The PPN operates at two levels:
- At Municipal District level which is a new tier of local government at sub county level and,
- At a County-Wide level.
This means that Westmeath has a PPN for each of its two Municipal Districts.
Westmeath Municipal Districts
Two Municipal Public Participation Networks (PPN)are
- Athlone Municipal PPN and
- Mullingar Municipal PPN
Reflective of Westmeath County Council Municipal District divisions
All Groups register and choose to be included in either of the three electoral colleges (i.e. social inclusion, community & voluntary and environment)
- Social Inclusion (groups focused on people experiencing disadvantage and inequality)
- Community & Voluntary (groups involved in local development, sports social clubs etc)
- Environment ( groups focused on protecting the environment and sustainable development)
Westmeath PPN has:
- A County Plenary which operates at County level dealing with County level issues.
- 2 Municipal PPNs which operates in each of the two Municipal District dealing with issues at a municipal level.
- Linkage Groups which will form to deal with specific issues and support nominees in their participatory role. This will form part of the accountability and feedback mechanism for the PPN.
- A Secretariat at County level that acts as facilitation administration and communication mechanism for the PPN.
Public Participation Network Structure
