Monaghan County Council announces public consultation at the commencement of the preparation of a 10-year Master Plan for Lough Muckno and Environs, Castleblayney.
There are a number of opportunities for the public to get involved and shape this master plan, which will provide a blueprint for the future development of Lough Muckno and its environs over the next 10 years.
“Lough Muckno is a wonderful resource, firstly for the people of Castleblayney, while there are remarkable opportunities to create a very attractive tourism offer,” commented Robert Burns, Chief Executive, Monaghan County Council. “With this Master plan, we want the local community to work with the Council to ensure that we achieve the right balance, that we retain that feel of a town park for locals, and creating a visitor attraction, and realising the benefits to the vitality of Castleblayney itself.”
Cunnane Stratton Reynolds have been appointed and will lead a multi-disciplinary team in the development of the master plan through three key stages of Information gathering and analysis, Emerging concepts, and a Draft Masterplan in early 2026. The community will be invited to have their say at each of the stages.
County Council Cathaoirleach Paul Gibbons is encouraging the community to get involved, “Community engagement is a key part of all aspects of the project to ensure buy-in and to support the delivery of emerging actions of the plan. At this Information gathering and ideas stage, we are now asking the community to participate in a public event and an online community survey, giving residents and local interest groups the opportunity to share their views, what they enjoy about Lough Muckno, what is missing, what they would like to see, and how they imagine Lough Muckno and Environs could be in ten years’ time.”
The public consultation event will take place on Wednesday 28 May at the Gate Lodge on the Market Square. This event will provide an opportunity for the community to engage with the consultant team, learn about the project, engage with other community members and stakeholders to discuss potential impacts and benefits and to inform the shaping of the master plan.
Cathaoirleach of the Municipal District PJ O’Hanlon outlined that, “The study area consists of the lake and its surrounding lands, including Hope Castle, annexe buildings, park lands, farm lands, and the town area in the vicinity of the lake. These are both in public and private ownership. The local people will have lots of ideas of what they would like to see developed, and about who needs to be involved and how these projects will get delivered, a lot of them might be through partnership.”
Cllr. Aidan Cambell outlined what the plan should deliver, “What we want to see is an overall vision for Lough Muckno with the community needs at the heart of this, and with positive impacts for the town. I want the residents, community and business groups to tell us how we can improve this special place, while we protect its rich heritage and biodiversity. What amenities are needed and are there unique attractions that we could develop, that will make our town a destination for visitors? The plan will be practical action-focused and phased, with funding options identified, and timelines.”
Further opportunities for community engagement will be announced as emerging project ideas come forward and as a draft plan is developed.
Information gathered through the public consultation will be reviewed and considered with a report on the findings of this initial Information Gathering stage to be published on the Council website towards the end of June 2025.
For more information please contact: Declan O’Leary, Project Director, Cunnane Stratton Reynolds mucknoplan@csrlandplan.ie or Máire Cullinan, Project Lead, Monaghan County Council maire.cullinan@monaghancoco.ie 047 30532
Click the link for further details :https://monaghan.ie/planning/lough-muckno-and-environs-masterplan/
Scan the QR code to view and complete the Lough Muckno 10 year Masterplan Community Survey
