Ballyvaughan Community Development Plan (2019 – 2021)

Prepared on behalf of the Community by a Voluntary Community Planning Group

February 2019, finalised March 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ...... 2 2. Ballyvaughan ...... 3 Community Profile ...... 4 3. Ballyvaughan Community Develpoment Planning Process ...... 6 4. Framework for Ballyvaughan Community Development Plan ...... 8 5. Structure ...... 9 Oversight Group ...... 9 Implementation Groups ...... 10 6. Strands and Actions ...... 11 Strand 1: Develop Facilities and Amenities for Ballyvaughan, accessible to all local groups ...... 11 Strand 2: Lobbying ...... 12 Strand 3: Local Transport System for Isolated Residents ...... 12 7. Conclusion ...... 13

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1. INTRODUCTION

This document comprises a Community Development Plan for the community of Ballyvaughan in County Clare and its immediate environs. It has been developed through a year-long, facilitated, consultative process in which the actions proposed have been informed by the needs, interests and concerns of those living in the area.

The process of developing the plan was led by a group of local volunteers who worked closely with a facilitator whose role was to guide and mentor the planning process. The members of the planning group were as follows:

 Gwen Ryan  Jenny Morton  Damien Martyn  Robert Wainwright  Denise Casserley  Mary Hawkes Green  Ciara McGrath  Jackie Maurer  Eilís Haden-Storrie  Noeleen Moran  Kieran Linnane  David Quinn  John Connole

It is also important to note the contribution of Gerry O’ Sullivan and Deirdre McGhee who also participated for periods on the Planning Group.

The planning process was enabled by the Clare LEADER Programme under the management of Clare Local Development Company.

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2. BALLYVAUGHAN

Ballyvaughan is situated on the northwest coast of County Clare, not far from the border with County Galway. Ballyvaughan is a small harbour village with a neighbouring rural hinterland, all of which falls largely within the Local Electoral Division of Drumcreehy.

Ballyvaughan is a rural community. Nearest towns and villages include Kinvara in County Galway to the east and Lisdoonvarna in Clare to the southwest – both approximately 20 minutes drive from Ballyvaughan. Travelling to Ennis, Clare’s County Town, takes in the region of 45 minutes while a journey to Galway City takes approximately one hour.

Ballyvaughan has many strengths. Residents suggest that Ballyvaughan is a friendly place with a good community spirit. The landscape around Ballyvaughan is beautiful while the area is reasonably well served by local community associations and activities, and public and commercial facilities.

On the other hand, residents also point to what they perceive as inadequate community integration; considerable depopulation among particular age cohorts in the community; gaps in commercial offerings – especially during the Winter; inadequate recreational facilities and activities in the area; poor public transport and concerns about road safety.

Ballyvaughan is a particularly picturesque community, situated on the south coast of Galway Bay1 and enveloped by the Burren. It is a popular area with visitors – both tourists and, for example, students attending the Ballyvaughan College of Art.

This plan therefore recognises that Ballyvaughan is both a community of local residents and a destination that attracts visitors to the area during the year. Activities within the plan seek to prioritise the needs of those living in the area while also ensuring the best possible experience for those who visit the community.

1 And therefore on the Wild Atlantic Way.

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COMMUNITY PROFILE

Census 2016 indicates that:

● The overall population of Ballyvaughan is 423: 186 males and 237 females. This represents a 15% reduction in the overall population since 2011 with notable reductions in the 20-29 year old (38% decrease in cohort) and 40-59 (16% reduction) year old age cohorts.

● The population of Ballyvaughan is relatively evenly spread across age the groups, though people aged 40-59 years comprise just over 30% of the population, while those aged 80+ years account for just over 1% of the population. See Figure 1 below:

● There is little cultural or ethnic diversity among residents of Ballyvaughan with the population identifying itself as predominantly white Irish. Less than 13% of the population are foreign language speakers (and for whom English is not their first language).

● A total of 334 individuals are living in families in the area, with a total of 109 families recorded in the Census, 47% of which are two person families.

● 35% of households in Ballyvaughan are one person households. Lone parent households comprise 9% of households in the community.

