Ballyhoura Development in conjunction with Kilmallock Town Traders and Kilmallock Partnership have engaged the services of economic development “think-tank”, New Economics Foundation.
Published Wednesday 28th May 2014
Ballyhoura Development in conjunction with Kilmallock Town Traders and Kilmallock Partnership have engaged the services of economic development 'think-tank', New Economics Foundation (NEF) to develop and support a PILOT initiative for sustainable economic development in Kilmallock.
The highly experienced team from NEF bring a wealth of experience and expertise to Kilmallock. They have completed work across several struggling towns and high streets both in the UK and internationally, on the successful implementation of various approaches and tools to support sustainable local economic development
As part of the pilot a number of open community events have been held in Kilmallock, the first of which, in April 2014, was titled “Plugging the Leaks”. This approach to sustainable local development involves local business and community members working together to examine how money flows into and out of Kilmallock (imagining the economy as a leaky bucket of water) and identifying ways to keeping money circulating within the local economy or “plugging the leaks”.
At the second community event “Re-imagine the Town Centre” local business and community members worked together on ideas for the sustainable development of Kilmallock 10 years into the future. This vibrant event began with a large blank map of the Kilmallock town centre laid out on the floor. By the end of the night the map was populated with ideas for the sustainable development of the town centre.
Both of the open community events have been very successful and productive with a lot of positive input and local people eager to get involved. As a result, a number of “TOWN TEAMS” have been put in place and are working together on delivering actions in the following areas: Design/Appearance, Local Economy, Heritage, Festivals & Events, Services, Marketing & Promotion.
Speaking about the initiative, Padraig Casey Economic Development Manager, Ballyhoura Development said “We are enthused by the level of positive interest and local involvement in this pilot to date and pleased to see that actions are already being implemented locally. We hope to take the learnings from this pilot to implement similar initiatives in other rural towns and villages across Ballyhoura area into the future”.
For any further information or for anybody interested in joining one of the Town Teams in Kilmallock, contact Claire Horgan, Enterprise Officer at Ballyhoura Development on 063 91731 or chorgan@ballyhoura.org