Offaly County Development Plan 2021–2027 (as varied) — Appendix 2: Settlement Capacity Audit

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 465 Appendix 2: Settlement Capacity Audit 1.0 Requirement to Carry out a Settlement Capacity Audit (SCA) The NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements Guidelines (July,2025) require planning authorities to review existing zoned land capacity. As County Offaly has an increased housing growth requirement within these guidelines, this audit will assist in identifying additional ‘New Residential’ zoned land. The SCA1, in support of Variation No.1 to the Offaly County Council Development Plan (CDP), provides a robust evidence base to assess Offaly’s infrastructural capacity using site evaluation criteria, to sustainably accommodate future residential development up to 2030, ensuring alignment of the County’s Development Plan with the National Planning Framework (NPF) – First Revision (2025) and relevant Guidelines. 2.0 National Planning Framework – First Revision The National Planning Framework (NPF) – First Revision emphasises the requirement for better linkage between the zoning of land for development and the availability of or investment in infrastructure that is required to facilitate development. The following three National Policy Objectives (NPOs) are particularly relevant in this Variation No.1 of the Offaly CDP. NPO 101: Planning authorities will be required to apply a standardised, tiered approach to differentiate between (i) zoned land that is serviced and (ii) zoned land that is serviceable within the life of the plan. NPO 102: When considering zoning land for development purposes that require investment in service infrastructure, planning authorities will make a reasonable estimate of the full cost of delivery of the specified services and prepare a report, detailing the estimated cost at draft and final plan stages. NPO 103: When considering zoning land for development purposes that cannot be serviced within the life of the relevant plan, such lands should not be zoned for development. The NPF First Revision does not define Tier 1 and Tier 2, which were previously defined within Appendix 3 of the NPF (Appendix 3, 2018). The NPF First Revision states that ‘The Tiered Approach to Zoning will continue to differentiate between zoned land that is available for development and zoned land that requires significant further investment in services for infrastructure for development to be realised’ (page 154). Accordingly, Appendix 3 of the NPF (Appendix 3, 2018) will be applied which provides a description of Tier 1 (Serviced Zoned Land) and Tier 2 (Serviceable Zoned Land) as follows: 1 Note: Data for Wastewater Capacity and Water Supply of this Settlement Capacity Audit was taken from the Uisce Éireann Capacity Register August 2025 (Source: https://www.water.ie/connections/developer-services/capacity-registers)

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 466 Table A2.1 Definition of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Tier 1: Serviced Zoned Land Land that is able to connect to existing development services i.e. road and footpath access, public lighting, foul sewer drainage, surface water drainage and water supply, for which there is service capacity available. Tier 2: Serviceable Zoned Land Land that is not currently sufficiently serviced to support new development but has the potential to become fully serviced within the life of the Plan. The potential for the delivery of the required services and / or capacity to support new development must be identified. In this regard, lands have only been identified for development where they are able to connect to existing development services for which there is service capacity available or has the potential to become fully serviced up to 2030. 3.0 SCA Methodology The Development Plan Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2022) state that the SCA should, at a minimum, identify and assess key categories of enabling infrastructure. The Guidelines acknowledge that physical infrastructure alone is not sufficient to determine a site’s suitability for development. Spatial attributes, such as proximity to the town centre, the availability of social infrastructure and access to high quality public transport corridors also have a critical role in shaping development potential. Accordingly, the SCA assesses ‘Infrastructural Requirements’ as required under the Guidelines and additional ‘Sustainable Planning Criteria’ including Compact Growth and Social Infrastructure under the ‘Site Evaluation Criteria’. This approach enables the Planning Authority to set out a classification of site suitability in terms of future development. A comprehensive assessment was undertaken of all lands zoned as ‘New Residential’ and ‘Strategic Residential Reserve’ insofar as it relates to the 17 No. settlements brought forward as part of this Variation No.1 of the Offaly CDP. Any zoned lands for ‘New Residential’ or ‘Strategic Residential Reserve’ were initially screened and then excluded from further assessment if they met any of the following parameters: • Lands that were already developed or substantially completed at the time of the audit. • Lands with a live, extant planning permission, based on the informed assumption that such sites already benefit from enabling infrastructure as confirmed through the development management process.