● 71% of households in Ballyvaughan are owner occupied, while 38% of properties are rented in the community. There is, however, a substantial number of unoccupied permanent dwellings (holiday homes) in the area. Census 2016 suggests that unoccupied holiday homes constitute 35% of all permanent dwellings in Ballyvaughan.

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● From a total of 356 individuals in Ballyvaughan eligible to work, 52.5% are in employment. One in five persons is retired while 6% are unemployed; 7.3% are looking after the home/family, while a further 1.6% is unable to work because of illness or disability.

● Census 2016 reveals that residents of Ballyvaughan generally commute locally to school/work with heavy reliance on private cars for transport. 43% of households reported ownership of one car and 32% with two cars in Census 2016.

● The residents of Ballyvaughan report that they are largely healthy with less than 2% describing themselves as having bad health in Census 2016. Less than 2% is described as having a disability.

● Two out of every three households in Ballyvaughan has a computer, while 44% of the population reports access to broadband.

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3. BALLYVAUGHAN COMMUNITY DEVELPOMENT PLANNING PROCESS

Following an initial Expression of Interest by Ballyvaughan Community Development Group to the Clare LEADER programme, a four-phase process was undertaken in the preparation of this Community Plan as follows:

1) An Orientation Phase: This phase involved the establishment of the aforementioned planning group to lead and project-manage the planning process in Ballyvaughan. Orientation was provided on how to effectively conduct an evidence-informed planning process while materials and information were also provided to the planning group to support its stewardship of the process.

2) An Information Gathering Phase: The planning group implemented a broad-based consultation process during Phase 2 to enable community residents - full and part-time - to identify strengths, needs, interests and concerns from their respective experiences of Ballyvaughan, and to identify priority projects that should be addressed in the emerging community plan. A total of 114 individuals from across the life cycle responded to the survey as outlined in Figure 2 below2:

Figure 2: Ballyvaughan Survey Respondents by Age

25

20

15

10 RespondentNos

5

0 Under 18-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66-75 76+ Not 18 stated Age Groups

2 Proportionally, the distribution of survey respondents across the age cohorts was largely in keeping with the distribution of residents in the Ballyvaughan community.

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3) Analysis of Information and Action Planning Phase: Phase 3 comprised the planning group and wider community of Ballyvaughan examining a summary of the information gathered through the community consultation, identifying priority needs and selecting priority actions for inclusion in the Ballyvaughan Community Plan – as well as identifying resources and supports needed to facilitate implementation.

4) Writing Phase: Phase 4 involved the preparation, agreement and finalisation of this document as the core output of the planning process: the Ballyvaughan Community Development Plan.

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4. FRAMEWORK FOR BALLYVAUGHAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Figure 3 below presents a diagrammatic overview of the core elements of the Ballyvaughan Community Development Plan. All actions within the plan are designed to contribute to improved life quality and community experience for those living in, or visiting, Ballyvaughan.

Figure 3: Plan Framework

To contribute to improved life quality and community experience for those living in, or visiting, Ballyvaughan

Develop Ballyvaughan’s Develop a local Lobbying for Scope the am enities and facilities task force to improved road possibility of address safety features establishing a accessible to all local groups. population decline and parking community

inclusive of: transport Facilities for all clubs and Consider: system for associations in  Path isolated Ballyvaughan and to include  Local research development residents with opportunities for, for findings  Traffic no transport example: calming  Employment & work space  Double  Survey of  Local hot-desking space options yellow lines need and  Hang out space/ music  Housing  Signage numbers venue for youth availability that wish to  Indoor sports/Gym and options use public  Project space for local transport  Options for men  children’s Explore  Inter-generational education costs activities & family  Commercial &  Consider events Social how best to  Community radio Offerings address station

Enabled by available facilities, local volunteers and community co-operation

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5. STRUCTURE

The effective implementation of the Ballyvaughan Community Development Plan requires the existence of i) an Oversight Group and ii) the voluntary participation of local residents in activities to deliver prioritised actions. The following operational structure is therefore proposed, as illustrated below in Figure 4:

Figure 4: Operational Structure for oversight and delivery of Ballyvaughan Community Development Plan

Oversight Group

Implementation Implementation Implementation Implementation

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4

Enhancement of Address Lobbying Development of Facilities and Population Local Transport

Amenities Decline System

OVERSIGHT GROUP

The members of the Planning Group who have led the planning process to date will transition from a Planning Group to an Oversight Group to oversee the delivery of the plan. Essentially, the Oversight Group will:

 Represent the interests of the community, continually reaching out and communicating with residents on all aspects of the plan’s implementation.  Access and administer funding to resource the implementation of the plan.  Retain decision-making authority on all aspects of the plan on behalf of the Ballyvaughan community.

