Development plan · Cavan County Council
Cavan County Development Plan 2022–2028 — Chapter 1
One part of the council's development plan written statement, which the council publishes in parts.
Cavan County Council · 2022–2028 · 36 pages
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- 1.0 Rationale for Core Strategy 1.1 Introduction Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) contains requirements for all Planning Authorities to ensure that their Development Plans are consistent with high-level strategic policies and population projections for the country. Planning Authorities are required to prepare and incorporate a Core Strategy that shows that the Development Plan is consistent with national and regional objectives under the National Planning Framework (NPF) First Revision 2025 and the relevant Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES). The NPF was originally adopted and published by the Government on 16th February 2018, with the First Revision published in April 2025. The RSES replaced the Regional Planning Guidelines (RPGs) for the Northern and Western Region and were introduced under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, which envisaged RSESs co-ordinating not only the physical planning process, as was the case with RPGs and Development Plans, but also the Local Economic and Community Plans (LECPs) that have been prepared by local authorities under the 2014 Act. The NPF First Revision and relevant RSES are thus of direct statutory relevance to the preparation of County Development Plans. 2 Cavan County Development Plan 2022-2028
- Under the Act, a Core Strategy focuses on: Defining a settlement hierarchy for the County that is consistent with the NPF First Revision 2025 and RSES. Transposing the prescribed NPF First Revision 2025 and RSES housing and population targets set at County level for the rural and urban centres identified within the settlement hierarchy. Providing an evidence-based rationale for the land proposed to be zoned for residential and mixed-use development having regard to the capacity of existing zoned land and the phasing of development taking account of the location of public transport and services. Demonstrating how the Planning Authority has had regard to the statutory Retail Planning Guidelines in setting out objectives for retail development. The Core Strategy sets out a vision for County Cavan and strategic aims required to deliver this vision. The development of this Core Strategy has been guided by the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government ‘Guidance Note on Core Strategies’ (2010) and the NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements, Guidelines for Planning Authorities issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act, July 2025 1.2 Ecosystems Services Approach and Natural Capital In preparing the Plan and developing policy objectives, the Council have followed these Ecosystem Services1 Approach principles: a) Consideration of natural systems - by using knowledge of interactions in nature and how ecosystems function. b) Taking into account the services that ecosystems provide - including those that underpin social and economic well-being, such as flood and climate regulation, resources for food, fibre or fuel, or for recreation, culture and quality of life. c) Involving people - those who benefit from the ecosystem services and those managing them need to be involved in decisions that affect them. Public consultation has informed the preparation of the Plan which will be further refined before adoption, taking into account submissions/observations made on the Plan during public display. 3 Core Strategy 1 Ecosystems are multifunctional communities of living organisms interacting with each other and their environment. Ecosystems provide a series of services for human well-being (ecosystem services) either directly or indirectly contributing towards human wellbeing
- Outcomes 8. Carbon and Climate Resilient Society 10. Access to Quality and Health Services 9. Sustainable Management of Water, Waste and other Environmental Resources 1. Compact Growth 2. Enhanced Regional Accessibility 3. Strengthened Rural Economies and 7. Enhanced Amenity and Heritage 4. High-Quality 6. A Strong Economy supported by and Skills 5. Sustainable Mobility The Council shall promote an Ecosystem Services Approach, following the above principles, in its decision-making processes, including those relating to the preparation of statutory land use plans. In recognition of the need to manage natural capital2, provisions have been integrated into the Plan that will contribute towards management of air quality, noise pollution, light pollution, water quality and integrated river basin management. United Nations Sustainability Goals Contribute, as practicable, towards achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which came into force in 2016. 2.0 Strategic Development of County Cavan over the Plan Period 2022-2028: Overarching Legislative and Policy Context 2.1 National Planning Framework (NPF) First Revision, July 2025 The National Planning Framework First Revision (NPF), July 2025, is a long term, 20-year strategy for strategic planning and sustainable development of our urban and rural areas to 2040, with the core objectives of securing balanced regional development and a sustainable ‘compact growth’ approach. to the form and pattern of future development. It sets out ten National Strategic Outcomes (NSO’s) which underpin the overarching vision for the country and serve as shared goals, as depicted in figure 1. The Strategy also contains a range of National Policy Objectives providing a wider context for targeting future growth across the country. Figure 1: NPF First Revision 2025 National Strategic Outcomes. Source: NPF First Revision, p. 5. 2 Renewable and non-renewable resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) 4 Cavan County Development Plan 2022-2028
