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Origin and Early Activity of Annaghdown Parish Council

Origin and Early Activity 0f Annaghdown Parish Council

Origins of Annaghdown Parish Council

Annaghdown and Corrandulla Community Councils had functioned separately in their respective areas for over 35 years. However by the start of the new millennium it had become clear to the two Councils that they were not having a whole lot of success in either identifying or meeting the needs of their respective communities. By 2005, neither Community Council actually had enough people actively participating in their work for them to have any realistic hope of achieving their objectives.

In early 2006, a number of public meetings were organised by the two Community Councils to discuss how they could best resolve this problem. After a good deal of discussion it was proposed that the two Community Councils should both be disbanded and a new body called Annaghdown Parish Council should be established to take their place.

In May 2006, the two Community Councils adopted this proposal and also agreed that the existing funds belonging to each body should be transferred to the new Annaghdown Parish Council.

On April 5 2007, Annaghdown Parish Council Limited was registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee Not Having a Share Capital, for the purpose of advancing the objectives of the Annaghdown Parish Council.

Objectives Of Annaghdown Parish Council

The main object for which Annaghdown Parish Council is established, is to represent the best interests of the local population, through assisting with the organisation and delivery of such environmental, pastoral, social and structural services as are required in the area at any given time.

Specifically, the Annaghdown Parish Council will;

i) Advise and make recommendations to the Trustees of St Jarlath’s Trust, in relation to the best use of any properties owned by the Trust in the Parish Council area.

ii) Manage local community resources to the best advantage of the local community.

iii) Identify evolving need for the provision of amenities and services in the area and make representations to the appropriate statutory agencies to ensure that the fullest range of services possible, are available to the local Parish.

iv) Promote voluntary activity by supporting the work of existing voluntary groups, and assisting the establishment of new groups responding to emerging needs identified by the Parish Council.

v) Monitor planning proposals within the Parish Council area to ensure that planned developments do not constitute a threat to the health and well being of the local population and to represent concerns held by the community in relation to such developments to the Planning Authority where appropriate.

 

Early Activity of Annaghdown Parish Council

Since its establishment in 2006, the work of the Parish Council can be broken down into three categories e.g. once off, ongoing and long term activities. At its first AGM in March 2007, the work of the Annaghdown Parish Council was outlined as follows:

Once Off Activities include:

  1. Fundraising for Defibrillators in the parish area.
  2. Funding a farewell party for Fr Newell
  3. Organising meetings to set up Community Alert groups in the parish
  4. Organising public meetings on issues of local concern

Ongoing Activities:

The ongoing activities of the Parish Council include:

  1. Maintenance and expansion of graveyards at Annaghdown and Cregg
  2. Management of community facilities i.e. Corrandulla Community Centre and Annaghdown Handball Alley
  3. Support use of FAS Scheme in parish
  4. Production of the Parish Magazine
  5. Manage Bottle Bank
  6. Coordinate Annual Spring Clean
  7. Liaising with Galway County Council on infrastructural needs of area.
  8. Supporting the development of new groups
  9. Erecting place-name plaques throughout the parish

Long Term Activities

  1. Provision of adequate Community Facilities in the parish area
  2. Promoting the preparation of a long term development plan for the area by Galway County Council. Such a plan will examine the water, sewage, lighting, roads and building requirements of the area and produce a coordinated proposal to address these needs.

On its formation, it was recognised that Annaghdown Parish Council required up to date information on the structure and needs of the current population in its local area. A decision was taken to contact Galway County Council for help on this matter and assistance in surveying the area was arranged through the Community and Development Department of Galway County Council.

The outcome of this process was the Community Profile of Annaghdown 2007, which set out a Draft Development Strategy for Annaghdown. This strategy was adopted in principle by Annaghdown Parish Council as the basis for its work over the coming years.

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