BNS Rural Development Ltd.

BNS invites interested members of the public to a series of consultations on its new strategic plan which will be held in May, with a view to the completion of the Kilkenny Rural Development Strategy for 2007-2013.

The company will outline its proposed plans for the county, which are at late draft stage. This will be followed by an opportunity for the community and enterprisesector to question, discuss and make recommendations on the contents of the strategy.

The following dates have been set for these meetings;

13th May Callan Parish Hall, Callan

15th May Canon Malone Hall, Ballyragget

20th May The Rising Sun, Mullinavat

27th May The Boathouse, Graiguenamanagh

All meetings will commence at 8.00pm

_____________________________________________________

Community Services Programme

Call May 2008

This programme is funded by the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs under the NDP. The purpose of the programme is to support voluntary and community groups to provide essential services and businesses to their community. The provision of these services will:

There are three different types of calls for the Community Services Programme they are:

The closing date for applications is the 30 th of May 2008, all applications must be sent to one of the three people listed below. They will also provide any further information you require. The application forms and guidelines for these programmes can be downloaded following the Community Services Programme link from www.pobal.ie

For further information on these calls contact:

Bernie Byrne, BNS at 056 7752111 or bernie@bnsrd.com

John Murphy, CDCD at 056 4441966 or managercdcdnetwork@eircom.net

Tom McDonald, KCAN at 056 7752811 or kcanltu@eircom.net

_____________________________________________________

Local Tour Guide Training Programme

Failte Ireland, in conjunction with the BNS LEADER Company and the Kilkenny County Enterprise Board are planning on running a Local Tour Guide Training Programme during the months of May and June. The objective is to give a group of local people from across the County Kilkenny and South East Tipperary region with the relevant communication and information skills to offer a quality tour guiding service for visitors to the region.

Failte Ireland will host an information seminar to provide an overview and further information on the programme on Tuesday 22 nd April next in the Friary House,Callan @ 7pm. So if you are interested in attending, or would like to apply for a place on the programme, please contact Catherine Crosse 056-7755519 ext 3 or e-mail: catherine@kceb.ie as places are limited.

________________________________________________

Reps 4 Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme

The grant is available for the conservation of the exterior appearance of farm outbuildings, including roof, wall, window and door repairs. Only essential repairs that conserve the character and weatherproofing of the building will be considered. Conservation works to additional features such as historic yard surfaces, walls, gate pillars and gates and millraces, will be considered if they are part of the overall project to repair a building. This grant scheme does not cover works to the interior of buildings. Farmhouses, residential or domestic buildings are not eligible for funding.

Who can apply for this grant scheme:

1. You are a farmer who has a REPS 4 contract with the Department of Agriculture and
2. You are the owner of the building for which funding is sought or you are acting with the permission of the owner. The owner of the building must sign the application form.
3. The building you are applying for is in agricultural use

Please Note

• The closing date for receipt of applications is 30th April 2008.
• The process is competitive and a grant award will not be for more than 75% of the cost of the works with a maximum allocation sum of €25,000.
• Applications made by fax or email to the Heritage Council will not be accepted
• The Heritage Council will inform all applicants of the outcome of their application in writing in mid-June 2008.
• Successful applicants will have until 30th June 2009 to complete project works.

If you have any queries regarding the above please do not hesitate to contact either Colm Murray, cmurray@heritagecouncil.com  or myself in this regard.

Click links below for more information:

Traditional Farm Building Grant Scheme

Agri Building Grant Scheme