Kilkenny County Council Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme 2011
Download Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme Guidelines for 2011.pdf (size 132.1 KB)
Download Application Form Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme 2011.pdf (size 136.6 KB)
Kilkenny County Council Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme 2011
“Responding to the need for provision of better community, cultural and recreational facilities for communities through financial assistance”
Aims of the scheme
Kilkenny County Council created the Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme as a means of providing community groups with a fund that will support:
- The creation of ‘needs-based’ facilities to deal with deficit in community/cultural infrastructure
- Opportunities for communities to give added value to their existing facilities
- The strengthening of community relationships by supporting them to work together to provide much needed facilities
- The community in providing medium scale projects
- The community to get back what they have already paid through development levies
- General activity in the community
- Equality of access to all community facilities
Who can apply for the Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme?
Projects eligible for support could include sports facilities, development of open spaces- walks/parkland, playgrounds, arts projects and projects that conserve the built and natural heritage of the county. Major and medium enhancement upgrades and refurbishments (not including repairs) to existing facilities will also be considered.
Applicant organisations must demonstrate a policy of inclusion and have a recognised legal structure operating on a ‘not for profit’ basis. Applicant groups must demonstrate the capacity to manage and operate the proposed facilities. Projects that can bring about collaboration with other local groups, who operate publicly funded facilities, will be encouraged.
Minimum project cost for small scale community projects is €15,000 ~ this means €11,250 of a grant can be awarded (i.e.75%)
and matched funding required by applicant is€3,750 (25%).
Maximum grants will cover 75% of the project costs to a maximum of €133,333 which ever is the lesser. This means a project costing €133,333 can be awarded a grant of €100,000 (i.e.75%) and matched funding required by applicant is €33,333 (25%).
Please outline clearly and provide evidence (including a bank statement) of sources of funding available to you for the project.
Where the funding comes from
The funding for the Community and Cultural Facilities capital Scheme comes directly from the Development Contribution Scheme. Each year Kilkenny County Council outlines how it will spend the contributions from all the planning permissions granted over the year. Total capital budget available for the scheme amounts to €900,000.
The Role of the Community, Culture and Housing Section
The Community, Culture and Housing Section of Kilkenny County Council will offer support to groups and communities in applying for the Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme. The Community Development Officers are assigned a liaison role.
The contact people for the five electoral areas are as follows:
Lindsey Butler Ballyragget, Callan and Thomastown Electoral Areas
Tel: 056-7794923
Email: Lindsey.butler@kilkennycoco.ie
Martina Comerford Kilkenny City and Environs and Piltown Electoral Areas
Tel: 056-7794926
Email: Martina.Comerford@kilkennycoco.ie
Role of Support Personnel
• Serve as the liaison person between community groups / organisations and Local Authority regarding the 2011 Community and Cultural Facilities Capital Scheme.
• Offer advice and support to community groups in relation to the application process for this scheme.
• Keep applicants updated on progress in relation to their application.
• Where a group has been awarded grant aid, be available to offer advice, guidance and support to that group during the project development stage in advance of funding drawdown.
• Inform group of what the process of drawdown of funds involves and support them in making their claims.
• Deal with any queries / questions in relation to the grant scheme.
How Applications are assessed
Once an application is received it is checked by the relevant Community Development Officer to ensure that all areas of the application have been filled and that all supporting documentation is enclosed.
Only applications that are fully complete with all the necessary supporting documentation will be considered for funding. Applications are assessed in- house by the Community, Culture and Housing Directorate and staff with the appropriate expertise brought in from Planning, Finance, Parks , Arts and Heritage as appropriate.
Their role is to independently evaluate applications forwarded to the committee according to criteria supplied, to give applications a mark based on scoring criteria provided and to make recommendations to SPC 5 Arts, Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Education based on evaluation findings and scoring of applications. Criteria will include:
• Assessment of the existing level of community and recreational infrastructure in the target area
• The number of people likely to benefit from the project/facilities
• The level of relative disadvantage and the social circumstances of the communities where facilities would be located.
Once the applications have bee assessed; only the successful applications are forwarded onto SPC5 Arts, Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Education for recommendation. The final decision is made by the elected representatives of Kilkenny County Council at their monthly Council meeting.
