Page 24 - Donegal CC An Rpt 19

Donegal County Council Annual Report 2019
Regeneration & Development Unit
A new Regeneration & Development Team was established by the Chief Executive in January 2019 to attract investments from the range of funding programs available
to develop high quality urban and rural settlements within the county and which contribute to regeneration and compact growth. The agreed work programme of the team had two principal delivery areas: (1) Letterkenny as a Regional Growth Centre (URDF) and, (2) Strategic Towns across the County (RRDF).
Rural Regeneration & Development Fund (RRDF)
A call for Category 1 shovel ready projects was opened under the RRDF in April. The Team worked to progress two regeneration projects to shovel ready status for submission to the Fund by the August deadline. A funding announcement in November brought the welcome news that both applications were successful, the detail of which is set out hereunder:
Killybegs 2040 - A town centre regeneration project proposing a Digital Hub, Tourist Information Centre, integrated civic space and acquisition of a key regeneration site. The value of this project is €4.84 million and the RRDF Funding support received is €3.6 million.
Burtonport - Arranmore ‘Harbour to Island Regeneration’. This project proposes the transformation of the Harbour environment and infrastructure in Burtonport together with a shorefront recreation, outdoor amenity and amphitheatre styled event space on Arranmore Island. Its value is €4.1 million and the RRDF funding support received is €3.1 million.
The Team also commenced both field
work and held public consultation events
in Dungloe, Ballybofey & Stranorlar, Ballyshannon and Ramelton with a view to delivering Regeneration Strategies as a part of the agreed work programme.
On the 13th December 2019 a new call for Category 2 applications under the Fund was launched and the Team began immediate work towards the process of project selection and development.
Urban Regeneration & Development Fund (URDF)
In June the Team received the welcome news that the ‘Letterkenny 2040’ application to the URDF in 2018 was successful and a formal letter of offer of funding support in the sum of €1.9 million was received. This project has an overall value of €2.59 million and will fund a Town Centre Regeneration Masterplan for Letterkenny, together with the complimentary strands of strategic regeneration site acquisition and public realm works. The Team began the process of due diligence and project verification with the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government in preparing to draw down the fund and put in place the arrangements for project delivery.
Work towards the next phase of regeneration projects in Letterkenny under the URDF also commenced in earnest in 2019 through
a series of workshops with the Elected Members and engagements with internal and external stakeholders.