Moville residents get chance to shape the future with regeneration projects

Some 250 years ago Moville was laid out by the Montgomery family who founded the town.

Now residents are being given the chance to shape how it looks in the future with the Donegal County Council-led  Moville Regeneration Strategy and Action Plan and the Reimagine Moville project, an initiative led by a group of local people.

Residents were able to air their views about what they’d like to see in Moville’s regeneration strategy at a recent county council drop-in event in Glencrow Hall.

Local councillor Martin Farren had been pushing for a regeneration project for Moville after seeing how Buncrana and Carndonagh had benefited from similar programmes.

Councillor Martin Farren at the drop-in clinic hosted by Donegal County Council

“The consultants themselves had been out on the road now for some time speaking to various organisations and groups to see what they think, and what they think should happen 

and how Moville should look,” Cllr Farren says.

“They have taken a lot of their concerns on board. It’s important that people do come along because it is the voice of the people that live in the area and it’s up to them to make the 

changes which will affect them.

“It’s the people that live within the community that matter, we can put a plan together and that’ll be acceptable by all.”

The project will be community-led, according to Patricia McIntyre from the regeneration and development team at Donegal County Council.

“We are looking at key projects, both small and large scale that the community feel would enhance the town which would involve regeneration and interventions,”  she says.

“We are hoping from the drop-in that we’ll collate all the feedback and produce a draft plan. That draft plan will go back for public consultation and it’ll be available for a period of two to four weeks. We’d look for more feedback from the community and once that is finalised we’ll have a final strategy and plan then. Following on from that we’d look to establish a Moville Town Team and that’ll be looking for people from the different sectors of the community to help us at Donegal County Council to drive and deliver on those projects.”

A map of Moville

The council has brought in GM Design Associates to help with the consultation process. 

“It’s our role to draft the strategy along with the regeneration team,” says Jonny Stewart from the Coleraine-based company.

“At this stage we are fact-finding and trying to find out what the main issues are within the town and what we can bring forward with the strategy.”

The Reimagine Moville process was held earlier this year when residents took part in workshops and developed ideas of what they might want Moville to look like in 20 to 50 

years time. 

This project came about because of an application made by local people Mary Kerrigan, the lead architect, Clodagh Warnock, director at Ceolan Heritage Group and Ceolan Traditional Music and Harp School, and Anthony Doogan treasurer of Moville Community Complex Development Company and retired principal of Moville Community College, to the Irish Architectural Foundation. A grant of €10,000 allowed the project to host eight workshops 

between April and July.

“Our Reimagine Moville process was announced and awarded and we were unaware of the council’s regeneration process until we were already about to start our own community engagement process,” Mary Kerrigan, the project lead, says.

“It was a happy coincidence that the council’s regeneration was about to start at the same time.”

The focus groups from the Reimagine Moville project presented the results of their work to the council on the same day the local authority held the public consultation, Thursday, September 19.

“As groups and individuals we are making our representation known to the council based on the series of activities that have been developed by different groups of people and how certain different areas of Moville might be regenerated by a heritage perspective, from a tourism perspective, from a cultural perspective and any other possible ways that the town 

could be developed,” commented Anthony Doogan.

Anthony Doogan is also part of the board that manages St Eugene’s Hall, which has applied for a heritage grant for a community-led plan for the historic core of Moville.

“Our purpose is to see how we can pertain the historic and architectural significance of St Eugene’s Hall while at the same time preparing it for the future in how it might become a community facility.”

Martin Lynch, manager of Moville family resource centre, who attended the council’s drop-in clinic, said he’d like something practical to come out of the Moville Regeneration and Action Plan project.

“I’d like a bus shelter, having a good flow of traffic and alleviating parking issues. Generally I’d like to see Moville promoted in the way it should be as Moville is a great place to live, work and be in,”  Martin says.

Gerry Sonar, a life-long angler, believes the state of the Bredagh River is disgraceful at the moment as the town’s sewage runs into it.

There had been talks about making it into a heritage trail. 

“That little river had saw mills, corn mills and scotch mills, in all other words a lot of archaeological history from by-gone days,” says Gerry.

“Part of those structures are still remaining. The old Gulladuff mill is now a vacant site but it has huge potential. It could be like Tullyarvan mill in Buncrana, it could host art galleries, museums, and coffee bars.

“The other problem is one piece of land on the river trail is now up for sale and it is actually cutting off a lower part of the trail from an upper part of the trail. Some local people have had an idea of trying to raise money to get it for community use like a town park, part of the river trail.”