Information evening on Killala Town Centre First Plan

Killala is the first town in County Mayo to be chosen as one of 26 towns across the country to develop a Town Centre First (TCF) Plan. The Town Centre First approach is an initiative of Government policy to build sustainable and resilient communities in rural towns. The approach supports the rejuvenation of Irish rural town centres and is a collaborative initiative, which focuses on developing plans to regenerate rural towns through tailored place-making, addressing dereliction and vacancy in town centres. Short, medium and long-term priorities are identified through public and community consultation.

In mid-2023, Pennsylvania State University and University Of Galway carried out an extensive Community Consultation with almost 60 percent of Killala’s population responding. Mayo County Council appointed a multi-disciplinary design team led by Land Use Consultants (LUC) to prepare the Town Centre First Plan for Killala. Meetings, open consultation events and feedback events took place in September, October and November in Killala and a consultation portal was opened for online feedback from September. Information boards listing the proposed projects were visible for a month in Killala Community Centre, inviting people to vote on their priorities for the town.

The results were generously shared with the Town Centre First team and the resulting Killala Town Centre First Plan is available to view at https://www.mayo.ie/community/town-centre-first. The Plan aims to support the enhancement and revitalisation of Killala and address the broad issues that emerged during the consultation process.

Local Town Teams are essential for the development of Town Centre First Plans and to ensure their delivery. Killala’s Town Team has begun working to activate identified priority projects through national funding programmes, however, the full potential of the plan can onlybe delivered through community action.

To find out more and to meet the team, an Information sharing evening is taking place in Killala Community Centre (Upstairs) on Thursday, May 30,from 6 to 8pm. Abridged versions of the plan will be available, as will the opportunity to get involved and identify how to contribute. This is a drop-in event, everyone is welcome to drop by anytime that suits from 6pm to 8pm.