‘Hugely successful’ event aimed at giving new life to vacant properties in Tipperary's largest town

Above: Carol Creighton, District Administrator; Noel Buckley, Clonmel Town Champion; Anne-Marie Devaney, Senior Planner; Nevan Phelan, Vacant Homes Officer, Áine McCarthy, Town Regeneration Officer and Martin Moore, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, pictured at last week’s meeting 

Vacant property owners and leaseholders in Clonmel’s town centre are now well informed on the next steps they can take in bringing their properties back into use, Tipperary County Council has stated.

This follows what it describes as a hugely successful event held by the recently-formed Clonmel Town Team in collaboration with Tipperary County Council at the Talbot Hotel Clonmel last week.

The event was attended by almost 150 people, who heard from county council officials on the various schemes and supports available in Clonmel, including the Vacant Homes Refurbishment Grants scheme.

There were presentations from council officials based in Housing, Planning and Building Control, who provided information on planning legislation, building control, fire regulations and grants available around vacant and derelict properties.

There was said to be considerable interest in the presentation on the grants available to vacant property owners, with an engaging and informative questions and answers session held with the audience.

The Croí Conaithe Grant and Repair and Lease Scheme, administered through the county council, acts as an incentive for bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into residential use.

More information on these schemes is available on the council’s website, www.tipperarycoco.ie or by emailing vacanthomes
@tipperarycoco.ie

Noel Buckley, the new Town Champion for Clonmel, spoke with enthusiasm and hope in relation to the newly- formed Town Team and its members, who have come together to make Clonmel a better place in which to live, work, visit and invest, representing diverse sectors and backgrounds such as the Chamber, festivals, retailers, community and education.

He asked the public to get involved in the process of supporting the regeneration of Clonmel and invited groups to engage with the Town Team.

He said, “As a team we will set a plan for the next twelve months of what we will try to progress from the Clonmel Town Centre First Action Plan in collaboration with the county council, Councillors and various stakeholders.

“We intend to host a breakfast briefing for businesses in the town in January to hear about supports available from the Chamber, Local Enterprise Office and others”.

He added that information on the plan and the team is currently online at www.tipperarycoco.ie/clonmeltowncentrefirst and the team intends to create a new site for the town in the coming months.

District Mayor Richie Molloy stated, “Clonmel is not unique in terms of the number of vacant and derelict properties. We see it in other towns and villages in Tipperary and indeed the rest of the country.

“To try and address this, every local authority has taken on a Town Regeneration Officer and Vacant Homes Officer in order to support the delivery of the Government’s Town Centre First Policy and the Vacant Homes Action Plan.

“The various departments within the local authority, such as Planning and Housing are committed to tackling vacancy and dereliction in the county”.

Clonmel Borough District Administrator, Clonmel native Carol Creighton, said that she will continue to work with her colleagues to try to secure funding from the Government for transformational regeneration projects to build on the success of recent projects in Clonmel such as Kickham Barracks, Clonmel Sports Hub, the Blueway and the upgrading of the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History.