Development plan · Wicklow County Council
Wicklow County Development Plan 2022–2028 – Volume 1 Written Statement
The council's development plan written statement: its strategy, policies, objectives and development standards.
Wicklow County Council · 2022–2028 · 465 pages
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- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation CHAPTER 11 TOURISM & RECREATION 11.0 Introduction Tourism and recreation make a positive contribution to the economic and social wellbeing of County Wicklow. In 2017, 275,000 overseas tourists visited the County generating revenue of €73m with a further 352,000 domestic visitors generating an estimated €53m in revenue. The tourism sector took a significant hit as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic1. The County’s tourism and recreational attractions are important assets, which form the basis of the County’s tourism industry and which are fundamental to the enjoyment of the County by both visitors and residents. Attractions range from areas of scenic beauty, which provide attractive natural bases for outdoor pursuits, such as the Wicklow mountains, which comprise mountain peaks, valleys, rivers and lakes; the coastline with long stretches of sandy beaches and dunes; and the numerous woodlands. The County has a rich heritage of archaeological and historical sites, manor homes and gardens, and attractive towns and villages. In addition, there are a number of golf and resort hotels, and adventure centres, which are within driving distance of Dublin that are attracting increasing numbers of visitors and business related events. Wicklow’s close proximity to Dublin offers significant opportunities to expand the existing tourism offer and brand for the County. With Dublin’s increasing importance as a popular destination for city-breaks, Wicklow’s scenic beauty and rich built and natural heritage provide opportunities to attract visitors from the nearby City-region. Furthermore, the County can benefit from the constrained capacity of the capital city and act as an accommodation base for those visiting Dublin and the east. While County Wicklow is a particularly attractive location for day-trippers, the additional enhancement of the visitor experience is needed to increase dwell time – particularly in the west, east and south of the County, and ensure the County fully benefits from growth in the tourism sector. The implementation of strategies and programmes by the tourism agencies aim to ensure that visitors are aware of, and directed to, a broad range of attractions across the County, thereby better managing visitor numbers at sites. Although the County must continue to provide for the positive development of tourism and recreational assets, it is necessary that these facilities are managed in a sustainable manner so as to protect against any potential detrimental impacts on the environment and local communities. In this respect, the Council is conscious that development can potentially harm and damage the assets it seeks to exploit, in particular through excessive visitor numbers, inappropriate development, various types of pollution and other forms of adverse impact. The relationship between tourism / recreation and the environment must be managed in a way that continues to support local communities and remains viable in the long term. The County’s rich heritage and wealth of natural amenities are significant assets and need to be managed in a sustainable manner. There are significant opportunities to capitalise on the potential of these assets, grow tourism and enhance the development of outdoor pursuits in a manner that respects and protects the intrinsic character of the County. This chapter will aim to promote and facilitate the development of sustainable tourism and recreation and will set out objectives to deal with land use matters pertaining to the planning and development of the tourism and recreation sectors, including general matters, tourism related developments including tourist accommodation, 1 In 2020 revenue from the tourism sector declined by €6bn – Failte Ireland CEO statement: Oireachtas Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport & the Gaeltacht
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation facilities and interpretive centres, integrated tourism/leisure/recreational complexes, tourist / recreational infrastructure and the promotion of specific tourist themes and products. 11.1 Context The tourism and recreation objectives of the County Development Plan have been prepared in line with national, regional and local strategies. The Government’s Tourism Policy Statement ‘People, Place and Policy Growing Tourism to 2025’ sets the Government’s primary objectives for tourism i.e. to increase overseas visitors and revenue and the associated employment whilst protecting our natural, built and cultural assets. The ‘Action Plan for Rural Development Realising our Rural Potential’ (Department of Rural and Community Development 2018) highlights the potential of activity tourism to contribute to economic growth in rural areas. 11.1.1 Project Ireland 2040 – National Planning Framework The NPF acknowledges that tourism is one of the sectors that will not only sustain rural employment, but also contribute to driving the national economy. ‘Enhanced Amenities and Heritage’ is identified as one of the ten national strategic outcomes. The NPF acknowledges that this ‘will require investment in well-designed public realm, which includes public spaces, parks and streets, as well as recreational infrastructure. It also includes amenities in rural areas, such as national and forest parks, activity-based tourism and trails such as greenways, blueways and peatways. This is linked to and must integrate with our built, cultural and natural heritage, which has intrinsic value in defining the character of urban and rural areas and adding to their attractiveness and sense of place’. The NPF recognises that tourism and agriculture are inextricably linked in rural