Project Ireland 2040: National Planning Framework

Superseded Replaced by National Planning Framework: First Revision. It is kept because plans made while it was in force refer to it.

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   National Policy Objective 3a Deliver at least 40% of all new homes nationally, within the built-up footprint of existing settlements17. National Policy Objective 3b Deliver at least half (50%) of all new homes that are targeted in the five Cities and suburbs of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford, within their existing built-up footprints18. National Policy Objective 3c Deliver at least 30% of all new homes that are targeted in settlements other than the five Cities and their suburbs, within their existing built-up footprints19. A summary of the key national targets for structuring overall national growth, promoting regional parity, building accessible centres of scale and securing compact and sustainable growth is set out in the table below: Table 2.1 | The NPF at a Glance: Targeted Pattern of Growth, 2040 National Policy Objective Eastern and Midland Southern Northern and Western 1. Growing Our Regions + 490,000 - 540,000 people (2.85m total) +320,000 in employment (1.34m total) + 340,000 - 380,000 people (2m total) +225,000 in employment (880,000 total) +160,000 - 180,000 people (1m total) +115,000 in employment (450,000 total) 2. Building Stronger Regions: Accessible Centres of Scale20 Dublin City and Suburbs: +235,000 - 290,000 people (at least 1.41 million total) Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy to set out a strategic development framework for the Region, leading with the key role of Athlone in the Midlands and the Drogheda-Dundalk- Newry cross-border network Cork City and Suburbs: +105,000 - 125,000 people (at least 315,000 total) Limerick City and Suburbs: +50,000 - 55,000 people (at least 145,000 total) Waterford City and Suburbs: +30,000 - 35,000 people (at least 85,000 total) Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy to set out a strategic development framework for the Region Galway City and Suburbs: +40,000 - 45,000 people (at least 120,000 total) RSES to set out a strategic development framework for the Region, leading with the key role of Sligo in the North-West, Athlone in the Midlands and the Letterkenny-Derry crossborder network 3. Compact, Smart, Sustainable Growth 50% of new city housing within existing Dublin City and suburbs footprint 30% all new housing elsewhere, within existing urban footprints 50% new city housing on within existing Cork, Limerick and Waterford Cities and Suburbs footprints 30% all new housing elsewhere, within existing urban footprints 50% of new city housing within existing Galway City and suburbs footprint 30% all new housing elsewhere, within existing urban footprints 29Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   3.1 Strategic Development of Ireland’s Regions Regional governance and regional development are essential cogs for translating and delivering national policy at a local scale. The three Regional Assemblies are tasked to co-ordinate, promote and support the strategic planning and sustainable development of the regions. Each of the Regional Assemblies has a leadership role to play in identifying regional policies and coordinating initiatives that support the delivery and implementation of national planning policy. The primary vehicle for this is the preparation and implementation of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies. These strategies will provide regional level strategic planning and economic policy in support of the implementation of the National Planning Framework and provide a greater level of focus around the National Policy Objectives and National Strategic Outcomes of the NPF. While each of the three regions is distinct, they do not operate in isolation from each other and there are many complementing and connecting assets shared between regions. For both the Eastern and Midland and the Northern and Western Regions, interaction with Northern Ireland is a critical consideration. Due to the strategic national and regional nature of some development proposals, a consistent policy approach to regional and economic planning will also be important. This section outlines high level planning and placemaking policies and enablers to help shape the strategic development of our regions. Effective Regional Development 30Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   DONEGAL SLIGO MAYO ROSCOMMON LEITRIM CAVAN MONAGHAN LOUTH MEATH LONGFORD KILDARE DUBLIN WICKLOW WESTMEATH GALWAY CLARE LIMERICK KERRY CORK WATERFORD WEXFORD KILKENNY CARLOW TIPPERARY LAOIS OFFALY Dublin Waterford Cork Limerick Galway Derry Belfast Newry Dundalk Sligo Letterkenny Athlone Drogheda NORTHERN & WESTERN REGION EASTERN & MIDLAND REGION NORTHERN IRELAND SOUTHERN REGION Figure 3.1 | Ireland’s Regional Assembly Areas and Northern Ireland 31Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   3.2 Eastern and Midland Region The Eastern and Midland part of Ireland will, by 2040, be a Region of around 2.85 million people, at least half a million more than today. The Region’s most significant place-making challenge will be to plan and deliver future development in a way that enhances and reinforces its urban and rural structure and moves more towards self-sustaining, rather than commuter driven activity, therefore allowing its various city, metropolitan, town, village and rural components to play to their strengths, while above all, moving away from a sprawl-led development model. This Region is one of significant contrasts, encompassing Dublin and its wider commuting catchment into surrounding and nearby counties and towns, some of which have grown very rapidly in recent decades to significant scale, particularly where located along motorway and railway corridors. Beyond Dublin and the principal transport corridors, the Region is more rural in character, with variation both within the counties adjoining Dublin and between the Mid-Eastern counties and the Midlands. All counties within this Region together with their main towns are strategically placed in a national context. One of the most significant spatial development changes in recent years has been driven by the rising economic strength of Dublin, rapidly improving transport connectivity and issues such as housing cost. This has given rise to more intensive interactions between Dublin and various towns along the key road and rail routes, including the Dublin-Belfast corridor and settlements along it that function like a linear urban network, as well as wider rural areas, creating both self-sustaining economic and overspill commuterdriven development. In the wider Mid-East Region, the rapid growth experienced by many towns in recent decades was mainly driven by housing, rather than jobscentred development. An integrated approach to the development of these and similar