Mayo County Council will need to provide €320,000 if they are to be successful in drawing down potential funding under an Urban Regeneration Development Funding (URDF ) application to convert the old post office in Castlebar into a community youth resource centre.
This is according to a report issued this week by Mayo County Council in response to a query by Cllr Michael Kilcoyne (Ind ) as to what proposals the council have to bring a number of buildings they own in the town back into use - including the old post office.
The report seen by the Mayo Advertiser stated that plans are at an advanced stage to develop the old post office into a community youth resource centre with a number of potential partners identified.
It went on to say that the council, in trust with funding from Castlebar Community Development Association, purchased the old post office for the specific purpose of providing a community youth resource for €180,000 - in 2014 part eight planning was approved to convert, refurbish and restore the building and in 2015 contract documents were drawn up. However, to date, insufficient funding has been available to allow the project to proceed.
The report goes on to state that the council are preparing a grant application in advance of an expected call for applications under URDF valued at €2 million - however a URDF grant requires own-resource match funding of 25 per cent: €500,000 in the case of a €2 million application - so the council would have to come up with €320,000 - having already made an investment of €180,000 in purchasing the property.
