Morris gives a guarded welcome to Nenagh town councils last budget.

Nenagh town council was founded in 1887 and has served Nenagh with distinction since its inception. This Government has decided to scrap this council and abandon real local democracy for a flawed Putting people first programme which will leave the ratepayers of Nenagh begging for services from the pot in Clonmel from their hard earned cash. In fact the new municipal district councils funding is still not clear making me very concerned that the Grants, Services and facilities(St pats Parade, Visit Nenagh Classic, Spleador ,Peoples picnic, Sports tourism initiatives are all in doubt) are not guaranteed as the only thing that we are certain of is that all rates collected in Tipperary will go into the one pot to be divided out like a Local Government Fund, to be decided at the full council meeting but the real flaw in it is that South Tipperary members can outvote the North Tipperary members because of the fact that South Tipperary will have 22 members and North Tipperary 18 in the new council leaving Nenagh as a smaller fish in a bigger pot which is not a positive step for the Businesses and people of Nenagh. In fact we are told that the only discretionary money that will be left for sports, arts , festivals and estate management for the M D CS will be the parking fees/fines collected in Nenagh but spread out amongst the whole Municipal area which will not work unless the new M D C either crucify people parking in Nenagh or impose parking fees in the other town and villages in North Tipperary . The other big missing link in all of this is the PROPERTY TAX which was stolen this year and pumped into Irish Water and there is no guarantee that it wont be stolen in years to come as Irish Water will suck taxpayers money dry for years to come. Last nights budget was one that took time because there are so many unanswered questions about the future of the town but I am delighted that the money that I put away for a full all weather pitch in the town is maintained with the V E C ready to apply for Government funding in February , there is also money for my sports tourism initiative which will see many more American and Canadian groups in the town in 214 and also help other organisations bring much needed footfall to the town and of course the other projects The New Town Park , Nenagh Graveyard ,Gills Garden are now guaranteed after years of support from Nenagh Town Councils budgets. I am also delighted to say that I have negotiated extra funding for a Self Improvement scheme for our Council Tenants and also I have negotiated extra funding for our under pressure sports clubs in the Contributitions to Local Organisations grants scheme which will be advertised very soon. We also have negotiated extra funding for a town centre promotion with money going to promotions and festivals for the town. The fact that our rates are lower than the new County Council and will have to brought in line with the new council means that anyone promising a huge cut in rates were electioneering and were soon brought back to reality when they were told that the main reason for the pressure on our local businesses is the Austerity programme imposed on the people of Tipperary. It is unfortunate that this is the last Nenagh Town Council Budget that is controlled by people from the town and it is a warning to the people of Nenagh in the forthcoming elections that they must be sure to elect someone with Nenagh at heart in the forthcoming elections in May otherwise Nenagh will not have a strong voice in the new Council. Yours sincerely Cllr. Samie Morris 26/01/14