Exciting plans for community park in Mayo village

Plans for the Bonniconlon Community Park are taking shape with planning permission, a site and a significant amount of funding raised through local donations already in place.

Two members of the community, Tracey Glacken and Emmet O’Connor, attended last week’s meeting of Ballina Municipal District where they updated councillors on the work that has been going on to make the facility a reality.

It is proposed that the Bonniconlon Community Park would include an astroturf pitch with floodlights available for use year-round, a community walkway with low-level lights that is biodiversity friendly and car parking facilities.

Ms Glacken said Bonniconlon, with a population of around 1,000 people, has undergone a period of growth that has seen the local national school go from requiring three teachers to five, with a sixth needed in the near future, and they require new amenities for locals.

“Bonniconlon is an underserviced rural area with no modern recreational facilities. If we want to access these facilities, we have to get in the car and go to Ballina.

“We have a GAA club that is a big part of our community but we want to be able to offer other activities to our community,” she said, adding that the Community Park is “shovel-ready” and has acquired planning permission.

Mr O’Connor said the cost of the park is €743,545 and local fundraising efforts, such as a Lip Sync event held last October, have raised over €110,000.

The location of the proposed park will be on two existing sites, one of which the community has leased for 20 years from the St Nathy’s Diocese and the other was donated by a local resident.

Mr O’Connor added they have identified several funding streams such as the €100,000 CLÁR Scheme and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS), which offers a maximum of €500,000. Mayo County Council can submit one project for consideration to receive the maximum TVRS grant and he asked councillors to support Bonniconlon’s application.

“It is something that Bonniconlon badly needs. The young people in our area are crying out for a place to go,” he said.

Cllr John O’Hara called on his fellow councillors to support the people of Bonniconlon in achieving this ambition.

“When people work themselves and show they can see a project through, it is up to us to support them and they deserve support,” he said. “We as councillors should support this. I think it will be a fantastic project.” 

The council's Director of Services Catherine McConnell said she believed this was a really good project and said it will be assessed for the TVRS shortly.

“Only one €500,000 project will be submitted and this will be assessed by the community section of the council against the criteria that is set out,” she said. “This is a great project and these kinds of projects have a way of finding their way through to completion.”