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Crying out for visions of the county town’s future


 

Town Crier Martin Vernon pictured in Ennis Town Centre this week to promote the Ennis 2020 Community Visioning project, an initiative of Ennis Town Council and the University of Limerick. Photograph by John Kelly

Following on from a community visioning exercise last year, representatives of Ennis, supported by the University of Limerick, will present an overview of the priorities raised at two informal sessions in the week ahead.
The Ideas Market Place feedback sessions will be held on Saturday, from noon at Dunnes Stores and on Wednesday next from 5-8pm at the Temple Gate Hotel. The inputs will be considered to become part of the Hub Town Plan, which will be finalised during the summer.
The Ennis 2020 Community Visioning project, undertaken in the first six months of 2011, started with town officials, councillors, representatives from the active citizenship and students and lecturers from the University of Limerick (UL) taking to the streets and attending meetings to facilitate discussion on the future of the town. Their goal was to find out what the town users would like their county town to look like in the year 2020.
A report compiled by the university, together with an innovative E-Comic and an E-Learning presentation, was delivered to the town council in June. All materials can be viewed online at www.ennis2020.ie.
This next stage of the process now presents to a wider audience the work undertaken by a series of working groups.
“Ennis Town Council would like to invite all residents and users of Ennis town to view and review the current priorities that our working groups have identified during several meetings,” said Leonard Cleary, town clerk.
“True to the title of our community participation for the future of our town, namely Planning Beyond Recession, we intend to establish a long-term approach based on the vision, reflecting all views from members of our community for a vibrant, modern and inclusive Ennis at the heart of County Clare.”
The walk-in feedback sessions at Dunnes Stores and the Temple Gate Hotel will be held in an informal manner, whereby people are invited to walk in freely and give their feedback on any of the existing priorities. Additional inputs are still welcome at this point. People can also give their feedback online via the Ennis2020.ie website or the associated Facebook page, which have both been created by students from UL.
Dr Chris McInerney of the Politics and Public Administration Department at UL said, “At UL, we are very pleased to have had the opportunity in 2011 to work closely both with officials and elected representatives in Ennis Town Council and we are delighted with the continued strong working relationship in 2012.
“It is initiatives such as this one that are part of the university’s ongoing commitment to support the development of the Mid-West Region.”
Extracted from the comprehensive report, some key headings have been identified as economic development, tourism, amenities, heritage, culture, leisure, social inclusion and quality of life.
Within these categories, ideas and issues highlighted include the importance of branding the town with the use of festivals and events, cost and incentive schemes, accessibility in terms of parking, the role of the motorway, as well as utilising natural resources and the central location of Ennis within County Clare.
In addition, the use of all relevant media and technology as well as traditional arts and crafts and the improvement of the market area as well as the greening of the town and businesses have been identified as relevant.
Many practical suggestions have also been highlighted as most relevant, like the use of NAMA spaces for culture, art and community. Another area of importance is the greater use and promotion of public participation and active citizenship and to create greater awareness of community health and wellbeing.
The over-riding consensus at working group meetings in 2011 and 2012 has been that all outcomes need to be result and action based, with real and achievable goals to be set.
As a result, it has been suggested that instead of creating only a long-term vision for the coming eight years, there should be a prioritisation into two four-year periods with short-term goals for the first four years and long-term aims to be achieved over the full period of time.
“Since the initiation of the Ennis 2020 visioning, many new projects that match the requests from the public, officials and the business community have already been proposed and started.
“A collaborative process has been formed and the businesses, town management and elected town officials have worked together to consider such initiatives as the Purple Flag for a safer, more vibrant night-time economy, a Business Improvement District (BID) in Ennis town and of course our uplifting Christmas activities including the free parking and the Ennis street radio,” said Councillor Johnny Flynn, chair of the Municipal Policy Committee.
“The renewed commitment from the town council, supported by UL, to listen and include the requests from the public, are a very important democratic process and we encourage the people of Ennis to participate at the upcoming walk-in feedback sessions.”

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