Community and Enterprise

SLIGO COUNTY DEVELOPMENT BOARD
Introduction

Sligo County Development Board was established in March 2000 to address the integration of services at local level. This was in response to the Task Force Report on the Integration of Local Government and Local Development. This partnership is unique in that it comprises of representatives from Local Government Sector, Local Development, State Agencies and the Social partners and is responsible for the co-ordination and integration of all publicly funded services in the county.

Milestones in 2002
Publication of the CDB Strategy.

In 2002, Sligo CDB completed and launched the Integrated Economic, Social and Cultural Strategy for County Sligo 2002-2012 or its ‘Shared Vision’.

The Strategy is built upon extensive and widespread consultation and draws on the expertise of representatives from the various State Agencies, the Social Partners, the Community and Voluntary sector (including the Community Forum), Local Government and Local Development to:

• Draft and highlight the challenges that impact on everyday life in County Sligo
• Consider ways of making the delivery of public services more accessible for everybody
• Develop the ten year ‘shared vision’ to shape County Sligo’s future

As a place with vibrant cultural and commercial activity, a thriving urban centre, dynamic and safe urban and rural communities, a strong sense of civic pride and a superior quality of life.

Key goals of the CDB process include:

• The development of a critical mass of infrastructure.
• Developments in enterprise, industry, agriculture, retail and tourism that maximise opportunities and employment potential in an environmentally sustainable way.
• The development of a co-ordinated and multi-agency approach in tackling the structural and attitudinal barriers surrounding social inclusion.
• Improve the accessibility to, and participation in, heritage, the arts, sports and recreation in the county, leading to an enhanced sense of pride in all things pertaining to Sligo.

Implementation:
The Monitoring and Evaluation System

As the Integrated Economic Social and Cultural Strategy contains approximately 388 actions/projects for which almost 50 lead agencies have accepted responsibility, it was evident that its successful implementation would require a web based monitoring and evaluation system. At a meeting of the Board in December 2002 it was agreed to use the Project Management/Project Vision Software as developed by Cora Systems.

2003

Currently the Board are working on the development and implementation of its Annual Action Plan for 2003. A customised series of Project Management/Project Vision training days has been arranged for February/ March 2003. These Training Days are targeted at CDB members and key individuals within the different Stakeholder agencies have agreed to liaise with the County Development Board in the implementation of its Strategy and Sectoral Plans.

TEAM Sligo

Sligo County Development Board established TEAM Sligo in October 2002 to examine how agencies can work in partnership towards improving the ‘Face of Sligo Town’ for potential investors and tourists and enhancing civic pride in the area. TEAM SLIGO has already agreed an Annual Action plan for 2003.

A Co-ordinated response to the National Spatial Strategy Sligo County Development Board are also involved in coordinating a response to the National Spatial Strategy and in doing so to maximise the potential for progress, growth and development in a more balanced way.

Co-ordinated Submissions

Over the year Sligo County Development Board made:

• A number of co-ordinated responses to various consultation papers including;

  1. National Crime Council’s ‘Tackling the Underlying Causes of Crime’
  2. The Future Delivery of Broadband in Ireland Dept of Transport: Strategic Rail Review
• A number of submissions to the County Childcare Strategic Plan
• Prepared a Rural Transport and Service Audit and Needs Assessment
• Representations to various Government Departments on a wide range of issues including CE Schemes, Sligo Airport, Galway/Mayo Rail Crossover at Athenry
• Developed a proposal specifying the need for an integrated approach towards addressing the Housing needs of elderly persons and to pilot this approach in County Sligo
• Submitted a proposal for funding to BMW Regional Assembly for the Supply of Wireless Internet Services in the Strandhill Area.

The Housing section of Sligo County Council provides a number of very important services, covering every aspect of social housing:

• Helping people who are in need of housing and who cannot afford it from their own resources.
• Provision and management of traveller accommodation.
• Liaison with approved Voluntary Housing organisations and other agencies in the provision of accommodation.
• Encouragement of home ownership through the Shared Ownership Scheme, Tenant Purchase Scheme, Affordable Housing Scheme and various Loan options.

SLIGO COUNTY COMMUNITY FORUM 2002

The County Community Forum had a very successful year in 2002 it has worked hard on developing the capacity of the Community & Voluntary Sector in County Sligo. It achieved this objective in two ways. Firstly through its representation on County Working Committees which include

• Sligo County Development Board
• Sligo County Childcare Committee
• Sligo Social Economy Working Group
• County Heritage Forum
• Sligo Sport & Recreation Partnership
• R.A.P.I.D.
• Sligo County Council Led Peace II Task Force
• Sligo County Council Strategic Policy Committees

The County Community Forum has been involved in the last year on drawing up and implementing a number of important Strategic Development Plans for the county. At all times the Forum has represented the views of the Community & Voluntary Sector in these plans.

