Cllr Frankie Keena has this week welcomed the publication of Our Rural Future, a five year plan published by the Government which aims to revitalise rural communities in the wake of Covid-19.
"It is so important to protect and sustain the way of life of communities living in rural Ireland as unfortunately over the years we have seen a decline of important services such as rural post offices, pubs, shops, and more recently the closure of banks," Cllr Keena said.
"This blood drain of such services has to stop and the only way of addressing this is to look at initiatives of increasing the population base in our rural towns and villages. This integrated approach within the plan to rural development offers an opportunity to make a real difference to rural areas and the subsequent boost to the local economy, schools and sporting organisations."
The Government has committed to investing significantly in rural areas over the lifetime of the plan to deliver stronger and sustainable rural communities. The core points within the plan are the opening of 400 remote working hubs by providing financial supports to local authorities to turn vacant properties in town centres into such hubs, to have 20 per cent of the public sector working remotely by the end of 2021, to improve rural public transport services which includes subsidising local area hackney schemes, to accelerate the National Broadband Scheme and increase outdoor recreational amenities for the public.
"At this week’s Westmeath County Council meeting I requested the executive to give a presentation on this rural development plan as soon as possible so that we can be in a position to immediately respond to the recommendations within the plan," Cllr Keena added. "The plan supports for job creation in areas such as agri tourism, ICT, financial services, creative industries, etc, so we need as a local authority to be very supportive in assisting people relocate from Dublin and other cities to rural Westmeath to roll out such jobs.
"I do not want progress held up with people not being able to source suitable accommodation to meet their needs or for them having difficulties in diversifying their businesses to meet rural demands," he warned.
"We need to embrace the opportunity of bringing such jobs to our rural towns and villages which in turn will bring a massive economic boost to the rural regions.
"This announcement will complement the endless opportunities that will be provided in the midland region with the pending technological university announcement for Athlone."
