No deadline extension for Galway as council submits rural renewal proposals

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Galway County Council has submitted 8 proposals for funding under the controversial Town and Village Renewal Scheme – amid concerns over the tight timeframe for the programme.
Galway County Council had asked the government to extend the deadline for the scheme, which will see the local authority benefit from a total of 380 thousand euro.
Concerns had been raised over the timeline set down for the delivery of the scheme across the county.
The deadline for proposals under the scheme was the end of September – which left the council with just three weeks to compile its submissions.
The council examined a total of 57 projects, and chose 8 to submit to the department for consideration.
The money will be divided between 8 towns and villages across Galway, which will receive a minimum of 20 thousand euro up to a maximum of 100 thousand euro.
The scheme is focused on centres with smaller populations – 50% of the fund will go to towns or villages with less than 5,000 residents.
The fund will be used for a variety of rural renewal projects such as street-scaping, promotion of culture and tourism, and training initiatives for local businesses.
The national scheme has been branded ‘tokenistic window dressing’ by some of Galway’s public representatives.