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Superseded Replaced by National Planning Framework: First Revision.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.

1. Page 41

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   Donegal Donegal is spatially unique within the island of Ireland, due to its extensive coastline and proximate relationship to Northern Ireland. Historically, the North Western part of the island has demonstrated significant resilience in competing within its peripheral environment and is characterised by cross border dependencies, between Donegal and Derry/Strabane, related to employment, education, healthcare and retail activity. Addressing enhanced connectivity is a priority for this regional area as well as enabling growth and competitiveness to support the strong links that exist between Letterkenny and Northern Ireland. While a co-ordinated strategy exists through the North-West Growth Partnership, there is scope to further reflect this approach in a regional and local spatial planning context to ensure that Letterkenny and environs has the capacity to grow sustainably and secure investment in the context of the cross-border North-West Gateway Initiative. North-West As a regional centre, Sligo serves a large hinterland that extends beyond County Sligo into surrounding counties, to include parts of Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon, supported in particular by nearby county towns. Sligo’s significance as a centre of employment and services is much greater than its scale in terms of population. The presence of strong employment sectors such as Pharma and Engineering, Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), cultural institutions and health services indicate latent capacity for Sligo to enhance its regional role. This can be achieved through building critical mass of population and further employment, in tandem with enhanced accessibility and quality of life. Given the importance of regional interdependencies, this must be in partnership with other places and institutions. For example, the emerging Connacht-Ulster Alliance Technological University (Galway-Mayo IT, IT Sligo and Letterkenny IT) is a collaborative network approach to regional development extending throughout the North-Western Assembly region as a whole. It will be necessary to prepare a co-ordinated strategy for Sligo at both regional and town level to ensure that the Town can grow sustainably and secure investment as a key regional centre. 39Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

2. Page 42

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   Cavan-Monaghan/North East Within the Northern and Western region, most of County Cavan and County Monaghan have a more easterly focus than elsewhere. They 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. Addressing economic resilience and connectivity will be strategic priorities for this area. The maintenance of seamless cross-border movement for people, goods and services, together with improvements in digital and physical infrastructure will create new opportunities to leverage employment and for sustainable population growth, focused on the county towns. Enhanced connectivity would result in this area being strategically located almost equidistant between the Dublin, Belfast and Derry City regions in terms of time, as well as distance. West Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon comprise the Western regional area. Galway City exerts a strong influence in much of the southern part of this area and a Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP) will be prepared for the Galway Metropolitan area through the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy process. Improved north-south connectivity, focused on a network of regional assets such as Higher Education Institutes, the M17 and Ireland West-Knock Airport and a strengthening of the urban and employment structure of the wider North-Western region, will provide new opportunities, to be complemented by enhanced east-west accessibility. The Atlantic Economic Corridor initiative (see case study) seeks to build on this potential, supported by developments such as the emerging Connacht-Ulster Alliance Technological University (Galway-Mayo IT, IT Sligo and Letterkenny IT). Ireland West-Knock Airport has a significant role in tourism and enterprise development, with potential for further growth taking particular account of its designation as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ). County Mayo functions with a high degree of selfcontainment, focused on several strong centres of employment and services, all of which could accommodate greater population as well as further jobs growth. Much of Roscommon functionally operates as part of the Midland region, focused on Athlone, which is partly located within the County, whereas the northern part of the County is influenced by proximity to Sligo and Leitrim. Given the importance of regional interdependencies, this will require a co-ordinated approach at both regional and county/town level, to ensure that Athlone and its environs can grow sustainably and secure investment as the key regional centre in the Midlands, extending into parts of Galway and Roscommon. More broadly for the West, tailoring policy approaches to capitalise on quality of life and sectoral strengths such as agri-food, energy, tourism and the marine, and to incentivise town and village renewal through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, will also be important. 40Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

