FH responce

Family fun day in Murrisk for Cystic Fibrosis

The Feile Tir na nOg is back this year to raise funds for the
children's Cystic Fibrosis ward in Mayo General Hospital with a
fundraising family day out in Murrisk this Sunday July 3rd at 2pm.

There is a great line up of musical entertainment, face painting,
dance, wild birds, puppet shows, story telling and giant puppets.

Feile Tir na Nog is fundraising organisation established over 20 years
ago. Every five years or so it organises a family day of
entertainment in Murrisk Car Park to raise funds for worthy causes.
The group's patron is Dr Gabriel Fox FRCPI of Mayo General Hospital.

To date Tir na nOg has raised over €60,000 all of which has been
distributed to good causes such as €10,200 for St Anthony's Special
School in Castlebar, €10,400 for the children's ward of Mayo General
Hospital, €5,900 for the Child Leukaemia ward of the Children's
Hospital in Crumlin and €2,000 for the Chickuni Mission in Zambia.

The group has also made donations to many local charities and causes.
This year the committee aim to raise €8,000 for the children's Cystic
Fibrosis ward in Castlebar with another fun day out for all the family.

Please come out and support this worthy cause.

Westport Town & Environs Plan 2010-2016

Labour's Cllr Keith Martin is urging residents of Westport Town and
its environs to make submissions on the proposed variations to the
Town and Enviorns Development Plan.

Cllr Martin says "The plan determines development in the area and is a
very important planning tool. If people want to have a say as to how
Westport develops now is their chance, this plan governs housing,
commercial and retail development and protects the environmental and
heritage aspects of the town. Westport people should make their
feelings known now."

The Westport Town & Environs Development Plan 2010-2016 was adopted by
Westport Town Council and Mayo County Council on Thursday 28th January
2010 and came into effect four weeks after that date. The plan
provides a framework upon which future development within the plan
area can be assessed. The plan consists of:

Westport Town & Environs Development Plan 2010-2016
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA Statement; Non-Technical
Summary of Environmental Report; Environmental Report)
Appropriate Assessment Conclusion Statement

The plan includes an Architectural Conservation Area. A number of
structures have also been added to the Record of Protected Structures
for Westport Town. Lists of Protected Structures for the plan area,
along with a description of the Architectural Conservation Area, are
set out in Appendix 1 of the plan.

However under new Ministerial guidelines issued by the Dept of the
Environment Mayo County Council and Westport Town Council propose to
vary the Westport Town & Environs Development Plan 2010-2016

Details of the proposed variation in context of the existing plan are
set out in the document entitled Proposed Variation to the Westport
Development Plan May 2011. The need for
environmental/appropriate/flood risk assessments are set out in the
other documents, along with a public notice on the proposed variation.

The Councils invite written submissions/observations to the proposed
variation to be submitted to Ann Moore, Town Clerk, Westport Civic
Offices, Altamont Street, Westport, Co. Mayo or e-mailed to
dkeane@mayococo.ie by 22nd June 2011, not later than 5pm.

Good news for electric car owner

As part of the national rollout of charging points for electric vehicles,

ESB Networks and MCC wish to install a number of units in towns in Mayo. Initially two units are proposed for Westport. The proposed locations are at the Octagon and a second at the Leisure Centre car park, depending on location of suitable ESBN infrastructure. Additional units may follow in the depending on demand.

 

It is intended to start the installation in Westport within the next few weeks.  The installation will consist of the following;

 

·         An on street charging pillar of about 1m high with about a 200mm footprint

 

·         An adjacent micro pillar, this is expected to be smaller that the

normal ESBN mini pillar

 

·         Ducting and cabling between these items and a suitable

existing ESBN mini pillar

 

·         Road marking of the car parking space

 

ESBN will carry out the electrical installation and will install the charging points.  Westport Town Council will be required to install the ducting and mark the car spaces. Initially ESBN will not be charging the car owner for the electricity used to charge their vehicle, this is likely to change in the future as demand grows.  The proposal by ESB Networks and Westport Town Council to provide charging points for electric vehicles in Westport is a welcome development and it will assist Westport in the promotion of sustainable travel.

Festivals in Westport

The following festivals and events have taken place / will be taking place

in Westport in 2011;

 

Festival	Dates	Festival Description
Feile John McGrath	15th – 16th April	Commemorates aspects of  Mayo's culture & heritage including music, language & folklore
Folk & Bluegrass Festival	24th – 26th June	Folk & Bluegrass Festival. In its fifth year. Fifteen acts performing in seven different venues around the town
Westport International Sea Angling Festival	24th – 26th June	Annual Sea Angling Festival incorporating a shore and boat competition
Pulse Westport Triathlon 2011	16th July	Second Westport Triathlon 750m swim, 22.5km cycle and 5km run
Music Festival	5th – 7th August	Family orientated music festival – free nightly outdoor concerts
Heritage Day	7th August	Display of Historical Artefacts, Craft display, entertainment & Traditional music
Gael Force	20th August	Multi sport adventure race involving cycling, running, hiking & kayaking
Cannonball Run	10th September	Charity 3 day fundraising event around Ireland involving supercar enthusiasts. Overnight stop over in Westport
Festival of Sport / Buzz Day		Local sporting organisations participate in Sports Fun Day. Opportunity for all to try out various sports – land & water based
Westport Food Festival	2nd – 4th September	3 day family friendly event to include food village, cookery workshops, demonstrations, tasting events and competitions
Meet on the Reek	23rd – 25th September	Singles weekend involving climb of Croagh Patrick and additional social activities
Horse Fair	24th September	Horse Fair includes showing classes and a dog show
Arts Festival	30th Sept – 9th October	Ten day festival incorporating street theatre and performances, world music, classical music, jazz, traditional music and children's entertainment
Helm Skate	1st – 2nd October	Two day angling festival for common & other species  of skate
Sea 2 Summit	12th November	Two separate adventure races incorporating road running, cycling and a mountain hike
Rolling Sun Book  Festival	12th – 13th November	Inaugural festival held in 2010 - poetry and literary readings, Workshops, recitals of songs & poetry  and a Sunday symposium
Shop n Spraoi na Nollag	December, 2011	Traditional craft/food markets on the Mall. Full entertainment programme over the weekend.