WATERFORD Co. Council is asking the public to submit ideas and voice their opinions on the county’s economy, via a new on-line survey.
The initiative is being driven by a new Economic Unit which the Council has established to spearhead action on local job creation and help combat the effects of the downturn.
Having made job creation in the County a priority in recent years, the Council is now looking to harness any ‘big ideas’ out there that just might work for Waterford. Recent projects geared towards attracting visitors and investment, have been very successful and the Council is now asking the public to come on board with more of the same.
“Waterford Co. Council has been very pro-active over the last five years and while some projects are high profile with a very visible immediate return, others are looking to the future and towards longer term economic prosperity and sustainability,” commented Co. Manager Ray O’Dwyer.
Continuing the County Manager went on to highlight the work being done by other organizations to help reignite the local economy.
“Dungarvan & West Waterford Chamber of Commerce is in the process of developing the D499.ie packages and the recent introduction of a Free Parking Day in Dungarvan shows innovative thinking on the part of the Town Council and local traders, working in parallel,” he stated.
As examples of recent initiatives he mentioned the Waterford Festival of Food which attracts over 10,000 visitors to Dungarvan and the Sean Kelly Tour which has, in just two years, evolved into one of the biggest cycling tours in Ireland. Economic infrastructure is another area where he said Waterford has excelled.
“We are the first county in Ireland to have zoned a Knowledge Campus which is in the process of being master-planned. We’re ahead of the game and this will pay dividends once the current downturn bottoms out and the recovery begins. As well as this, working with the local communities, enterprise space has been developed in towns throughout the County. Business supports are available through Waterford County Enterprise Board, Waterford LEADER Partner-ship, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Udarás na Gaeltachta.”
Mr. O’Dwyer insisted that in the current economic climate, more must be done to create jobs. With this at the forefront of the Council’s agenda, an Economic Unit has been established within the local authority to drive economic recovery and to look outside the box for innovative solutions.
“We’re now asking members of the public to contact us with any ideas they might have for job creation. It doesn’t matter if the idea is big business or small enterprise, if it means jobs in County Waterford we want to hear it.”
The public can voice their thoughts on economic development of the County by logging onto www.waterfordcoco.ie and filling out the online survey, located in the news section. Additionally, ideas for job creation can be emailed to economic@waterfordcoco.ie or can be telephoned through to the Economic Unit on 058 - 22000. Any ideas received before 14th August, will be entered in a draw for green fees for 4 at the Gold Coast Golf Club, sponsored by the Gold Coast Golf Resort.