areas, given that agriculture, in many places, creates and maintains the landscapes upon which tourism trades. It notes that the maintenance of access to our landscapes and the creation of new accesses are dependent on maintaining good links with the agricultural sector. Likewise, the built, cultural and natural assets which constitute the ‘raw material’ of the tourism industry are also essential to the ‘production capability’ of the sector. Tourism has the capacity to directly and indirectly sustain communities, create employment and deliver real social benefits for rural Ireland. The NPF recognises that our coastal areas are also a key driver for Ireland’s tourism sector and advocates that such a remarkable but fragile resource needs to be managed carefully to sustain its character and attributes in physical, environmental quality and biodiversity terms. Relevant National Policy Objectives NPO 22 Facilitate tourism development and in particular a National Greenways, Blueways and Peatways Strategy, which prioritises projects on the basis of achieving maximum impact and connectivity at national and regional level. NPO 23 Facilitate the development of the rural economy through supporting a sustainable and economically efficient agricultural and food sector, together with forestry, fishing and aquaculture, energy and extractive industries, the bio-economy and diversification into alternative on-farm and off-farm activities, while at the same time noting the importance of maintaining and protecting the natural landscape and built heritage which are vital to rural tourism. NPO 41a Ensure that Ireland’s coastal resource is managed to sustain its physical character and environmental quality. NPO 60 Conserve and enhance the rich qualities of natural and cultural heritage of Ireland in a manner appropriate to their significance.
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation 11.1.2 Regional Spatial & Economic Strategy (RSES) The RSES highlights that the Region is home to areas of rich heritage and immense natural beauty that support a varied tourism and recreation offering. There is an inextricable link between the Region’s landscape, agriculture and tourism offer. The vast array of built, cultural and natural assets that are the cornerstone of our tourism product need adequate resources to sustain them. Our natural and cultural landscapes are a finite resource with varying degrees of carrying capacity. The quality of our natural scenery and physical environment, built heritage, and the range of activities for visitors, are areas in which national, regional and local government have a key role to play, through conservation and preservation of that which is irreplaceable and the sustainable development of that which enhances the visitor’s overall experience. The following are identified as growth enablers for the Region: Supporting rural areas by harnessing natural resources to develop renewables, recreation and tourism opportunities including green infrastructure planning and the development of an integrated network of greenways, blueways and peatways. Promoting the Region for tourism, leisure and recreational activities including development of an integrated greenway network while ensuring that high value assets and amenities are protected and enhanced. Promoting the Region as a key destination for tourism, leisure and recreation activities and support the development of an integrated network of greenways, blueways and peatways while ensuring that high value assets and amenities are protected and enhanced. The RSES acknowledges the importance of ‘destination towns’ – ‘To come to an area, visitors need reassurance that there will be enough attractions to see and activities to do during the day, a sufficient range of accommodation options and a night-time economy to provide evening options. The most effective and efficient way to deliver this for visitors is through destination towns’. The Strategy notes that many towns already deliver these facilities and attractions. However there is scope to for improvement and investment across a wide range of services including transport links, accommodation supply, public realm attractions, restaurants, a night-time economy and visitor management. The RSES notes that there is potential to develop Wicklow-Rathnew as a recreation and tourism hub due to its attractive coastal location and its proximity to key destinations such as the Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough and Brittas Bay and the key attractions within the town including the Wicklow Gaol, the Murrough, coastal walks, beaches, architectural heritage, sports facilities and as a terminus of the planned Greystones – Wicklow Coastal Route. Relevant Regional Policy Objectives RPO 4.57 Support the development of Wicklow-Rathnew as a tourism hub having regard to its accessibility to key tourist destinations in the Region. RPO 6.8 To support the sustainable development of tourism in the Region in line with the strategic objectives of both the Ireland’s Ancient East and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands experience brand propositions. RPO 6.15 Support the preparation and implementation of Visitor Experience Development Plans within the Region to underpin the overarching regional tourism brands and to deliver greater tourism benefits and to promote the natural and cultural assets of the Region. RPO 6.16 Support working with relevant landowners and recreational/ tourism agencies to increase access to the countryside and coastal areas to ensure maintenance of the existing network. RPO 6.17 Support the maintenance of, and enhanced access to state and semi-state lands such as National Parks, Forest Parks, Waterways, etc., together with Monuments and Historic
