Shaping the Future of the Wicklow Uplands - A Community Led Approach at Wicklow Uplands Council's Joint Panel Meeting

Shaping the Future of the Wicklow Uplands – A Community Led Approach at Wicklow Uplands Council’s Joint Panel Meeting

 

 

Community panel discussing issues at Wicklow Uplands Council's Joint Panel Meeting.

 

Wicklow Uplands Council organised a joint meeting of its panel groups in the O’Toole Community Hall, Rathdangan on the 7^th October 2015. The venue was carefully selected to give an opportunity to people and communities living in south-west Wicklow to have their voices heard and to share their concerns and proposals.

Local community representative, Mr. Mick O’Toole, welcomed all present to the village of Rathdangan and gave a very insightful presentation about the challenges faced by a small rural community, outlining their successes and how the community had taken ownership of their survival and ongoing development. He explained how the village had changed over the years from a very vibrant rural community with sheep sales and trades and businesses at every corner, Rathdangan was a place where people could live and work locally. Over the years this picture has changed dramatically. The village pub is the last local business remaining and the majority of people now commute to work. The community finds it difficult to meet all criteria when it comes to funding opportunities. “There is no funding for Rathdangan, the village is too small” he said.  However, the community has demonstrated a very positive attitude and has acquired a piece of ground from Wicklow County Council for a community amenity area and playground. This is currently being developed and to date €23,000 has been raised for the project.

Another successful move was the opening of the Village Pantry tea room and coffee shop which is a focal point and meeting place for the community and is bringing life back into the area. The Pantry opened 18 months ago, is run by 25 volunteers and is open every day 9.30-12.30.  The Pantry sells arts & crafts and produce from within a 2 mile radius and the local SuperValu delivers online shopping there daily. The community received €2,000 in funding from the Wicklow County Council for the project.

There was an opportunity for uplands stakeholders to present their views and suggestions at the individual meetings of Wicklow Uplands Council’s four stakeholder panel groups which includes: Farmers and Landowners, Environment and Recreation Interests, Economic and Tourism Providers and Communities. Proposals included the development of long distance and community walking trails including a West Wicklow Walking Trail linking the villages of Knockananna, Rathdangan and Donard and a mining heritage trail from Avoca to Glendalough to link and promote both areas. Given that many parts of rural Wicklow are under significant demographic decline it was noted that Wicklow Uplands Council could play a facilitation role with regard to developing agreed access or rural community development plans.

The need for support for Wicklow Uplands Council’s application for a Locally Led Environment Scheme to manage upland vegetation and support upland hill farming was also highlighted alongside the issue of deer and dog control, rural crime and controlled burning of vegetation. Renewable energy, access to high speed broadband in rural areas, rural social inclusion and the support for low capacity communities to access funding were also highlighted at the meeting. Many of the challenges facing the area and project ideas put forward at the meeting will serve both to inform Wicklow Uplands Council’s future work programme and our submission on the Wicklow Local Development Strategy currently being prepared by County Wicklow Partnership.

Author: Lenka Mulligan, Communications Officer, Wicklow Uplands Council

The PURE Mile Competition - Empowering Local Communities

The PURE Mile Competition - Empowering Local Communities



Cunard Crossroads Ceili by Peter Murphy

The Pure Mile, an environmental competition which aims to foster a greater appreciation and awareness of the country roadscapess by rewarding and acknowledging local community efforts had its annual awards night on Thursday 24th September at the Brooklodge Hotel, Macreddin, Aughrim.

 

The competition encourages communities to keep a mile stretch of road (approx. 1.6km) and the immediate environment litter/rubbish free. For the past nine months, community groups and people living on the miles have been busy cleaning up their areas, taking part in regular litter picks and clean ups, researching information about their local wild flowers, plants, trees, animals, built heritage, history and the folklore associated with their areas. A large number of communities went the extra mile by repairing and painting old traditional gates, rebuilding stone walls, improving stiles, maintaining bridges, cleaning up farmlands and entrances, erecting bat boxes and holding information nights and talks about their local areas.

2015 was the sixth year of the PURE Mile completion and there were 8 awards presented on the night with cash prizes totalling €3,000. The Best PURE Mile Award and a cheque for €1,000 was presented to the Glenmalure Pure Mile. The group researched the natural and social heritage of the area and produced and information leaflet which can be picked up the Glenmalure Lodge. The Best Litter Free Awards was presented to Manor Kilbride PURE Mile who invested a hugh amount of time arranging litter picks and regular clean ups of their area. A special award for The Best Anti-Dumping Campaign went to Blackhill PURE Mile of Glenealy for their achievement and battle against dumping in the area and the Highly Commended Litter Free Award to Tomriland PURE Mile. The Best Education Award was presented to Three Mile Water Furzeditch PURE Mile and Brittas Bay National School. Cunard PURE Mile picked up two awards on the night, the Best Community Effort Award and the Best Built/Social Heritage Award. The Best Natural Heritage Award went to Roundwood PURE Mile for the amazing natural heritage on their walking trail.

This year upland communities featured strongly among the winning entries. Wicklow Uplands Council approached two groups from Glenmalure and Cunard, to get their grassroots perspective and asked them to describe how they looked after PURE mile and what additional actions they took to raise awareness of local heritage.
 

