Community Involvement & Planning
Moyvane Development & TidyTowns Association is heartily welcome to the SuperValu TidyTowns competition for 2015. Thank you for your completed entry form, the colourful map and photos and for the Moyvane Village Design Plan. Your submission suggests a continuing proactive community effort with the aim of benefiting the residents of the village and visitors to Moyvane. The adjudicator is impressed by the numbers on your committee, the regularity of your meetings, by your open door approach to the rest of your community, by the annual focal point of preparing for the Village Festival, by your interaction with agencies that help shape the lives of the people of Moyvane, by your interaction with the school. You mention convening meetings ‘regarding important local issues’. One would love you to spell out what these local issues are, though one does get a taste of these from your Design Plan and also from your concerns under the built environment and streetscape section, for instance. While the adjudicator is impressed by the definite projects listed and by the considered approach to each project that Design Plan now needs to be updated with projected plans for the next number of years. The more nebulous schemes mentioned are among the most exciting, for example, the Community transport Scheme and one would love to hear of progress in the case of such projects as such plans can sometimes be long fingered. The projects numbered on your map show that in the past year you have undertaken successfully many projects that benefit community living and village experience. A special ‘well done’ to the person responsible for compiling your entry form. Your entry mirrors the pride that you take in your achievements over the years and your pride in your beautiful village. There is a lot of unnecessary data on your map. Try a hand drawn map next year with the projects numbered and some of the main roads and buildings pointed up.
Built Environment and Streetscape
The adjudicator admired the lettering and the fronts of many of the premises along the street, for instance Nolans Bar and Lounge, Enright’s, Stack’s butchers, Kearneys Bar. C C Shine provision and grocery is the stand out traditional front for the adjudicator and is cared for as if it is still the busiest business on the street. Ó Brosnachán is a close second. School and Church look well. An art wall in the school was spotted as well as a little bit of street art celebrating the Kingdom out on the road. The GAA complex is not so bad either. The presentation of the cooperative shows that a functional premises can enhance the surroundings. The doors on the residences along the street are a lovely feature. The street names plates, as Gaeilge freisin give us a hint of the individuality of the village as in Church Road or Bóthar an Ghleanna. The treatment of the wall and the preservation of the pillars at the old school entrance is a delight. But the gate is a problem. You have tried to improve the scene with your planter but that is hardly adequate. It is a pity that the entrance could not be improved upon. Get rid of the weeds at the base of the entrance. This could be a street highlight. The finger signposting is delightful and most helpful, especially if one takes to the walks. One loved the playground but keep an eye on the litter. Little did the adjudicator know that Thomas Moore had roots in this area. But there are issues of which you are aware. As a building becomes vacant not only does its appearance deteriorate but its surroundings suffer also.
Landscaping and Open Spaces
There are lovely landscaped areas about the village. The contribution of the Moyvane ICA is glowing in the design, planting scheme and colour of their landscaped bed. The appearance of the playground is enhanced by the planting. Your work is seen in the planters that stand here and there and in the tiered timber flower displays which are another trade mark and found here and there. The tree trunks add another dimension to appearance and design. One notes the hedge planting inside fencing at a few locations. On another road the tree planting is recent enough also. At the Church Street entrance to the Nature Walk there are a few stakes that should be removed from the trees. One felt that the choice of conifers was a strange one for this entrance as there are so many deciduous varieties around.
Wildlife and Natural Amenities
The feature of the wildlife section that most pleased the adjudicator is your provision of walks, sometimes a nature walk, another time a walk to a destination. The walk to the lime kiln opens up an important part of your heritage to the public. The fact that the entrance is so attractively adorned adds to the interest. One noted the work being done on the collapsing river bank. The eventual destination gives a birds eye view of the the kiln, the hard landscaping about it a joy. Your nature walk is easily accessible, elderly friendly, beautifully signposted and a joy to travel. The maintenance is also of a high degree although the adjudicator felt that the wild garlic should not be mown. One would like to see you make this a magical area for children also by giving information on the vegetation, by introducing log piles or maybe a bug home. One gets a better view of the GAA complex and the Community Centre and Bring Centre from the Nature Walk than from the road. The wildflower area was missed on the walk despite a good deal of searching.
Sustainable Waste And Resource Management
Well done on the projects your have been undertaking in this challenging section of the competition. The adjudicator is specially pleased to read that members of your community attended a seminar on food waste during the year. Also significant is the reuse of clothes project run for fundraising purposes. One wishes the school well as the staff and pupils set about gaining their Green Flag, a most worthy ambition. The adjudicator could not find material on your website that pertains to this section of the competition, that and the fact that there is no supporting material enclosed with your entry suggests that you may still be in a rut where this section is concerned. Reading last year’s report also suggests that little progress has been made in the past year. So what can be done to help? Why does it seem that no progress is being made? How can you convince next year’s adjudicator that there is an understanding of what is required by adjudicators in this category? How can you clearly illustrate to the adjudicator that you are creating an awareness of waste management among the householders, the farmers, the business people of Moyvane? The Kerry Environmental Officer might be a second port of call. This adjudicator suggests that you devote a meeting in the autumn to reading the TidyTowns handbook on this section. Choose two or three definable areas that you might work on. Composting is such a definable, so is food waste. Choose a topic that is relevant to your experience.
Tidiness and Litter Control
Moyvane is fortunate in that there are many stretches of fine footpath which help create an appearance of tidiness. The appearance of gates can be a problem in rural areas. The farmer is happy once it does its job. But the TidyTowns devotee will want more. There are a number of problem gates and you should have a policy regarding their replacement. Of course there is no guarantee regarding the outcome. Road surface is poor in places as in the entrance to Ashgrove. Keep an eye on grass debris. It is disappointing to find litter on the Nature Walk, some of which has been lying about for a few days. Despite your efforts there is litter in other places also. A black spot is the stretch of road coming from the GAA where the grass grows unimpeded. Quite an amount of litter is caught in that grass.
Residential Areas
This is a village of lovely houses from various building eras. Along the approach roads there are the builds from the fifties onwards, all adding to the charm of the village. Some of these houses have gone to great lengths but it would not be fair to mention individual cases. In another area we find earlier terraced old style cottage houses that bring their individual charm. Window boxes on other cottages bring life to their area. The residences on the street, many once places of business also, still retain their dignity. Then there are the estates. Ashgrove is a delightful cluster of houses with individual dwellers adding their colour through lupins or whatever. There are lovely open spaces in Woodgrove and Bruach na Gaile. It is important that the white dash on the way in is kept fresh as this dash catches the eye and is an attractive feature.
Roads, Streets and Back Areas
One is welcomed warmly to Moyvane from all directions with a Fáilte and a bed of flowers. There is even a raised bed of welcome on the short stretch from Ballylongford. The Tarbert approach is adorned by the residents who show their pride with their houses, the fronts and the boundary. Grass is strimmed giving a maintained effect. But there are areas where the vegetation is not interfered with but grows away and this is fine also as on the way from the lime kiln. But the housing on this road creates the village life atmosphere.
Concluding Remarks
Well done to your group for the many projects that are being undertaken and especially for the great nature walks which take one out of the public eye and transport them into peaceful relaxing areas of the village. Whether it be vacant sites or vacant buildings, vacant is an issue for you which you are facing. As your village plan states you are identifying a vision for Moyvane and also identifying key priorities.
