Plans made to facilitate outdoor dining in East Lane in Clonmel
Work needs to be completed by November to avail of grant
A specialist will be engaged to draw up a detailed design to provide outdoor dining facilities and possibly a covered space in East Lane on Gladstone Street, Clonmel.
This news was announced in District Administrator Jim Dillon’s report to a meeting of Clonmel Borough District.
Mr Dillon’s report stated that the project would go to tender as soon as possible, as the work needed to be completed by November to avail of a grant.
Clonmel has been approved by Fáilte Ireland for a grant of €114,000 under the Weatherproofing and Outdoor Dining Infrastructure Scheme.
East Lane is located between Mulcahys and D’Bunked on Gladstone Street.
An application is also being formalised for funding for an outdoor performance area in the vicinity of Abbey Street in Clonmel.
It’s envisaged that the same specialist will also draw up plans for this project.
Cllr Richie Molloy welcomed the grant of €4,000 that was also available to businesses in the hospitality sector to facilitate outdoor dining, which he said was something that was making all the difference in the town.
He asked if restaurants were entitled to put tables and chairs outside of their premises.
Cllr Molloy said he was keen that the council would facilitate this and that it wouldn’t put any obstacles in their path.
Jim Dillon assured Cllr Molloy that there would be no obstacles placed in the way of businesses.
It depended how large or small the tables and chairs were, and in some cases businesses might have to apply for a licence.
The District Administrator said there hadn’t been that many applications for the outdoor dining assistance grant.
Ten applications had been received so far and he said all of these seemed to be valid.
He said that the council would pay out on these once they received invoices from the businesses for the work that had taken place and the items that had been purchased.
This scheme had been very well advertised and information was available on the council website.
District Mayor Michael Murphy was pleased to see elements of outdoor dining taking place throughout the town.