Opportunity to provide eight-lane athletics track in Mayo

Elected members of Castlebar Municipal District have been asked to reaffirm their support for a new running track facility at the rear of the Mayo GMIT Campus in the town.

The New Castlebar Track Group has written to the councillors ahead of their meeting on Wednesday.

The group stated they understood that work regarding prioritising capital projects is currently underway currently and is to be completed over the next few weeks.

"With this in mind, perhaps the immediate opportunity could be raised at Wednesday's meeting."

The proposal, first unveiled a number of years ago, is that Mayo GMIT Campus, Mayo County Council and Castlebar Athletics Club come together to form a Joint Sports Venture (JSV) to develop a full, eight-lane modern running track at the existing St. Mary’s/GMIT track site, in conjunction with the current development of the 4G Astro pitch, fencing and floodlighting project, for which the design and build tender was completed last November.

The plan would also address a long running issue for Mayo County Council relating to the provision of a running track under the original Knockaphunta playing pitches and running track plans, dating back to 2012, the group informed councillors.

The cost of the track is estimated in the region of €350,000.