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IMPLEMENTATION GROUPS

The oversight group will issue a call for volunteers to lead and support project activities under each of the proposed strands above. This will be one of the first actions of the implementation process. It is important to note that volunteers will not be sought to be part of committees or decision-making structures; their role will be to assist with progressing named activities within the plan.

Volunteers will be convened into various Implementation Groups according to each strand of the plan. Membership of the Implementation Groups will be open to any individual in the community interested in contributing to the delivery of any of the named projects.

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6. STRANDS AND ACTIONS

STRAND 1: DEVELOP FACILITIES AND AMENITIES FOR BALLYVAUGHAN, ACCESSIBLE TO ALL LOCAL GROUPS

Key Steps to be implemented:

 Establish an Implementation Sub-Group  Visit and research similar projects  Establish what is required in terms of facilities in Ballyvaughan  Negotiate location of venue(s)  Establish site plans  Review services, road access, parking  Review ownership of surrounding lands  Key Planning Considerations  Consider operational costs  Consider sources of income  Examination of legal and funding obstacles  Consider other projects for inclusion

STRAND 2 - DEVELOP A LOCAL TASK FORCE TO ADDRESS POPULATION DECLINE

Key Steps to be implemented:

 Establish an Implementation Sub-Group  Examine prior local research into population decline and Ballyvaughan as a viable community  Identify the elements that retain young families in Ballyvaughan  Identify if current residents are aware of families that would like to live in Ballyvaughan. Seek to make contact with these families to identify their needs  Identify infrastructure deficits in Ballyvaughan – housing; employment and work space options; options for children’s education; transport, etc. Consider what can be done locally to address current deficits and attract new full-time residents to Ballyvaughan in areas such as housing; employment, transport, etc  Visit, research and learn from communities that have successfully regenerated their populations (e.g. Ennistymon)  Examine how these can be linked to activities in Strands 1, 3 and 4

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STRAND 3: LOBBYING

Key Steps to be implemented:

 Establish an Implementation Sub-Group  Identify and prioritise required changes by relevant authorities, paying particular attention to Strand 2  Identify and prepare core messages  Communicate with relevant authorities  Develop and Implement effective Media and PR strategy  Mobilise community activity as required  Consider possibility of engaging in rural lobby platform (north and north west Clare) on issues of mutual interest. Negotiate with Clare Local Development Company/Clare LEADER Programme re the establishment and support of a regional lobbying platform that links communities in northwest Clare (particularly those supported through Community Development Planning process) on issues of mutual interest: Road Safety, Broadband, Population Decline.

STRAND 3: LOCAL TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR ISOLATED RESIDENTS

Key Steps to be implemented:

 Establish an Implementation Sub-Group  Undertake a survey of need in the community, especially among rural residents  Identify profile of residents with transport needs – e.g. rural isolated with weekly needs; working population with daily transport needs, etc  Identify individuals who wish to avail of public transport  Identify priority times for transport supports  Explore costs associated with providing transport supports  Consider resources available and seek external funding as required  Establish system  Monitor implementation, particularly use of transport .

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7. CONCLUSION

It is important to note this document as a framework plan that outlines broad priority actions to be implemented throughout Ballyvaughan over the next three years to improve life quality and community experience for those living in, or visiting, Ballyvaughan.

The plan reflects some of the priority needs, interests and concerns of the community as identified by a significant community survey undertaken in Summer 2018. It is now important that the plan moves to full implementation.

The Planning Group which has led this planning process wants to advance the development of the proposals in this document, but nothing can happen without community volunteers willing to lead and support particular activities. This plan, therefore, is not simply a list of projected activities, it is also a call to action.

Ends/ February 2019

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