Landmark derelict building in Offaly to be converted into multipurpose community space

Clara Town Team has been successful in its application to acquire a vacant and derelict town centre building in the Offaly town.

The acquisition of the old Co-Op building was completed in partnership with Offaly County Council, through the Building Acquisition Measure under the 2023 Town & Village Renewal Scheme.

The Co-Op is a very significant building in terms of its place in Clara’s history, its prominent access to the Brosna River and its Town Centre location.

The Town Team can now further apply for Town and Village grants to assist with design fees and future capital costs to refurbish the building into a multipurpose community space.

Offaly County Council Chief Executive, Anna Marie Delaney welcomed the announcement: “This initiative is all about giving our local communities the tools to address the challenges of vacancy and dereliction in their towns and villages and in doing so, we will help to drive footfall into our town centres and make them even better places to live, work and invest in. I would like to congratulate the Town Team on this success and their diligent work to date.”

Speaking after the announcement, Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, Cllr. Eddie Fitzpatrick said: “Bringing such a prominent building back into use is excellent news for the town of Clara and will visually enhance the streetscape as well as meeting the needs of the community.”

The Clara Town Centre First Plan takes an asset based approach to the future spatial development of Clara focusing on areas which have the greatest capacity and potential for growth in line with its place in the county settlement hierarchy and core strategy allocation in the County Development Plan.

This approach ensures that growth will be sustainable in the long-term supported by the provision of the necessary infrastructure, employment, amenities and services.

The following strategic aims have been identified to shape and inform the vision for Clara over the lifetime of the County Development Plan:

Reinforce Clara town centre as the heart of the town by avoiding undesirable and inefficient sprawl, achieving critical mass and consolidating new development within the built-up footprint of the town, through targeting a significant proportion of future development on infill/brownfield/underutilised sites and extending out sequentially subject to available infrastructure.

2. Harness the economic and employment generating potential of the town through the on-going development of the service and manufacturing sectors in the town, in particular the Lehinch Business Park, and facilitate new enterprises within the zoned and serviced areas of the town.

3. Deliver high quality housing of a sufficient scale, mix, tenure, sequence and density, located in optimum locations and aligned with adequate social and physical infrastructure.

4. Promote permeable, healthy neighbourhoods that focus on place making and a sense of wellbeing to ensure Clara is an attractive place to live and work.

5. Promote and support innovative housing models including live-work units, special needs housing and housing for older people in the Clara Town Centre. 6. Provision of ecological connectivity and walking and cycling infrastructure throughout the town which links all the Green Infrastructure available to residents in Clara; Clara Bog, Eiscir Riada, River Brosna, the Goodbody Reservoir and the disused Clara – Banagher railway line.

7. Protect Clara’s built heritage assets which are a non-renewable resource that contributes to our understanding of the past.

8. Early and/or timely provision (in tandem with development), of critical physical and social infrastructure necessary for the future sustainable growth of Clara town.

9. Facilitate and support a broad range of community, cultural and recreational facilities to serve the needs of the residents of the Plan area and its wider catchment.

10. Enhance climate adaptation and mitigation, and accelerate a transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy in Clara

Clara’s Town Centre First Plan is available at: https://www.offaly.ie /app/uploads/ Council/Council_ Services_A-Z/ Regeneration/ Clara-Town- Centre-First -Plan4-1.pdf