Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 July 2021
92. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if progress has been made as part of the town centre first approach to provide and resource dedicated staff within local authorities to support town centre renewal, as committed to in Our Rural Future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38459/21]
View answerReference has already been made to the subject matter of this question. Has progress been made to provide and resource dedicated staff within local authorities to support town centre renewal, as committed to in Our Rural Future?
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Our Rural Future sets out a blueprint for the development of rural Ireland over the next five years. It is supported by some 150 commitments based on the challenges and opportunities identified for rural communities.
A key element of Our Rural Future is the commitment to develop and deliver a collaborative town centre first approach to put the development and regeneration of rural town centres at the heart of decision-making. The Government has committed, as part of this overall approach, to provide and resource dedicated local authority staff to support town centre renewal. It is envisaged that such staff would assist the towns themselves to identify and deliver the key interventions required for the town.
My Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are jointly chairing an interdepartmental group established to progress these matters. The group has made good progress in identifying specific actions. As part of its work, the group is considering all of the suggested actions identified in the report on the town centre living Initiative published by my Department last year. That report suggested the appointment of town centre officers or management teams to support the regeneration of our towns.
The work of the group is being supported by an advisory group which includes a wide range of stakeholders and is chaired by my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Peter Burke. Based on the work of both groups, I expect recommendations on the delivery of the town centre first approach to be presented to the Government in the coming months. This will include provisions in respect of dedicated staff for town centre renewal.
I thank the Minister for her response. This is a good initiative and it will drive the town centre approach in a collaborative way. There is a real need for staff to be placed in local authorities. I presume the Minister is considering one such town centre officer per local authority. They will have a crucial role to play in developing rural town centres, many of which need a dedicated approach in respect of town centre development, which will be very important. The Minister stated these staff will be in place. The interdepartmental report will be produced in the coming months. When will these staff members fill the roles in local authorities?
As regards collaboration under the town centre approach, it is important that there is consultation with residents and business owners in the town centres at every stage.
As I stated, the working group chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, will come forward with recommendations in the coming months. As part of budget 2021, I secured €2 million to help these towns develop master plans. It is very important that they have a plan in order to ensure there is joined-up thinking, which is part of making it a success. It is one thing to have the plan, but there is then a need for people to drive it and to work with the stakeholders, communities, businesses and all those involved, as the Deputy stated, to see what is the best approach to revitalising the town centres. The plan is for the town centre first officers to carry out that role.
We will support local authorities in appointing an officer. However, we want to wait until we receive the report from the interdepartmental group. The plans are in place. We will drive it forward. In fairness to local authorities, they have taken on a lot of work.
I hope we see the report from that interdepartmental group before the end of the year. I hope we see moves being made to hire these town centre officers and to put them in place in our local authorities across our rural counties to ensure that the town centre first approach works and is driven on by our local authorities in those local areas.
As I said, in fairness to local authorities, many different demands are being made of them. Many funding opportunities are available for schemes, whether it is the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and the Media's scheme for outdoor dining, the Minister for Transport's schemes for cycling and walking infrastructure or schemes from my own Department in town and village renewal, and rural regeneration. Of course, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has more schemes that are run through the local authorities.
Instead of following this ad hoc approach, the town centre officer can co-ordinate the different schemes and drive them forward. They can identify the best source of funding, which may perhaps include a mix of a number of different funding streams, to achieve their objectives and revitalise town centres. We have a great opportunity to do it. If Covid-19 has taught us one thing, it is to think outside the box. When we work together we get better results. I plan to support the local authorities in appointing a town centre officer. I hope it progresses very quickly.
