Minister Eamon Ryan TD Visit to Meath County Council February 2024

Minister for Transport, Climate, Environment & Communications Eamon Ryan TD Friday, February 23

BUDGET 2024 EXPENDITURE €208.7M

Housing

€65m

Transportation

Maintenance & Improvements of LA Housing Units, RAS & Leasing, Housing Loans & Housing Grants

Road Maintenance & Improvements, Public Lighting, Car Parking and Road Safety.

€55m

Development Mgt.

€23m

Planning, Community, Economic Development & Tourism

Water Services

€11m

Recreation & Amenity

€12.5m

Miscellaneous Service

€16m

Customer and Corporate Services, Communications, Facilities, Health and Safety.

Environmental Services

Agriculture & Welfare

€23.6m

€1m

PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Meath County Council identified and placed 326 hectares of A2 New Residential and 68 hectares of Town Centre/Mixed Use lands and vacant buildings on the Final RZLT Map for 2024

The Meath Economic Development Strategy Roadmap outlines our vision and approach to drive sustainable economic growth and prosperity in Meath. The roadmap aims to guide our efforts in fostering a dynamic and resilient economy that benefits all stakeholders.

The roadmap focuses on seven key focus areas and has four enabling actions with priority areas, all of which are underpinned by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Meath County Council submitted 17 candidate Transport Orientated Development (TOD) sites to The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) and Department of Transport (DOT) for consideration and has been informed that lands in Drogheda and Dunboyne are candidate TOD sites.

The Forward Planning Department is currently undertaking a Settlement Capacity Audit for all 38 zoned settlements in the county to identify which lands are serviced (Tier 1) and which are serviceable (Tier 2). This body of work will also identify which settlements have the capacity for infrastructure and supporting services to facilitate sustainable growth and development into the future.

Meath Economic Development Forum is focused on 5 key workstreams for the County - overarching themes to be considered across all workstreams include infrastructure and decarbonisation/green economy.

The Meath Economic Team is signposting businesses in Meath to the various Green/Energy Supports available to them via the Local Enterprise Office, Enterprise Ireland, SEAI, IDA, and Government supports; they are also supporting planning applications by allocating a Green Consultant to advise on new business builds and upgrades.

HOUSING & COMMUNITY

7 high-level goals focused on sustainable community and economic development objectives which are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

During 2023 a total of 43 properties were deep energy retrofitted upgrading them to a B2 or higher BER. In 2023 we supported an initiative with Youth Work Ireland Meath and The Men’s Shed Navan.

They built flower beds, cut grass for older people, general clean up in council estates in the Navan Area. 50 individual young people took part.

The Age Friendly Shared Service has developed and contributed to multiple environmental, climate, communications and transport initiatives to support older people and prepare for the increasing ageing of our population.

Climate - In 2023, Age Friendly Ireland worked in collaboration with the Climate Action Regional Offices to deliver a series of workshops and site visits to climate and biodiversity initiatives around the country for the purposes of engaging older people as climate champions.

Transport - Local Age Friendly Programmes around the country are implementing Trishaw / Trio bike schemes, increasing the accessibility of cycling experiences to older people and people with disabilities using volunteers. These schemes are particularly useful for older people in nursing homes who cannot cycle independently.

CLIMATE ACTION

Meath County Council’s Climate Action Plan 2024 – 2029 was adopted on the January, 29 2024. Meath County Council has prepared this Plan to create a low-carbon and climate-resilient County by delivering and promoting best practices in climate action at the local level.

As part of Meath County Council’s Climate Action Plan, the Council has identified nine Decarbonisation Zones (DZ) in urban areas across County Meath. Baseline Emission Inventories have been undertaken on all nine DZs; this will assist in identifying climate action at a local/community level, where a range of climate mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity measures and action owners are identified to address local low carbon energy, greenhouse gas emission, and climate needs to contribute to national climate action targets.

Trim SEC was established in 2019 along with representatives from Tidy Towns, Family Resource Centres, Tourism Network, and several other volunteers who work or have experience in the renewable sector.

Having completed an Energy Masterplan and the retrofitting of several homes in the community, they are now progressing to develop a community-owned renewable energy scheme – a 5MW Solar Farm with an estimated output of 4,818MWH per year.

Meath Environment Platform is a new resource for the general public to view air quality and impacts in Trim. Users can access hyperlocal air pollution information from two sensors in the town of Trim, along with insights on traffic levels and the health consequences from air pollution. Secondary students took part in a workshop, to learn how they can use the platform to take action and promote change. Visit www.airquaility.meath.ie.

ENERGY

A HVO (Hydrated Vegetable Oil) trial was completed in October.

The trial incorporated 10 vehicles from our Transportation, Environment, and Civil Defence Sections. A total of 9,000 litres of HVO was consumed during the trial, resulting in a CO₂ reduction of 25 tonnes compared to using the same diesel volume.

HVO Trial A reduction of 88% in CO2 emissions

Meath County Council has installed SIX EV charge points in the car park of Buvinda House. The charge points will be for use of the public and Meath County Council's current and future EV fleet vehicles. The infrastructure is in place to allow future installations up to a max of 18 charge points as demand arises.

In August 2023, Meath County Council’s first Solar PV roof project was commissioned and switched on at our Buvinda House HQ.

345 solar photovoltaic panels have been installed on the south facing apex roofs of the building, which will have a maximum peak output of 142kW. This reduces our electricity consumption from the national grid by approx. 30% during the height of the summer, resulting in an annual CO₂ reduction predicted at 31 tonnes.

TRANSPORTATION

MEATH ACTIVE TRAVEL Active Travel We are creating an environment that fosters behavioural change at a community level, through the development off active travel infrastructure.

In conjunction with Tier Bikes and Moby Bikes, the Council have launched a 12-month pilot bike share scheme (BSS) in Ashbourne and Navan. In Navan, the Scheme has 25 pedal bikes, 25 e-bikes and 2 e-cargo bikes across the Navan area

Boyne Valley to Lakelands County (BVLC) Greenway The overall proposed Greenway route extends 30kms from Navan to Kingscourt and follows the route of the old railway corridor.

The Boyne Greenway Overall length of 26km. The Greenway from Navan to Oldbridge is proposed to extend from Andy Brennan Park in Navan westwards to Oldbridge joining the existing greenway.

The Royal Canal Greenway With 22km of the Greenway set in County Meath, with access points at Enfield, Longwood and Hill of Down.