Big Climate Change funding for Offaly schemes
€330,000 has been granted by central government to Birr Municipal District for Climate Adaptation Schemes.
It's noticeable that in the last couple of years the Council has significantly increased its funding stream for projects which take future climate conditions into consideration.
Climate change adaptation refers to how we plan for the negative effects of climate change, and take suitable action to prevent or minimise the damage it can cause.
Examples of adaptation actions include adjusting building regulations to take account of future climate conditions, building and reinforcing flood defences, or prioritising tree species that are less vulnerable to storms, temperature extremes, and fires.
To achieve this level of adaptation, key sectors of government and society, including local and regional bodies, are being asked to work together in order to ensure climate adaptation considerations are an integral part of local, regional, and national policy.
John Mitchell, Area Engineer, told the June meeting of Birr Municipal District that as well as the Climate Change Adaptation funding, other central government funding had come through to the local authority including €150,000 for an outdoor works scheme in Kinnitty, €140,000 for the repair of private roads and €140,000 from the TII for pavement remedial works on the N52 and N62.
Mr Mitchell said his road surface dressing scheme started on May 25 and is about three-quarters complete.
Cllr John Carroll said it's good to see another eight LIS (Local Improvement Scheme) projects being taken on board. “There's a long list of applicants for the LIS projects. We need more funding for them. There are a lot of bog roads and bog lanes in the District which need to be tackled.”
He praised the Area Engineer. “Last year was a difficult year and yet you managed to get all your roadworks programme done.”
Cllr Peter Ormond, Cathaoirleach, praised the Engineer for bringing a lot of projects to the attention of the Department and pushing for funding for them.