Enfield chosen for €100,000 Town Centre First grant

Enfield can look forward to a major facelift as it is one of 26 towns across the country to benefit from a Town Centre First grant, aimed at tackling dereliction and revitalising town centres.

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys announced €2.6 million in funding last week, to deliver the first ever Town Centre First Plans.

As part of the initiative, each local authority will be provided with €100,000 to support the development of its own unique master plan.

Meath County Council will now work closely with local community groups, retailers and the others in devising and delivering on the objectives of their respective masterplans.

Minister Damien English said: “It is really important more now than ever that we ensure our towns and villages remain vibrant and tackling dereliction is part of that process. This is a really great call for Enfield. I've no doubt that this will have a good impact on the plans for the town.”

Cllr Niamh Souhan thanked her colleagues in Meath County Council for nominating Enfield for this new scheme.

“I’m delighted to see my home town of Enfield being chosen as part of the Town Centre First Plan and I look forward to working with the Town Centre Team on this.”

Cllr Aisling Dempsey also welcomed the funding. “Now more than ever we need to encourage the revitalisation of our town and village centres. Businesses closures such as Bank of Ireland are having massive impacts on our main streets. I look forward to engaging with the community of Enfield on their hopes and ideas for the town”. The initiative is a key part of Our Rural Future – the Government’s ambitious five-year strategy designed to reimagine and revitalise Rural Ireland.

It is also linked to the Government’s ‘Housing for All’ strategy and the forthcoming ‘Town Centre First Policy’, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Announcing the details of the 26 towns, Minister Humphreys said:

“I am really pleased to announce the first ever Town Centre First Plans as part of a €2.6 million investment for Rural Ireland.

“Each local authority has put forward one of their towns which will receive €100,000 from my Department to develop its own unique master plan.

“This is about delivering on the objectives of ‘Our Rural Future’ and ensuring our towns have the right plan in place to tackle the issues of dereliction, vacant properties, and above all, to become better places to live, work and run a business.

“The development of these 26 Plans will feed into the Government’s overall Town Centre First Policy, which will be launched in the coming weeks.”

The Town Centre First Plans will be developed collaboratively with local Town Teams involving community, business, as well as public private stakeholders.

It is envisaged that the Plans will cover the importance of “place-making”, town centre living, the social and economic purpose of the town, and respond to emerging opportunities such as those linked to remote working, climate action and digitalisation.

Minister Humphreys continued “Our rural towns and villages play a central role in the lives of people in rural areas. They are where we live, work, shop and socialise. It is important that we ensure our towns and villages remain vibrant, vital and relevant places.

“Each town selected as part of this initiative will has its own strengths and each will face different challenges as it maps out its future path. No one size fits all policy will work.

“The Plans will be developed in tandem with Town Teams that are representative of the local towns and who can bring a wealth of knowledge and local expertise.”

As part of the preparation of the plan, Meath County Council Director of Services Des Foley said the council would start the engagement process with local stakeholders including local businesses, property owners and community groups on what the issues are and then come up with a masterplan.

He explained that the master plan would be a way to secure funding and that once a plan is in place there are funding streams available for lots of projects.

Mr Foley said the former ESB Office, which is being developed as a community hub, was very much a focal point in the heart of Enfield and would form part of the plan.