towns is a priority, but playing to local strengths and securing employment opportunities to drive self-sustaining, rather than mainly housing-led development. EASTERN AND MIDLAND REGION 32Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   Mid-East The strategic location of counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, proximate to the Capital, has in part, resulted in significant development in a region characterised by the dominance of Dublin. The Mid- East has experienced high levels of population growth in recent decades, at more than twice the national growth rate. Managing the challenges of future growth is critical to this regional area. A more balanced and sustainable pattern of development, with a greater focus on addressing employment creation, local infrastructure needs and addressing the legacy of rapid growth, must be prioritised. This means that housing development should be primarily based on employment growth, accessibility by sustainable transport modes and quality of life, rather than unsustainable commuting patterns. Midlands The Midlands Regional area comprises counties Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath. These counties are not located immediately adjacent to Dublin, but the wider influence of the Metropolitan area has resulted in some settlements in this regional area experiencing substantial population growth at an unsustainable rate, while others have experienced decline. The location of the Midlands is strategically important, bordering both the Northern and Western, and Southern Regions. Its central location in Ireland can be leveraged to enable significant strategic investment to a greater extent than at present, supported by a sustainable pattern of population growth, with a focus on strategic national employment and infrastructure development, quality of life and a strengthening of the urban cores of the county towns and other principal settlements. Due to strategic location and scale of population, employment and services, Athlone has an influence that extends to part of all three Regional Assembly areas. Given the importance of regional interdependencies, it will be necessary to prepare a co-ordinated strategy for Athlone at both regional and town level, to ensure that the town and environs has the capacity to grow sustainably and to secure investment, as the key regional centre in the Midlands. The Eastern and Midland part of Ireland will, by 2040, be a Region of around 2.85 million people, at least half a million more than today. 33Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   Louth/North-East While County Louth is located in the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly area, the North-East is a functional area that comprises part of two Regional Assembly areas that also includes most of County Cavan and County Monaghan in the Northern and Western Region. The key driver for this regional area is the Dublin-Belfast cross-border network, focused on Drogheda, Dundalk and Newry. The significant influence of Dublin and the crossborder network extends to the county towns and other settlements within the north-eastern regional area as well as to Fingal and parts of County Meath. In identifying opportunities for leveraged employment and sustainable population growth, development must be supported by enhanced connectivity, quality of life, strengthened urban cores and more compact housing in urban settlements. This is to protect and manage the strategic capacity of transport infrastructure and to ensure that the distinctiveness of settlements and rural areas is maintained. It will be necessary to prepare co-ordinated strategies for Dundalk and Drogheda at both regional and town level to ensure that they have the capacity to grow sustainably and secure investment as key centres on the Drogheda-Dundalk-Newry cross-border network. The Eastern and Midland part of Ireland will, by 2040, be a Region of around 2.85 million people, at least half a million more than today. 34Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   Key future planning and development and place-making policy priorities for the Eastern and Midland Region include: Enabling the complementary development of large and county towns in the wider Greater Dublin Area and Midland areas on the key strategic and public transport routes in a regionally co-ordinated manner, with an enhanced emphasis on measures to promote self-sustaining economic and employment based development opportunities to match and catch-up on rapid phases of housing delivery in recent years. More effective strategic planning and coordination of the future development of nationally and regionally strategic locations at points that straddle boundaries between this and neighbouring regions as in the example of Athlone, which is a focal point for an area reaching into much of this and neighbouring regions in economic and employment, transport, education and public service delivery and retailing terms. A focused approach to compact, sequential and sustainable development of the larger urban areas along the Dublin – Belfast economic and transport corridor, along which there are settlements with significant populations such as Dundalk and Drogheda. More emphasis on consolidating the development of places that grew rapidly in the past decade or so with large scale commuter driven housing development with a particular focus on addressing local community and amenity facility provision in many of the larger commuter towns through targeted investment under relevant NPF National Strategic Outcomes. Preparing and implementing a regional priorities programme, to shape and inform delivery of the Regeneration and Development Initiative. Part of this programme should identify significant readyto-go city, rural town and village and rural rejuvenation priorities which could harness publicly owned land and other assets that are not being used actively at present such as former healthcare, military, transport and other complexes and combining the potential of such assets with community and wider private and public sector support and investment to bring about the transformation of both urban and rural areas and places in an integrated manner. Tourism development and promotional branding to ensure that areas like the Midlands and Lakelands areas are developed and promoted in such a way as to play their full part in tapping the economic potential of regional and rural areas in the region. Harnessing the potential of the region in renewable energy terms across the technological spectrum from wind and solar to biomass and, where applicable, wave energy, focusing in particular on the extensive tracts of publicly owned peat extraction areas in order to enable a managed transition of the local economies of such areas in gaining the economic benefits of greener energy. Building on the progress made in developing an integrated network of greenways, blueways and peatways, that will support the diversification of rural and regional economies and promote more sustainable forms of travel and activity based recreation utilising canal and former rail and other routes. 35Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   Dublin’s functional reach extends beyond the four constituent local authorities and as a capital city competes internationally to attract talent and investment. While Dublin has generally performed well in recent years, key challenges relate to housing affordability, transport and urban amenities/liveability. Dublin needs to accommodate a greater proportion of the growth it generates within its metropolitan boundaries and to offer improved housing choice, transport mobility and quality of life. Dublin also needs to become a greener, more environmentally sustainable city in line with international competitors. At a metropolitan scale, this will require focus on a number of large regeneration and redevelopment projects, particularly with regard to underutilised land within the canals and the M50 ring and a more compact urban form, facilitated through well designed higher density development. It will also require significant green-field development, on sites that can be integrated with the existing built-up area of the city and serviced by high capacity public transport, many of which are already designated as Strategic Development Zones (SDZs). This requires a holistic approach to ensure that residential and employment development is served by transport, infrastructure and amenities. It also means ensuring that smaller scale opportunities for infill and brownfield development are realised. Dublin’s continued performance is critical to Ireland’s competitiveness. Improving the strategic infrastructure required to sustain growth will be a key priority as part of the Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP), and will include enhanced airport and port access and capacity, expansion and improvement of the bus, DART and Luas/Metro networks and several national public service delivery projects, such as the Children’s Hospital, that will also serve the country as a whole. Dublin City and Metropolitan Area 36Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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   Identifying a number of ambitious largescale regeneration areas for the provision of new housing and employment throughout the city and metropolitan area and the measures required to facilitate them as integrated, sustainable development projects; Progressing the sustainable development of new greenfield areas for housing, especially those on public transport corridors, such as Adamstown, Cherrywood, Clonburris and Clongriffin; Determining a limited number of accessible locations for significant people-intensive employment to complement the city-centre and docklands areas; Enabling enhanced opportunities for existing communities as development and diversification occurs, particularly through employment, learning and education support; Relocating less intensive uses outside the M50 ring in particular and from the existing built-up area generally; Delivering the key rail projects set out in the Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area including Metro Link, DART expansion and the Luas green line link to Metro Link; The development of an improved bus-based system, with better orbital connectivity and integration with other transport networks; Ensuring that water supply and waste-water needs are met by new national projects to enhance the city’s and the wider Greater Dublin Area’s water supply and increase waste water treatment capacity; Improving sustainability in terms of energy, waste and water, to include district heating and water conservation; Public realm and urban amenity projects, focused on streets and public spaces, especially in the area between the canals and where linked to social regeneration projects; Measures to enhance and better link the existing network of green spaces, including the Phoenix Park and other parks, Dublin Bay and the canals, subject to carrying out a routing study and any necessary environmental assessments; Delivery of the metropolitan cycle network set out in the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan inclusive of key commuter routes and urban greenways on the canal, river and coastal corridors; Improving access to Dublin Airport, to include improved public transport access, connections from the road network from the west and north and in the longer term, consideration of heavy rail access to facilitate direct services from the national rail network in the context of potential future electrification; Facilitating the growth of Dublin Port through greater efficiency, limited expansion into Dublin Harbour and improved road access, particularly to/from the southern port area; Improving sustainability in terms of energy, waste management and resource efficiency and water, to include district heating and water conservation. Key future growth enablers for Dublin include: 37Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

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    3.3 Northern and Western Region The Northern and Western region justifies a particular focus in this Framework. This is due to a historically lower level of urbanisation compared to other regions, proximity to the border and risks posed by Brexit. The spatial contrast between the five existing cities in Ireland, all south of a line from Dublin to Galway and cities in Northern Ireland such as Belfast and Derry emphasises this underdevelopment and the strategic imperative of building up the strength of this part of the Country. Such an approach would recognise and build on the facts that the Region contains both the fastest growing city in Ireland over the past 50 years (Galway), as well as places that have far reaching positive effects on their surrounding areas, well beyond what might be suggested by their scale in population terms. Significant towns such as Sligo function in their areas in a similar manner, but at a different scale to the bigger cities and their regions. Letterkenny, with Derry City and Strabane in Northern Ireland also functions as a cross-border city region. These city and city-region functions will be supported and enhanced over the lifetime of this Framework through relevant policies and investment but with a strong emphasis on securing a compact-growth development approach. Through such policies, by 2040, this will be a region of more than 1 million people, 180,000 more than today, with the biggest challenge it faces being the 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. This will be complemented by improved accessibility. NORTHERN AND WESTERN REGION 38Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

Source Government of Ireland: Project Ireland 2040: National Planning Framework (February 2018) · 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.