Let's Develop Our Vision for Community Wellbeing for This and Future Generations - What community groups said at the Comeragh PPN community ...

Let’s Develop Our Vision for Community Wellbeing
         for This and Future Generations

  What community groups said at the Comeragh PPN
 community workshop held online 17 November 2020.

1. Health (Physical and Mental)

How can all members of our community enjoy the best possible physical and mental health? What
about people with special needs, older people, and carers?

   •   Utilise our natural amenities to facilitate safe and healthy walking trails for all. This could include
       creating a link from mountains to sea with St. Declan’s Way, the Greenway and Anne Valley.
   •   Ensure public recreation amenities have appropriate facilities such as lighting, toilets, and
       fountains.
   •   Develop the boardwalk in Bunmahon.
   •   Build on the behavioural changes of COVID-19 which has encouraged more local physical
       activity. Much more people are out swimming and appreciating other physical assets.
   •   Rollout a survey to identify the interest in setting up a walking buddy programme.
   •   Many people are afraid to access health services in the context of COVID-19 and the long term
       impact of this is unknown – what is the next COVID-19.
   •   Provide places and spaces for locals to talk, interact and meet new people.
   •   Focus the rollout of new facilities as Community Hubs, - ensuring multipurpose and multi activity
       hubs are created and benefit for local communities are maximised.
   •   Counselling services need to be enhanced and made more available. Current offering is not fit for
       purpose.
   •   Explore the concept of eco-wellness and geoparks.
   •   Befriending – generally and intergenerational.
   •   Greater focus on services and supports for the elderly
   •   Increase accessibility to facilities such as Gyms (indoor/outdoor) in the Comeragh area.
   •   Footpaths and accessibility of footpaths is an issue across the area and a barrier to physical
       health.
   •   Utilise existing sports facilities for pitch boundary walks.
   •   Raise greater awareness of the initiatives that are available – how can the gap between
       awareness of initiative, and the confidence to get involved be bridged?
   •   Provide spaces and activities for young people and teenagers, maybe a culture change is
       required.
   •   Very much physical and mental health coming together, particularly in Covid times, what’s good
       for one will be good for the other, walking etc.
   •   Access to healthcare services can be limited for rural communities – even from something as
       simple as a chemist or GP.

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2. Economy and Resources

How can our communities thrive economically, with good jobs, and supports for enterprise,
business and for people not in work? What resources do we have and are they used effectively
without causing harm to social and environmental sustainability?

   •   Men’s Sheds have been a phenomenal social enterprise. These could be complemented by
       Women’s groups. Perhaps there is scope for a shared development.
   •   Setup local tourism initiatives for local people. Rollout history projects, lessons, lectures, walks,
       booklets, etc.
   •   Interventions and opportunities to support rural communities to reskill and pivot with expected
       future trades and needs.
   •   Broadband is a serious barrier to investment, remote working, education, accessing services and
       more. Rural communities are left disconnected. A need exists for better broadband.
   •   Community and rural transport needs to be improved – more routes, higher frequency and more
       accessible.
   •   Develop accommodation services such as pods, hostels, camp sites and b and b’s.
   •   Incentivise the setup of restaurants and cafés.
   •   Incentives to revitalise and do up older buildings.
   •   Strategy to reduce empty units and brighten up main streets.
   •   Education and access to education is important for the economy/
   •   Digital connect and digital hubs is a huge opportunity for rural communities.
   •   The LEADER programme needs to help more and step up their game proactively.
   •   Grants need to be streamlined with and come with additional supports. Paperwork and language
       is a barrier for communities and potential entrepreneurs.
   •   Encourage the development of small scale food producers (artisan, etc) and farmers markets as
       social enterprises.
   •   A focus on building up small scale enterprises – ease regulation and encourage;
   •   Try and keep village stores open, this requires local buy-in and footfall.
   •   Protect rural post offices as a lifeline to the community.

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3. Social and Community Development

How can we be an inclusive community where we support each other and ensure no one is left out?
What are the important social services and facilities we need to live well from childhood to old age?

   •   Knowledge of local services and facilities can really help people to engage with their community.
       Crucial to inclusivity.
   •   A community-owned/run social café where you don’t have to do anything just arrive along and
       relax, have a cup of tea, take it all in and see who you can engage with.
   •   A community hub for local organisations and enterprise.
   •   Develop more bowls courts to provide for an aging population and encourage long term social
       gathering.
   •   A huge housing need exists in rural areas, including step down housing. This is required for long
       term sustainable communities.
   •   Provide an information hub in every small town and village.
   •   The local authority could empower local communities by supporting them with access to funding
       to innovate, rollout new initiatives or just to survive for the common good.
   •   Greater coordination of plans and resources – the local authority, the LEADER programme, etc.
   •   Local groups, towns and villages should coordinate and join together to amplify their voices and
       needs.
   •   The digital divide needs to be addressed.
   •   Some communities have community text alert.
   •   We need a strategy for community facilities – theatre, community centre, café’s and other
       facilities.
   •   Roll out a buddy system to get people out of their houses and into communities. Potentially
       explore intergenerational buddy systems with transition year students.
   •   Rollout then and now projects across the county to help retain and track history, increase local
       knowledge and more.
   •   Explore new community integration.
   •   Efficient and effective social services should be the norm, and should exist to protect the
       vulnerable.
   •   State provide and stand by what they say by providing services to the older and vulnerable
       people.

