Overall Development Approach
Moyvane is welcome to the 2012 National Tidy Towns Competition and thank you for your submission. The leaflet on the village walks was informative, perhaps now fingerposts and other signs can be installed in the village centre for the benefit of visitors, the travelling public and the community. It is important to include a copy of a planned work programme for the village covering the next three years at least. When the commissioned plan is completed it should be included with next year’s entry. Well done on the recruitment of new members, it is especially valuable when these represent residential estates. The committee has established a wide variety of links with stakeholders in the future of Moyvane which augments well for the development of the village. Your communication methods are noted also, well done.
The Built Environment
Congratulations on the acquisition of funding for fourteen signs and four notice boards, this is a fine achievement! Hopefully discussions with the OPW will be as fruitful together with plans for a Heritage Centre. The standard of presentation of the Newtown-Sandes Co-Op is beautiful having been recently painted, together with its boundary walls. Speedys Bar and Lounge has a very attractive gable, it is now long since past the time when the two dated plastic neon beer signs should be removed or replaced with something more attractive. The Marian Hall is also beautifully presented. Carney’s roadside facade could be painted to ‘freshen’ its appearance. Some sections of the church are weatherstained, however its car park is good.
Landscaping
The adjudicator admired the ICA garden together with the insets in the red bricked wall along the Listowel road. Landscaping to the roadside entrance of the community centre was noted also however the car park here is a bit of a disappointment and represents a lost opportunity for a visual and recreational amenity. The planted tyres at the road edge of the motor premises could be replaced by more attractive containers. The grotto on Church Street looks particularly well. It is good to note the expertise available to the committee regarding appropriate shrubs for landscaping.
Wildlife and Natural Amenities
Wild grasses and flowers on the Ballylongford road edge are refreshing. The small woodland area on the Knockanure/Listowel road looks interesting. Do your walks incorporate this area and is there a woodland or a nature trail? A better map submitted with your entry may have answered these questions, no doubt this will be provided with the copy of your plan next year. A small stretch of walk along the river approximately half a mile out from the village centre was noted and admired. The boundary walls of Con Brosnan Park would look better if kept freshly whitewashed. Your involvement in National Trails Day is commendable. The Bins, Bats and Biodiversity seminar sounds fascinating and the Moyvane Village Walk and Nature Trail brochure is a wonderful initiative.
Litter Control
The standard of litter control in the village is excellent, well done. Regular clean-ups by FAS workers, residents and school children have been effective. The ‘Adopt a Road Scheme’ appears to be a great success. Be mindful of the need to segregate collected litter for recycling.
Tidiness
On the entrance to Moyvane from the Tarbert road the premises and its boundary wall at the nameplate is quite unsightly. Sprayed weeds inside the nameplate on the Ballylongford road – or were these grass cuttings looked bad also? The curtilage area of the Co-Op is neat. Derelict remains on the Glin road and a derelict garage on the Knockanure road are problematic, the latter derelict premises cold have its window apertures reboarded and the lot painted. Kennellys Home Value is neatly presented to its curtilage area. Ongoing discussions regarding the ducting of service cable are noted.
Waste Minimisation
The recycling point is being nicely maintained and on the day of adjudication there was no overflow or other problems. Planting to screen both the containers and the nearby oil tank has been successful. It would be helpful to your performance under this heading if you were to undertake a community waste audit to determine how much waste is generated in Moyvane with a view to devising strategies to prevent it at source. Your Environmental Awareness Officer should be able to help you in this regard; help already received is acknowledged. Check out the Race Against Waste booklet. It has good waste prevention ideas.
Residential Areas
It is good to note that all three estates have their own committee; this is the kind of organisation that brings success in the competition. Stone boundary walls to many dwellings in Moyvane were admired. However some boundary walls in the Wood Grove estate were in need of attention. Landscaping to some sections of the latter estate was admired while other sections were left overgrown, hopefull this will be addressed for next year. Single storey dwellings located inside the nameplate on the Glin road in some instances were in need of reburbishment and other similar dwellings had been nicely painted in an attractive neutral colour scheme. The estate off this road looked well also.
Roads, Streets and Back Areas
Your adjudicator feels that the nameplate on the Tarbert entrance to the village should be moved out to incorporate dwellings on this approach road. Stone walls here were admired. The Tarbert fingerpost could be refurbished. Field boundaries on the Ballylongford road are being managed attractively, it is suggested that field gates on all roads and in the village be painted a common bright colour to link countryside with the village centre and for visual amenity. A field entrance located across from the Co-Op looked really good. Road surfaces are reasonably good, as are footpaths in most instances however a poor surface on the Glin road near the ICA Garden was noted, the new stretch of footpath on the Knockanure road is acknowledged.
General Impression
Moyvane is being managed and presented to a high standard; it is a pleasant village in which to spend some time and your adjudicator looks forward to returning.
