Masterplan for renewal of Mayo county town's Main Street is on the way

A long-awaited masterplan for the revitalisation and renewal of Main Street in Castlebar is on the way.

The news has been confirmed by Davitt Mellett, director of services for Infrastructure and Emergency Response at Mayo County Council and head of the Castlebar Municipal District.

Speaking at the local Chamber of Commerce's annual 'Accelerate' event at Breaffy House Hotel, the senior official said the authority is in the process of commissioning a plan to be financed by the government's Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF)

Stated Mr. Mellett: "We need to change and evolve the offering on Main Street. To achieve this we will be putting together a masterplan in consultation with the stakeholders to understand the issues in need of addressing at the location.

"The masterplan will seek to develop a clear vision for the future of investment and town centre activity."

It is understood the initiative will be carried out under the Town Centre First (TCF) policy, a whole-of-government approach to revitalising towns and villages.

Castlebar will hold the status of a 'key town' under the programme as its population exceeds 10,000.

The goals of the policy are to tackle vacancy and dereliction, enable people to live and work in vibrant town centres and protect the environment and heritage of our towns.

There are currently 61 business outlets operating on Main Street while a further 12 have closed down in recent years.

It is understood that as few as four buildings on the street are currently used for residential purposes.

If successful in securing funding, Castlebar will benefit from the expertise of town regeneration officers to lead local delivery, working with vacant homes officers and other stakeholders.