Town Centre First Team Member - Voice for the Arts & Culture Sector
“The Town Centre First policy aims to create town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit, while also functioning as the service, social, cultural and recreational hub for the local community”
Together developing a new vision for our Town Centre and scoping out a number of key projects for investment and delivery, in order to capitalise on the significant investment that has been secured for the town under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF).
Carrick-on-Suir's regeneration plan – ‘A Journey from the Suir Blueway to the Ormond Castle Quarter received an RRDF allocation of €14.39m from the Department of Rural & Community Development. One of the key aims of the Town Centre First Plan is to provide a framework for supporting Carrick-on-Suir’s regeneration plan of the Town Centre and to provide opportunities for residential, retail, social and amenity to support the future growth of the town and the needs of its residents, for the years ahead.
The RRDF funding will allow for public realm refurbishment and enhancement in Carrick on Suir’s town centre comprising the upgrading of existing streets and lanes with new high-quality paving, kerbing, public lighting, improved street furniture and utility diversions/works (including undergrounding of overhead ESB cables). Footpath space will be widened, traffic calming will be developed through build-out, reduced road carriage widths and improved pedestrian crossings. Existing car parks will be improved and new car parking spaces provided. The traffic management at the junction of Main Street and Dillon Bridge will change from a signal-controlled junction to a priority-controlled junction. Pedestrian movement will be prioritised by the design. The development includes for public realm refurbishment and enhancement at Sean Healy Park comprising the development of a new vehicular parking area with entry and exit, footpaths and hard paved areas, widening of the Blueway and the development of associated landscaping and services/utilities to serve the proposed and future uses; the extension of the Suir Blueway along North Quays to provide cycleway and pedestrian linkages from Sean Healy Park to Ormond Castle and the town centre; the upgrading of Strand Walk with new paving and the development of a new access to Ormond Castle grounds and closing of the existing ramped access.
