County Donegal Development Plan 2024–2030 (As Varied)

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 28 Chapter 3 Core Strategy Core Strategy Explanation Notes: 1. Population Target 2030: Based on Census 2022 Population plus (Housing Target 2030 multiplied by 2.66 (Average Household Size Donegal Census 2022)) 2. Gross Zoned Land Required: Based on Housing Target 2030 (units) divided by Target Residential Density (units per ha) 3. Greenfield Net Zoned Land Required: Based on Housing Target 2030 (units) minus any Potential Yield (units) from urban core and established development brownfield and infill development and vacant and derelict opportunities) divided by Target Residential Density (units per ha). 4. Shortfall/Excess of Zoned Greenfield Land: Based on Land Zoned for Residential Development minus Net Zoned Land Required. 5. Bridgend Area Plan: Only ‘New Residential Phase 2’ lands have been identified in Land–Use Zoning Map 23.1 refers for the provision of residential development based on the current infrastructural deficits. The provision of greenfield residential development can only be considered pending the resolution of these deficits.

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 29 Chapter 3 Core Strategy 3.7 Retail Objectives Refer Chapter 7, ‘Economic Development’. Objectives CS-O-1 To support the growth of Letterkenny and its metropolitan area as the key driver of population and economic growth in the County. CS-O-2 To support the growth of a network of ‘County Growth Drivers and ‘Service Towns’ as key locations of population growth (providing for an additional approximate 5500 persons by 2030. CS-O-3 To support vibrant ‘Rural Settlements’ and ‘Open Countryside’ by providing for an additional population of approximately 7000 persons by 2030. CS-O-4 To seek alignment of investment in infrastructure with the priorities for growth established in the settlement structure unless, in specific instances, environmental constraints prevent such investment, environmental issues demand investment elsewhere or innovative opportunities arise for strategic investment of regional significance at alternative locations. CS-O-5 To pursue opportunities for further investment in essential infrastructure. CS-O-6 To coordinate and promote the delivery of key roads and access infrastructure (including the A5 Western Transport Corridor and A6 road projects, the TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project, Donegal and improvements to the TEN-T network generally and the Bridgend Bypass Project) with the other relevant authorities including partners in the North West Strategic Growth Partnership and within the Northern and Western Regional Assembly so as to result in effective strategic connections to and throughout the County. CS-O-7 To support economic growth throughout the County through: a. The establishment of Letterkenny as a centre for economic growth across the sectors, in particular through the promotion of the existing business park, consolidation of the town centre including the prioritising of improvements to public realm, the delivery of key road and access infrastructure, through a proactive approach to enable the delivery of key regeneration sites. b. To continue to support ‘County Growth Drivers and ‘Service Towns’ as critical drivers of growth outside of Letterkenny. c. To continue to support the regeneration, renewal and development of the County’s towns and villages over the life of the Plan. d. To continue to identify and harness opportunities arising as a consequence of the impact of Brexit for new economic investment particularly within the border region.

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 30 Chapter 3 Core Strategy Policies CS-P-1 That within the boundaries of settlements identified Settlement Framework boundaries, applications for development will be assessed in the light of all relevant material planning considerations including any identified land use zonings, availability of infrastructure, relevant policies of the Development Plan/Local Area Plan as applicable, other regional and national guidance/policy and relevant environmental designations CS-P-2 CC To guide development of towns in a sequential manner, outwards from the core area in order to maximise the utility of existing and future infrastructure provision, promote the achievement of sustainability, avoid ‘leap- frogging’ to more edge-of-centre and edge-of-town areas and to make better use of underutilised land. This policy shall not apply to small-scale business enterprises (excluding retail development) of circa 1 to 5 employees. CS-P-3 To support and facilitate the provision of: a. additional wastewater treatment capacity and water supply upgrades b. public realm improvements, c. new/enhanced civic, cultural, green, amenity, and recreational infrastructure, d. initiatives to tackle vacancy and dereliction e. active and sustainable transport infrastructure and visitor facilities in our coastal/Wild Atlantic Way settlements.

