Following the enthusiastic public reception it received at its launch back in May, the proposed Dunleer Town Centre First plan has been awarded €50,000 funding to prepare detailed designs.
In December 2021 Minister Heather Humphreys TD, announced the list of successful local authorities to deliver the first-ever Town Centre First Plans under the Government’s “Town Centre First Policy”.
Dunleer was chosen as the location in Louth to drive this strategy and a masterplan was then subsequently published in May of this year.
The plan was developed following a collaborative approach between the Dunleer Town Team, local stakeholders, elected members, Louth County Council, urban designers Building Design Partnership Ltd (BDP) and feedback from the local community.
Welcoming today’s announcement local Fine Gael TD, Fergus O’Dowd said this money has been made available through measure 3 of the Town Centre First Suite of Supports for 2024 which funded 53 projects nationwide to the tune €2.6m.
“The €50k awarded today will prepare designs to create a new public realm square comprising new hard surfaces, kerbing, street furniture, feature lighting, soft landscape planting, cycle parking and signage.
“This will certainly positively impact residents, businesses, and community groups in the Dunleer area and I look forward to see the work come to fruition” he added.
A series of actions have been identified in the Dunleer Town Centre First Plan, including:
- Creating better links to the White River, an underutilised asset running parallel to the Main Street.
- Establishing biodiverse links, a network of pedestrian loops linking Dunleer’s public open spaces and improving connectivity between different areas of the town.
- In a bid to target vacancy, the reuse of a vacant building on the main street as a new public library is proposed.
- The revitalization of the Main Street itself to create an enhanced pedestrian experience, along with a suite of smaller scale enhancement initiatives to increase vibrancy and attractiveness in the heart of the town.
When the project was first announced in May, Council Chief Executive Joan Martin, described the development of a Town Centre First Plan for Dunleer as a unique opportunity to explore the perceptions the local community has of its town, and to get a shared ambition of shaping its future growth.
“The plan is a framework for revitalisation and adaptation. It has a multi-layered approach that brings together development strategies, town wide proposals and actions, projects for buildings and open spaces and community-led initiatives” she said.
