Regional strategy (RSES) · Southern Region
Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the Southern Region
The regional strategy for the Southern Region, including the Cork, Limerick–Shannon and Waterford metropolitan area strategic plans.
Southern Regional Assembly · January 2020 · 382 pages
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- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES301 Retail a. Within one year of the adoption of the RSES/ MASP a Joint Retail Strategy shall be commenced for the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area in accordance with the Retail Planning Guidelines. The Joint Retail Strategy shall include – inter aliathe defined area of the Core City Shopping Area, the location of Suburban or District Shopping Centres, a map to indicate sustainable travel routes to/from each shopping area. b. It is an objective to support Limerick City Centre in maintaining its dominant retail function in the Mid- West hierarchy. The RSES supports and promotes the continued expansion and enhancement of retail development within the City Centre. c. It is an objective to protect and enhance customer experience of visiting Limerick City Centre through facilitating a mixed expansion of services including high order comparison retailing in conjunction with service, cultural and entertainment facilities through appropriate and sensitive redevelopment and infill development. d. It is an objective to develop a distinct shopping character to increase Shannon’s attraction and to complement the retail function of Limerick city centre. Limerick Shannon MASP Policy Objective 17 8.8 | Strong Education Assets and availability of Talent Building economic resilience will require innovation, productivity and competitiveness across all sectors. A resilient economy will support job creation and the higher education institutes have a key role to play in supporting this growth. There is an increasing demand for employees to engage in upskilling, reskilling and lifelong learning to respond to changing employment patterns and demands by developing skills resilience. The Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area is home to four of Ireland’s most prestigious third level academic institutions. UL, LIT, Mary Immaculate College and Shannon College of Hotel Management (NUIG) offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate study programmes. These produce over 7,500 graduates per year in a variety of disciplines including IT, life sciences, business administration, hotel management, engineering and technology and education. The Shannon College of Hotel Management is Ireland’s only dedicated hotel management college, offering degree programmes and has a worldwide reputation for careers in business and hotel management. The Metropolitan Area offers further education and training through the Limerick Clare Education Training Board.
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES302 8.9 | HEIs addressing Social Disadvantage 8.10 | Linking Enterprise and Higher Education In many parts of Limerick city, the proportion of the population leaving school with just a primary education is considerably higher than the national average. In 18 EDs, the rate is 20% or higher, with nine EDs recording an early school leaving rate more than 30%. Solutions to these historic issues require a broad spectrum of responses such as lifelong learning and upskilling, which are advocated strongly in Chapters 4 and 6 of the RSES. Higher education institutes play an important role in addressing social disadvantage. They can provide accelerated and supported pathways and by establishing dedicated facilities to help address disadvantage in their immediate communities. The proposed development by LIT to create a large multi-use Community Engagement Gateway (CEG) facility at its northern boundary with the Moyross Regeneration Area, is a progressive initiative. The primary focus of the CEG will be a modern, vibrant and flexible facility, which will deliver new community, education and sports facilities. The CEG aims to address the low educational attainment issues prevalent in the area, by breaking down physical and psychological barriers between northside RAPID areas and the provision of a higher education facility in the community. UL plans to open a city centre campus which will support the enhancement of the city centre. This will bring up to 2000 students and over 100 staff into the heart of the City. This will support the objective of the MASP to strengthen the consolidation and regeneration of Limerick City Centre. The MASP supports the ambition of UL to develop an international identity, to expand and integrate with the city centre and to develop the proposed South Clare Economic SDZ. The enhancement of linkages between enterprise and the higher education and research is critical. This can be achieved by the provision of enterprise development programmes, accessing research opportunities and the provision of dedicated centres focusing on particular aspects of the enterprise/thirdlevel interface such as the planned Mid-West Regional Design Centre. The MASP supports initiatives such as these seeks investment to facilitate their implementation. Academies of Learning will distinguish the next phase of UL’s Co-op principle. Academies will be developed between UL and individual institutions in enterprise to build programmes of learning. Enterprise will collaborate with UL through programmes of learning devised with the University to meet the specific needs of industry. The MASP supports the ambition of the University to develop enterprise-led academies of learning demonstrating cohesion with enterprise supported by fit for purpose infrastructure. There is a need to future proof the Metropolitan Areas long-term talent stream. There are several collaborative education-industry initiatives already underway, which focus on increasing the quality and quantity of the talent stream for the Mid-West. These include the Shannon Consortium, Limerick for Engineering, Limerick for IT, a dedicated Hospitality Education & Training Centre, Regional Skills Forum, UL and Hospital Group (Clinical Research Unit). As per Chapter 7 of the RSES, this MASP acknowledges the work on Limerick as an UNESCO’s Learning City. This positions the real opportunity to communicate the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Areas selling point as a hub of internationally recognised learning excellence.
