I call on Leitrim County Council's Heritage Officer to consider an application to revamp and repair Drumshanbo's historic 'High Street' under the recently announced Historic Structures Fund. The primary focus of this fund is conservation and enhancement of historic structures and buildings for the broader benefit of communities and the public to enable larger scale conservation works to be carried out on heritage structures which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support. I feel this project adequately fits the criteria under the scheme and is deserving of consideration.
Minutes:
To consider the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Enda McGloin;
"I call on Leitrim County Council's Heritage Officer to consider an application to revamp and repair Drumshanbo's historic 'High Street' under the recently announced Historic Structures Fund. The primary focus of this fund is conservation and enhancement of historic structures and buildings for the broader benefit of communities and the public to enable larger scale conservation works to be carried out on heritage structures which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support. I feel this project adequately fits the criteria under the scheme and is deserving of consideration."
Report by Planning
"Leitrim County Council are presently accepting applications under the Historic Structures Fund as operated by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The core aims of this fund are to enable larger scale conservation works to be carried out on heritage structures which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support; to encourage the regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and to help to secure the preservation of Protected Structures and/or historic-culturally significant assets; to support the investment of private capital in labour intensive projects to conserve historic structures in public and private ownership for community use; to support employment in the conservation and construction industries; and to build resilience in our heritage properties to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change.
It is not the role of the Heritage Officer to prepare applications for funding under either the Historic Structures Fund or of the parallel Built Heritage Investment Scheme. The Heritage Officer can offer advice on the application process itself, but the Heritage Officer is part of the assessment panel of applications which are then proposed for funding by Leitrim County Council.
Stream 2 of the Historic Structures Fund offers a small number of grants on a nationwide basis from €50,000 up to €200,000 for larger enhancement, refurbishment or reuse projects involving heritage structures. Private applicants, community groups who are the owners or custodians of historic structures and Local Authorities submitting applications for works to historic structures in public ownership can apply under Stream 2 where a clear heritage focus and community or public benefit has been demonstrated. A funding application must be accompanied by a comprehensive Method Statement. Closing date for applications is 29th January 2021."
Councillor McGloin acknowledged the reply to his Notice of Motion. Councillor McGloin proposed that applications for the Historic Structures Fund should be prepared by the Council’s Heritage Officer, however, he noted from the reply that the Heritage Officer will form part of the assessment panel to review submissions for the fund. Councillor McGloin outlined that it will be up to the local community to submit the application for consideration under the fund and that the local community may not have the financial resources available to provide match funding for the project. Councillor McGloin stated that as the Local Authority effectively own the ‘High Street’, then it should be the Council rather than the Local Community that submit the proposal and provide the match funding required.
Mr. Vincent Dwyer advised that Ms. Sarah Malone, Heritage Officer is available to respond to queries on the Historic Structures Fund application process. Mr. Dwyer noted the members proposal that the project at High Street, Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim be submitted by the Local Authority rather than a Community Group. He advised that the project may be eligible under Stream 2 of the Historic Structures Fund and he agreed to revert to the Planning Department in this regard.