Cavan County Council have been allocated € 210,960 under the Rural Regeneration & Development Fund (RRDF) to prepare detailed plans for the development of a multipurpose digital enterprise and tourism hub and for the further development of the heritage railway visitor attraction.
‘This funding is essential for Belturbet which has for a number of years had many vacant properties. It is also a town with immense potential. This will build on the very hard work of the local community who have engaged closely and constructively with Cavan County Council over long years in the restoration of the Railway Station, the redevelopment of the Town Hall and more recently through Project Belturbet.’
‘I have been delighted to work with members of Project Belturbet and Belturbet Community Development Ltd who manage the Townhall and who have led the way on the Railway Station Restoration on this and other matters.’
This allocation is a further endorsement of that cooperation which also allowed Cavan County Council to last year secure € 199,800 under the Town and Village Scheme to provide a new service block at Belturbet Marina and the Phase 2 of works to Belturbet Youth Hub.
‘In every Town and Village in our County there is a need for investment and improvement which collaborating with the local community must be led by Cavan County Council. The work done to date on this application for Belturbet is an example of that commitment.’
‘I want to acknowledge the huge work undertaken on this application by the Council staff in the Community & Enterprise Section in conjunction with their colleagues in the Cavan-Belturbet Municipal District.’
‘Even in this allocation for the development of a detailed plan for Belturbet the County Council must provide matching funding of € 52,740. This plan will form the basis for a further application to the RRDF or some other funding stream for the implementation costs. Again, the Council will have to provide match funding which varies depending on the scheme from 20% to 40% not to mention the investment from staff and other consultants engaged by the Council.’
‘As a Council in our Budget for 2022 we took the difficult decision to increase commercial rates primarily so that we would be able to fund the making of applications such as this to RRDF and provide match funding for this allocation and future allocations for Belturbet and around the County.’
‘Whilst during the course of lengthy discussions on the Budget no counter-proposal were made and the Budget passed unanimously some members made grand statements bemoaning the Budget. This announcement is an example of what positive public representatives working with the Council Executive can do and I am glad to have played my part.’
ENDS.
J