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES303 Limerick for Engineering is an industry led initiative pioneering collaboration between industry and education and training providers in the region. The primary goal of Limerick for Engineering is to increase the quality and quantity of engineering talent (apprentice, technicians and engineers) available in the region. The group is a consortium of over 50 engineering companies located across the Mid-West and reaching into Galway, who work in partnership with the education institutions including LCETB, MIC, LIT and UL to ‘increase the quality and quantity of talent’. Similarly, the consortium of companies in Limerick for IT work with the education institutes to develop and deliver specific and targeted up-skilling courses (particularly using Springboard). The model is supplying a talent pipeline for businesses across the region while allowing existing multinationals secure further operational mandates and activities, creating a virtuous circle of emerging skills and jobs. These interventions have supported the creation of over 1,000 additional jobs for the region in the past five years. The Shannon Consortium is an education partnership between UL, LIT, Mary Immaculate College and the Institute of Technology, Tralee. The Shannon Consortium is a dynamic group of institutions actively working together as equal partners to coordinate and develop specific innovations in the region. The MASP supports these and other collaborative initiatives as innovative and collaborative efforts will be the cornerstone to ensuring the sustainable growth and development of the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area. Examples of Collaboration Education and Access to Talent a. It is an objective to support the existing educational facilities in the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area which includes UL, Mary Immaculate, LIT and the Shannon College of Hotel Management as critical drivers of economic development and the fostering of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for the Metropolitan Area. b. The MASP recognises that the Mid-West Regional Enterprise Plan (REP) and the Mid-West Regional Skills Forum works collaboratively with all the agencies focusing on key actions and opportunities that the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area can offer in terms of employment generation and the fostering of the knowledge based economy, in particular relating to clustering of expertise e.g. aviation, med-tech, agri-food etc. It is an objective that the Mid-West Regional Enterprise Plan and the Mid-West Regional Skills Forum continue their work to deliver significant benefits to the Metropolitan Area and Mid-West. c. It is an objective to support investment in Higher Education Institutes, Education and Training Board, apprenticeships and skills development in the Metropolitan Area as an enabler for jobs growth. This includes, inter alia, investment in LIT, UL, associated research institutes and facilities, the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board and initiatives applied to the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area under the Mid-West Regional Skills Forum and Mid-West Regional Enterprise Plan (REP). d. It is an objective to support Limerick as a Learning City, and Limerick’s role in the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. It is also an objective to seek investment in initiatives under the Learning City initiative and to support the spread of such initiatives in the metropolitan area and region wide. e. It is an objective to support the delivery of a Regional Design Centre to provide the focus for linkages between third level institutes, private design companies and enterprise. Limerick Shannon MASP Policy Objective 18
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES304 8.11 | Tourism The MASP aims to ensure collaboration between local authorities and tourism agencies to develop attractions such as the Wild Atlantic Way, Irelands Ancient East, and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. The RSES recognises Shannon International Airport as a national and infrastructural driver of tourism growth and as an international gateway to the tourism assets of the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area, Mid-West and wider Region. Opportunities to develop tourism in the MASP area are primarily based on developing its tourism attractions and by acting as a gateway to the regional tourism assets. Limerick city offers a strong competitive advantage regarding value for money for accommodation10. The MASP supports the facilitation of visitor experience development including capital investment in flagship tourism products that can create an attraction of scale. Tourism a. It is an objective to support investment in infrastructure, utilise the existing spare capacity of Shannon International Airport and to improve road and rail accessibility to maximise the potential of tourism subject to the outcome of environmental assessments and the planning process. b. It is an objective to support the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area as a tourism destination. This will require the promotion of the tourism assets of the Mid-West SPA, subject to the outcome of environmental assessments and the planning process. c. It is an objective to ensure collaboration between Local authorities and tourism agencies to develop attractions such as the Wild Atlantic Way, Irelands Ancient East, and Ireland’s Hidden Heartland’s. Limerick Shannon MASP Policy Objective 19 10. Average nightly room rates for Limerick, as of June 2017, are €67.58, compared to €94.06 in Cork and €98.55 in Galway.
