Development plan · Monaghan County Council
Monaghan County Development Plan 2025–2031
The council's development plan written statement: its strategy, policies, objectives and development standards.
Monaghan County Council · 2025–2031 · 376 pages
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- 1.20 ECONOMIC CONTEXT The Development Plan has an important role in driving significant economic development within the County by emphasising the importance of the renewal and regeneration of our towns and villages, especially where they have strengths, opportunities or assets that can be supported. It is also an aim of this Plan to strengthen rural communities by supporting agricultural diversification, tourism and opportunities for rural economic growth where local employment opportunities can be provided. There have been welcome advancements in the commercial and industrial environment of the County over the last plan period. The continued success of business operations in the County provides much needed local employment opportunities and the importance of building the established local indigenous industry on the small to medium scale cannot be overestimated. The development contribution scheme which is applicable to any development taking place within County Monaghan has the lowest rates nationally. The levels of office floorspace have not grown significantly throughout the County since the previous plan period. The M-Tek and C-Tek complexes are assisting in establishing business hubs in the two largest towns of the County. The challenge for this Plan is to maintain an appropriate level of growth that provides increased employment opportunities that helps to retain and grow the County’s population within an attractive living environment. Figure 1.6 provides a comparison of the employment levels in the County by broad industrial sector with those of the state in 2022. 39 Environment, Energy and Climate ActionEnvironment, Energy and Climate Actionintroductionchapter 01 FIGURE 1.5 NI CAR TRIPS CROSSING THE BORDER TO ROI Source: NPF Issues and Choices Paper, February 2017
- 40 Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031 FIGURE 1.6 PERSONS AT WORK OR UNEMPLOYED IN COUNTY MONAGHAN BY OCCUPATION AND SEX 2022 Source: Central Statistics Office, Ireland
- Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031 chapter 02 core strategy 41
- 2.0 INTRODUCTION Section 10 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) requires that a development plan shall include ‘a core strategy which shows that development objectives in the development plan are consistent, as far as practicable, with national and regional development objectives set out in the National Planning Framework and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy and with specific planning policy requirements specified in guidelines’ issued by the Minister. The core strategy of the County Development Plan recognises the role of settlements in driving the development of the County but also identifies the scope of development possible for the County, while remaining consistent with national and regional policy. It also identifies the quantum and location of development for the plan period, consistent with the population targets and settlement hierarchy that reflects the availability of existing services, planned investment, sequential development and environmental requirements. 2.1 NATIONAL AND REGIONAL POLICY CONTEXT The National Planning Framework (NPF) 2040 is a highlevel strategy that will shape growth and development in Ireland to the year 2040. As a framework document it sets in sequence a process by which more detailed planning documents must follow, including the relevant Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) and County Development Plan. It sets out ten National Strategic Outcomes (NSOs) which underpin the overarching vision for the Country and serve as shared goals, as depicted in Figure 2.1. The NPF contains a number of National Policy Objectives which set out a framework for making cities, towns and villages more attractive and ‘liveable’ with a target of 30% of new housing to be within the existing urban footprint of our towns and villages. Within this context, under National Policy Objective 11, the NPF applies a ‘presumption in favour of development that can encourage more people and generate more jobs and activity within existing cities, towns and villages’ and under National Policy Objective 16 it targets the ‘reversal of rural decline in the core of small towns and villages through sustainable targeted measures that address vacant premises and deliver sustainable reuse and regeneration outcomes.’ Having regard to the foregoing, the main aims of the Core Strategy are: k To provide for and support strong and sustainable development over the lifetime of the Plan. k To approach the overall development of the County in an inclusive and integrated way to make sure all aspects of development occur in a consistent manner. k To ensure the best use of the County’s resources to support the sustainable development of infrastructure, amenities and economic investment in the area. k To achieve a dynamic and vibrant living and working environment for the County’s population by making the most of economic, social and physical development for the benefit of communities and visitors alike. k To identify the scope of development needed to support future population growth. k To promote and support the integration of land use and transport, public transport accessibility, and to encourage a modal shift to greater use of sustainable modes of transport, including walking, cycling and public transport. k To examine and assess existing housing and settlement patterns to ensure all decisions are informed and evidence based. 42 Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031 CORE STRATEGY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE CSSO 1 To ensure that new development within the County will provide for sustainable and balanced development that enables economic growth, delivery of accessible and high-quality infrastructure and services, and guides population growth in accordance with the settlement strategy.