- The NPF First Revision 2025 states that the Northern and Western region justifies a particular focus in the Framework. This is due to a historically lower level of urbanisation compared to other regions, proximity to the border and ongoing challenges post Brexit. By 2040, it is envisaged that the region will be home to more than 1 million people. A key challenge for the region, the NPF First Revision 2025 notes, will be identification and implementation of actions that will build up its urban structure, diversify and strengthen its rural areas as they transition towards a more broadly based mix of economic activities sufficient to underpin long term self-sustaining local communities. Moreover, the Framework notes that within the Northern and Western region, most of County Cavan and County Monaghan have a more easterly focus than elsewhere. These counties comprise part of a North-Eastern functional area that also includes County Louth in the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly area. The key driver for this regional area is the Dublin-Belfast cross-border network, the influence of which, as well as that of the Dublin Metropolitan area, extends into Cavan and Monaghan. Having regard to this, cognisance is given to the long term strategic planning and economic framework as contained within the Eastern and Midlands Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy. The NPF First Revision 2025 further states that there is scope for potential growth in all towns in Ireland and this will largely be determined by the relevant Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) for each Regional Assembly area, also taking into consideration the potential of smaller settlements and rural areas. Moreover, the NPF First Revision asserts that “in setting overall targets for future growth, it is a pattern of development that is being targeted, rather than precise numbers. From a long-term, national perspective, the targeted location, relative scale and proportionality of growth will assist in monitoring and assessing delivery and performance”. In terms of specific national objectives relevant to Cavan, the NPF includes a number of targets aimed at growing the Northern and Western Region (NPF First Revision; pg19): Policy Objective 2: The projected level of population and employment growth in the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly area will be at least matched by that of the Northern and Western and Southern Regional Assembly areas combined. Furthermore, the NPF First Revision includes specific targets related to securing compact and sustainable growth in Ireland’s towns and cities, recognising that the physical format of urban development in Ireland is one of our greatest national development challenges. A major new Continued policy emphasis on renewing and developing existing settlements will be required, according to the NPF First Revision, rather than continual expansion and sprawl of cities and towns out into the countryside, at the expense of town centres and smaller villages. The NPF First Revision has noted that since 2018, enhanced methodologies and statutory guideline have been put in place to reconcile future housing requirements effectively, taking into consideration the varying housing needs that are required to be met. National Policy Objective 46 refers (NPF First Revision, page 95); 5 Core Strategy 2.2 Implementation Roadmap for the National Planning Framework The Implementation Roadmap for the National Planning Framework (July 2018) highlights the Governments focus on achieving alignment between national, regional and local planning policy and practice. It addresses issues around the legal status of the NPF and provides transitional population projections for the period up to 2031. It also sets out mechanisms to ensure that Development Plans will broadly align with the NPF and RSES’s to address the six-year period up to 2026/2027. Continue to develop methodologies and data sourced to improve the evidence base, effectiveness and consistency of the planning process for housing provision at regional, metropolitan and local authority levels, this will include standardised requirements for the recording of planning and housing data by the local authority in order to provide a consistent and robust evidence base for housing policy formulation. National Policy Objective 46: Policy Objective 3: Northern and Western Region: approximately 150,000 additional people between 2022 and 2040 (c. 210,000 additional people over 2016-2040) i.e. a population of just over 1 million.