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES305 The Limerick Shannon MASP seeks to integrate sustainable economic and social development with the protection and enhancement of the natural environment whilst ensuring our transition to a climate resilient society. Place-making initiatives such as investment in public realm will create a more attractive area to live, visit and invest11. Placing significant effort and focus on the environmental pillar is central to delivering the goals of place-making. High-quality green and blue spaces are important not just for nature but health and wellbeing, particularly in the context of an increasingly urban society and increasing settlement densities12. A greater effort is needed to plan for Green and Blue infrastructure in the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area, particularly considering climate action strategies and plans. Green and blue infrastructure brings considerable value to the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area. This value needs to be recognised and used to help attract sustainable funding to ensure the benefits continue to be felt. Green and blue infrastructure should be strategically planned to enhance ecosystem services that benefit all and to create a climate resilient and adoptable society. The better integration of biodiversity into economic and development decisions will ensure better projects and will mitigate against unforeseen negative climate change consequences. Metropolitan Open Space, Recreation and Greenbelt Strategy a. It is an objective to achieve a healthy, green and connected metropolitan area through the preparation of a Metropolitan Open Space, Recreation and Greenbelt Strategy. This will require co-ordination between relevant stakeholders to deliver the sustainable development of parks, recreation and high quality public open space in the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area. This Strategy may include, inter alia: • The sustainable development of green infrastructure as an interconnected series of green spaces including (inter alia) Parks, Greenway, Blueways, natural green spaces and ecosystems. • The identification of key requirements for recreation, sports and community facilities. • Identification of a location for Regional Scale Park within the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area as well as the development of neighbourhood parks and open spaces. • Identification of measures which improve and strengthen the metropolitan area’s natural environment and habitats for flora and fauna. • The development of a Metropolitan Greenbelt Strategy in co-ordination between Limerick City and County Council and Clare County Council and relevant stakeholders. b. It is an objective to support and encourage sustainable recreation and tourism opportunities represented by the Shannon Estuary, the potential to create new walkways by linking existing areas of open space and woodland and the opportunity to develop Greenways for cycling and walking. In order to support decision-making in increasing recreation and tourism opportunities along the coastline, which is in close proximity to European Sites, the carrying capacity of SACs/SPAs will need to be established to understand what limits should be set for the extent of development. Limerick Shannon MASP Policy Objective 20 9.0 | Environment 11. Place-making is instrumental to attracting a high skilled workforce and thus ensuring the region captures sufficient human capital and talent 12. Environment an Assessment, EPA (2016)
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES306 Public Realm and Placemaking It is an objective to deliver improvements in the public realm in the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area to create more active and vibrant urban centres which are attractive as locations of choice to live, work and visit. Examples of projects which can strengthen placemaking and public realm in the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area include but are not confined to: • A ‘World Class’ Waterfront – a renaissance of Limerick’s entire Waterfront; • The ‘Limerick Cultural Centre’ – an iconic destination building on the Waterfront; • ‘Great streets’ – a transformation of the City’s three main streets – O’Connell Street, Catherine Street and Henry Street; • A new City Square/Plaza – to define the focal point or ‘heart’ of the City Centre • Colbert Station renewal – a new public transport interchange and enhanced station environment • Renewal of the Georgian Quarter – a concentrated programme to restore the Georgian part of the City to its former glory • Improvements and enhancement to Shannon Town Centre to create a sense of place, to upgrade public realm and promote redevelopment. • The enhancement of Shannon the Living Town Limerick Shannon MASP Policy Objective 21 The challenges of climate change and the transition to a low carbon society are a key component of the RSES and relevant objectives are set out in Volume 1, particularly in Chapters 2 and 5. Responding to these challenges will be particularly relevant to the MASP and the Guiding Principles for the Limerick Shannon MASP seek to develop a balanced, compact and sustainable Metropolitan Area through integrated land use and transport planning based on support for sustainable transport modes. 