Kildare towns 'in desperate need' of URDF funding

A Fine Gael TD for Kildare North has raised the matter of URDF (Urban Regeneration and Development Fund) funding for Kildare towns, which he said are “in desperate need of it.”

Deputy Joe Neville was addressing the Taoiseach in the Dáil on the issue this week when 'Questions on Policy or Legislation' came before the House.

Deputy Neville told the Taoiseach he welcomed his announcement the previous day that the housing Minister had raised the issue at cabinet level.

He also welcomed news that a new round of funding will be provided for populated areas “which are in desperate need of it”, he said.

READ NEXT: 'Truly overwhelmed' - Kildare business vows to bounce back after devastating fire

“In my constituency of Kildare North, towns like Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth and Naas are all areas which have seen huge population growth in the past 15 years and new housing continues to be built in these areas”, Deputy Neville told the Taoiseach.

“This is being done without much State investment in communities or facilities. URDF funding typically had been given to rejuvenate older large towns and I hope this funding is now being directly used for our rapidly growing towns.

“I acknowledge that this is not just a north Kildare issue but one that our colleagues in Ashbourne, Athy, Oranmore, Bray and Blanchardstown also know about. When will it be introduced?

“Can we ensure that this initiative will not just be about future housing development areas but also about areas which have had significant development over past five to seven years so that we can ensure that we backfill those areas too?”

Responding to Deputy Neville, the Taoiseach confirmed that the funding is opening “in the next two weeks.”

He also confirmed there are “no restrictions” on where it can be applied or by whom, other than the population threshold.

According to the Taoiseach, some new developing areas have received the funding, as well as areas where people wanted the rejuvenation of older parts of a city or town.

“Under the old URDF if funding was allocated, the local authorities needed to get the work done faster”, the Taoiseach noted.

“The Minister is going to apply timelines and if it is not used, we will take it back and use it somewhere else.

“There was an inordinate length of time to get funding through with the last URDF. This is the new living cities and towns initiative. I have asked the Minister to try to be as flexible as possible on that population threshold but we will see where that ends up.”