Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 December 2018
46. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the progress on the pilot scheme to encourage residential occupancy in rural towns and villages as committed to under the Action Plan for Rural Development. [51865/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe pilot scheme to encourage people to return to living in town centres was launched on 11 October 2018.
A Steering Group, chaired by my Department, was established earlier this year to examine the issue, and a lot of consideration was given by the Group to the best approach to developing a model which would deliver on the objective of increasing town centre living.
The Steering Group noted that some schemes which have specifically attempted to focus on the renovation of vacant properties have had a disappointing take-up. It is clear that if we are to successfully encourage people to return to living in town centres, an integrated solution involving all aspects of town living and supporting infrastructure, needs to be considered.
The Steering Group therefore agreed that a pilot scheme, which takes a holistic approach to town centre living, should be developed in a small number of towns initially, with a view to a wider roll-out over time. This approach, which I approved, will allow a number of Local Authorities to develop and test different models which they feel are appropriate to a small number of selected towns of different sizes and in different locations. The learnings from this approach will help to provide an indication as to what might work well for similar types of town on a wider scale.
Six rural towns were invited to participate in the initial pilot scheme. They are:
1. Boyle, Co Roscommon
2. Callan, Co Kilkenny
3. Ballinrobe, Co Mayo
4. Banagher, Co Offaly
5. Castleblayney, Co Monaghan
6. Cappoquin, Co Waterford.
Each of these towns will receive funding of up to €100,000 to engage with their communities and local businesses, and arrive at practical solutions that can be delivered to achieve the objective of increasing the number of people living in our rural towns.
Representatives from each of the six Local Authorities involved in the pilot recently met with my Department to begin the process of developing the detailed schemes. It is envisaged that the solutions identified through the six pilot towns will lead to the development of more proposals for funding from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund in due course.
