Plan to revive Fairgreen area of Ferbane gets funding boost

Plans for the development of a new town park and open space area based around Ferbane's Fairgreen have been boosted by a €200,000 funding allocation this week.

The grant of €200,000 under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, is set to go towards the restoration of Fairgreen, which includes the demolition and development of the site at the town’s old fire station, the development of the heritage centre area and improvements to the mass path looped walk.

Proposed by Ferbane Tidy Towns, the aim is to provide an open space that incorporates a plaza, terraced lawn, orchard, raingarden and re-organised parking. It is intended as a town park, linking with the mass path as a sensory route.

Secretary for Ferbane Tidy Towns Aoibhinn Molloy Roche said the group is “absolutely ecstatic” with having received the most funding for any project in the county.

“Before my time in Tidy Towns, Jillian Gleeson, our chairperson, was working really hard on different projects over the years. The plan for Fairgreen was put on display in February 2019, but we’ve been working at different aspects of the Green Infrastructure Strategy for a long time now.

“Fairgreen used to be a meeting area in Ferbane, so we’d like to bring that back. We hope to include a plaza, a terraced lawn, an orchard, and the parking will be re-organised slightly so as not to impact the residents nearby. We already have a lovely playground, but this can be another place where the rest of the community can gather and enjoy.

“This pandemic has really highlighted to us all how important our open spaces are, and how diverse our natural heritage is. We can’t get out as much as we would like to and a lot of people in Ferbane are rediscovering areas of the town that they didn’t really visit before.”

The Fairgreen project began as part of Green Infrastructure Strategy, which aims to make a network of corridors with commitments to health and well-being, natural heritage, water quality and sustainable drainage and cultural heritage.

“Green Infrastructure is a way of looking at the natural heritage of a place, and how to use it to the benefit of the population which includes the people of Ferbane, but also hopefully the economy," Aoibhinn explains. "Fairgreen is part of our overarching strategy for the town. For the strategy to work, it is important that these areas are connected as much as possible.

“It also encompasses projects such as Ferbane bog, the river, any wooded areas and the canal.”