Milford and Glenties to benefit from Ireland's first Town Centre Plans

Ireland’s first-ever Town Centre First Plans has been launched and Milford has been chosen as Donegal’s town to benefit from the scheme.

Milford will now receive €30,000 to complete a comprehensive town plan to help develop the town centre. 

The plan has been launched by The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, and the Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell.

The Town Centre First plans have been published in every county therefore, 26 towns are to benefit from the proposal. The plans aim to tackle vacancy and dereliction in local towns. As a result, new Town Regeneration Officers were appointed in every Local Authority to drive implementation and to work with Town Teams made up of community representatives.

In phase one, 26 local authorities are set to benefit, in this instance, Milford is set to receive the boost. Phase two will see the next 26 towns approved to develop, and Glenties will benefit from the latter.  

The Plans which were developed in consultation with local communities represent the vision of local people for their area and contain proposals for a diverse range of projects such as redeveloping derelict sites, creating community parks and walkways, boosting SME and tourism potential, and protecting historical landmarks. 

“Communities are at the heart of rural Ireland,”  Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, said. “Town Centre First is all about empowering people to develop a vision for their town that can make it a better place to live, work, invest in and enjoy. 

“These Plans and the new Town Regeneration Officers are about ensuring there is a strategic and coherent approach at a local level to tackling vacancy and dereliction in our towns and villages. 

“Government is firmly committed to strategic projects that will transform rural Ireland such as under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, and we are already seeing the hugely positive impacts of investment right across the country such as the fantastic new Community Centre we are opening here in Patrickswell this morning.”

Town Centre First is driving one of the biggest ever programmes of investments in rural Ireland and has a core aim of confronting dereliction and the general decline in the health of Ireland’s town centres. 

The plans are brought by the support of government funding through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Town Centre First Heritage Revival (THRIVE) Scheme and the Historic Towns Initiative.