Rural Development Partnership Moving Ahead In Newry Mourne And Down Area

The Mourne, Gullion and Lecale Rural Development Partnership which will cover the Newry, Mourne and Down Council Area is now up and running.

Your elected social partners and local South Down councillors nominated by the council have been working tirelessly on your behalf to progress the draw down of the NI Rural Development Programme funds for the area and are currently at the stage of developing a local Rural Development Strategy.

Claire Loughran,  Rural Development Officer for Newry Mourne and Down District Council said: “This strategy is a requirement of DARD and must be submitted and assessed before a call for applications can be opened.

“As part of this strategy development a number of public consultation events have been arranged (as per the below information). LAG members are not only invited, but encouraged to attend these sessions. Following this, one further session will be held on 30 September 2015 at 7.00pm in Kilkeel for all LAG Members. This will give the Board and the wider membership the opportunity to network, and the findings of the public workshops will be presented to all members.

“We hope to have a newsletter out to all LAG members early next week to update them on all progress to date. In the meantime we would much appreciate if you could circulate the below consultation events to any individual or group who may have an interested in the Rural Development Programme.

Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020 Notice of Public Consultation Events

“Mourne, Gullion and Lecale Rural Development Partnership is the newly formed Local Action Group (LAG) for the Newry, Mourne and Down area.

“The LAG’s are currently developing a rural strategy to deliver the Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020.

“The main themes being considered for the new strategy will be: * Rural Business Investment * Basic Services in rural Areas * Village Renewal * Rural broadband.

“In order to ensure that the strategy is representative of the priorities in your rural area (within the above themes), a number of public consultation events have been arranged across the District in September. Rural businesses, communities and all those interested in the development of their rural area are encouraged to attend and take part.”

All consultation events will take place from 7.00pm – 9.00pm.

*  Tuesday 15th September 2015 – Downshire Arms Hotel, Hilltown. *  Wednesday 16th September 2015 – Slieve Gullion Courtyard, Killeavey, Newry. *  Tuesday 22nd September 2015 – Ballyhornan Family Centre, Ballyhornan.