Cork City’s Local Economic and Community Plan 2024 - 2029
What is Local Economic Development? Local economic development is the promotion of economic growth and stability in a specific geographical area. This can be in a variety of ways including:
people living in the city to thrive. The LECP can also help to attract funding to develop community and economic infrastructure and facilities. This includes things like:
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Business support hubs
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Attracting and retaining new business
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Training centres
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Creating jobs
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Community centres
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Supporting people to start their own businesses and social enterprises
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Play areas
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Parks
Why Have a Local Economic and Community Plan? It is important for local communities to have a plan for their future. A plan gives different stakeholders a roadmap and a shared vision to follow. The roadmap helps to make sure that everyone is working together towards the same goal.
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Community gardens
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Sports facilities
Why Have a Plan That Integrates Community and Economic Development? An integrated plan can help to identify the various needs of businesses and the local community and try to meet those needs together. A good example are social enterprises whose objective is to achieve a social, societal or environmental impact, rather than maximising profit for its owners or shareholders. A local example of a social enterprise is ‘The Crann Centre 10 ’, situated on the outskirts of Ballincollig, they provide life-long solutions for children, adults and families living with neuro-physical disabilities. They offer a Career Pathways service where clients can avail of their fully-inclusive and accessible co-working space ‘The Impact Hub’ as well as access key business supports from The Rubicon Centre, Cork City LEO office and the Open Doors Initiative to support them to transition into the workplace or set-up their own business. There are many other ways an integrated plan makes sense.
“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together” (African proverb)
This LECP includes actions on:
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Promoting economic growth
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Creating jobs
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Making our neighbourhoods more resilient and sustainable Improving the safety and quality of life for residents
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What The Local Economic and Community Plan Is Not?
The LECP is not a land-use/spatial plan. This means it does not plan for where new houses, offices, roads or other infrastructure are built and installed. The City Development plan and the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Plan and other such plans provide this function. However, the LECP is vital in building the communities and economies that emerge from our city places. It helps support the
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