Glenmalure PURE Mile

 

Reflecting on the Glenmalure experience, local representative Brian Dunne said “We are very fortunate that Glenmalure is already an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with lots of tourists driving, walking and cycling the road everyday it was therefore important to us not to disturb the natural aesthetics of the area. With this in mind, we did not erect signs along the PURE Mile or make any drastic changes to the route. We did however keep the grass verges along stretches of roadside next to houses mowed and carried out essential maintenance such as litter-picking, tidying field entrances, painting gates and replacing them where necessary. As Glenmalure has so much to offer in terms of local history and biodiversity and because signposts were not erected we needed to find a way to convey this information to both the local community and visitors who walk the PURE Mile. We decided the best option was to produce a pamphlet outlining all the history, flora and fauna along the way. The aim of the pamphlet is that people can self-locate at each point of interest along the road and learn about each site and what plants and animals they might expect to see there. We are very grateful that a number of local businesses and individuals very generously sponsored this pamphlet and it is now freely available at their premises.



Treasure hunt and litter pick event in Glenmalure

We also carried out a number of events on the PURE Mile over the summer months to promote all that it had to offer including a treasure hunt and litter pick for kids which involved learning the names of the historial sites and plants and animals, a history and nature walk with four local speakers who spoke on the history, culture and biodiversity of the area, a bat talk hosted by bat expert Enda Mullen and a 5km run in conjunction with the local camogie club.
 

5k run was a great fun for all in Glenmalure.

Cunard PURE Mile

Reporting on the Cunard community’s experience Derek Brady noted “This mile is a beautiful part of the Glenasmole Valley and has some very interesting historical artefacts. We focused on the two bridges in Cunard which were both overgrown with weeds and vegetation. The bridges were brought back to their original beauty with all the stonework and verges looking amazing. That day we realised what a local group can achieve.

 

Painting and cleaning up of the Glenasmole Community Centre with Duncan Stewart.

The restoration of bridges got us thinking: Who actually built the beautiful bridges in Cunard? How did they manage to get materials to and from the area and lift them into position? Were any of these people our great grandparents? How many people in the valley have old photos or stories about the people and the history of the valley? We decided to arrange a Heritage Day to collect as much information about the valley as possible and enlisted the help of South Dublin County Council’s Library. They kindly provided two librarians to be on hand to scan and record photos and memorabilia which proved very useful.

Our elders always remind us about certain things that happened in the by gone days like walking to school in their bare feet. This got us thinking if we could bring one of their memories back to life. We had all heard them speak of the Crossroad Céilí and what a memorable night this was for all the locals so we decided to organise this for them. The lovely hamlet of Cunard is a perfect setting for a Céilí with the Cunard Upper road creating a natural amphitheatre. The householders affected in Cunard all gave their blessing and meetings with South Dublin County Council, musicians and Gardaí were organised. The local Summer Project Children made bunting for the Céilí and a neighbouring farmer brought in bales of straw. As soon as the people started to arrive that evening with their children in tow, the atmosphere felt right. Locals could not believe how Cunard had been transformed in such a short space of time. It was not long before young and old were out dancing on the cross roads of Cunard for the first time in decades. The Céilí dancing finished up as the light was fading but the local musicians continued to play well into the evening.



Cunard Crossroads Ceili by Peter Murphy

Wicklow Uplands Council congratulates the Glenmalure and Cunard communities and all the 2015 PURE Mile entrants and acknowledges the very significant contribution that they have made to their local communities. It is clear that the PURE mile initiative is highly effective in empowering local communities across Wicklow and south Dublin to create community cohesion and develop a sense of belonging and pride in their local place and heritage. This is testament to the community spirit evident in the 70+ groups that have participated in the competition to date and for many of whom this is merely the beginning. The awards night was also the official launch of the 2016 PURE Mile Competition and again PURE is inviting all groups and communities living in rural areas of County Wicklow to take part. Further information can be found on www.pureproject.ie.

Authors: Ian Davis, PURE Project Manager, Lenka Mulligan, Communication Officer, Wicklow Uplands Council with contribution from community representatives from the Glenmalure and Cunard PURE Miles.

 

Deer Remain a Controversial Issue in the Wicklow Uplands

Deer Remain a Controversial Issue in the Wicklow Uplands

Glendalough Valley from the Spink by Egita Feldberga.

The incidence of T.B. in cattle in the county continues at a level many times the national average despite the fact that the same disease control measures pertain in Wicklow as in other counties.  Local farmers and vets have suspected for some time that deer might be involved in the spread of the disease and have been calling on The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to investigate the matter.

Over the past winter The Department used their own hunter and shot and tested 104 deer in the Calary area, 16 of which proved positive for T.B. While this does not prove conclusively that deer are spreading the disease to cattle, it does point to a strong probability and highlights the need for a reduction in deer numbers with a proper scientific study in the Calary area.

The Wicklow Deer Management Partnership continues its work and this year we set up a deer management project in the Manor Kilbride area of West Wicklow similar to the Ballinastoe Project which has been running for some time. Jim Fitzsimons was appointed Project Coordinator and the group elected Sean Eustace as their Chairman. The purpose of these projects is to collaboratively manage deer in a sustainable way. Both projects have been undertaken with financial assistance from The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and The Forest Service, (The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine).

2015 saw the establishment of the National Deer Forum which was set up to develop a national long-term deer management strategy for Ireland. While the objective of the forum which draws together all stakeholders is a positive step, it is too early to make a judgement on its effectiveness. Nevertheless it is clear from its early deliberations that the deer problem in Wicklow and particularly in the uplands is more severe and more complex than in any other part of the country.

Author: Declan O’Neill, Board Director of Wicklow Uplands Council.