By 2015, a new planned city the size of Galway will be almost on the edge of Dublin, with state-of-the-art sports and leisure facilities and a road and rail system second to none. People travelling to Navan with a view to buying property would be advised to ignore the slightly ragged-edged appearance of the town and look to the future. House prices are low, but will almost certainly rise when commuters can whizz into Dublin in 35 minutes via new road and rail links.
The "Navan Man" image of the town as a dull-as-dishwater place to live is dismissed by hordes of Dubliners who have moved here in search of affordable housing. Samantha and Patrick Geraghty moved to Navan last March from Dublin's North Strand. They sold their tiny garden-less cottage for £134,000 and found a three-bedroom bungalow in the Ferndale estate for £112,000. It has a good garden, the neighbourhood is friendly and their two children have more freedom.
The Geraghtys could have made a wise decision. Within a year or two, Navan's outdated shopping centre area off Kennedy Road will have been turned into a new £1 million town square designed by architect Paul Keogh. A city park along the lines of St Stephen's Green is to be located in Fair Green and a linear park along the river will open up the picturesque area where the Blackwater and Boyne meet. The most significant changes for commuters will be in the road and rail infrastructure. A new motorway stretching to Kells will bypass Dunshaughlin and Navan within five years and the proposed Navan rail link will be in place in 10 years' time. Meath County Council, which is masterminding this daunting task with the help of the UDC, is calling in a team of experts to review the whole concept of designing a new city. Every household will be involved in the consultation process, says Joe Crockett, the town manager. His aim is to "make Navan a modern urban city with high quality urban design, giving the town a competitive edge for investment and with a high quality of living".
The provision of cultural and social amenities has already begun. The Leisure Link, a new Trabolgan-style complex is already packed with early morning lane swimmers. Peak prices for a gym session, which includes a swim, sauna, steam and Jacuzzi, is £4.50. There is a competition for a new civic art piece for Market Square, while the council has submitted an application for an arts centre which will incorporate a theatre. Watergate Street is to be restored in the same way as Trimgate Street and Ludlow Street, with power lines going underground, old-style street lights and tree planting. Newcomers who can play a tune or sing a song will be welcome. As well as St Mary's Musical Society, there are two local bands, St Mary's Silver Band and the Navan Forresters. There is also a thriving drama group in the town. The hilly centre of Navan is in a traditional "Y" formation and has the charming appearance of a typical Irish market town. Every other shop sells furniture or household goods and there are probably more cafes, pubs and restaurants here than in any other town of a similar size.
The tiny period terraced houses and ex-council cottages in town are excellent buys, snapped up by early-bird locals for around £80,000 on the rare occasion that one comes up for sale. Actor Pierce Brosnan hails from a period cottage on St Finian's Terrace.
Apart from St Patrick's Academy, the former barracks which is now the town hall, Athlumney Castle and Blackcastle House, there are few larger period houses of note in the town. Navan Civic Trust and the county council are looking at St Patrick's Academy, on St Finian's Terrace, with a view to eventual restoration. This oval-shaped building of architectural significance is currently in use as a furniture factory.
Blackcastle House, a listed building, occupies the site of a medieval manor house built for the Earls of Ormonde in 1387 and later granted to the FitzHerbert family. By 1987, the house was abandoned, vandalised and gutted by a fire. However, some features of interest survive, chiefly the handsome portico with Doric-style columns and some fragments of decorative plasterwork on interior walls. The house is owned by Rhinevale, a development company, and an application has been made to build a hotel and apartments on the site.
Less desirable spin-offs of urbanisation such as drugs, vandalism and petty crime have surfaced in parts of Navan. Town officials say they are tackling this, promising to make safe the picturesque Ramparts river walk and undeveloped areas around town. Houses, though cheaper than in Dublin suburbs, are already beginning to reflect Navan's future as a major urban area. "DART" accents are as prevalent as the Co Meath drawl around the town and Dublin-registered cars are everywhere.
First-time buyers are targeting second-hand houses, since stamp duty has been abolished on properties up to £150,000. These tend to be less expensive, closer to town than newer schemes and often include extras like kitchen appliances. Gunne Residential is selling a three-bedroom semi in Balreask Village for £115,000 and Sullivan Property Consultants has a four-bed semi with a large garden in the Ferndale estate for £140,000.
First-time buyers should also check out the older council estates where well-kept terraced houses are fetching around £80,000. Choicest by far is the St. Patrick's area - these houses are still mostly tenanted and hard to come by. Raymond Potterton & Co. is selling an ex-council three-bedroom mid-terraced house in Townparks, for in excess of £86,500 and Gunne Residential is guiding £85,000 for a house in the same estate.
The Boyne, Athlumney and Dublin Roads along the river are at the upper end of the Navan housing market, with smart houses and bungalows on large plots. Potterton has a detached house on Boyne Road with an asking price of £300,000 and Gunne is selling a detached bungalow in the same area for in excess of £400,000.
Should the daily grind of commuting to Dublin become a drag, there are good employment prospects in Navan, particularly in the computer industry. Several international companies are already installed in the new Navan Business Park, including software companies Case New Holland and Plant/Syntacom, insurance giant Generali International and Europe Assistance, a European call centre. The latest arrivals are contract manufacturing company Pemstar and Welch Allyn, which manufactures medical devices. "With cheaper land, the short distance from Dublin and a large pool of commuters delighted to work in Navan rather than commute, the town is a perfect location for office development," according to Joe Crockett.
The town is pressing for a third-level college, which would feed new job opportunities. "Navan is to be a major urban centre. The task for us is to get it right, with balanced economic growth, infrastructural development and social and cultural factors in place," says the county manager Joe Horan.
