| The Corkman THURSDAY, DECEMBER9, 2004 writes: |
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Millstreet Tidy Town Tourism Association can look back on 2004 with a great deal of satisfaction, after many positive developments on the ground and winning several competition plaudits.
In the national tidy towns competition, a county award and a cash prize of €500 gave the committee “the impetus to carry on further in the knowledge that Millstreet is making progress and that all the years of dedicated work have not been in vain.”
Millstreet rose to the top ten best towns and villages in County Cork.
While Millstreet came second to Castletownroche in the North Cork Division, it came first among all the towns of the county in its own category (town with a population of under 1500)
The town picked up an additional nine marks this year, up an additional nine marks this year, making a total of 243. Over the past two years, Millstreet gained nineteen marks, which is quite remarkable.
At a more local level, Millstreet came first in the Muintir Na Tire “Litter Free Roadside” competition earning €380 and a framed certificate.
Apart from the annual flower planting, the maintenance of grassed areas and the pruning of trees and shrubs the Association erected a wildlife information board on the Drishane Road, prompted by the remarks of several judges over the years, in their annual reports on the town.
The number of planted tubs around the town was also reduced before the summer and painted with a new uniform colour scheme.
A successful meeting with officials in Cork County Council, recently, also brought the welcome news that two of the town’s eyesores were to be finally removed.
One one section of the site, the eagerly-anticipated civic amenity site is already taking shape and this will open to the public in May 2005.
Another part of the extensive site will provide a home for Millstreet’s proposed new fire station, while the Council is to use the remainder of the old mart property to house its vehicles, machinery and materials – with roadside landscaping.
Another exiting development in the town is the building of a footpath, “long overdue” on the Clara Road from the sheltered housing to the new home in Mountleader.
The Association’s members are grateful to the many business people who sponsored their fundraising efforts in the past year, and to those who contributed to our annual church gate collection.”
Without this support, much of the work undertaken in the last year could not have been accomplished.
Plans are afoot for next year’s activities, with the emphasis on maintaining litter free streets.
It is also hoped that an application for a grant under the Town & Village Renewal Scheme will prove successful and allow us run utility cables underground in the West End.
This would be the second stage in ridding the streetscape of these unsightly cables.
