FORMATION of Town Teams across Clare can allow the county to “steal a march” following the recent launch of the ‘Town Centre First’ policy by the Department of Housing.
Launched in February by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the 88 page policy document ‘Town Centre First A Policy Approach for Irish Towns’ “aims to create town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit, while also functioning as the service, social, cultural and recreational hub for the local community”.
Citing the policy in a joint proposal before the West Clare Municipal District, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) and Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) noted the central role played by Town Teams in the document and their capacity “to strength existing organisations and networks”. They appealed to the MD to support the development of more Town Teams in West and North Clare “according to the settlement hierarchy of the county development plan”.
Director of Rural Development with Clare County Council, Leonard Cleary outlined that they are awaiting further detail “in order for a decision to be made on the application process and which Council Department is best suited to lead on the scheme”. He said it will need to align closely with the County Development Plan and when further information is available, the proposal will be considered.
He added, “The Town Centre First Policy indicates that in the coming months a dedicated staff resource will be funded to assist with this staff capacity issue. Together with existing staff, the Town Teams proposal can be scoped out and planned as it is a significant undertaking. Clare County Council is committed to supporting the existing three Town Teams (Kilrush, Ennistymon and Scariff) and looks forward to capacity building with volunteers beyond these initial three groups”.
On the policy, Cllr Murphy believed the name was “misleading” suggesting that it is primarily to cater for large urban areas such as Ennis and Shannon. “This policy and regeneration of towns and villages that flow from it will prove to be one of the single most important policy documents to the regeneration of our towns and villages. All of them are crystallised into this document. We have an opportunity to get out way in front of others”.
Places have been shaped by the communities built at the heart of parishes, the Kilkee representative stated. “These are places that are the fulcrum of economic activity. We need town centres that reflect current future needs. We have an opportunity to steal a march on the process by formally pulling together these. We should be able to hand them a set of towns and villages that have some structure and projects lined up for applications”.
Investing in towns and villages is “a smart business move,” Cllr Garrihy maintained. The mentioning of Town Teams in the document was the motivation for the motion, he revealed. He questioned if co-operating parishes could also be classed as another type of Town Team.
Co-operation in parishes and communities can be sourced, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) viewed. He continued, “We have Town Teams in three locations in the county, we have a network of Town Teams, we have community development groups, can they be put together to strengthen cause to bring funding back”. Town Teams had a “flurry to develop town plans but there was a stall and abyss,” he remarked.
An opportunity was missed following the initial establishment of Town Teams, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) surmised. “It is not enough to support them with projects, we needs to support Town Teams with development, refocus and refresh so that they are sustainable”.
Management of the Council have discussed the policy document, Cleary confirmed. “I went as far as I could with this motion,” he told elected representatives. He cautioned, “The resource that comes with it is significant, we do have a capacity issue within our organisation generally, we have elected members and staff that are very ambitious for the county but we are at the stage where we have over-stretched our capacity. We have had a sterling performance but I’m being very careful not to pull the straw which breaks the camel’s back. I want to make sure the Government funding of staff capacity has to happen at a well-resourced and senior level”.
All directorates within the Council will “put their shoulder to the wheel” but structures must be right with staffing and budgets, Cleary said. “I’m certain this would be a game-changer for rural towns and villages, it is important to pace ourselves on this one”.