- Given the above, 2026-2027 will allow the assessment of the first full round of Development Plans prepared in accordance with the NPF and the RSES. This assessment will coincide with several other key dates; 2027 is a Census Year, and 2025 saw the review of the ten-year National Development Plan. It is further noted that Development Plans approved in 2020/21 will commence reviews in 2025/2026 and so require demographic data for the six-year period beyond to 2031. Therefore, it is stated that “The critical population projection periods are to 2026 and 2031, with a particular emphasis on the initial six-year period to 2026, for city and county development plans that are to be formulated during the 2019-20/21 period” (NPF Implementation Roadmap, p4) The Roadmap provides transitional population projections for these milestones at a regional and county scale, in order to inform Development Plans for the period 2026 and 2031. The transitional population projections for the Northern and Western Region are listed in Table 1 below. With specific regard to Cavan, the projected population for 2026 is in the range of 83,000-84,500. For 2031, it is in the range of 86,000-88,000. 6 Cavan County Development Plan 2022-2028 Table 1: Transitional Regional and County Population Projections to 2031 for the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. Source: NPF Implementation Roadmap, p13. Regions and Counties 2016 2026 2031 North West Donegal 159,000 173,500-176,500 179,500-183,500 Sligo 65,500 71,500-72500 74,000-75,500 Leitrim 32,000 35,000-35,500 36,000-37,000 Subtotal 256,500 280,000-284,500 289,500-296,000 West Galway 258,000 300,000-308,500 322,000-334,500 Mayo 130,500 142,000-144,500 147,000-150,500 Roscommon 64,500 70,500-71500 73,000-74,500 Subtotal 453,000 512,500-524,5000 542,000-559,500 Mid border Cavan 76,000 83,000-84,500 86,000-88,000 Monaghan 61,500 67,000-68,000 69,000-71,000 Subtotal 137,500 150,000-152,500 155,000-159,000 Total 847,442 942,500-986,500 961,500-1,014,500 NPF Implementation Housing Growth Requirements, Guidelines for Planning Authorities issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended), July 2025. These Guidelines set out the instruction to update housing targets in line with the revised National Planning Framework which is a key step in the acceleration in housing delivery. They require planning authorities to align development plans with the revised NPF for the period up to 2040. Development plans must now incorporate the revised housing targets to support local and regional; growth. These targets include for unmet demand and targets resolution of same by 2034. In order to align with these Guidelines planning authorities are required to prepare a core strategy consistent with national and regional objectives. The Guidelines allow for additional housing provision of up to 50% in light of the urgent need to increase housing delivery and optimise the ability to deliver on the housing requirements of the Revised NPF.
- 2.3 RSES for the Northern and Western Region The Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) for the Northern and Western region came into force in January 2020 superseding the Regional Planning Guidelines for the Border 2010-2022. The RSES is a high-level plan that seeks to support the implementation of the NPF by providing a strategic planning and economic framework for the region’s sustainable growth and development. It echoes the NPF in emphasising sustainable development patterns and seeks to focus growth within the footprint of existing urban areas and in key regional growth settlements. The RSES seeks to determine at a regional scale how best to achieve the shared goals set out in the National Strategic Outcomes (NSOs) of the NPF. To this end, the Strategy sets out a number of Regional Policy Objectives (RPOs) which are aligned with international, EU and national policy and which in turn set the framework for city and county development plans. In relation to County Cavan, the Strategy for the region designates Cavan Town as a Key Town. Key Towns are those regionally strategic employment centres of significant scale that can act as regional drivers that complement and support the higher-order urban areas within the settlement hierarchy (ie. Regional Growth Centres and Galway Metropolitan Area). The RSES notes that Cavan Town performs a regional function, being the largest town within the Cavan/ Monaghan/Leitrim sub-region and the town which experienced the largest growth within the past 10 years. The Key Towns are to have a targeted growth rate of at least 30% to 2040, relative to a Census 2016 population baseline. The Strategy further states that these targets need to be matched by the delivery of critical enabling infrastructure and services, thus ensuring that these places grow as successful significant employment centres and service locations not only for the urban areas themselves but, importantly, for their extensive hinterlands that include smaller towns, villages and rural areas. The