A COMMUNITY fund has helped West Cork Music to finalise its planning application for a purpose-built venue in Bantry.
Bantry Community Fund has provided the company that organises three of West Cork’s biggest annual festivals with €75,000. It follows a €510,000 grant from the Arts Council announced last week.
West Cork Music confirmed the funding has enabled it to formally instruct McCullough Mulvin Architects to complete the design work for its planning application.
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The architects are putting the finishing touches to its plans for a world-class, 250-seater auditorium that will offer year-round performances and events, and also serve as an education centre for musicians, writers, and performers of all ages and abilities.
It is believed that the planning application will be formally submitted in April and that a decision will be made before the festival season –which includes the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, the West Cork Literary Festival, and the Masters of Tradition – commences.
The design of the building and its groundworks relate to the site currently occupied by Biggs Catering, which is located near Bantry Library. Biggs Catering was acquired by M&P O’Sullivan, last year, and will continue to trade elsewhere if planning permission is granted.
Donagh Collins, chairman of the board of West Cork Music, said: ‘Securing planning permission for this arts venue, and education hub, will be the next major milestone for the project.
‘The progress, so far, is testament to the ambition and strength of our grassroots non-profit arts organisation. It reflects strong confidence in West Cork Music’s plans and its potential impact on the arts and economy of Bantry, and West Cork,’ he added.
West Cork Music CEO Francis Humphrys said the contribution from the Bantry Community Fund is ‘a particularly meaningful local vote of confidence.’ And he described it as ‘the decisive step that is enabling our project to move forward to the planning stage’.
Last October, anyone with ideas for projects that would be of benefit to the community were invited to apply to the Bantry Community Fund for assistance.
The €310,000 fund was established in July 2022, following the sale of a community property, and it is administered by a local management committee.
The €75,000 contribution from Bantry Community Fund is considered auspicious, another good news story for Bantry.
