Every community facility and organisation in Tipperary to be surveyed and mapped

Every community facility and organisation in county Tipperary is to be surveyed and mapped over the next year and a half under a project spearheaded by Tipperary County Council.

Details of the Community Mapping Project scheduled to start at the end of March were outlined in a presentation given to councillors at the local authority’s latest monthly meeting in Clonmel.

Fiona Crotty of the Council’s Economic, Community & Development Section said the Council will be undertaking a Community Capacity and Community Organisation Audit to determine the “sector’s social capital and capacity gaps”.

Tipperary Public Participation Network (PPN) will be a full partner in the audit project.

She outlined there are 1,756 community groups registered with Tipperary PPN but the survey will exclude burial grounds groups and residents associations in its first round.

Each physical community facility will be visited and photos will be taken of the entrances, disability access, video conferencing, green infrastructure and energy updates completed.

Community groups will be surveyed on their capacity, volunteer requirements, areas of interest, areas to develop and training required.

“Each community group without a facility will also be engaged and their social capital will be recorded

“We will also ascertain their ability and willingness to engage in community emergency response,” Ms Crotty explained.

She said the survey will enable the Council to identify areas of interest and work with Tipperary’s ETB, Public Participation Network, Volunteer Centre and Sports Partnership to provide training to community volunteers.

The survey will provide the county’s local development companies with groups that need support and mentoring. It will also enable the Council to identify and showcase the activities taking place in the county’s community facilities on the www.whatsonintipp.ie website.

Each physical community facility will be provided with a sign featuring its Eircode and a QR code that will lead back to the Tipperary County Council website portal.

Ms Crotty said staff from Tipperary County Council’s Community Team and Tipperary PPN members will conduct the surveying that will commence at the end of the first quarter of this year. Each survey will take two to three hours to complete.

Community groups and facilities in Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District will be the first to be surveyed followed by those in Thurles MD, Nenagh MD, Tipperary Cahir Cashel MD and Clonmel Borough District.

“We anticipate it will take potentially 12 to 18 months to fully conclude the project.

“The information will support Tipperary County Council and the Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) and inform us of community needs within the county.”

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Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Declan Burgess wished Ms Crotty and her colleagues well in undertaking this huge but worthwhile project.

Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Pat English said the Community Mapping Project was an “excellent idea”. “There are an awful lot of community buildings out there that are under utilised. What resources do you have to get it across the line,” he asked.

The Council’s Director of Economic, Community & Rural Development Services Brian Beck assured Cllr English the Council will devote whatever resources it can to carry out this project and it also has the resources of Tipperary PPN.