COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, October 14, 2013
QUESTION NO. 1
QUESTION: Councillor M. Devine
To ask the Manager for a report on Village Revival for the County with a particular focus on the County Town - Tallaght Village?
REPLY:
Following on from the launch of the Villages Initiative earlier this year a multi-disciplinary team has been established and has completed initial survey work. The commitment to complete surveys and SWOT analysis has also been completed and the findings complied as a report for each village, including Tallaght. At the recent meeting of the Organisation Procedure and Finance Committee on 19th September 2013, under Headed Item 5, the County Manager delivered a presentation to the Members on how it is intended to revise and reformat the Villages Initiative to become a 5-year programme commencing 2014. The Villages Initiative to date centred on the use of direct grant-aid to local groups to carry out works and events on an ad hoc basis. The new programme will define landscape, public realm, signage / branding, and tourist trail strategies for each village and direct existing Council works programmes to engage with and deliver these strategies. Larger individual projects augmenting unique selling points of each village will be developed and funding streams established. A matching fund to encourage private-sector actions particularly in relation to shop-fronts and painting projects will be established in conjunction with a community support fund to support local groups in realising areas of the plans not undertaken by the Council, festivals, events, etc. The development of plans and strategies as above will take place in the coming months and will be the subject of consultation with local groups and Elected Members.