A scheme which might revitalise North Tipp's villages

During the May meeting of Nenagh Municipal District, Cllr John Carroll asked for an update on the village clusters project.

Cllr Ger Darcy also asked for an update. He said if village clusters takes off then it will revitalise villages throughout the county.

While villages in the county remain attractive places to visit and live in, they are also plagued with vacant buildings, a lack of infrastructure and a sense of having been passed by.

The village clusters scheme aims to counteract that. First put forward by the Council in 2018 as part of the National Planning Framework, the idea is to encourage the building of groups of houses in the villages, by offering assistance and attempting to simplify the process. The idea is still in its embryonic stage and hasn't properly kicked off.

Cllr Joe Hannigan added his voice to the other councillors, saying that he would love to see the scheme get going as it could be an injection of much needed vitality into this rural region.

Marie Ryan of the Tipperary County Council Housing Department said there has been an increase in “preplannings” for rural clusters during the last six months. She said the project is moving forward, but at a slow pace. “Pre-planning” is a service whereby Tipperary County Council provides a pre-planning consultation service, where potential developers can meet with the District planner and receive advice on the planning aspects of their cluster proposal. Each cluster will have no more than six houses. The houses will be located on land in or adjacent to a village.