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 467 • Lands smaller than 1ha (applicable only in the case of the higher tier settlements of Tullamore, Birr, Edenderry, Banagher and Clara which have a population of over 1,500 people), on the basis that they would have minimal impact on existing services and infrastructure. Lands deemed to be within the scope of this audit were evaluated against a set of ‘Site Evaluation Criteria’ as follows: Site Evaluation Criteria Infrastructural Requirements • Roads • Active Travel • Public Lighting • Water Supply • Wastewater Sustainable Planning Criteria • Social Infrastructure • Compact Growth Table A2.2 Considerations for Tier Classification for the purposes of this SCA Tier 1 • No apparent infrastructure constraints. The development of the site, subject to on-site works, some minor works at access points and/or linking into available existing systems. • For the 5 No. higher tier settlements of Tullamore, Birr, Edenderry, Banagher and Clara the lands are required to meet 5 or more of the 7 listed categories in the SCA table A2.8. • For the 12 No. smaller towns and villages of Ferbane, Kilcormac Ballinagar, Cloghan, Clonbullogue, Geashill, Killeigh, Kinnitty, Moneygall, Mucklagh, Shannonbridge and Shinrone the lands are required to meet 3 or more of the 5 listed categories in the SCA table A2.9. Tier 2 • For the 5 higher tier settlements - The site is required to meet 4 or less of the 7 listed categories in the SCA table. • For the smaller towns and villages - The site is required to meet 2 or less of the 5 categories in the SCA table. Neither of the above Un-serviced lands - The land cannot reasonably be serviced up to 2030. Following an evidence-based assessment of all the settlements in the County, 17 No. settlements were identified for further investigation, as part of this SCA, to support Variation No.1 (Section 28 Ministerial Guidelines ‘NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements Guidelines’ (July 2025) of the Offaly CDP. The included settlements are:

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 468 • Key Town: Tullamore • Self-Sustaining Growth Town: Birr (including Crinkill) • Self-Sustaining Town: Edenderry • Towns: Banagher, Clara • Smaller Towns: Ferbane, Kilcormac • Villages: Ballinagar, Cloghan, Clonbullogue, Geashill, Killeigh, Kinnitty, Mucklagh, Moneygall, Shannonbridge, Shinrone. While the potential for additional development in other settlements is not set out in this proposed variation no.1 of the Offaly CDP, it is considered that the assessment and introduction of any additional zoned lands in other settlements should be undertaken through future plan variations, rather than within the scope of this Variation, the primary purpose of which is to expedite the appropriate zoning of lands in the immediate to short-term for the delivery of housing. 4.0 Infrastructure Requirements 4.0.1 Wastewater and Water Infrastructure Plan – led Approach Section 33 (5)(b) of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 as amended concerns Uisce Éireann ’s (UÉ) Water Services Strategic Plan, which sets out the strategic objectives for the delivery of water services and sets a context for investment and implementation plans. This plan is reviewed every five years with the most recent plan setting objectives to 2050. This legislation states that ‘Irish Water shall when preparing a water services strategic plan have regard to proper planning and sustainable development in line with any development plans within the meaning of the Act 2024, in particular with the integrated overall strategy and the objectives of the development plan within the meaning of Chapter 5 of Part 3 of that Act.’ Accordingly, the Core Strategy shall set the desired population allocation within the county whilst the UÉ Water Services Strategic Plan shall follow pursuit by having regard to it. Developer-led Approach As stated by Uisce Éireann in their submission on the draft Offaly County Development Plan: ‘The County is served by a large number of wastewater treatment plants. Available capacity at any plant varies daily. Where there are constraints, applications for developments are on a first come, first served basis. If no [UÉ] project is associated with a constrained area, then any infrastructure will be developer-led. UÉ can work with developers to form the best solution for a particular site’. On this basis, where there are deficiencies in the capacity of a particular wastewater treatment plant to cater for all of the proposed population allocation for a settlement that is advocated under the Development Plan, the sites that come forward first for development may be served by UÉ based on their first come first served approach, whilst later sites might require Developer-Led Infrastructure