3. Page 43

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   Atlantic Economic Corridor The Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC) is the term applied to a linear network along the Western seaboard, stretching from Kerry to Donegal, which has the potential to act as a key enabler for the regional growth objectives of the National Planning Framework. The corridor straddles parts of both the Northern and Western Region and the Southern Regions, with the potential to further extend its scope by building on the cross-Border relationship between Letterkenny and Northern Ireland, and into Cork City and County to the south. The overarching objective of the AEC initiative is to maximise the infrastructure, talent and enterprise assets along the western seaboard and to combine the economic hubs, clusters and catchments of the area to attract investment, improve competitiveness, support job creation and contribute to an improved quality of life for the people who live there. The lack of highquality connectivity between the regions within the AEC has been a major impediment to its development as a counter-balance to Dublin and the East coast. The improvement of regional connectivity along the Western seaboard, linking together the major urban areas to allow the AEC achieve its potential, is a major priority. The AEC is a collaborative initiative, driven by business representatives and communities and supported by national and local government, State agencies and Third Level Institutions. The Government recognises the contribution which the AEC initiative can make to achieving the objectives of the NPF and will continue to support the development of this initiative. Key future planning and development and place-making policy priorities for the Northern and Western Region include: Developing and implementing a comprehensive and strategic metropolitan area spatial plan for Galway city, to enable its continued strategic development in a transformational and urban rejuvenation focused manner, with a special focus on capitalising on the potential of underutilised and publicly owned and centrally located sites and activating their potential to boost the population and economic output levels of central areas. Enhancing the city-region like functions performed by Sligo in line with its statutory development plan, activating the potential for further rejuvenation and renewal of its core and further enhancing its connectivity in a national and regional context to ensure wider accessibility of relevant services and amenities. Further implementation of the strategic partnership between the Donegal and Derry local authorities in the context of the further enhancement of the North West Gateway Initiative area, delivering a wide range of economic, infrastructural, community and public service functions in the wider northwest. More effective strategic planning and co-ordination of the future development of nationally and regionally strategic places, including points straddling boundaries with neighbouring regions, like Athlone and Letterkenny which are focal points for large geographical areas reaching into much of this and neighbouring regions in economic and employment, transport, education and public service delivery and retailing terms. Supporting the emerging and ongoing development, at both local and community levels, of the network of both urban and rural places working together for regional benefit under the Atlantic Economic Corridor initiative, including university and higher education and research alliances, and improved connectivity. Integrated planning, management and development of the areas traversed by the Wild Atlantic Way to maximise both the quality and integrity of the visitor experience and the added benefit in economic terms, especially for rural and local communities. Supported by the Rural and Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, shaping and informing delivery of city, rural town a nd village rural rejuvenation priorities, harnessing 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 in an integrated manner. Harnessing the potential of the region in renewable energy terms across the technological spectrum from wind and solar to biomass and wave 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 other routes. CASE STUDY 41Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

4. Page 44

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   Galway City and Metropolitan Area Galway has been Ireland’s most rapidly developing urban area for half a century and is a key driver for the west of Ireland. The City is located at a pivotal point on the Atlantic Economic Corridor, from where the influence of Ireland’s southern Atlantic cities (Cork and Limerick) extends northwards. The Galway Metropolitan area shares many of the challenges arising from growth and economic success with much larger cities. In common with Dublin, Galway needs to accommodate a greater proportion of the growth it generates within its metropolitan boundaries. Challenges to be addressed include housing choice and affordability, transport/ mobility and urban quality, especially outside the core-city centre area. Galway needs to both address recent growth legacy issues and build on key strengths, including a world class med-tech cluster, third level institutions embedded within the City, a vibrant arts and cultural scene, year round tourism and an attractive natural setting. All of these factors contribute to a positive national reputation. 42Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