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 31

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 32 Chapter 4 Climate Change Chapter 4 – Climate Change 4.1 Introduction Climate change refers to the change in climate patterns that can be attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The causes of such increases have been well documented at international and national level and are generally attributed to the use of fossil fuels. The effects of climate change have been witnessed locally with several extreme events in recent years. Notable examples include: the Letterkenny University Hospital flood (2013); and the Inishowen Peninsula Floods (2017). The climate projections for the next century indicate that observed climate trends will continue and intensify over the coming decades. For Ireland, the key long term climate change trends are: • Temperatures are increasing and are expected to continue to increase everywhere and across all seasons; • When compared with temperature, projections of precipitation are less certain. However, significant reductions in levels of average precipitation are expected in Summer and Autumn while projections indicate the increased occurance of extreme precipitation events, particularly during winter; and • Sea levels will continue to increase by up to 0.81m by 2100. Ireland can also expect to see: • Increases in the frequency and intensity of summer heatwaves, extreme temperatures and drought; • Reductions in the frequency of frost and snowfall; • An increase in the duration of the growing season (phenological cycle). The recently published Local Authority Climate Action Plan (LACAP) 2024 to 2029 sets out how Donegal County Council (DCC) will be responsible for enhancing climate resilience, increasing energy efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cross its own assets, services, and infrastructure, for which it is fully accountable, whilst also demonstrating a broader role of influencing, advocating, and facilitating other sectors, to meet their own climate targets and ambitions. This is necessary to ensure that the environmental, social, and economic benefits that come with climate action, can be fully realised. The County Development Plan shall be read in conjunction with the Climate Action Plan and shall seek to actively translate national climate policy to local circumstances, assist in the delivery of the climate neutrality objective at local and community levels, and identify and deliver on Decarbonising Zones within the local authority area. 4.2 Legal and Policy Context Ireland has international, European and national commitments to put in place a decarbonisation pathway to 2030 consistent with the adoption of a net zero carbon emissions target at EU level by 2050. This multi-faceted policy framework is set out in tables 4.1 to 4.4 inclusive at the end of this Chapter. Section 10(2)(n) of the Planning and Developent Act 2000 (As Amended) [‘the Act’] mandates all planning authorities to include an objective in development plans for the promotion of sustainable transportation strategies in urban and rural areas. The Development Plan has an important role to play in the achievement of the national and international objectives. It can do so by both supporting development that helps to mitigate climate change (e.g. renewable energy) and ensuring that development adapts to the effects of climate change (e.g. ensuring that vulnerable developments are not allowed to proceed in flood risk areas).

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 33 Chapter 4 Climate Change Mitigatory measures in this Plan include: • Allocating 64% of the Core Strategy projected growth to built-up areas comprised of Letterkenny (30%), 5 County Growth Drivers (26%) and Rural Settlements (8%); • Prioritising compact growth in the preparation of town plans and general policy; • Identifying active travel requirements in the preparation of town plan development zoning and in general policy; • Supporting sustainable transportation e.g. in policy support for EV charging points and town centre parking policy; • Facilitating renewable energy; • Promoting regeneration of towns and villages and the reuse of vacant and derelict buildings; • The integration of sustainable water management solutions such as Water Sensitive Urban Design and Nature Based Solutions into developments (e.g. green roofs, porous pavements/green surfaces, rainwater harvesting, planted areas, rain gardens, swales, filter strips, detention basins/ponds, constructed wetlands); and • Promoting mainstreaming of climate change in decision making. Adaptation measures in this Plan include the following: • Flood risk management • Promotion of nature-based systems for water management services • Enhancement and protection of green infrastructure and biodiversity As well as the above-noted policy measures contained in the rest of this Plan, the following general objectives are included to underline the Authority’s broad approach to this issue. Note: Other key Climate Change related objectives and policies in this plan are identified with a CC superscript label at the end of the objective/policy number. Green and Blue Infrastructure Green and Blue Infrastructure describes the network of natural and semi-natural spaces and corridors in a given area. These include open spaces such as parks and gardens, but also allotments, woodlands, fields, hedges, lakes, ponds, playgrounds, coastal habitats, footpaths, cycle routes and water courses. It is referred to as ‘infrastructure’ as it is considered to be as important as other types of infrastructure such as roads, schools and hospitals. Successful green and blue infrastructure planning is also recognised as a natural solution and alternative to ‘grey’ infrastructure (utilities, transport infrastructure, flood control) that is environmentally friendly and less expensive. Objectives CA-O-1 To promote sustainable settlement and transportation strategies in urban and rural areas including the promotion of measures to— a. reduce energy demand in response to the likelihood of increases in energy and other costs due to long-term decline in non-renewable resources, b. reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; and c. address the necessity of adaptation to climate change, taking account of Donegal County Council’s Climate Action Plan (within the meaning of section 14B of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015). in particular, having regard to location, layout and design of new development. CA-O-2: To support and implement: the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the relevant National Planning Framework climate change National Policy Objectives (NPOs); the national climate change objectives contained in the Climate Action Plan 2023; and the Overarching Environmental Regional Policy Objectives and relevant

