GROUPS HAVE THEIR SAY IN NEW ‘VISION’
A NEW initiative on the concept of ‘community wellbeing’ saw groups from across North Kerry attending a public consultation evening in the Listowel Family Resource Centre on Wednesday.
It was organised by the Kerry PPN, or Public Participation Network, effectively the body through which Kerry County Council connects with community groups and interests.
The Kerry PPN is now charged with rolling out the new National Initiative on Community Wellbeing, devised to help authorities liase better with the public in a process set to inform policy into the future. Seeking the input of as many as possible, the initiative is to build a clear picture of all the activities, hopes and challenges of communities in Kerry to improve wellbeing in general.
To that end, the Kerry PPN is meeting groups across all five municipal districts with the turn of North Kerry on Wednedsay last. A diverse range of interests attended to say the least, as Council officials heard a wide range of concerns and ideas from the public on Wednesday.
“Wellbeing is an increasingly common term that can describe wider conditions than good physical and mental health, which we need as individual and communities to have a better quality of life, a healthier environment and increased prosperity. Some of these are things that we can easily measure, like the number of pre-school places, or the speed with which an ambulance can get to a sick person,” PPN Secretariat member Bill Murrell explained.
“Others are less easily measured, such as our pride of place, our heritage and the way in which we all look after each other. All aspects of wellbeing are connected to each other. So, for example, if our natural environment is poor, it will affect our mental and physical health as well as our economy. In other words, all the parts of our community wellbeing are interconnected,” Bill said.
The Kerry PPN is examining community wellbeing under a range of headings, from social and community development to the environment and sustainability; work, economy and resources; health; values, culture and meaning; participation, democracy and good governance.
It is set to give Kerry County Council a more accurate picture of what is going on for citizens in all parts of the Kingdom. 700 community groups are now registered with the PPN, which was established in 2014 to provide the community voice on Kerry County Council committees. It also runs training courses for member groups and shares information about funding and activities. For more information contact Caroline Toal at (066) 7183672 or ctoal@kerrycoco.ie.