Council welcomes funding announcement to aid economic recovery of town centres
3rd August 2020
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has welcomed the announcement by the Department for Communities (DfC) and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) of £11m to support town centres across Northern Ireland in their economic recovery from the impacts of Covid 19.
The Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area will receive a total allocation of £522k from Department for Communities for initiatives in Omagh and Enniskillen town centres and £121k from Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for initiatives across rural settlements.
The Council Chairman, Councillor Chris Smyth, said “I welcome the recent announcements from Minister Ní Chuilin and Minister Poots. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council will work with the two Government Departments and other stakeholders to deliver the funding and wider town centre support initiatives in an effective and efficient manner to ensure our town centres are safe places to work, visit and shop, and to help sustain and grow our town centre and village businesses as we move out of the Covid-19 Emergency and into Recovery.”
The funding package will be allocated to Councils in two tranches and will be used to help provide a safe environment for local businesses, workers, shoppers and visitors to our district towns and villages. Funding could be used to support initiatives such as signage, street furniture, awnings/canopies, digital improvements and shop improvements as well as towards the longer term revitalisation of town centres.