The announcement by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed that the fourth tranche of the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme is open for applications has generated a lot of queries from farmers.
The problem is competition for a place in the scheme is stiff. More than 340 farmers applied in 2018, with 50 projects supported.
If you are serious about getting your project approved you need to submit a well-drafted application.
Farmers are not required to hire a conservation consultant at the application stage. You should, however, make contact with the consultant at this stage to secure their services should your application be successful.
Application
Before filling out the application you should familiarise yourself with the scheme objective: to ensure traditional farm buildings and other structures that contribute to the character of the landscape and are of significant heritage value are conserved for agricultural use.
It would also be worthwhile reading the terms and conditions of the scheme on the Heritage Council website.
This outlines the buildings covered – in a nutshell traditional farm buildings or structures constructed before 1960 that are in a fair condition.
The application (which can be downloaded from the Heritage Council website) is not too taxing to fill out.
The questions should be answered carefully, demonstrating your interest in the project and your capacity to carry out the works. All eligible applications will be reviewed by a selection committee.
The more information you can give on the heritage interest the better
The highest-priority projects will be chosen in line with the available funding. Weighting may be applied to the criteria in order to promote applications with the highest biodiversity, landscape and environmental benefit.
So farmers filling out the form should pay particular attention to questions on the heritage interest of the structure, the public benefit including the landscape, habitat value or potential, and environmental sustainability.
The more information you can give on the heritage interest the better – was the structure architecturally designed, is it rare, has it a thatched roof, when was it built, what was it used for and is it part of a bigger picture? Regarding the public benefit – will the project add to the landscape, have you hosted public events on your farm and would you be willing to host traditional skills events in the future, for example? In regards to the habitat value – is the building a home to wildlife and have you done anything to enhance the habitat value like installing bird boxes, for example?
Costs/funding
The council looks for the estimated costs of the project at the application stage. Farmers can submit a cost for their own labour in this section if they are doing some or all of the work themselves.
If hiring in labour, a builder’s quotation is needed. A grant award will not be for more than 75% of the cost of the works with a maximum of €25,000 (min €4,000).
Photos
Photos play a key role in the application. They are crucial for winning over the people studying your proposal. The following will need to be submitted:
Clear photographs of the exterior of the building/other related structure.Clear photographs of it in its wider surroundings in the countryside.Clear photographs of any parts in need of repair.Clear photographs of the interior (required where building is applied for).What next
After submitting a hard copy of your application to the Heritage Council by the deadline of 19 February 2019, you should receive an acknowledgement letter shortly after. In April 2019 grant offers will be issued.
June and Ken Bourke, Westport, Co Mayo
June and Ken Bourke made use of the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme in 2017. They used the grant to carry out conservation works on four traditional stone farm buildings estimated to be 130 years old.
These works were featured in the Irish Farmers Journal in November 2017. When the scheme opened June made the application herself. They then got word back from the Heritage Council that their project was shortlisted. Once shortlisted they employed conservation consultant Aine Doyle to draw up a plan which had to be submitted to the Heritage Council and they also received a visit from the Council before the planned works got the go-ahead.
June said the work itself was challenging but rewarding at the same time. “At times you would be frustrated with the specifications but, on the other hand, you did sign up to the scheme in the first place so you just need to embrace the terms and conditions,” she reasoned.
According to June the process becomes a lot easier once you accept that the scheme is about conservation first rather than restoration. “You are trying to preserve what’s already there rather than replacing everything in sight,” she said.
When the conservation works were complete, the final report was drawn up by Aine.
She said the turnaround time from getting approval to completing work is short and people need to be prepared for that. June said the Heritage Council also inspected the work. The grant was paid in full a short time after that inspection. “We liked the fact that there was an allowance for your own labour and machinery use which was very practical and helped to keep costs down,” she said. The buildings are now used for livestock (especially at lambing) but they also enhance the appearance of the locality.