5. Page 45

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   Key future growth enablers for Galway include: Delivering a number of regeneration projects to extend and intensify the City Centre, including the Station, Docks and Headford Road areas; Identifying infill and regeneration opportunities to intensify housing and employment development throughout inner suburban areas; Progressing the sustainable development of new greenfield areas for housing and the development of supporting public transport and infrastructure, such as at Ardaun; Improving access and sustainable transport links to, and integration with, the existing employment areas to the east of the City at Parkmore, Ballybrit and Mervue; The continued expansion of the city’s third level institutions and integration with the city and region; Determining the sustainable future development of the Galway Airport site for employment and/or residential use together with supporting facilities and infrastructure; Provision of a Citywide public transport network, with enhanced accessibility between existing and proposed residential areas and the City Centre, third level institutions and the employment areas to the east of the city; Public realm and urban amenity projects, focused on streets and public spaces, particularly in support of an extended city centre area and where residential and employment areas can be linked to pedestrian routes; Development of a strategic cycleway network with a number of high capacity flagship routes; Delivery of the Galway City Ring Road; Delivery of the Galway East Main Drainage Waste Water Treatment Plant; Ensuring that water supply and wastewater needs are met by new national projects to enhance Galway’s water supply and increase waste water treatment capacity; Improving sustainability in terms of energy, waste management and resource efficiency and water, to include district heating and water conservation. 43Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

6. Page 46

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   3.4 Southern Region Key elements of this Region include the three cities and wider city-regions of Cork, Limerick and Waterford and their associated ports and the international airports at Cork and Shannon, a network of large towns, including county towns, many of which provide employment and functional roles much greater than their population scale, an extensive network of smaller towns and villages, many of which play regionally strategic roles, especially in remoter and peninsular parts of the region and a contrasting rural landscape that ranges from the Atlantic seaboard to rich productive agricultural lands and river valleys. The three city regions, both individually and collectively are a key asset of the region and will play a major role in both driving and accommodating a significant proportion of the additional 380,000 people anticipated in the overall region by 2040, taking its population to almost 2 million people. The big challenge for this Region in the period to 2040, will be to position its cities as more significantly scaled, while also more compact and attractive, acting as metropolitan drivers for the region as a whole and as effective complements to the economic strength of Dublin. Ensuring a balanced approach in activating and realising much underutilised potential in wider rural towns and dispersed communities will also be a priority. SOUTHERN REGION 44Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

7. Page 47

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   Mid-West Counties Clare, Limerick and much of County Tipperary comprise the Mid-Western regional area, focused on Limerick City and the River Shannon estuary, also extending into the northern part of County Kerry. A Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP) will be prepared for the Limerick Metropolitan area, incorporating Shannon, through the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy process. Although focused on Limerick City and key employment and infrastructure assets at Shannon and Foynes, this regional area is supported by a strong rural economy and a varied network of towns and villages. Shannon Airport has an established role as a key travel and enterprise hub for the region, with potential for further growth. Future growth will be based on leveraging national and international connectivity, higher education capacity and quality of life to secure strategic investment. This must be underpinned by sustainable employment and housing development, focused on the broader Limerick- Shannon Metropolitan area and a strengthening of the urban cores of the county towns and principal settlements, as well as in rural areas. South-East Counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford, as well as the southern part of County Tipperary are included in this regional area. Although it has a strong urban structure, much of this area is rural in character and includes some of Ireland’s most productive agricultural land. A Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP) will be prepared for the Waterford Metropolitan area through the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy process. Strategically located between Cork and Dublin, with a network of large towns, the southeast has capacity for improved growth, but has not had a focus sufficient in scale to drive the sustained development of the region as a whole. Regional opportunities to leverage growth include national and international connectivity, especially via ports proximate to continental Europe, such as Belview and Rosslare-Europort, strengthening HEIs and further balanced employment and housing development in key settlements and county towns. This must be based on infrastructure and quality of life, rather than long distance commuting to Dublin, as is apparent in part of counties Carlow and Wexford in particular. 45Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

