Planning and architect consultants to attend Miltown Malbay meeting

Miltown Malbay community hall will host a planning and landscape architect information evening at 8pm on Tuesday.
Following its recent ­selection as one of nine towns and villages in Clare under an initiative by Clare Local Development Company, in association with Clare County Council, Miltown will benefit from expert advice and assistance from a firm of town planning consultants and landscape architects.
The project will be funded by LEADER and is intended to encourage local community groups and villages to participate more fully in the national Tidy Towns competition. 
Miltown was successful following a submission by the local Tidy Towns committee, which set out a number of key proposals and aims for the town and surrounding areas.
These include assisting with beach improvement, welcome signage, improvements to green areas, painting, planting and wall repairs.
The local group, led by Eileen Lynch, has ­significantly contributed to the appearance of the town over many years and it is now hoped to advance a number of other projects that have been broached over the past number of years.
“While the submission was made by the Tidy Towns group, some of the projects and proposals in mind are much bigger than we could take on alone.
“It is of huge benefit that we will have professional help, which will allow us to target the various proposals in a meaningful and more structured way,” Ms Lynch said.
The next step in the process will be a visit from the consultants to Miltown, where they will survey the town and get a feel for what improvements can be made and what challenges exist in doing so.
Following their initial visit, they will seek local input and feedback with a view to identifying what the priority proposals are.
“Miltown’s selection in this initiative is a massive opportunity for the town and the fact that we will have a well thought out and professional master plan at the end of the process will certainly help in obtaining funding for the bigger projects in mind.
“Obviously, access to funding is a major issue for all groups but despite the challenging economic times we are in currently, there is funding available for projects of value that are well planned and of merit,” group member Seán Lenihan said.
“Up to 75% LEADER funding can be made available for successful applications for larger-type community projects while there are various smaller grants available from Clare County Council, such as the Town Amenity Grants, Village Painting Scheme and Local Agenda 21,” he added.
Anybody who can’t attend but would like to help, can contact the committee by emailing miltownmalbaytidytowns@gmail.com.