Over €2 million worth of project concepts were submitted to Carlow County Council under the Town & Village Scheme and 12 project areas were selected by the elected members for entry into the National Competitive Fund for Town & Village Renewal.
The Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2018, recently launched by the Minister for Rural & Community Development, Michael Ring TD, means that towns and villages across the country are set to benefit from €15 million in funding from the scheme as part of a competitive process. The Scheme is part of the Government’s commitment to ensure that the benefits of economic recovery are felt in every part of the country.
Over the coming month the executive of the Council will work with communities in order to ensure that Carlow puts its best foot forward in terms of making a business case for the maximum amount of funding for the County.
Speaking about the scheme Chief Executive of Carlow County Council, Kathleen Holohan, said, “we are delighted that communities across the County have engaged in the Town & Village competitive scheme process. To date Carlow County Council has achieved over €1.7million worth of investment under its Rural Development Schemes. The range and variety of expressions of interest shows that County Carlow communities and businesses are willing to punch above their weight in terms of ambition and vision.” Holohan continued to say, “while County Carlow has no guarantee of funding as part of the process, it is important that we as a Council work in partnership with our business and civic communities to create opportunities for development and the Town & Village scheme has significant potential for the County”.
At local level the scheme is managed by a cross functional team in Carlow County Council and Kieran Comerford, Head of Enterprise with the Local Enterprise Office said, “our next challenge is to prepare the submissions in partnership with the communities to ensure that the projects are fit for evaluation in the National Competitive process.” He concluded by saying, “we are delighted to have the support of these communities and on a countywide basis the support of a number of key strategic project partners.”
The closing date for submission of the Final Applications is 30th June 2018 and a community development meeting will be held on 6th June 2018 at 7.00pm in the Lord Bagenal Hotel, Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow.
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For further detail contact Kieran Comerford on 086-8252037 or e-mail kcomerford@carlowcoco.ie
Project Application Areas 2018/19:
- Project 1: Bagenalstown
- Project 2: Ballinkillen/Lorum
- Project 3: Ardattin
- Project 4: Myshall
- Project 5: Clonmore
- Project 6: Kildavin / Clonegal
- Project 7: Duckett’s Grove
- Project 8: Grange Village
- Project 9: Tullow
- Project 10: Tinryland
- Project 11: Tinnahinch
- Project 12: Old Leighlin
