Gort has been chosen for a major shot in the arm via €100,000 in funding awarded to help revitalise the town centre.
Gort is one of 26 towns chosen for the new Town Centre First initiative tackling dereliction, vacant properties, and other issues plaguing small towns.
Each of the towns chosen for this project will receive €100k to develop unique masterplans for making their town centres more attractive places to live and work.
Galway TD Ciaran Cannon said that Gort is a town with a lot to offer, at a time when small towns are becoming better places to live thanks to remote working.
“This masterplan will look at ways of maximising the attractiveness of the town centre as a place to live and work in.”
Towns for this first phase of this new policy were selected based on submissions received from the Local Authorities.
The funding will support each local authority, working with a collaborative Town Team, to develop a bespoke plan for their locality through extensive public consultation.
Deputy Cannon said that having such a plan will place Gort on a “firm footing” to secure funding for any ideas that emerge through the Rural Regeneration Development Fund.
“There will be a significant public consultation phase as part of the study and I’m encouraging all stakeholders to play an active part in that.”
“This has been a very positive week for Gort in that it has also been identified as a major tourism hub on the new Dublin to Galway Greenway,” Ciaran Cannon said.
“We’re also seeing the development of the Gort River Walk, the opening of The Forge remote working hub and the turning of the sod on a major extension to Gort Community School.”
“This new masterplan will seek to build on these very positive developments and maximise Gort’s potential as a thriving rural town.”