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4. Participation, Democracy and Good Governance

What is necessary to ensure that our local government structures support the wellbeing of our
community for this and future generations? What is necessary to ensure that we have a voice in the
decisions that affect us and that all voices are being heard?

   •   People feel works best when they can go straight to relevant council official to get things done,
       but this access is not universally provided. It is ‘who you know’.
   •   Some communities feel they have no representation because of the area they live in.
   •   The system sometimes creates the perception of making decisions that make no sense – such as
       a contractor starting a phase of a job, and then a different contractor coming in and having to
       build up the local knowledge all over again. Leads to local confusion and a sense of disconnect.
   •   Lobbying needs to be more open and clearer. Current rules are very narrow and conforming is
       perceived to be optional, especially at lower levels. People don’t know how to lobby.
   •   Accountability of local representatives and local authority staff is unclear.
   •   The local authority does not utilise all means of communication effectively.
   •   Need to encourage and empower communities to give more feedback
   •   While good governance is important, paperwork accessibility can be a huge barrier.
   •   Clarity on the role of local agencies is important, what are the funding obligations for things such
       as the Arts, Sports and more.
   •   Local authority should partner more with Tidy Towns, who are an integral part of thriving
       communities.
   •   Perception that there is an imbalance of resources (beyond relativity) towards Waterford City.
   •   More openness around the annual budget plan for the Council.
   •   Find it extremely hard to believe in local councillors, starting to feel very mislead by them. Once
       they are elected, they seem to do what they want to do and not for the good of the people.
   •   Board of management are especially important to any charity or volunteering group and feel when
       someone takes on the role, they need to know what their role is and what is expected.

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5. Values, Culture and Meaning

What is needed to ensure that everyone feels and actually is, included and valued, and that our
different values and cultures are respected and nurtured? What are the important parts of our culture
that we want to hand on to the future generations?

   •   Schools to lead, communities to follow.
   •   While Green Flag schools are outstanding, there is a perception that the youth demographic are
       the worst for littering.
   •   This discussion veered towards funding the arts, drama, theatre, etc. and back to community
       facilities.
   •   Utilising communities to build resilience, share more and learn more.
   •   Be more conscious of local businesses, support local, spend local, etc.
   •   Make use of school buildings after hours.
   •   Needs to build more of a sense of presence and Pride of Place of rural communities.
   •   Culture in the context of the Arts, Musuems, Local History and Touring are all important.
   •   Vacant buildings need to be transformed into community facilities.
   •   Protecting rural communities and saving space for locals housing need.
   •   Rollout rural digital hubs.
   •   Instil reskilling as a value across generations.
   •   While connectivity is important, it is less than ideal without proper broadband.
   •   Valuing a sense of community, togetherness, and support.
   •   COVID-19 brings with it a sense of a lack of freedom, we cannot take this for granted in the
       future.
   •   It is important we don’t lose sight of our culture and that we pass it onto future generations.

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6. Environment and Sustainability

How do we value our natural environment and man-made heritage? What can be done to conserve,
protect and restore these? How can we interact with the environment in a sustainable way, and hand
it on to the next generation in a better state?

   •   Should be part of lifelong education participation.
   •   People of all ages are still littering along roads from cars, bottles from cyclists, leftovers from
       picnics and more.
   •   We need to support community action on litter.
   •   Environmental schemes and amnesty at civic amenity sites may help address the issue.
   •   Lots of biodiversity activity is a possibility – school gardens, butterfly counting, sustainable
       forestry, and more.
   •   Take advantage of our environment such as extending the Crough Walk.
   •   Ensure our environmental assets have supporting infrastructure such as a public toilet at Anne’s
       Valley.
   •   We need to take advantage of youth activism on the environment. They are leading.
   •   The rollout of a mentoring scheme for sustainable community projects such as the SEAI
       sustainable communities scheme would be helpful and empowering.
   •   Run a Tik-Tok competition on keeping communities clean!
   •   Public buildings should be retrofitted and examples of sustainability practice.
   •   E-Car charge point infrastructure needs to be rolled out as a priority.
   •   Pollinator awareness programme to demonstrate to the public how important greenspaces and
       wild growth is.
   •   A wide ranging behavioural change initiative is required.
   •   Enhanced grants for home retrofitting is required.
   •   Community food banks would be helpful for reducing food waste.
   •   Charity shops are a great all round model for upcycling, social opportunities and encouraging
       better consumption.
   •   Consider community (rural) waste collections /civic amenity drop off points – more eco-friendly
       than people taking their waste to Waterford or Dungarvan.
   •   Improve measures to stop littering (illegal dumping) so that funds can be reallocated.
   •   Explore sustainable community energy generation to replace traditional fuels.

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