A public meeting taking place next week will hear details of an action plan for the long-awaited new community centre for Ballinfoyle and Castlegar.
The meeting, which will take place in the Menlo Park Hotel on Tuesday July 5, aims to finalise plans for the management and operation of the Ballinfoile-Castlegar Neighbourhood Centre, and organisers are hoping it will see an end to what has been one of the longest running community campaigns in the country.
“After a campaign that stretches back to 1987, activists feel that residents will very soon be able to take ownership and usage of a magnificent new state-of-the-art community and sports facility,” said Brendan Smith, veteran campaigner and PRO of the local centre support committee.
“Our key demands have always been that this neighbourhood centre should serve the needs of local people of all ages, should provide local employment, should be publicly owned and funded, as well as having a management/oversight board structure that would be community-based. After months of consultations with Galway City Council officials, politicians, a social enterprise partnership, and after hosting a series of public consultations with local residents and groups, our committee are now in a position to offer to residents on Tuesday July 5, for their consideration, a community-driven action plan for the sustainable development, operations, and management of this new state-of-the art facility. Once this plan is accepted and in place, it is expected that the opening of the centre will soon follow.”
Mr Smith has urged all residents to attend the meeting.
“We earnestly want the opening of the centre to be the catalyst to re-energise our community, to help give local people a sense of pride in their locality, and transform it into a friendly, beautiful, neighbourhood with a quality of life for all age groups second to none,” he added. “Hence the public meeting on July 5 will also be a celebration of the wide range of activities provided by local volunteers including in the fields of sport, crafts and gardening.”