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 34 Chapter 4 Climate Change Regional Policy Objectives of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy; and the actions contained within Donegal County Council’s Climate Adaptation Strategy 2019-2024 (or any updates of any of the foregoing). A Policies CA-P-1: To integrate Green Infrastructure into new developments, where feasible, to contribute to the County’s green infrastructure network, which networks can serve as key ‘connections’ between habitats/environmental designations by its extension and enhancement and to provide for the environmental resilience of new development. CA-P-2: To avoid the fragmentation of green spaces in site design and to link green spaces/ greening elements to existing adjacent green infrastructure / the public realm where feasible. Table 4.1: International and European Climate Change Policies and Agreements International and European Climate Change Policies and Agreements United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)(1992) The framework’s objective is ‘to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system’ Kyoto Protocol 1997 The Protocol is based on the principle of common responsibilities: it acknowledges that individual countries have different capacities in combating climate change owing to varying levels of economic development EU Adaptation Strategy The strategy aimed to make Europe more climate resilient. By taking a coherent approach and providing for improved coordination, it aimed to enhance the preparedness and capacity of all governance levels to respond to the impacts of climate change. The strategy has been a reference point to prepare Europe for the climate impacts to come, at all levels Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement entered its implementation phase in 2020, and in doing so replaced the 1997 Kyoto Protocol as the framework for achievement of the objective of the UNFCCC. The Paris Agreement established goals relating to temperature, climate resilience and financial flows. Specifically. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015 The 17 SDGs, adopted by all United Nations member states, at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, address the environmental, economic, and social challenges that all countries need to tackle by 2030 to achieve inclusive, people-centred, and sustainable development with no one left behind. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. SDG 13 refers to the need to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts EU Climate and Energy Framework 2021 to 2030 This includes three components to enable progress on the mitigation of emissions: the EU Emissions Trading System, the Effort Sharing Regulation and the Land use, land use change and forestry regulation. Each component covers specific activities leading to GHG emissions and removals. These three pieces of climate legislation are to be updated with a view to implementing the net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target set out in the ‘EU Green deal’. EU Green Deal (2020)

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 35 Chapter 4 Climate Change The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral in 2050. First climate action initiatives under the Green Deal include: • A proposal to introduce European Climate Law to enshrine the 2050 climate-neutrality objective into EU law. • European Climate Pact to engage citizens and all parts of society in climate action. • 2030 Climate Target Plan to further reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% and towards 55% by 2030 (as opposed to 60% by 2050 under the Paris agreement) REPowerEU Plan (2022) Proposed by the EU to increase the resilience of the EU-wide energy system. REPower EU is based on two pillars: • Eliminating dependence on Russian gas before 2030; and • Diversifying gas supplies, via higher Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and pipeline imports from non-Russian suppliers, and larger volumes of biomethane and renewable hydrogen production and imports; and, reducing faster the use of fossil fuels in our homes, buildings, industry, and power system, by boosting energy efficiency, increasing renewables and electrification, and addressing infrastructure bottlenecks. Table 4.2: National Climate Policy Context National Climate Policy Context National Policy Position on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (2014) Enshrines in legislation the requirement to transition to a climate resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally-sustainable and climate neutral economy by 2050, the. The Act requires local authorities to prepare individual Climate Action Plans to include both mitigation and adaptation measures, and for these to be updated every five years. It provides for annual reviews of the National Climate Action Plan and the development of a national long term climate action strategy every five years. Climate Action Plan 2023 Commits Ireland to a legally binding target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050, and a reduction of 51% by 2030 (compared to 2018 levels). It includes an overall renewable energy target of 80% by 2030. Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment Act) 2021 The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 requires us, in law, to pursue and achieve no later than 2050, the transition to a climate resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally-sustainable and climate neutral economy. The Act requires local authorities to prepare individual Climate Action Plans to include both mitigation and adaptation measures, and for these to be updated every five years. It provides for annual reviews of the National Climate Action Plan and the development of a national long term climate action strategy every five years. Project Ireland 2040 (National Planning Framework and National Development Plan) The National Planning Framework’s national strategic outcomes of a Transition to a Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Society (NSO 8), Compact Growth (NSO 1), Sustainable Mobility (NSO 4), and the Sustainable Management of Water, Waste and other Environmental Resources (NSO 9) ensure that climate action is enshrined in spatial planning to enable a national transition to a competitive low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050. These outcomes are supported by National Planning Objective 54 – an objective to reduce our carbon footprint by integrating climate action into the planning system in support of national targets for climate policy mitigation and adaptation objectives, as well as targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Programme for Government 2020 Strong focus on climate action including a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7% a year on average over the next 10 years.

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   County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 36 Chapter 4 Climate Change Table 4.3: Regional Policy Context REGIONAL POLICY CONTEXT The Northern and Western Regional Assembly The Northern and Western Regional Assembly RSES accords with the European Growth Strategy, PO2 -“ A Greener, carbon-free Europe, implementing the Paris Agreement and investing in energy transition, renewables and the fight against climate change.” , achieved through a suite of Regional Policy Objectives. Climate Action Regional Office The Atlantic Seaboard North CARO is one of 4 regional offices and is mandated to: • Drive Climate Action & Build Capacity within Local Government Sector; • Coordinate Engagement across Various Agencies and Government Departments; • Translate Sectoral Efforts to Local Level; • Build on Climate Action Experience & Expertise Table 4.4: Local Authority Policy Context LOCAL AUTHORITY POLICY CONTEXT Local Authority Climate Action Plan 2024-2029 (or any updates of the foregoing) Sets out the strategic goals, objective and actions for climate mitigation and adaptation in County Donegal over a 5 year period until 2029, as required by the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021

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    County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030 (As Varied) 37

Source Donegal County Council: County Donegal Development Plan 2024–2030 (As Varied) (2024–2030) · 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.