. Various local politicians have been campaigning for a park for more than 20 years. The area is also in dire need of a new Garda station and is still operating from the original station that was built when Bettystown and Laytown were small villages decades ago.