The Community Forum in its second phase of work for 2002 responded to the frustrations of many community groups on the ground in relation to accessing information on funding. The Forum over a six-month period consulted with various National, Regional and County agencies on compiling a Directory of Funding Agencies for the Community & Voluntary Sector in County Sligo. In December of 2002 the Directory was completed and published along with a CD Rom and database, which will be continually updated. The Directory is due to be launched in early 2003.

The second major success of 2002 was the forming of West Sligo Community Forum as a Limited Company. The Forum comprises all Community Groups located in the District Electoral Division of Dromore West. The West Sligo Forum was established to provide a collective response and to stimulate economic and social development in the region. One of the Forum’s successes over the year has included the publication of a feasibility study on small-scale enterprise development in the region.

In 2003 the County Community Forum hopes to build on its advocacy role on the various County Committees and also to continue to provide creative and practical supports to the Community & Voluntary Sector in County Sligo.

The Office of Community and Enterprise co-ordinates and administers Measures 3.3 and 3.4 of the PEACE II Programme.

PEACE II

The overall strategic aim of the Programme is ‘To reinforce progress towards a stable society and to promote reconciliation.’

• Addressing the ‘Legacy of conflict’
• The Programme will address specific problems generated by the conflict in order to assist the return to a normal, peaceful and stable society.
• Taking opportunities arising from Peace.
• To encourage activities which have a stake in peace and which will actually help promote a stable and normal society where opportunities for development can be grasped.

Sligo County Development Board Strategy

The Strategy is based on a shared vision which acknowledges the values and principles of participation, inclusion, mutual respect, openness, equality and environmental sustainability. The underpinning philosophy of the Strategy is to ‘Enhance the quality of life, health and well being of all the people who live and work in Sligo’. The Community and Enterprise office in implementing PEACE II, will focus on the objectives contained in the CDB Strategy together with the measures contained in Priority 3 which targets locally based regeneration and development strategies.

The Office of Community and Enterprise co-ordinates the Urban and Village Renewal Programme

Urban and Village Renewal

This Multi-annual Programme is reaching the halfway stage of its implementation. Work has already been completed in Ballymote, Curry, Easkey, Gurteen, Riverstown and Rosses Point. The current year will see work being carried out at Carraroe, Enniscrone and Monasteraden.

The objective of the Programme is to deal with local communities and meet their needs in so far as is possible by promoting environmentally sustainable developments in their towns and villages. As partnership relationships are developed with these groups the impact of work being carried out by the County Council is more meaningful and greater understanding of the County Council’s aims and community needs is developed. Local community takes greater ownership of these projects when there is account taken of their needs and plans for their areas.

The list of approved towns/villages is :

• 2003 Carraroe, Enniscrone, Monasteraden
• 2004 Collooney, Grange, Tubbercurry
• 2005 Aclare, Strandhill, Bunninadden
• 2006 Coolaney, Ballisodare, Ballinacarrow

Expressions of interest for 2003

• Sooey Development Association
• Tubbercurry Chamber of Commerce

TASK FORCE

A County Council led task force was established as a subcommittee of the County Development Board in 2002. The Task Force draws its members from Local Governement, Local Development, State Agencies and Social Partners. Funding comes from the Special EU Programmes Body and the Department of Environment and Local Government. The Task Force administers measures 3.3 and 3.4 of the PEACE Programme.

All projects are presented to the Task Force following their assessment by an independent Assessment Committee. The projects are examined by the Committee to value their compliance with the criteria laid down by the Special EU Programmes Body. Projects approved in 2002 are shown in table above.

Everything under the same roof!

The new ‘One Stop Shop’ facility in Tubbercurry will deliver from one premises a range of services for the people of south Sligo. The development will cost in the region of €7.3 million and will house an area office for Sligo County Council. a new branch library, district courthouse, Motor Taxation Office, FAS Office, Citizens’ Information Centre. The North Western Health Board will also have a major presence in the new facility.

The two storey building is a blend of history and innovation; the facades of some of the original buildings on the street have been retained and incorporated in the development.

The building is a concrete and steel framed structure in which imaginative use of natural lighting has been made. The fácade of the building is a mixture of limestone and extensive glazing, and features a curved zinc roof.