- The NPF sets out projected populations for the regions and counties until 2031 (refer to Figure 2.2). The projected population for Monaghan County by 2031 is between 69,000 and 71,000. The NPF Implementation Roadmap population projection for County Monaghan in 2026 is between 67,000 and 68,000 (refer to Figure 2.2), which represents an average annual growth of between 560 and 660 persons between 2016 and 2026. When extrapolated, this average annual growth envisaged a County Monaghan population of between 64,800 and 65,500 by 2022. Census 2022 indicates that the population of County Monaghan was 65,288, and therefore the County’s population is growing in accordance with the projections set out in the NPF. 43 Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031 core strategychapter 02 FIGURE 2.1 NPF NATIONAL STRATEGIC OUTCOMES FIGURE 2.2 TRANSITIONAL REGIONAL AND COUNTY POPULATION PROJECTIONS TO 2031 Source: National Planning Framework, page 13. Source: Implementation Roadmap for the National Planning Framework, Appendix 2, page 14.
- 44 One of the five growth ambitions of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) for the Northern and Western Regional Assembly 2020-2032 states ‘Compact growth will be pursued to ensure sustainable growth of more compact urban and rural settlements, supported by jobs, houses, services and amenities, rather than continued sprawl and unplanned, uneconomic growth.’ Regional Policy Objective RPO 3.2 aims to ‘deliver at least 30% of all new homes that are targeted in settlements with a population of at least 1,500 within the existing built-up footprints’, while Regional Policy Objective RPO 3.13 seeks ‘to support the role of smaller and medium sized towns, which demonstrate an important role in terms of service provision and employment for their catchments within the economic function of the county. Such settlements will be identified through the Development Plan process as part of the Settlement Hierarchy and the Core Strategy.’ Therefore, this Core Strategy seeks to manage the growth of the towns of Monaghan, Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Clones and Ballybay having regard to this target and their respective roles and functions. Regional Policy Objective RPO 3.4 seeks ‘to support the regeneration and renewal of small towns and villages in rural areas’, while Regional Policy Objective RPO 3.3 has a target to ‘deliver at least 20% of all new housing in rural areas on brownfield sites.’ Therefore, this Core Strategy seeks to implement these objectives in a sustainable manner in respect to the villages and rural area. The aim of this Core Strategy is to provide for sustainable and measured growth in order to meet the projected population growth and housing requirements for County Monaghan over this plan period consistent with both the NPF and RSES. 2.2 HOUSING SUPPLY TARGETS In 2020 the Housing Supply Target Methodology for Development Planning Guidelines were issued by DHLGH under Section 28 of the Act 2000 (as amended). The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist planning authorities in appropriately integrating, in a consistent and coherent approach, the strategic national and regional population parameters into their statutory planning processes, including the preparation of the County Development Plan and the preparation of the Housing Strategy, informed by the Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) process. The Department commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to further develop work previously undertaken for the NPF to provide a nationally integrated and standardised evidence base for local authorities to estimate overall housing demand. The ESRI research applied an econometric and demographic projection model to four different development scenarios: k Baseline – projecting a ‘business as usual’ scenario which is based on current trends and mediumterm projections for the Irish economy. k NPF 50:50 City – consistent with the NPF strategy. k High Migration – incorporating assumptions around high international migration flows into Ireland based on higher economic growth than the baseline. k Low Migration – incorporating assumptions around lower international migration flows into Ireland based on lower economic growth than the baseline. The NPF 50:50 City scenario is broadly consistent with the NPF and consequently, the 2018 NPF ‘Roadmap’ document and the population parameters specified therein. Therefore, the identified NPF 50:50 City scenario is the recommended housing demand scenario to be used in planning for the provision of housing to meet projected levels of demand in accordance with the NPF strategy. The housing demand and supply figures for the County issued with the Guidelines envisages a total of 2,184 houses to be delivered in County Monaghan between 2020 and 2026 and a total of 3,641 houses to be delivered between 2020 and 2031, inclusive of those houses that were not delivered in the years 2017 (77), 2018 (163), and 2019 (13). For the purpose of informing the Core Strategy a Housing Supply Target Methodology (HSTM) Table has been prepared for the plan period using the most up to date figures at time of writing in relation to house completions from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to determine unmet demand to be incorporated within the plan period. A simplified version of this HSTM table is contained within Section 3.4.2 Housing in Chapter 3 – Housing Strategy. 2.3 HOUSING NEED AND DEMAND ASSESSMENT 2023-2031 POPULATION PROJECTIONS Using the HNDA Toolkit issued with the Housing Supply Target Methodology for Development Planning Guidelines, the County Monaghan Housing Need and Demand Assessment 2023-2031 (HNDA) projected a county population of 63,373 by 2022 under the NPF 50:50 City Scenario and up to 64,360 under the High Migration Scenario. Census 2022 indicates that the population of County Monaghan was 65,288, which exceeds the projected figures in all four projected population scenarios (refer to Figure 2.3), and therefore the County’s population is growing in excess of all of the projection scenarios set out. Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031
