Housing estates throughout the county are set to receive a boost, after the initiation of two new programmes to develop facilities in both urban and rural areas.

The Fermanagh Local Strategy Partnership, in conjunction with Fermanagh District Council, will utilise a £100,000 grant package made available under the Peace II Programme to develop and improve the facilities in urban estates, while in the more rural regions a new local partnership has been set up to co-ordinate activities in areas previously lacking in community groups.

The new ‘Rural Community Estates Programme’ have appointed local Project Officer Lesley Baillie to oversee their programme, which will focus on specific estates based outside the town of Enniskillen.

“This is a programme being implemented throughout Northern Ireland, where 12 workers will go into specific Northern Ireland Housing Executive estates where there is no community activity,” explained Lesley.

“The aim of the workers will be to work with the estates to identify issues they would like to tackle or problems they would like to solve.”

Within Fermanagh, 15 specific estates have already been identified. They are within the towns and villages of Belcoo, Belleek, Bellanaleck, Derrylin, Donagh, Florencecourt, Garrison, Kesh, Lisbellaw, Lisnaskea, Magheraveeley, Newtownbutler, Springfield, Tempo and Trory.