Longford County Council members seek clarification on timeline of delivery of new offices

The timeline for new Civic Offices for Longford County Council is still unclear as the local authority continues investigations into the details of the development.
The situation was revealed as Members of Longford County Council adopted the local authority's Capital Budget for the coming three years at the April meeting of the elected representatives.

Acting Head of Finance, Fema Flanagan, gave the councillors an overview of the proposed figures in a presentation.

Under Capital Expenditure the local authority anticipates spending €29,321,133 on Housing in 2023, a figure expected to rise to €30,028,931 in 2024, before dropping to €28,864,196 in 2025.
Under the heading of Regeneration Projects the forecast spend in 2023 is €9.5m, in 2024 it drops to €5m, with the 2025 projected budget €17.2m.

That is part of the budget for Economic Development, C&E, HR, Libraries,Culture & Heritage where the '23 spend by the council will be €12,648,179, with '24's allocation dropping to €8,212,130 and the council spending €20,070,947 in '25.
The local authority's climate change budget is set to dramatically increase in the coming years. The '23 figure is €350,000, rising to €750,000 in '24, and hitting €1m in '25. Over the next three years Leader projects will be allocated €250,000 each year in the council's budget, while Clar projects receive €30,000 per annum.

The council have earmarked €560,000 for Energy Retrofits in 2023, however there is a nill expenditure in the budget for the following two years.

The main source of funding for the council's 2023 Budget of €43,364,862 comes from State Grants totalling €38,060,793. Loans of €2,110,000 and Capital Reserves of €2,659,069 are the other big ticket items in the forecast figures.
The capital budget was proposed by Colm Murray (FG), and seconded by Cllr Seamus Butler (FF). Cllr Murry described it as “a very comprehensive budget” containing “very big plans”.

Cllr Butler said: “Like any Capital Budget there are going to be outside factors at play at all times. I second the adoption, but I would like to question the timeline for the new Civic Offices and query the specific expenditure.”

Replying to the query, Director of Services for Planning, Regeneration and Capital Projects, John Brannigan, said: “We are in the very early stages. We have now completed the site investigation of council owned lands within Longford town. We haven't seen the final investigation report as of yet.

“There is a period of staff discussion as to what the appropriate size of offices are needed. A decision on what side of Great Water Street the offices should be located is still part of the discussion. There is a lot of information to be discussed, and you will be part of that discussion,” Mr Brannigan told the members.