- 2.4 PROJECTED POPULATION GROWTH – 2025-2031 The population of County Monaghan increased between 2016 and 2022 by 6.4%, an average annual growth of 1.06%, which is significantly greater than the previous population growth for the period between 2011 and 2016, which only had a marginal increase of 1.05%. The projected population growth for the County for the period 2016 to 2026 and also to 2031 is set out within the NPF. National trends, including trends in net migration, and unemployment levels impact on population trends. The number of people migrating from County Monaghan is anticipated to be limited over the plan period due to the improved economic situation, local investment in public facilities, and quality of life factors. Having regard to these considerations, along with recent demographic trends and increased economic activity, both nationally and locally, a rational assumption is being presented that an annual population growth will follow the trend of the last intercensal period which had an average increase of 1.06% per annum. This rate will provide for growth in the County over the plan period. 45 FIGURE 2.3 POPULATION PROJECTIONS FOR COUNTY MONAGHAN, 2020-2031 (ESRI/HNDA TOOLKIT) Source: County Monaghan Housing Need and Demand Assessment, 2023 – 2031, Page 49. TABLE 2.1 COUNTY MONAGHAN POPULATION TARGETS 2025 – 2031 2022 Population Projected Rate of Population Growth Projected Population by 2031 2022 - 2031 65,288 Total Population of County Monaghan 71,516 persons to have an average annual growth rate persons of 1.06% persons An aim for this strategy is to build strong urban centres and protect the rural hinterlands. Census 2022 indicated that there was 37.9% of the County’s population living in the urban settlements designated as Tier 1-4 settlements in the Monaghan County Development Plan 2019-2025. Notably, this figure relates to the built-up area boundary of these settlements, as defined for the purposes of Census 2022, but excludes some areas considered to constitute part of the five towns and the 14 villages. Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031 core strategychapter 02
- This Core Strategy sets out to increase that to at least 40% over the plan period in order to assist in the regeneration of the settlements and to ensure that the social and physical infrastructure of the County is being used as efficiently as is possible. This will be done through: k Focusing on achieving more intense growth in the County town in accordance with the target set out in the NPF and RSES, whilst establishing a hierarchy of settlements capable of providing a range of services and employment to their local populations and hinterlands. k Promoting the implementation of the principles and approaches set out in Town Centre First. k Pursuing the compact urban growth of towns and villages through the development of lands within the existing urban footprint. k Only permitting development in the rural areas which is appropriate to the rural setting, including those which are consistent with agricultural diversification, to support the strengthening of towns and villages and promote sustainable transport patterns. k Providing for low density development of residential units on suitable sites within the designated settlements in order to provide an alternative house type choice to rural one-off housing. k Recognising environmentally sensitive areas within the County which need to be protected but not precluded from appropriate uses and/or development. 2.5 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY The Core Strategy must also consider the economic function of the designated settlements to ensure the focus of growth is commensurate to the size and function of the settlements within the County. Chapter 4 (Economic Development) of this Development Plan outlines the approach to economic development within the County and sets out policies and objectives to support the economic development of the County. Supporting economic development is however interlinked with the aims and objectives of other chapters of the Development Plan, particularly in relation to infrastructure provision as detailed in Chapter 7 Transport and Infrastructure of this Development Plan. The Economic Development Strategy of this Development Plan is informed by national policy, and the framework set out by the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the Northern and Western Region (RSES) and Monaghan County Council’s Local Economic and Community Plan 2023 – 2029 (LECP). Consideration has also been taken of recent data sets, particularly information relating to the population and employment within the 2022 Census. The overall aim of the Economic Development Strategy, and the policy objectives and strategies contained within Chapter 4, is to promote County Monaghan as a local and regional centre of trade, business and tourism, and to build on its strong spirit of enterprise to create a dynamic local economy with job creation at its heart. Increased jobs creation will support the sustainable growth of our towns and county overall, allowing more people who live in County Monaghan, to work in County Monaghan. The key area of focus of the Economic Development Strategy is the spatial element of economic activity, and specifically the provision of suitable lands for economic development in appropriate locations, which have been assessed as being appropriately serviced or have potential to be serviced during the lifetime of the Development Plan. Given