8. Page 48

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   South-West Counties Cork and Kerry and Cork City comprise the South-West regional area. A Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP) for the Cork Metropolitan Area, including Cork Harbour, will be prepared through the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy process. This will also build on work previously undertaken as part of the non-statutory Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP), addressing both the CASP Study Area and North and West Cork. Located beyond the Cork City functional area, North and West Cork share similarities with neighbouring County Kerry, being more rural in character, with extensive coastline, supported by a variety of large and small towns. Many of these settlements have a high degree of self-containment, operating as significant local employment and service centres for a large rural hinterland. While employment, infrastructure and strengthening small towns and rural communities are priorities throughout this regional area, within the CASP Study Area, there will also be a focus on more balanced and compact, connected growth. This means that housing development should be based on employment growth, higher densities, access to amenities and sustainable transport modes, in order to avoid long-distance commuting patterns and quality of life impacts. This also applies to the larger towns in this regional area, but elsewhere, in common with other western seaboard counties, tailoring policy approaches to capitalise on quality of life and sectoral strengths such as agri-food, energy, tourism and the marine, and to incentivise town and village renewal through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, will also be important. 46Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

9. Page 49

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   Key future planning and development and place-making policy priorities for this Region include: Developing and implementing comprehensive and strategic metropolitan area spatial plans for Cork, Limerick and Waterford cities that secure long-term transformational and rejuvenation-focused city development, with a special emphasis on capitalising on the potential of underutilised and publicly owned and centrally located sites and activating their potential to boost the population and economic output levels of city centre areas as drivers for wider regions. Allied to strategies to deliver more compact urban development in the main cities, to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of transport links between the cities to enable them to function in concert with each other and harness their complementary strengths in an increasingly networked manner. Measures to support the integrated development of remoter parts of this region, particularly rural peninsular areas and towns on its western seaboard, including the ongoing investment in the transport and communications area, particularly in the roll-out of the national broadband scheme and further promotion and development of attractions to capitalise on underutilised potential in the tourism and local enterprise areas. 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 rejuvenation priorities programme, to shape and inform delivery of the Regeneration and Development Fund and identifying significant ready-to-go city, rural town and village and rural rejuvenation priorities harnessing 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. Integrated planning, management and development of the areas traversed by the Wild Atlantic Way to maximise both the quality and integrity of the visitor experience and the added benefit in economic terms, especially for rural and local communities. Harnessing the potential of the region in renewable energy terms across the technological spectrum from wind and solar to biomass and 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. Developing a more integrated network of greenways, blueways and peatways to support the diversification of rural and regional economies and promote more sustainable forms of travel and activity based recreation. 47Project Ireland 2040 | Building Ireland’s Future | National Planning Framework

10. Page 50

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    Cork City and Metropolitan Area Cork already performs well as a major urban centre in Ireland and the City has positioned itself as an emerging medium-sized European centre of growth and innovation. Building on this potential is critical to further enhancing Ireland’s metropolitan profile. This requires an ambitious vision for Cork, at the heart of which must be an internationally competitive, sustainable urban environment. This means providing housing, transport, amenities and energy systems in a best practice European context. One of the greatest challenges in achieving significant growth that will move the Cork metropolitan region to the next level is addressing the long term decline of the City’s urban population. There is positive evidence of this in the 2016 Census and it will continue to be important to attract additional people and jobs to existing, established parts of the City. It is also necessary to grow and diversify Cork’s employment base. This means creating the conditions to attract and retain talented innovators and entrepreneurs and to be accessible to investors. A key part of addressing this is an enhanced urban environment, including better housing choice and quality, new employment locations, improved public spaces and enhanced public transport as well as safe and pleasant options for walking and cycling. It is also necessary to improve regional connectivity in tandem with urban growth strategies for Cork, Limerick and Waterford. Average journey times per km by road from Cork to the Cities of Limerick, Waterford and Galway should be equivalent to those from Dublin. At present average journey times per km from Cork are up to 30-40% slower per km travelled than from Dublin to the other Cities. Further to completion of the Lower Lee Flood Relief Scheme, the issue of flood management must be addressed as part of any future growth strategy for Cork, particularly in relation to areas of the City adjoining the River Lee. 48Project 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.