Newtown’s Nature Nourishers Get Some Nectar

Doe and fawn captured on ReWild camera…

atest press release from Cllr Danny Alvey, issued on Friday, February 20th 2026…

Newtown Tidy Towns and the Biodiversity and Natural Environment sub-committee of the Newtown Town Team have received a grant of €7,000 from the Community Foundation of Ireland.

The grant was awarded as part of the foundation’s annual Community Biodiversity Fund and will be used to develop a community biodiversity action plan for Newtown and the surrounding area. The two local community groups worked together on the application and expressed their delight on the award and the future projects that may come from the action plan.

“We’re really grateful for this grant and it’s very exciting for nature enthusiasts in the local community,” said local councillor, and vice-chair of the Newtown Tidy Towns, Danny Alvey. “This fund has been run by the Community Foundation for a number of years and something other local towns and villages have received funding from for similar action plans. We decided to get together in the community ourselves this year and put an application in.

“There is a lot of recent development in the town in terms of housing but we’ve also managed to keep a really strong connection to nature. It runs right through the town really with the Mount Kennedy Woods, Altidore River and new linear riverine park delivered with Altidore Gardens.

“Just around the town periphery there is also Altidore Demesne, Kilmurray Woods, Callow Hill Woods and the amazing Dunran Glen. It’s actually one of the best towns in the county for nature I believe and camera trap photos from the recent ReWild Wicklow and UCD Wildlife Department project, Snapshot Europe, prove that.

“We had seven cameras set up across these locations and got an abundance of foxes, red squirrels, deer, birds and pine marten, including a pine marten for the first time on the camera in Mount Kennedy Woods right in the middle of the town. This new action plan will be developed by an ecologist who will give the community a list of actions to further enhance the habitats for this beautiful wildlife.”

Shane Stokes is a local resident and member of the Biodiversity and Natural Environment sub-committee of the recently established Town Team. “Our subcommittee of the Town Team has the aims of protecting, promoting and boosting nature and biodiversity in the community. We welcome the awarding of this grant and look forward to engaging an ecologist to survey the existing biodiversity and then to work together to add to it.

“This will have clear benefits for nature and also for the community of Newtown itself. The survey will result in a number of recommended actions. We welcome the participation of others in this important work, and in other future projects to come.

“If you are interested in joining us, please email [email protected] for more details.”