the dominant employment sectors within the County, with a strong engineering, manufacturing and agri-food industry base, it is important that lands are included in locations which are close to transport links and accessible by means of active travel. It is also important to include lands in proximity to existing enterprises, to establish clusters of enterprises. The Development Plan will also seek to manage the growth of rural enterprises, in a sustainable manner, in recognition of the contribution which indigenous rural enterprises makes in providing employment opportunities to the County’s population. This will be facilitated through specific objectives and policies. The Settlement Hierarchy sets out a vision for how the County, and settlement tiers are expected to grow during the lifetime of the Development Plan. The quantum of land zoned for Industry, Enterprise and Employment use allocated to each settlement will take account of the settlements position in the settlement hierarchy and its role and function. Monaghan Town, being the Key Town should be promoted for significant future development. Carrickmacross and Castleblayney play important functions as secondary tier settlements. The policies and objectives contained within Chapter 4 Economic Development, seek to ensure that future economic development occurs in the appropriate places, commensurate with the Settlement Hierarchy. In accordance with NPO 9 of the NPF, Monaghan Town is designated as a Key Town within the RSES and therefore is identified for significant rates of population growth of 30% or more above Census 2016 population 46 Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031
- levels which was 7,678. This means that Monaghan Town should achieve a population of at least 10,000 by 2040. To ensure this target is met, Monaghan Town must achieve a population of 9,200 by the end of this development plan period. However, it is considered that to achieve a suitable critical mass for this Key Town, a population target of 9,700 persons by 2031 should be strived for. It is acknowledged that the 2022 population figure for Monaghan town was 7,894, an increase of 216 persons in 6 years. To increase this growth rate a revised focus will be placed on driving compact growth, inward investment, town regeneration schemes such as Dublin Street North, Dublin Street South Regeneration Plans and Roosky Lands Master Plan along with the application of the Derelict Sites Act. An additional objective MTSO 2 has been included in Chapter 10 Monaghan Town Settlement Plan 2025-2031 to support this focus. Monaghan is the primary economic growth town to be promoted for regional enterprise where critical mass is a core objective to justify strategic infrastructure provision. Thus, Monaghan Town is designated as a Tier 1 settlement. Carrickmacross, which is identified in the RSES as a town with strategic potential on a regional scale, and Castleblayney, both have experienced strong population growth in the County over the last number of census periods. Both towns are identified as secondary economic centres whereby capacity exists to provide new employment opportunities in these strategic locations which are very accessible both to the rest of the County, and the wider surrounding region, including the M1 motorway, Dundalk, the Greater Dublin Area and the Eastern Economic (Dublin – Belfast) Corridor. Furthermore, these towns have the potential to provide employment opportunities that build on the existing assets of the towns, which will assist in reducing long distance commuting patterns and developing more sustainable communities. Thus, Carrickmacross and Castleblayney are designated as Tier 2 settlements and have projected population growth of 15.2% and 12.7% respectively over the plan period. The towns of Clones and Ballybay will be encouraged to create new local employment opportunities as well as providing services to the population within their hinterlands. Thus, Clones and Ballybay are designated as Tier 3 settlements. As Clones experienced moderate population growth over the last census period and National Policy Objective 3a within the NPF aims to “Deliver at least 40% of all new homes nationally within the built-up footprints existing settlements”, these towns have projected population growth of 13.2% and 12.5% respectively over the plan period. The larger villages will also be encouraged to create new local employment opportunities as well as providing services to the population within their hinterlands. In previous Monaghan County Development Plans ten large villages comprising of Ballinode, Emyvale, Glaslough, Inniskeen, Newbliss, Rockcorry, Scotshouse, Scotsown, Smithborough, and Threemilehouse were designated as Tier 4 settlements. However, in recognition of the growth of Annyalla, Clontibret North, Doohamlet and Oram in recent times, these four villages are also now designated as Tier 4 settlements. As National Policy Objective 3a within the NPF aims to “Deliver at least 40% of all new homes nationally within the built-up footprints existing settlements” these villages have projected population growth of 6.8% over the plan period. The wider rural area will continue to provide for employment generating uses that are locational based including, but not limited to, agri-business, rural based tourism and renewable energy projects. As detailed in Table 2.1, the population of County Monaghan is projected to grow to 71,516 persons by 2031. In order to promote regeneration, consolidation and growth in the settlements, a sufficient proportion of the County’s population growth has been allocated to them, based on their role and function. The allocations of population growth are presented in Table 2.2. 47 Monaghan County Development Plan 2025 – 2031 core strategychapter 02
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