10.0 | Social Inclusion and Infrastructure There are significant issues relating to social deprivation in both Limerick and Shannon with parts of Limerick City identified as the most disadvantaged area in the Region. Eight of Ireland’s top ten unemployment black spots are located in the MASP area. To achieve an inclusive Metropolitan Area offering equal opportunities for all citizens and to increase the number of persons active in the labour market, a specific focus is required on access to education and training. The working population has grown significantly in recent years and the area has significant potential. Nonetheless established issues of long-term unemployment in parts of Limerick City remain. There is a requirement for focus and investment in ensuring long-term measures to systematically tackle these issues. The Limerick Shannon MASP supports ongoing collaboration with regional stakeholders to ensure that social infrastructure such as education, health and community facilities are provided and to ensure that opportunities for social as well as physical regeneration are realised. The Community Engagement Gateway planned for the LIT Campus in Moylish” is an example Limerick City is a recognised World Health Organisation (WHO) Healthy City affiliated with the National Healthy Cities and Counties Network. Healthy Limerick aims to improve health, wellbeing and quality of life by ensuring all sectors are aware of and collaborate to achieve a healthy society. Limerick is a centre for regional health care services with Limerick University Hospital, a Model 4 hospital providing major surgery, cancer treatment and care, emergency department services as well as other medical, diagnostic and therapy services. University Maternity Hospital, Limerick is the second largest maternity hospital outside of Dublin. The Bon Secours Hospital at Barrington’s is an important private health care provider in the City. The capacity for hospital expansion through intensification and redevelopment of their existing sites and/or buildings needs to be supported.
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES307 Social Inclusion a. It is an objective to seek investment in delivering actions and stakeholder initiatives of the Local Economic Community Plans (LECPs) of Limerick City and County Council and Clare County Council to strengthen community infrastructure and promote social inclusion for all citizens across all our communities b. It is an objective to seek continued investment in delivering initiatives to achieve the physical, economic, social and environmental regeneration of disadvantaged areas in the Metropolitan Area, in particular supporting the ongoing regeneration of the Limerick City RAPID areas. c. It is an objective to support the development of an inter-agency Social Enterprise Strategy to support the retention and expansion of existing social enterprises and the development of new social enterprises. Limerick Shannon MASP Policy Objective 22 Healthy Cities and Health Infrastructure a. It is an objective to seek investment in health service infrastructure within the Limerick Shannon MASP to meet existing and future regional population growth including supporting University Hospital Limerick to develop a consolidated integrated health district incorporating acute care, primary care, health education, innovation and research. b. It is an objective to grow and develop health care facilities as proposed by the University Hospital Limerick in their Strategic Plan. c. It is an objective to support the role of Limerick as a WHO Healthy City and seek investment in the delivery of recreation, environmental improvements, active travel and health services infrastructure that retains and improves on this status. Limerick Shannon MASP Policy Objective 23