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 469 (DLI) to finance the infrastructure. The Developer-Led Infrastructure (DLI) Initiative for wastewater services (announced by Government March 2026) enables housing developers to deliver new wastewater infrastructure as part of their housing schemes. Accordingly, it is impossible to identify the order of which sites will be developed first irrespective of the local authority encouraging sequential growth and infill / brownfield development of a settlement. Wastewater and Water Deficiencies The following two tables provide a list of deficiencies in the waste water and water infrastructure within the settlements and the investment required to be undertaken in order to address these in the short to medium term. Table A2.3 Wastewater Deficiencies Settlement Current Wastewater treatment capacity headroom Proposed Investment Edenderry No headroom capacity Increased capacity on completion of the upgrade to the treatment plant in 2030. The expectant plant design capacity is for a population equivalent of c.12,500 PE design capacity. Daingean No capacity Surface water entering the network is a problem. Offaly County Council are proposing it under the UÉ Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme for upgrading. A new upgrade is at early design stage and will be proposed by the Planning Authority. Walsh Island No headroom capacity Currently at capacity and major investment is required to upgrade the existing plant. An alteration of the treatment plant through improved aeration and improved sludge rates would increase it to 500 PE which is sufficient to cater for the projected village growth. Cloneygowan No headroom capacity No current project Rhode Limited Capacity New design will cater for 1600 PE. Offaly County Council proposing it for upgrade under the UÉ Smaller Towns and Villages Growth Programme. Bracknagh Limited Capacity No current project. Rahan Very Limited Capacity No current project.

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 470 Table A2.4 Water Deficiencies Settlement Problem Proposed Investment Tullamore Very limited / constrained water supply capacity Please refer to Proposed Investment in Water Supply Paragraph below. Birr Limited water supply capacity Please refer to Proposed Investment in Water Supply Paragraph below. Edenderry Very limited / constrained water supply capacity Refer to Proposed Investment in Water Supply Paragraph below. There are 3 supplies feeding Edenderry. One supply from Rhode is experiencing problems and a new source will be provided which would be beneficial. Portarlington (OY) Very limited / constrained water supply capacity Refer to Proposed Investment in Water Supply Paragraph below. Water is fed from Laois County Council. There are problems with supply and boreholes will be drilled on the Offaly side. Clara Limited Water Supply Clara Water Treatment Plant upgrade by 2029. Daingean Limited water supply capacity Refer to Proposed Investment Paragraph below. Kilcormac Limited water supply capacity Refer to Proposed Investment in Water Supply Paragraph below. A booster pump will be provided which will be beneficial. Mountbolus In the year 2018 the Shallow well dried up, and so water had to be tankered into the village. A search for a new bore hole will be undertaken to address this. Clonbullogue Access to site for disinfection purposes is a problem. Disinfection programme being implemented at present which will solve Clonbullogue issues. Access is being addressed. Proposed Investment in Water Supply Where there are water supply constraints, the availability of water will be on a first come, first served basis with priority given to domestic customers. Non-domestic developments will be asked by UÉ to review their proposals to reduce water requirements. In the meantime, UÉ and Offaly County Council