population projections contained within the Implementation Roadmap for National Planning Framework, the RSES notes, shall allow balanced growth elsewhere within each county to be determined locally and based upon the varied growth potential of different places, subject to safeguarding that the growth of the Regional Growth Centres and Key Towns is not compromised. Moreover, RPO 3.1 outlines the following core objectives centred on developing urban places of regional-scale: Delivering on the population targets for the Metropolitan and Regional Growth Centres through compact growth Delivering significant compact growth in Key Towns; and Developing derelict and underutilised sites, with an initial focus within town cores. In line with this, RPO3.2 outlines the following objective: Deliver at least 30% of all new homes that are targeted in settlements with a population of at least 1,500 (other than the Galway MASP and the Regional Growth Centres), within the existing builtup footprints In addition, RPO3.3 states: Deliver at least 20% of all new housing in rural areas on brownfield sites. 7 Core Strategy 2.4 Housing Need Demand Assessment (HNDA) Under Section 94 (1) (a) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended), each planning authority “shall include in any development plan a strategy for the purpose of ensuring that proper planning and sustainable development of the area of the development plan provides for the housing of the existing and future population of the area in the manner set out in the strategy”. In order to ensure that the plan-making system is supported by a robust methodology to inform policies and funding initiatives around housing and associated land requirements, the NPF First Revision states that a Housing Need Demand Assessment (HNDA) will be developed by each Local Authority to support the preparation of housing strategies
- 8 Cavan County Development Plan 2022-2028 and all related housing policy outputs, e.g. city and county development plans, local area plans, traveller accommodation plans etc. The purpose of the HNDA tool is to: Assist local authorities to develop long-term strategic views of housing need across all tenures. Provide a robust evidence base to support decisions about new housing supply, wider investment and housing related services that inform an overall national housing profile Inform policies about the proportion of social and affordable housing required, including the need for different types and sizes of provision Provide evidence to inform policies related to the provision of specialist housing and housing related services. In 2010, the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government published a Guidance Note on Core Strategies requiring the Housing Strategy to be informed by the Core Strategy as regards overall population and housing land requirements. The Guidelines (2010) further state that the purpose of the Core Strategy is to articulate a medium to longer term quantitatively based strategy for the spatial development of the area of the planning authority and in so doing to demonstrate that the development plan and its objectives are consistent with national and regional development objectives. The Core Strategy must therefore give effect to the NPF First Revision and RSES hierarchy (as extended at County level) by setting population targets and associated requirements for housing. This must now be undertaken through the HNDA process. This Core Strategy Chapter sets out the population targets and broad housing requirements for County Cavan for the period 2022-2028. The HNDA process is elaborated and presented in greater detail in the Housing Strategy (see Appendix 1). 2.5 Strategic Aims The strategic aims which guide the advancement of this Development Plan are set out hereunder. I. To guide the future development of County Cavan in line with national and regional objectives set out in the NPF First Revision and RSES and other national guidelines and policies. II. To promote and facilitate the development of the County in accordance with the provisions of the Core Strategy, including directing development in line with the settlement hierarchy and promoting development at an appropriate scale that is reflective of the terms of the Core Strategy Table and zoning maps. III. To apply the Settlement Hierarchy to determine the scale, rate and location of proposed developments and apply appropriate development management measures to ensure compliance with the Settlement Hierarchy including the population targets for the County. IV. To promote the delivery of at least 30% of all new homes that are targeted in settlements within their existing built-up footprints. V. To promote the delivery at least 20% of all new housing in rural areas on brownfield sites.
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- 10 Cavan County Development Plan 2022-2028
Source Cavan County Council: Cavan County Development Plan 2022–2028 — Chapter 1 (2022–2028) · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.