Vol. 472 No. 7
89 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for the Environment the current position regarding the availability of town status to a town, such as Ashbourne in County Meath, which has a population of 7,000; the benefits of obtaining such status; and the action, if any, the town's Chamber of Commerce and residents associations may take in order to commence this procedure. [24066/96]
Under existing legislation, it is open to the local government electors of a town to initiate procedures for town commission status. Such status would involve elected town commissioners, a limited functional range and an additional charge on rates on commercial property to meet operating and service costs. The local government classification of towns and the question of new local structures were among the matters considered by the Local Government Reorganisation Commission in its report Towards Cohesive Local Government—Town and County published last June. Copies of the report have been supplied to the Oireachtas Library and distributed to Oireacthas and to local authority members.
The commission pointed to the substantial costs of additional town authorities which would have to be borne by ratepayers and taxpayers and the need for these and other relevant implications to be taken fully into account in assessing such proposals. It recommended that modernised procedures should apply for the establishment of new town authorities in towns with a minimum population of 7,500. The commission was also of the view that the aspirations of smaller towns for increased town focus could be better achieved through improved structures of interaction with the county council, without setting up a separate formal local authority. In this connection, it should also be noted that local government law already includes provision for the recognition by county councils of approved local councils and for assistance and co-operation with such approved bodies. The question of the future local government classification of towns will be among the issues to be addressed in the context of a comprehensive action based programme for the renewal of local government which I intend to publish shortly.