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 471 are continually progressing leakage reduction activities, mains rehabilitation activities and lead replacement activities. These are priorities based on leakage rates, water quality issues and ongoing disruption to customer’s supplies. UÉ and Offaly County Council will continue to monitor the performance of the network to ensure that the most urgent works are prioritised as required. UÉ’s Eastern and Midlands Regional Water Resources Plan 2022 is a 25-year strategic plan for each water supply in the region including short-, medium- and long-term options to address risk across our water supplies. However, according to UÉ although water is constrained in the above areas at critical times such as drought and freeze events, this need not necessarily halt growth. Uisce Éireann Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region Future planned water supply projects which will provide significant strategic infrastructure in County Offaly include the Shannon Pipeline Project, which forms part of Uisce Éireann’s Water Supply Project for the Eastern and Midlands Region. The project which is pending a decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála in terms of planning consent, is designed to deliver treated potable water from the Parteen Basin in County Tipperary to Peamount in County Dublin, thereby strengthening the resilience and security of water supply for the Dublin Metropolitan Area and communities located along the route in Counties Tipperary, Offaly and Westmeath. The project will establish a strategic treated water supply corridor, creating opportunities for future connections that can support the sustainable growth and development of local communities, including some within County Offaly. The overall route of the proposed main water pipeline extends for approximately 172 kilometres, of which approximately 85.5 kilometres will be located within County Offaly. It is estimated that the project will abstract approximately 2% of the average flow of the River Shannon and has the capacity to support up to 50% of Ireland’s population by 2044. As a nationally significant infrastructure project, the Shannon Pipeline represents a substantial long-term investment in water supply and delivery that will have important implications for stakeholders, landowners and communities along the route, including farming communities within County Offaly and across the wider 172-kilometre corridor extent. Ongoing and proposed water services investment will be progressed in line with Uisce Éireann’s National Water Resources Plan, Capital Investment Programmes, and in collaboration with Offaly County Council, ensuring that development is supported by appropriate, timely and sustainable water supply infrastructure, in accordance with national and regional planning policy. 4.0.2 Surface Water There are some constraints in sewer networks in various locations around the county, depending on size and scale of proposed developments. Infrastructure will have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 472 UÉ have designed a proposed Southern Interceptor Sewer for Tullamore. This will inform requirements of trunk infrastructure required to be co-located within new roads and how the flow will be connected to the existing system and to the waste water treatment plant. UÉ and the Council are continually progressing sewer rehabilitation activities, capital maintenance activities at pumping stations, and storm water over flow assessments county wide. UÉ and the Council will continue to monitor the performance of the networks to ensure that the most urgent works are prioritised as required. 4.0.3 Roads and Active Travel Site access arrangements and some road improvement works will generally be developer-led. Local Transport Plans (LTPs) have been carried out in tandem with Local Area Plans for Birr, Edenderry and Portarlington during the Development Plan period. These LTPs will help inform the location and type of infrastructure relating to movement. The LAPs include Planning and Infrastructure Assessments which themselves include an Infrastructure Delivery Schedule. Roads and Active Travel (sustainable mobility) are addressed in more detail in Chapter 8 of the CDP and in individual Settlement Plans. 4.0.4 Compact Growth National Strategic Outcome 1 of the National Planning Framework (NPF) First Revision 2025 emphasises the need for the effective implementation of compact growth. It is supported by a range of National Policy Objectives (NPOs) such as NPOs 9 and 20. NPO 9: 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 footprints and ensure compact and sequential patterns of growth. NPO 20: In meeting urban development requirements, there will be a presumption in favour of development that can encourage more people and generate more jobs and activity within existing cities, towns and villages, subject to development meeting appropriate planning standards and achieving targeted growth. The SCA aligns with the NPF’s preferred approach to compact growth by identifying and assessing the development capacity of the built-up footprint of Offaly’s settlements in a sequential manner. Compact Growth is addressed in further detail in Chapters 2, 3 and 7 of the CDP. 4.0.5 Social Infrastructure The delivery of social infrastructure is supported by a broad range of stakeholders and service providers, including, Offaly County Council, the Health Service Executive, central government departments, (including the Department of Education and the Department of Children,