The announcement by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed that the fourth tranche of the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme is open for applications has generated a lot of queries from farmers.
The problem is competition for a place in the scheme is stiff. More than 340 farmers applied in 2018, with 50 projects supported.
If you are serious about getting your project approved you need to submit a well-drafted application.
Farmers are not required to hire a conservation consultant at the application stage. You should, however, make contact with the consultant at this stage to secure their services should your application be successful.
Application
Before filling out the application you should familiarise yourself with the scheme objective: to ensure traditional farm buildings and other structures that contribute to the character of the landscape and are of significant heritage value are conserved for agricultural use.
It would also be worthwhile reading the terms and conditions of the scheme on the Heritage Council website.
This outlines the buildings covered – in a nutshell traditional farm buildings or structures constructed before 1960 that are in a fair condition.
The application (which can be downloaded from the Heritage Council website) is not too taxing to fill out.
The questions should be answered carefully, demonstrating your interest in the project and your capacity to carry out the works. All eligible applications will be reviewed by a selection committee.
The more information you can give on the heritage interest the better
The highest-priority projects will be chosen in line with the available funding. Weighting may be applied to the criteria in order to promote applications with the highest biodiversity, landscape and environmental benefit.
So farmers filling out the form should pay particular attention to questions on the heritage interest of the structure, the public benefit including the landscape, habitat value or potential, and environmental sustainability.
The more information you can give on the heritage interest the better – was the structure architecturally designed, is it rare, has it a thatched roof, when was it built, what was it used for and is it part of a bigger picture? Regarding the public benefit – will the project add to the landscape, have you hosted public events on your farm and would you be willing to host traditional skills events in the future, for example? In regards to the habitat value – is the building a home to wildlife and have you done anything to enhance the habitat value like installing bird boxes, for example?
Costs/funding
The council looks for the estimated costs of the project at the application stage. Farmers can submit a cost for their own labour in this section if they are doing some or all of the work themselves.
If hiring in labour, a builder’s quotation is needed. A grant award will not be for more than 75% of the cost of the works with a maximum of €25,000 (min €4,000).
Photos
Photos play a key role in the application. They are crucial for winning over the people studying your proposal. The following will need to be submitted:
Clear photographs of the exterior of the building/other related structure.Clear photographs of it in its wider surroundings in the countryside.Clear photographs of any parts in need of repair.Clear photographs of the interior (required where building is applied for).What next
After submitting a hard copy of your application to the Heritage Council by the deadline of 19 February 2019, you should receive an acknowledgement letter shortly after. In April 2019 grant offers will be issued.
June and Ken Bourke, Westport, Co Mayo
June and Ken Bourke made use of the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme in 2017. They used the grant to carry out conservation works on four traditional stone farm buildings estimated to be 130 years old.
These works were featured in the Irish Farmers Journal in November 2017. When the scheme opened June made the application herself. They then got word back from the Heritage Council that their project was shortlisted. Once shortlisted they employed conservation consultant Aine Doyle to draw up a plan which had to be submitted to the Heritage Council and they also received a visit from the Council before the planned works got the go-ahead.
June said the work itself was challenging but rewarding at the same time. “At times you would be frustrated with the specifications but, on the other hand, you did sign up to the scheme in the first place so you just need to embrace the terms and conditions,” she reasoned.
According to June the process becomes a lot easier once you accept that the scheme is about conservation first rather than restoration. “You are trying to preserve what’s already there rather than replacing everything in sight,” she said.
When the conservation works were complete, the final report was drawn up by Aine.
She said the turnaround time from getting approval to completing work is short and people need to be prepared for that. June said the Heritage Council also inspected the work. The grant was paid in full a short time after that inspection. “We liked the fact that there was an allowance for your own labour and machinery use which was very practical and helped to keep costs down,” she said. The buildings are now used for livestock (especially at lambing) but they also enhance the appearance of the locality.
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