Parking bays
CLAIM COSTLY DEPRIVATION PLAN HAS FAILED ROSS AREA FIRMLY REBUFFED
ALL 19 disabled parking bays in New Ross are set to be painted blue, following an appeal by Cllr John Fleming.
‘ The mark needs to be clear and obvious,’ he said.
Acting area engineer David Murphy said: ‘Parking bays will be painted as part of our active travel funding. 19 of them will be upgraded.’
THE level of poverty and deprivation within the New Ross district has increased by 40 per cent in the past six months, according to a Wexford Local Development ( WLD) spokesperson.
Giving a general outline of the positive work WLD does within the community, WLD CEO Brian Kehoe said the organisation is working with people suffering from extreme deprivation.
WLD is funded to the tune of €6.4m annually, 40 per cent of which comes from the Department of Social Protection,
He said the Leader programme was extended until the end of March. ‘We are due to begin a transit program on April 1. We support individuals in certain marginalised groups and business through our back to work enterprise scheme and Leader.’
The organisation has developed an intellectual disability service and facilitates group grinds and homework clubs.
‘We are just at the end of our current Leader programme. €1.5m has been invested in 29 projects; 15 of which are businesses and 14 community projects. We have 69 participants and right now.’
He said WLD’s focus through Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) is on working with people living in disadvantaged areas. ‘In the New Ross district over 20 per cent of the population of residents live in disadvantaged areas. Our community work is in places like New Ross, Campile, Raheen, Adamstown and Fethardon-Sea. The last year has been quite difficult in terms of the kind of supports these groups needed. We helps groups who have facilities, trying to advise them to become Covid compliant and to help groups to access funding. A lot of these groups have not been particularly IT savvy so we’ve been bringing these organisations up to speed on how to use Zoom, WhatsApp, Messenger etc to stay in touch with others and to connect with other groups in their area.’
Training initiatives are run by WLD at Park House in New Ross which supports Syrian children and the Next Steps program, as well as Kennedy College students online through the Jump A Grade initiative.
‘ That has been very successful. Students are working remotely so our Meitheal programme involving training and interviews is done online and all of our second level students are involved in Meitheal.
Mr Kehoe said Leader funding of €670,000 has been secured for two years, with further funding streams possible next year.
‘January 2023 is the likely start date for the next programme because Leader is linked with CAP and negotiations will have to take place regarding that. ‘
Claire Ryan Programmes Manager WLD said the organisation has enquired about older people being able to work on Tús schemes, and also about bringing in people on PUP and other payments.
‘ There is an awareness there that the criteria needs to be expanded. We have also asked if there is an opportunity for a very small percentage of clients to self-refer. I think that that would be particularly helpful in rural areas, matching people to rural vacancies.’
Mr Kehoe said further funding for WLD supported projects may become available trough the Town & Village Renewal Scheme to be announced next January.
Cllr Michael Sheehan sought an update on how effective SICAP is in moving people in disadvantaged areas away from poverty and barriers holding them back.
He said €27,000 was spent on a youth survey in New Ross, seeking an update on that project also.
‘What involvement did WLD have in that. I think it’s an area we have to concentrate more on. Leader and other funding might have gone into it.’
Mr Kehoe said Wexford County Council would also have funded the survey.
Cllr Sheehan asked if SICAP has worked. Sarah Bolger with WLD said the programme has key performance indicators.
‘ The overall situation in Wexford regarding disadvantage is a bigger issue. The deprivation figures in Wexford are all huge and the situation in Wexford is even worse than it was in the current SICAP. The numbers of social welfare and other indicators have dis-improved hugely over recent months.’
Cllr Sheehan asked if WLD had spent between €10m and €11m with no progress regarding tackling deprivation.
‘We would have to question it’s worth.’ MS Bolger said Cllr Sheehan was asking the wrong question.
‘You are trying to measure one particular programme that has an overall budget of €1.7m on how it could potentially move the dial either way in terms of deprivation and it’s total impact. Social welfare deprivation has increased by 40 per cent over the last six months. Lots of issues are completely out of control. To suggest SICAP could potentially have an impact on that when there are so many different factors at play.’
She argued that the programme has successfully helped between 2,000 and 3,000 individuals in County Wexford over its lifespan, adding that businesses and community groups have been supported also.
Mr Kehoe said: ‘ The acid test is when you ask people how they feel about WLD. There are 20 odd groups we would be confident the feedback would be positive. For individual it might mean taking up second level education or getting employment in a disadvantaged area of Co Wexford and all of the factors that go into what causes all of that. SICAP is only part of that. We are working at ground level.’
Head of the council’s community sector, Paul L’Estrange said: ‘€1.7m can only go so far. In my time in community I respect what the team have achieved in very difficult times and they have remained on target. There has been a coordinated approach and it’s important that New Ross does well in both Leader and other funding streams.’