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   Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 473 Disability and Equality) as well as private developers. The delivery of social infrastructure, in tandem with new residential development, is an essential component in establishing sustainable communities, a cornerstone of the CDP. Sites identified in the higher tier settlements were assessed in the SCA in relation to their location within a 800m (10-minute) and 1200m (15-minute) walking distance from social infrastructure e.g. childcare facility, primary school, post-primary school, further education facility, health care facility, sports facility, place of worship, playground and other community facilities e.g. libraries. 5.0 Site Evaluation and Classification A Traffic Light Rating System is incorporated as part of the Settlement Capacity Assessment (SCA) to visually illustrate the relative weighting of the Site Evaluation Criteria for each site. The system indicates the availability and capacity of key infrastructure and services, alongside the relevant land-use zoning proposal. The Traffic Light Rating System supports the Tier Classification by demonstrating the relative level of infrastructure and service provision for each site, as set out in Table A2.5. A detailed explanation of the individual Site Evaluation Criteria and associated ratings is provided in Table A2.7: ‘Traffic Light Matrix for Use in SCA Tables’. Within the SCA Tables, each Site Evaluation Criterion is represented by a coloured dot in accordance with the Traffic Light Matrix. These assessments are presented in Tables A2.7 and A2.8, which summarise the results of the site evaluations. Table A2.5 Meaning of Traffic Light Colours Infrastructure Provision Tier Infrastructure/services available 1 Infrastructure and services are not currently available. Investment required with delivery likely within the lifetime of the Plan 2 Infrastructure and services are not available. Investment required with delivery unlikely within the lifetime of the Plan Physical Infrastructure Maps for each of the towns and villages identify the extent of existing water mains, wastewater mains, active travel and lighting are set out hereunder. Social Infrastructure Maps are also set out hereunder in the case of the 5 higher tier settlements. These maps illustrate the proximity of infrastructure relative to a particular site and accordingly demonstrates whether a particular site is Tier 1 or 2.

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    Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Appendix 2 Settlement Capacity Audit Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Page 474 6.0 Findings The Settlement Capacity Assessment (SCA) provides a comprehensive evaluation of County Offaly’s infrastructural capacity at both settlement and individual site level, in order to determine the suitability and most appropriate locations for the zoning of additional lands for ‘New Residential’ development. The findings of this assessment are set out in Table A2.8 and A2.9. Table A2.6 Breakdown of Sites Assessed Variation Sites All SCA Sites incl Variation Settlement Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2 Tullamore 5 3 16 7 Birr 9 1 13 3 Edenderry 1 0 4 2 Banagher 2 0 4 1 Clara 4 1 6 2 Ferbane 4 0 7 2 Kilcormac 0 2 4 2 Ballinagar 2 0 4 0 Cloghan 3 2 4 2 Clonbullogue 0 1 2 1 Geashill 1 0 2 0 Killeigh 3 1 4 1 Kinnitty 1 0 2 0 Moneygall 2 0 5 0 Mucklagh 1 1 2 1 Shannonbridge 2 0 3 0 Shinrone 0 1 3 1 Total 40 13 85 25 7.0 Capital Costs Estimates The delivery of infrastructure is funding dependent. The key funding sources for the delivery of infrastructure are set out in Chapter 14 Implementation and Monitoring. The estimation of capital costs for the required infrastructure is challenging due to a variety of parameters such as distance of rising mains, site investigations, wayleaves, landowners and contractors. UÉ has indicated that it does not have resources or capacity to carry out such an exercise and therefore no costings have been provided in terms of wastewater and water services. The Roads Section has estimated costs of approximately €26,000,000 (year 1) to €204,000,000 (year 6) on delivering roads projects (annual grants, larger strategic projects and various sources of funding)

Source Offaly County Council: Offaly County Development Plan 2021–2027 (as varied) — Appendix 2: Settlement Capacity Audit (2021–2027) · 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.