Town & Village Renewal Scheme 2020

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Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2020

The Town & Village Renewal Scheme provides funding for projects that support our rural towns and villages and is one element of a €30 million package of integrated supports as part of the Rural Development Investment Programme which is funded under Project Ireland 2040 and through the Department of Rural and Community Development. The other elements of the package are the CLÁR Programme and the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme.

The Town and Village Renewal Scheme is funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development and administered by the Local Authorities.

The Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2020 is specifically tailored to address the emerging challenges associated with COVID-19, targeted at rural towns and villages with populations of less than 10,000, accordingly a new Measure in response to Covid-19 has been introduced, named the Accelerated Measure in Response to COVID-19. 

2020 Accelerated Measure in Response to COVID-19

• There are 2 separate Rounds of the Accelerated Measure: Round 1 and Round 2
• The objective of the Accelerated Measure is to assist the expedited delivery of projects that address the short-term challenges of increasing footfall in rural villages and towns and assisting local businesses/communities to adapt top public health requirements, particularly social distancing.
• Proposals should typically be for supplies or services of a capital nature or for short term work projects rather than longer term interventions usually funded under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
• Proposals should provide novel and innovative responses to these new challenges faced by local communities/businesses.
• Projects under this measure must be completed by the end of 2020.
• The maximum level of funding per project is €25,000, funding of €40,000 will be considered for a small number of high impact projects.

Donegal County Council is now seeking Expressions of Interest from Towns and Villages who may have a suitable project for consideration. 

All interested town/village groups are invited to submit an Expression of Interest as enclosed and forward for the attention of Community Development, Donegal County Council to Townandvillage2020@donegalcoco.ie or at the link below. Please clearly mark Expression of Interest Round 1 or Round 2 as appropriate.

The Accelerated Measure in response to COVID-19 Scheme operates to defined application criteria and deadlines are as follows:

• Round 1 Covid-19: Closing Date for Receipt of Expression of Interests to Donegal County Council by 12noon on Friday 19th June 2020 for evaluation and prioritisation.

         - Applications to then be submitted to DRCD by Donegal County Council before 3rd July 2020.

• Round 2 Covid-19: Closing Date for Receipt of Expression of Interests to Donegal County Council by 12noon on Wednesday 8^th July 2020 for evaluation and prioritisation.

         - Applications to then be submitted to DRCD by Donegal County Council before 14^th August 2020.

Points of Reference:

• Public Realm Focus
• 90% grant aid by DRCD
• Funding Awards:
  • Round 1 : 5no. applications; 4 no. at €25,000 and 1 no. at €40,000
  • Round 2 : 5no. applications; 4 no. at €25,000 and 1 no. at €40,000
• Competitive bid basis
• Final selection and award by Department of Rural and Community Development.

Please refer to Criteria in Accelerated Measure Scheme for further information.

Town & Village Renewal 2020 Outline - Accelerated Measure Outline

Town & Village Renewal Accelerated Measures Scheme 2020 Irish

Town & Village 2020 Renewal Accelerated Measure Round 1 - Expression of Interest

Town & Village Renewal 2020 Accelerated Measure Round 2 - Expression of Interest

The Irish Version of the Expression of Interest Forms will be available as soon as possible

2020 Town and Village Renewal Scheme

Town and Village Renewal Scheme will operate on the same basis as has been delivered in recent years, albeit with a particular focus on projects delivering an economic dividend and enabling towns and villages to respond to COVID-19 challenges.  The scheme will also continue to support public-realm type activities and the enhancement of town centre amenities, particularly where this aids economic and/or social recovery of a town or village.

The minimum grant which is available is €20,000 and the maximum is generally €100,000.  Under the scheme, funding of €200,000 will be considered for a small number of projects where a robust case can be made demonstrating exceptional benefit to a town.

Donegal County Council is now seeking Expressions of Interest from Towns and Villages who have a suitable project for consideration. Expressions of Interest in respect of Towns and Villages who have not received funding in the past or that have successfully completed projects under previous schemes are now being sought.

All Expressions of Interest will be assessed based on the priorities as contained in the Scheme Outline and must be linked to actions outlined in the County Donegal Development Plan where appropriate.

All interested town/village groups are invited to submit the Expression of Interest as enclosed and forward for the attention of Community Development, Donegal County Council to Townandvillage2020@donegalcoco.ie 

Further information is available by selecting links below:‌

Town & Village Renewal 2020 - Main Scheme Outline

Town & Village Renewal Main Scheme 2020 Irish

Town & Village Renewal Scheme 2020 - Expression of Interest

The Irish version of the Expression of Interest Form will be available as soon as possible

Expressions of Interest should be returned no later than - 12 Noon on Friday, 10th July 2020

Thereafter Expressions of Interest will be assessed based on the scoring framework as contained in the Scheme Outline and a maximum of 6 proposals may be selected for further detailed development in co-operation with local communities which will then be submitted to the Department of Rural and Community Development for further assessment