Carrick on Suir Town Centre First

Carrick on Suir Town Centre First Plan

Tipperary County Council is working with the newly formed Carrick on Suir Town Team to prepare a new Town Centre First Plan for Carrick on Suir. This will include developing a new vision for the town centre and scoping out a number of key projects for investment and delivery, in order to capitalise on the significant investment that has been secured for the town under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF).

Carrick-on-Suir's regeneration plan – ‘A Journey from the Suir Blueway to the Ormond Castle Quarter – received an RRDF allocation  of €14.39m from the Department of Rural & Community Development. One of the key aims of the Town Centre First Plan is to provide a framework for supporting Carrick-on-Suir’s regeneration plan of the Town Centre and to provide opportunities for residential, retail, social and amenity to support the future growth of the town and the needs of its residents, for the years  ahead.

The RRDF funding will allow for public realm refurbishment and enhancement in Carrick on Suir’s town centre comprising the upgrading of existing streets and lanes with new high-quality paving, kerbing, public lighting, improved street furniture and utility diversions/works (including undergrounding of overhead ESB cables). Footpath space will be widened, traffic calming will be developed through build-out, reduced road carriage widths and improved pedestrian crossings. Existing car parks will be improved and new car parking spaces provided. The traffic management at the junction of Main Street and Dillon Bridge will change from a signal-controlled junction to a priority-controlled junction. Pedestrian movement will be prioritised by the design. The development includes for public realm refurbishment and enhancement at Sean Healy Park comprising the development of a new vehicular parking area with entry and exit, footpaths and hard paved areas, widening of the Blueway and the development of associated landscaping and services/utilities to serve the proposed and future uses; the extension of the Suir Blueway along North Quays to provide cycleway and pedestrian linkages from Sean Healy Park to Ormond Castle and the town centre; the upgrading of Strand Walk with new paving and the development of a new access to Ormond Castle grounds and closing of the existing ramped access.

Carrick on Suir Town Team

The new Town Centre First Plan will be prepared by the Town Team in collaboration with Tipperary County Council and various stakeholders.

In 2023, the Town Regeneration Officer and Carrick on Suir Municipal District brought together a number of people who represented various interests across the town of Carrick on Suir to form a Town Team.

Members of the Town Team are listed in the table.

National Town Centre First Policy

Our Rural Future, the Government’s Rural Development Policy outlines a vision to support the regeneration and development of rural towns and villages to contribute to local and national economic recovery, and to enable people to live and work in a vibrant environment. The Town Centre First policy launched in February 2022 is central to this vision.

Town Centre First represents a new approach to the development of our towns where local communities and local businesses can be central to reimagining their own towns and planning their own futures. Every town is different. Each town is unique and requires unique solutions to the challenges and opportunities they face.

For more information on the Town Centre First, please contact the Council’s Town Regeneration Officer Áine Mc Carthy by email aine.mccarthy@tipperarycoco.ie