Tipperary County Council have been awarded €500,000 under the Town & Village Renewal Scheme towards the enhancement of Tipperary Hills public park. The park known locally as the ‘The Hills’ is located close to the town and covers an area of approximately 21 acres, providing residents and visitors to the town with a much-loved amenity space. The funding will be used for a range of improvements once detailed consultations are held with local stakeholders including Tipperary Hills Pitch and Putt Club and Tipperary Tidy Towns and a full work programme agreed. Works are expected to include improved access and pathways, new picnic benches and furniture, landscaping and planting, reflective areas, and an upgrade of the “Flat Hollow” kick-about area. The €0.5M investment from the Department of Rural and Community Development will be matched by a further contribution of € 125,000 from Tipperary County Council giving a total project value of €625,000.

Cllr. Mary Hannah Hourigan, Cathaoirleach of Tipperary Cahir Cashel Municipal District welcomed the funding announcement and commended both Tipperary County Council (TCC) and the Tipperary Town Revitalisation Task Force (TTR TF) for their work in securing the investment: “Tipperary Hills is a hugely important amenity for locals and visitors to Tipperary Town and this funding will go a long way towards enhancing and ensuring that ‘The Hills’ can continue to be enjoyed by everyone long into the future. The project will be an excellent complement to the River Ara Walkway that is due to be completed later this year. I want to thank Anthony Coleman and his team in the Municipal District as well as the Task Force for their tireless work in developing the project and seeing it through to this announcement.”.

Carmel Fox, Chairperson of TTR TF stated that the funding is one of a series of investments that must happen in the town in order to deliver the Task Force Strategy and Action Plan over the coming years, “This investment builds on the development of the Tipperary ENGINE Digital Hub that is due to launch in the coming months, the repair works at the Courthouse, the design project at ‘The Plan’, the advancement of the Youth and Further Education and Training Centre at Dan Breen House and the upgrade of Canon Hayes Recreation Centre along with the wonderful work being done by the Painting and Enhancement Group and many other projects that are in the pipeline for the town. The Task Force also secured € 240k recently for a Social Inclusion Coordinator which is a huge step forwards in that area. There is real collaboration evident in the town, we have a strategy that we know can be transformative for Tipperary, but it is important to keep the momentum going now.”

The Town and Village Scheme is one of a series of national and local support measures designed to rejuvenate small rural towns and villages throughout Ireland, under the Department of Rural & Community Development’s Rural Development Investment Programme. Since the launch of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme in 2016, over €93 million of funding has been approved for more than 1,340 projects across Ireland.