A €1bn Rural Regeneration and Development Fund is to be established under the National Development Plan to enable towns, villages and outlying rural areas to grow sustainably and support delivery of the strategic objectives of the National Planning Framework (NPF).
Announced on Friday, the fund will provide the opportunity for co-funding of suitable investment projects in towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000, and outlying areas.
All forms of public investment provided for in the National Development Plan are eligible for inclusion in the initiative.
Project town
Depending on the nature of the proposal, a project in a town of between 1,500 and 10,000 in population may qualify under either the Urban or Rural Regeneration and Development Fund initiative.
The plan says that funding will only be provided under one fund for any particular project.
The objective of the new fund will be to drive collaborative, co-ordinated and complementary packages of investment between departments, agencies, local authorities and other public bodies.
This will see them pool their assets and working with local communities and the private sector, where appropriate, to transform our rural towns and villages and their outlying areas.
Initiation
The plan outlines that funding of €315m is being allocated to initiate the fund over the period 2019 to 2022, which will allow both further activity under existing initiatives, as well as the introduction of new investment initiatives under the fund to be supported during this period.
As the fund develops beyond the pilot phase, it will be expanded significantly, with €1bn in funding committed for the fund over the 10-year period of the National Development Plan.
The plan highlighted a number of rural redevelopment projects already in the works that will have the potential to benefit from the new fund, for example:
In Boyle, Co Roscommon, where plans are being put in place to turn around a historic and strategically located rural town whose urban core has been underdeveloped in recent years.The visitor resort project near Ballymahon, Longford, intended to create new tourism and visitor experiences in conjunction with bodies such as Fáilte Ireland and Waterways Ireland. Plans advancing in the Midlands to convert former Bord na Móna peat railways and trackways into cross-country walking, cycling and peatway routes, coupled with strengthening nearby towns and villages as hubs for tourism activity and local businesses.Allocations from the fund will be made on a competitive bid-based approach, based on quantifiable and measurable progress towards NPF objectives.
Proposals being submitted for funding will have to demonstrate a participant contribution in the form of a combination of wider voted and/or State-sector capital expenditure, Local Authority investment and/or assets, and/or other local contributions.
Read more
Project Ireland 2040: 8% of funding dedicated to rural economy
A €1bn Rural Regeneration and Development Fund is to be established under the National Development Plan to enable towns, villages and outlying rural areas to grow sustainably and support delivery of the strategic objectives of the National Planning Framework (NPF).
Announced on Friday, the fund will provide the opportunity for co-funding of suitable investment projects in towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000, and outlying areas.
All forms of public investment provided for in the National Development Plan are eligible for inclusion in the initiative.
Project town
Depending on the nature of the proposal, a project in a town of between 1,500 and 10,000 in population may qualify under either the Urban or Rural Regeneration and Development Fund initiative.
The plan says that funding will only be provided under one fund for any particular project.
The objective of the new fund will be to drive collaborative, co-ordinated and complementary packages of investment between departments, agencies, local authorities and other public bodies.
This will see them pool their assets and working with local communities and the private sector, where appropriate, to transform our rural towns and villages and their outlying areas.
Initiation
The plan outlines that funding of €315m is being allocated to initiate the fund over the period 2019 to 2022, which will allow both further activity under existing initiatives, as well as the introduction of new investment initiatives under the fund to be supported during this period.
As the fund develops beyond the pilot phase, it will be expanded significantly, with €1bn in funding committed for the fund over the 10-year period of the National Development Plan.
The plan highlighted a number of rural redevelopment projects already in the works that will have the potential to benefit from the new fund, for example:
In Boyle, Co Roscommon, where plans are being put in place to turn around a historic and strategically located rural town whose urban core has been underdeveloped in recent years.The visitor resort project near Ballymahon, Longford, intended to create new tourism and visitor experiences in conjunction with bodies such as Fáilte Ireland and Waterways Ireland. Plans advancing in the Midlands to convert former Bord na Móna peat railways and trackways into cross-country walking, cycling and peatway routes, coupled with strengthening nearby towns and villages as hubs for tourism activity and local businesses.Allocations from the fund will be made on a competitive bid-based approach, based on quantifiable and measurable progress towards NPF objectives.
Proposals being submitted for funding will have to demonstrate a participant contribution in the form of a combination of wider voted and/or State-sector capital expenditure, Local Authority investment and/or assets, and/or other local contributions.
Read more
Project Ireland 2040: 8% of funding dedicated to rural economy
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