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES308 Waterford Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES309 1.0 | Introduction 1.1 | Overview As Ireland’s oldest City, Waterford is long recognised as an International Gateway and Port with its origins dating back to the Viking Settlement of 914AD. The City experienced a significant expansion in the 18th century, including the establishment of Waterford Crystal in 1783. The City was the site of significant manufacturing and trade activity through to the late-20th century when changes in global economic structures and practices, amongst other factors, severely impacted its economic base. In more recent years, the city and wider area has reoriented its economic activity towards more knowledge intensive, innovation-based activity, in particular ICT and pharmaceuticals. The City and suburbs have since expanded to a population of 53,504 (2016 Census) with a wider regional population looking to the City for employment, education, health and public services as well as retail and entertainment. The National Planning Framework (NPF) has confirmed Waterford’s status as the principal urban centre of the South-East with the objective for the City to become an important driver of national growth and a ‘Regional City of Scale’ with a defined Metropolitan Area. This requires a development strategy to build Waterford’s population and employment base to drive metropolitan and regional enterprise growth in combination with surrounding urban centres. The MASP provides a high level strategic framework for the sustainable development of the Waterford Metropolitan Area based on the ambition for the City and Metropolitan area as an innovation-centred, enterprising, University City with a diverse population, a vibrant cultural sector, a thriving economy, and a significant and substantial profile that brings European and international recognition. Map 1 | The Waterford MASP Boundary
- Southern Regional Assembly | RSES310 1.2 | Spatial Definition 2.0 | Key Components & Attributes The Waterford Metropolitan Area is located around Waterford Harbour and the River Suir. It is centred on the City of Waterford and its suburbs with an extensive rural area beyond the built-up area which includes a number of small rural settlements such as Passage East, Cheekpoint, and Slieverue. The Port of Waterford is located at Belview, approximately 5km east of the City Centre. The Waterford MASP area encompasses an area of 143sq.km of which 85.05sq.km is in Waterford City and County Council and 57.60sq.km is within Kilkenny County Council. The majority of the population (89%) lives in the builtup area of the City and suburbs located mainly on the southern side of the River Suir but also extending to the north side of the river into Co. Kilkenny. The Waterford Metropolitan Area recorded a population of 59,854 in the 2016 Census. National Policy Objective 7 states that the strategy for Waterford, Cork, and Limerick is, ‘to accelerate the development of these Cities to grow by at least half, i.e. by 50% to 60% to 2040’. NPO 8 sets out the Minimum Target Population for Waterford City and Suburbs by 2040 of 81,0001. This will require targeted growth focused on significant housing and employment locations identified. Waterford Metropolitan Area a. It is an objective to strengthen the role of the Waterford Metropolitan Area as an international location of scale, a complement to Dublin and a primary driver of economic and population growth in the Southern Region. b. It is an objective to promote the Waterford Metropolitan Area as a cohesive metropolitan area with (i) the city centre as the primary location at the heart of the metropolitan area and region (ii) compact growth and regeneration of the Metropolitan Area across the city centre and suburbs, (iii) active land management initiatives to deliver housing and employment locations in a sustainable, infrastructure led manner. c. It is an objective to secure co-ordinated investment and delivery of holistic infrastructure packages across State Departments and infrastructure delivery agencies as they apply to the Waterford Metropolitan Area and seek further investments to deliver on the Metropolitan Area Goals (See Volume 3). d. Any reference to support for all plans, projects, activities and development in the MASP should be considered to refer to ‘sustainable development’ that shall be subject to appropriate feasibility studies, best practice site/route selection (to consider environmental constraints), environmental assessment including EcIA to support development management and where required, the completion of statutory SEA, EIA and AA processes as appropriate e. The MASP seeks to protect, manage and through enhanced ecological connectivity, to improve the coherence of the Natura 2000 Network in the Region. Waterford MASP Policy Objective 1 1. NPF Table 4.1
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