€50,000 Ballyhaunis investment under Climate Action Fund welcomed

COUNCILLOR Alma Gallagher has welcomed the allocation of €50,000 to Ballyhaunis under the Climate Action Fund.

Three community groups will benefit from the grant: Ballyhaunis Community Council with support to purchase and install solar panels in Ballyhaunis Community Hall, Ballyhaunis Community Garden with the purchase of a tunnel and The Bike Repair Workshop.

Said Councillor Gallagher: “‘The allocation of €50,000 to Ballyhaunis is a major boost to the town, especially since its designation as a Sustainable Energy Community by SEAI last year. I am delighted to have assisted in the coordination and acquisition of this much needed funding.”

She continued: “The Community Climate Action Programme is a new programme to support small and large, rural and urban communities to take climate action at a local level. We have a fantastic network of creative communities who will benefit from this funding across the county.

“This funding will support community groups to provide leadership within their communities in addressing climate related challenges at a local level.”

The objective of the CCAP is to build low carbon, sustainable communities, which will, in turn, contribute to the national climate and energy targets. The funding is for capital investment in small, medium, and large-scale community climate action projects under five themes: Community Energy, Travel, Food and Waste, Shopping and recycling and Local Climate and Environmental Action.

From a total fund of €24 million, Mayo County Council was allocated a total of €609,000 for community/not-for-profit groups who are interested in developing projects and initiatives which relate to the challenge of addressing climate change.

Councillor Gallagher thanked community climate action officer Lorna Dennehy for her support and congratulated all successful applicants.