Mitchelstown has been designated as a (Pilot) Priority Action under the current Cork County Development Board plan 2009-2012. The 'Pilot' action status refers to how this action is being resourced by the community of Mitchelstown, while forming part of the over all schedule of Priority Actions under the current plan. This was a very welcome development and provided a wonderful opportunity to re-examine what actions are required to progress the growth and prosperity of Mitchelstown and improve the quality of life of its residents.
Inter-Agency Support
During the initial phase of the project engagement took place with a multi-agency group (Enterprise Ireland, Dept. Social Protection, FAS, Ballyhoura Development, VEC, NCEB, Teagasc, Failte Ireland, HSE, Garda and Cork County Council) to secure their support for the roll out and the overall framework of the project. This engagement proved to be a worthwhile exercise as it reinforced the need for a coordinated approach to address various issues. It also provided an opportunity to establish how each of the agencies could support the implementation of specific actions identified as being important for Mitchelstown. This group subsequently became known as the Mitchelstown Priority Action Group and has met on a quarterly basis to discuss developments in the project and will continue over the timeline of the plan.
Community Support
As stated the Mitchelstown (Pilot) Priority Action is being resourced by the community, therefore it was of the utmost importance that buy-in was secured from all sectors of the local area. Previously in 2004/2005 a Socio-Economic Strategy for Mitchelstown and its hinterland was published. This strategy took account of the various issues that needed to be addressed in the town from both a social and economic perspective. But owing to lack or resources many of the actions set out in the report were not implemented. In order to ensure that as many community groups as possible were involved in the process contact was made by post and a follow up telephone call to representatives of all sporting, business, community, voluntary and social groupings throughout the town. This resulted in a significant turn out to the public meeting.
Priority Action - Strategy Development
Therefore a review of the Socio-Economic Strategy provided the reference framework to establish what issues identified in the previous report was current or whether there were new and more pressing issues that required priority. It was decided to host two workshops on one day where the inter-agency group met in the afternoon to review the previous document and identify the schedule of priority actions; the community group then met in the evening and again reviewed the document and identified a further schedule of priority actions. In subsequent feedback sessions and further meetings the various actions and implementation plans were distilled down into four separate themes; Community facilities and amenities, Employment and economic opportunities, Health development and Social development.
Each of the implementation documents have been agreed and accepted by both groups and ratified by the community. A sub-group has been formed to take responsibility for each of the themes and the implementation of each of the action items contained in each of the documents.
