Town Teams to be established with anti-social behaviour high on the agenda
‘TOWN First Teams’ are to be established in both Wexford town and Castlebridge, with the aim of creating “more creative, vibrant and attractive towns” and to “support them to function as social, cultural and recreational hubs for the local community”.
Town Regeneration Officer with Wexford County Council Mick McCormack arrived before the Wexford Borough councillors at their latest meeting with the goal of selecting a Chairperson for these teams.
The idea is that the teams will be an accurate representation of the wishes of their local communities, hopefully featuring the likes of local historians, sports clubs, businesses, gardaí, youth groups, retirement groups, schools and other elements.
Mr McCormack said that the goal is to “engage with the community, appoint consultants, analyse issues and brainstorm ideas for the town etc”.
Expressions of interest to join the town team will be sought next month, but to get things started, both teams needed a Chairperson.
“As we’ve got one Castlebridge councillor here in front of us, I propose Cllr Robbie Staples to chair the Castlebridge Town Team,” Mayor George Lawlor said.
This was seconded by Cllr Leonard Kelly and there were no other candidates.
Meanwhile, it was decided that the Mayor of Wexford would chair the Wexford town team, this year being George Lawlor, and that the position would rotate as the Mayor changed over the five year term.
Labour councillor Catherine ‘Biddy’ Walsh was excited by the plan, but felt that one thing, above all, should be the focus of the Wexford Town Team.
“Everyone out there is saying something needs to be done in relation to anti-social behaviour,” she said. “It’s the biggest issue out there at the moment.”
“The town is no longer safe,” Cllr Ray Shannon agreed. “That’s the first thing we need to look at.”
Mayor George Lawlor asked if a representative from the HSE could be included on the team, to look at the plague of drug abuse.
“What we have is people suffering from addiction being brought into the town centre to have their methadone dispensed. They should be able to do this in their own communities, rather than bringing the issue into the town centre.
“These people are being preyed upon by dealers etc and I think a rep from the HSE on the team would be a good idea.”
Cllr Walsh said that the Town Team should speak to organisations like the South End Family Resource Centre and FAB.
“I’d also be very interested in people coming back to live on the Main Street,” she said. “When you walk along the Main Street and look up, all you’re seeing is storage rooms for boxes. Families used to live there and I think it would bring some heart back to the Main Street.”
Cllr Leonard Kelly once again expressed his wish that Wexford County Council would go after dereliction in the town centre “much more strongly”.
Cllr Tom Forde said that An Garda Síochána’s involvement was key and also hoped that the town team would be provided with the appropriate budget to get things done.
Both Cllr Shannon and Cllr Robbie Staples both agreed that amenities for young people in the town centre should be a focus for the Town Team going forward too.
There was notable optimism in relation to the project and Mr McCormack stated that the teams will be made up of no more than 15 people.
“It will be lead by the people,” he said. “The whole process is about ideas.”