Councillor welcomes Town and Village Renewal Scheme plans for local towns

CLLR Peter Ormond has welcomed the announcement last week that Shinrone, Birr, Kilcormac and Moneygall were successful under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

“This investment will bring new life to our rural towns and villages and tackle some of the dereliction we have in our towns and villages,” he said.

Cllr Ormond would like to pay tribute to the regeneration team in Offaly County Council for their work in submitting the applications under the scheme. “I hope this will be a catalyst and along with the vacant property grant, many more properties will come back into use in the coming year.”

Cllr Ormond states that the four schemes that received funding under the current scheme will greatly benefit those areas and with the exception of Birr, the buildings on the other areas have been derelict for a long period of time. The following schemes received funding. “I look forward to working with the communities in developing these facilities over the next 12 months.”

Shinrone - Refurbishment and repurposing of the old Shinrone Library building that has been vacant into a modern multi-purpose community space - €250,000.

Birr - The development of a plaza at Market Square in Birr to create an outdoor meeting and recreational space in the town centre that can facilitate outdoor dining and where pedestrian activity will be a priority - €250,000.

Kilcormac - Refurbishment of Fiesta Hall in Kilcormac which is currently vacant into a multi-purpose space which is low carbon and energy efficient - €500,000.

Moneygall - Architect led design team to deliver a detailed design proposal and planning permission for refurbishment of a derelict property into a multi-purpose community space/hub - €50,000.