Waterford Senator welcomes €144,000 funding allocation to three local communities

Senator John Cummins has welcomed the news that three local communities are set to receive €144,000 in funding to improve health and safety.

Mr. Cummins told Waterford Live that the funding, which was initially announced by Minister for Rural and Community Development and Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphries, is part of the government's CLÁR (Ceantair Laga Árd-Riachtanais) 2021 funding programme.

The three communities set to receive the funds will be Villierstown, Kilbrien and Aglish will receive funding towards the provision of safety measures which will include traffic calming, public lighting and footpaths in their communities. 

Speaking on the news, Senator Cummins said: “The projects announced today will help to improve safety around schools and community facilities and I know they will warmly welcomed in these three vibrant communities."

“I’d like to compliment the community groups in these areas who have worked extensively on these applications in conjunction with Waterford City & County Council and I hope that work will be able to commence on these projects without delay”.

The three Waterford projects are part of a total of 104 separate projects being supported in towns and villages across rural Ireland under the scheme.

Villierstown School and Villierstown Tidy Towns will receive funding to aid in the construction of a section of new footpath & upgrading of footpath linking school to village/amenities & housing estates. The project will also include upgrading public lighting & drainage along the route, at a total cost of €49,500.

Next, Kilbrien Community Centre and Kibrien Community will use their share of the funds to provide public lighting provision and footpaths for safety measures at an estimated cost of €45,000.

Lastly, Aglish School and Aglish Tidy Towns will be provided with new Footpaths in order to facilitate connectivity between existing housing estate/dwelling and the centre of village. In addition, funds will be allocated to public lighting and traffic calming measures, with a total expense of €49,500.

CLÁR 2021, which was launched in May, provides funding for small scale projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of population decline.

The programme is one element of the Department of Rural and Community Development’s Rural Development Investment Programme, which provides a package of co-ordinated and complementary supports for rural areas.

Commenting on its effectiveness, Minister Humphries describes the scheme as "the perfect example of why ‘Our Rural Future’ will be a game changer for Rural Ireland."

Details of the successful projects under Measure 1 and 2 of CLÁR 2021 can be found on www.gov.ie/drcd.

An update on successful projects under Measure 3 will be announced within the coming weeks.