Townlands should get slice of Village Renewal Scheme funding

COUNCILLOR Jerry Lundy has asked if this year’s Town and Village Renewal Scheme could be extended to rural townlands.

The Government last week announced ¤ 20million for the 2017 scheme.

“A good few Community Groups said they needed extra time to apply,” Cllr Lundy told the April Council meeting.

“If funding could be spread to outlying townlands and areas such as Banada, Aclare, Cloonacool, Bellaghy and other villages, it would give them an opportunity to apply. Even a small part of the cake would go a long way,” he said.

He had asked the Council for a report on the scheme and on the Revitalising Rural Ireland Scheme.

Council Official Margaret McConnell outlined that the 2016 Town and Village Renewal Scheme is ongoing and each Local Authority received ¤ 380,000.

It’s currently being rolled out in Enniscrone, Tubbercurry, Ballisodare and Grange.

“Investment in job creation has been disproportionately made in urban areas. Young people from here had to leave, there is pressure on housing,” said Cllr Lundy.

“The Government needs to make it attractive for people to live in rural townlands as well as villages,” he said.

“The IDA needs to step up its efforts to attract jobs to rural areas. We’ve had too many reports and not enough investment. One of the great projects was decentralisation but unfortunately these jobs are not in Tubbercurry any longer.

“We’ve heard from the new Minister Simon Coveney. He talked about people commuting in their cars for four hours.

“We need to turn the plan the other way and let people come to the West. Those two modern office blocks in Tubbercurry are still vacant,” he added.

Cllr Seamus Kilgannon said the Council needed to make sure the Town and Village Renewal Scheme was “spread fairly” and said groups in the town didn’t qualify for CLAR funding.

“All of us have a duty to promote the West,” he said. Cllr Sinead Maguire said she hoped there would be more input from locals into the scheme.

The Council will now consider specific priorities in Sligo towns and villages for the Scheme.