The project is expected to be completed in summer 2003, and represents a substantial investment by Sligo County Council in the Tubbercurry area.

RAPID Programme Report

Background:

he RAPID Programme was launched in early 2002 by the Minister for State for Local Development Eoin Ryan T.D. Under the Programme 20 provincial centres in Ireland were selected for inclusion in the Programme including the following areas in Sligo Town:

Cranmore Estate
Forthill Estate/ Cartron Estate
Garavogue Villas / Doorly Park
St.Joseph’s Terrace / St. Bridget’s Place / Pilkington Terrace
Maugheraboy / Jinks Avenue / Treacy Avenue

The RAPID Programme (Revitalising Areas through Planning and Investment) has three specific objectives in accordance with the Programme for Prosperity & Fairness.

1. To develop a specific integrated policy focus, across the Social Inclusion Measures identified in the National Development Plan, directed at the social groups who are excluded, especially where cumulative disadvantage is pervasive.
2. To tackle, in particular, the spatial concentration of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion within the 25 identified designated disadvantaged areas.
3. To stem the social and economic costs of social exclusion by developing a range of integrated measures such that the physical, social and community infrastructure of designated communities is developed to allow them harness the social capital and capacity necessary for economic and community development.

The following Principles underpin the implementation of the programme.

• Community Participation and local Ownership
• Promotion of Strategic Planning
• Co-ordination of provision of State Services
• Targeting of additional services, investment and facilities
• Building on Existing Structures

Sligo RAPID Programme

The RAPID Programme in Sligo is co-ordinated by Bridie Conway. In 2002 an Area Implementation Team which is representative of each relevant State Agency and also representative of the local community was put in place. Their remit is to take responsibility for the planning and implementation of the programme locally. The Programme is monitored by the City/County Social Inclusion Measure group to ensure that all plans developed are fully integrated with the CDB and agency strategies.

An Interim Plan was developed and submitted nationally in October 2002. This plan involved a comprehensive needs analysis undertaken in consultation with the local communities, and an in-depth profile of the five selected areas in Sligo. A total of 19 projects were developed with the specific aim of meeting the identified needs, these projects will be implemented over the coming year. At present a more comprehensive plan is being prepared for submission nationally in July.

TIDY TOWNS - Coolaney tops again!

It’s the magnificent seven for Coolaney, who scooped the tidy town award in the County category for the seventh consecutive year. There is however serious competition emerging with both Ballintogher and Carney increasing their respective marks by over 5 per cent. Indeed Carney also retained their title of Endeavour Award winners for again showing the most improved performance over the previous year’s result. Riverstown maintained their high standard by finishing second in the county which places them in the ‘Highly Commended’ category.

Coolaney amassed 231 marks; six more marks than they received last year in the competition, which is run by the Department of the Environment and Local Government and sponsored by SuperValu.

A delighted Syl Mulligan, who received the award in Dublin Castle earlier this year on behalf of the Coolaney Committee, said they were ‘thrilled to win the award again’ and acknowledged the “great work put in by the villagers of Coolaney”.

Mr. Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, who presented the awards acknowledged the work of the Tidy Town’s Committees. He said: ‘The Tidy Towns competition has developed and evolved into one of the most successful voluntary movements in the history of the state, transforming the physical appearance of our towns and villages, fostering pride in one’s own place and a sense of responsibility towards it.’

The Council assists Tidy Towns committees by grant aid and also through its Urban and Village Renewal and Peace II programmes.

BURIAL GROUNDS

Building on the momentum which was created by a seminar on the proper procedures to be followed in the care and maintenance of Burial Grounds, it was heartening to see additional communities coming together to set up graveyard committees during the course of the past year.

Again last year the Council gave financial assistance to those groups who are, on an ongoing basis, doing trojan work on behalf of their communities in maintaining local graveyards in good condition. It is encouraging to see the number of such groups on the increase nineteen of whom benefited from Council funding in 2002.

An interest in genealogy or indeed queries from far flung relations often lead to the records held by registrars or old headstones being checked in an attempt to establish lineage. We hope to establish a working relationship with the Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Society which can will be of benefit to both organisations in maintaining such records in future.

Considerable work was carried out in identifying and reaching agreement on parcels of land which will allow for the expansion of burial grounds in a number of locations. In particular, if archaeological assessments are satisfactory, Sligo County Council will be in a position to provide extensions at Keelogues and Calry along with proposed work at Kilglass. Investigative work has also been carried out at Dromard and Kilmacowen.

In conjunction with the local community work also commenced on some essential improvements at Kilturra.