Council News

Waterford Archive will be closed in High Street, Waterford on Tuesday 14th February.

The Archive will be open in Dungarvan on Friday 17th February 1-5pm and will be open in High Street on Tuesday 21st February 10am-2pm. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. Please contact the Archivist at archivist@waterfordcouncil.ie or 0761102144 with any queries.

Beidh Cartlann Phort Láirge ar an tSráid Ard, Port Láirge dúnta ar an Máirt, 14 Mí Feabhra. Beidh an chartlann ar oscailt i nDún Garbhán ar an Aoine, 17 Mí Feabhra óna 1-5i.n. agus beidh sí ar oscailt arís sa tSráid Ard ar an Máirt, 21 Mí Feabhra 10r.n.-2i.n. Gabh mo leithscéal as aon mhíchaoithiúlacht. Má tá aon cheisteanna, déan teagmháil leis an gCartlannaí ar archivist@waterfordcouncil.ie nó 0761102144.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade application forms for 2017 are available below.

• Application form (PDF)
• Application form (WORD)

Is your Community/Voluntary group interested in helping celebrate the official opening of Waterford Greenway?
Expressions of Interest are now being sought from Community and Voluntary Groups regarding involvement in events to celebrate the official opening of Waterford Greenway in late March 2017.

Waterford City and County Council has been developing the Waterford Greenway along a 46km section of the old disused railway line from Waterford City to Dungarvan over the past number of years. This development phase is now nearing completion and the official opening is scheduled take place in late March 2017 at a number of key locations adjacent to the Greenway itself.

It is envisaged that the development and completion of the Greenway will have a hugely significant cultural, social and economic impact on the lives of the people of Waterford in the years to come. In order to celebrate this momentous occasion in Waterford’s social history, Waterford City and County Council is now seeking expressions of interest from Community and Voluntary groups, schools, clubs and organisations who may be interested in organising or assisting in organising an event to coincide with the official opening celebrations. Examples of events may include but are not limited to:

• Walks or cycles along the Greenway
• Community picnics, parties, BBQs, fancy dress or foodie events adjacent to the Greenway
• Musical or cultural events
• Greenway related art competitions or artistic events
• Historic or heritage exhibitions, walks or talks regarding the Greenway or railway
• Unusual ways to travel along the Greenway-active travel only

…. and much, much more-the only limit is your imagination!

De bharr go dtarlaíonn Oscailt Oifigiúil Rian Glas na nDéise le linn Sheachtain na Gaeilge, cuirfear fáilte roimh léirithe spéise ó ghrúpaí/eagraíochtaí ar mhaith leo imeachtaí trí Ghaeilge a eagrú/cabhrú le himeachtaí a eagrú i gcomhthráth leis an oscailt oifigiúil.

Expression of interest forms and further information are available to download here or by request from Johnny Brunnock, Community Dept., Waterford City and County Council at jbrunnock@waterfordcouncil.ie or 0761 10 2496.

• Expression of Interest form (PDF)
• Expression of Interest form (Word)

Closing date for receipt of expressions of interest is 4 p.m., Monday 30th January 2017.

Waterford Energy Bureau / Waterford City and County Council Environment Department are seeking to engage with community groups and businesses to partake in partnership in submitting a funding application for energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies installations under the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland initiative called the “Better Energy Communities Scheme 2017”.

Funding is available for  cross sector projects for increasing the energy performance of buildings, community facilities and transport systems.

Level of Funding Available includes:

• Private Sector Buildings (up to 30% grant funding)
• Commercial organisations (up to 30% grant funding)
• Voluntary / Community-based organisations (50% grant funding)
• Public sector non-residential works. (30%-50% depending on project)

Renewable energy technology that can be funded include biomass boilers, solar water heating, solar PV, heat pumps and combined heat and power plants.

Eligible energy efficiency upgrades that are eligible under the scheme include heating upgrades, pumps, insulation, windows, doors, LED lighting, transport equipment etc.

The grant application will be submitted by mid February and only projects proposed by the end of January will be considered within an overall grant application value up to €1,000,000. Subject to grant approval all related works have to be completed by October 2017.

Expressions of interest can be submitted to lfleming@waterfordcouncil.ie

• See the  Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland website for application forms and further information.

Kildare has been announced as the cleanest town in Ireland. The announcement was made at the Finale of the 2016 Anti-Litter League by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin today.

Kildare finished ahead of Roscommon and Ashbourne, with Waterford City in fourth. A special public sculpture will be commissioned for the town to mark the achievement.

2016 saw an increase in litter levels across Ireland, especially in city areas, but almost three quarters of our towns were Clean to European Norms. The latest survey by business group Irish Business Against Litter showed Galvone in Limerick City to be bottom of its ranking of 40 towns and cities.

• Download full press release

The High Speed Broadband Map 2020 [ available here ] shows where high speed broadband services area or will be provided commercially over the next five 5 years.  It also establishes where commercial operators have concrete plans to roll out high speed broadband coverage.

You can use the map to see if you will be covered by commercial operators or are in an area of the country that will be addressed by the State intervention.

The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) is actively monitoring the rollout of high speed broadband in the BLUE areas so as to ensure the accuracy of the Map.  If your house or business is in a BLUE area and you do not have access to high speed broadband, the following steps should be undertaken:

1.       Check if your premises is located in an amber or blue area by either

• Entering your Eircode or
• Entering your address in the search box or
• Zooming in on the map.

2.       If your premise is in a BLUE area

• Run a line speed check www.speedtest.net

If your speed checks are consistently below 30Mbps), you need to:

• Check with ALL operators in your area to see if you can get high speed broadband.

If you cannot get a high speed broadband service, you need to:

• Contact the Department – broadband@dccae.gov.ie
• Include your eircode, a copy of your line speed check results and confirmation of the operators you have contacted.

3.       Subject to your permission, the Department will then:

i.            Raise the query with participating operators whose commercial plans are on the high speed broadband map.

ii.            If commercial plans are yet to materialise, provide you with an approximate timeframe for the availability of high speed broadband to your premises.

Where commercial plans have been rolled out and it is established High Speed Broadband is not available to your premise, nor will it be available from any other operator on a commercial basis, your premise will be included in the AMBER area (Intervention Area).