Two Dundalk projects have been shortlisted in the 2014 LAMA (Local Authorities Members Association) Community & Council Awards. The Cox’s Demesne Regeneration Project has been shortlisted in the category for the Best Energy Smart Initiative by a local authority while Dundalk BIDS and Tourism Office are finalists in the Best Tourism Initiative category.
The Cox’s Demesne Regeneration Project has, to date, seen close to 2,000 residents benefit from Ireland’s biggest energy efficiency retrofit. Over an 18-month period, Dundalk Town Council along with Electric Ireland and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) invested €3.3m on works including energy efficient insulation, boiler installations, draught proofing and the installation of heating controls in 573 houses in Cox’s Demesne. The work was carried out free of charge to all the residents concerned. The retrofit marked the first phase of the regeneration project. The second phase consists of the Ashling Park pilot project, looking at improving existing council housing stock as well as the local physical environment.
Only days after securing another five years of Dundalk BIDS (Business Investment District Scheme) following a ratepayers ballot and the support of Dundalk town Councillors, BIDS along with the Tourism Office has been nominated in the Best Tourism Initiative category. Dundalk BIDs was instrumental in securing the return of the Tourism Office to the Market Square in 2012. In the year since, the Office has been extremely popular with visitors to Dundalk and the surrounding areas, providing a vital information hub and also increasing visitor footfall in the town centre. Both BIDS and the Dundalk Tourism Office are strongly involved in many projects held throughout the year in Dundalk.
Speaking on the success of both projects in reaching the finals, Dave Storey, Senior Executive Officer with Dundalk Town Council said: “The LAMA Community & Council Awards is a very highly regarded awards scheme which highlights excellence in various projects throughout the country. Both the Cox’s Demesne Retrofit Scheme and Dundalk BIDS are pioneering projects on a national scale and it is good to know that the LAMA adjudicators are acknowledging this by placing the two initiatives on their respective shortlists. Hopefully we can bring home the top awards in January.”
RTE celebrity Miriam O’Callaghan will host the LAMA Community & Council Awards on Saturday, January 25 in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry.
