Community groups advised of impending scheme deadlines

The applications deadlines are approaching for a number of schemes relevant to community groups, members of Westmeath County Council’s Environment, Climate Action, Water and Emergency Services Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) learned at their quarterly meeting, held in Mullingar.

The first is the Cemeteries Grant Scheme, for which the closing date is March 11; the second is the National Spring Clean. Also coming up in March is National Tree Week.

The cemeteries grant provides amounts of up to €750 to groups working to enhance or maintain their local cemetery, Aisling Stafford, the council’s environment awareness officer, told members.

The application forms are available through the council’s environment section (environment@westmeathcoco.ie), and Ms Stafford said that any groups applying who would have received funding last year would need to have completed those works before putting in new applications.

In respect of the National Spring Clean, which takes place during the month of April, registration is done directly with nationalspringclean.org.

Ms Stafford said that groups registering for the national spring clean should, however, also notify Westmeath County Council as it can lend bags, gloves and hi-vis jackets, and can also put arrangements in place to have materials that are gathered up collected for disposal.

On the subject of National Tree Week, March 3-10, Ms Stafford said that the saplings Westmeath County Council has ordered from the Tree Council of Ireland would be delivered to Belvedere House, from where successful applicants could collect their allocations.

Registration should be done via belvederehouseinfo@belvedere-house.ie.

Cemeteries grants

Cllr Johnnie Penrose was keen to know if many applications had been received last year for the cemeteries grants and if all funds had been drawn down. Ms Stafford said that all funding was drawn down last year.

Cllr Paul Hogan remarked that the cemeteries grants scheme had become a victim of its own success, and in light of the cost of petrol, mowers, strimmers and so on, he felt the council should try to increase the amount of funding it can make available under the scheme, in order to help communities do even more in terms of the maintenance of cemeteries.

"They really have taken ownership of it, but I just feel with the increasing numbers of applications – which I believe started at 11, then went to 13, and I’m not sure what the figure is now but it’s certainly higher than that – the money needs to be increased just to make sure communities are getting value out of it," he said.

Jack O’Sullivan, commenting on the National Spring Clean, complimented the council on working so closely with An Taisce, an organisation with which he has been associated since 1977.