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation Properties, for recreation and tourism purposes. Access should be planned and managed in a sustainable manner that protects environmental sensitivities, ecological corridors, and the ability of local infrastructure to support increased tourism. RPO 6.18 Support the preparation and implementation of local authority tourism strategies and diaspora strategies. All tourism strategies and plans should include clear monitoring protocols to monitor the ongoing effect of tourism on sensitive features with particular focus on natural and built heritage assets. RPO 6.21 EMRA will work with local authorities and Fáilte Ireland to identify destination towns within the Region for the prioritisation of investment and supports to drive tourism growth in the Region, to spread the benefit of tourism throughout the Region and to encourage the increase of tourism product development. 11.1.3 Fáilte Ireland Strategies In March 2015, the Government published the Tourism Policy Statement ‘People, Place and Policy – Tourism to 2025’ which sets out clear and ambitious targets for the development of Irish tourism. The ambition of this policy statement is to have a vibrant, attractive tourism sector that makes a significant contribution to employment across the country; is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable; helps promote a positive image of Ireland overseas, and is a sector in which people want to work. Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Tourism Development & Innovation A Strategy for Investment 2016 – 2022’ is a broad strategy for investment in the tourism sector and seeks to identify the areas of investment that need to focus on what will deliver sustainable growth in the Irish tourism sector resulting in higher revenue and more jobs. The tourism sector’s best prospects for growth lie in generating increased levels of overseas revenue. The focus of the Government’s 2025 Tourism Policy is to increase the economic contribution of tourism to the Irish economy, by increasing the value of tourism service exports. Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, aims to develop, guide and promote tourism as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy. Its current strategy for Wicklow is encompassed in the ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ programme. Fáilte Ireland is in the process of preparing Regional Tourism Plans for each of the four Regional Experience Brands (Dublin, Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands). The purpose of the Regional Tourism Plans is to identify the sustainable tourism development priorities that will help to unlock the commercial potential of the region bringing benefits to all stakeholders and industry. Each plan will be prepared based on the VICE model which is a methodology for working towards sustainable tourism that seeks to strike an appropriate balance between the needs of the Visitor, the Industry and Community and the Environment. The plans will be for the period to 2025 and will be grounded in Fáilte Ireland’s new Corporate Strategy. There will be a strong spatial element to the plans which will seek to identify where development should take place in order to unlock the tourism potential of the region. The Regional Tourism Plans will also provide a strategic framework for a suite of Destination and Experience Development Plans (DEDPs) which will sit underneath them. They will set out the overall goals of each of the proposed DEDPs as well as the timing and sequence for the preparation of these plans. Ireland’s Ancient East Ireland’s Ancient East (IAE) has been developed by Fáilte Ireland as a branded visitor experience encompassing the rich heritage and cultural assets that Ireland has to offer in the midlands/eastern half of the country. The initiative is designed to allow visitors peel back the layers of time and to go off the beaten track to experience thousands of years of history. Covering the South and East and part of the Midlands, it focuses on the wealth of cultural and
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation heritage attractions in the area. The new destination brand has been designed to appeal to the key customer segments – namely the Culturally Curious and the Great Escapers, and to present this large geographic area in a cohesive and unified manner. Fáilte Ireland has established a strategic partnership with the OPW which will enable key heritage assets to be opened and made accessible through a sensitive, sustainable tourism approach. The key strategic objectives of the Ireland’s Ancient East initiative are: To drive growth in international visitor numbers, tourism revenue and associated tourism employment in the regions which currently underperform in these areas. To move Ireland’s east and south from a transit and day tripping zone to a destination which attracts international overnight visitors. To develop a world class visitor experience, which delivers fully on the brand promise. To differentiate the Ireland’s East and South destination, within the international tourism marketplace, on the basis of the quality of its heritage experiences and a clear and memorable narrative, which links all experiences within it. To disperse visitor traffic across the geography by encouraging the exploration of both the well-known attractions (in some cases congested) and lesser known sites and experiences (hidden gems). To ensure Ireland’s Ancient East Regional Experience Brand is delivered in accordance with the principles of sustainable tourism, ensuring that economic, social and environmental benefits are delivered in a balanced way. Destination Experience Development Plans The role of Fáilte Ireland’s Destination Experience Development Plans (DEDP’s) for County Wicklow is to support the development of world-class experiences focused on the region’s rich ancient heritage while adding to the overall destination proposition. Wicklow has benefited previously through the Tales of Two Worlds plan which had a particular focus on the Great Houses and Gardens of the region. While that plan is now complete, Fáilte Ireland aims to continue to develop DEDPs to address experience development gaps across the region. These plans will provide the context for tourism operators and stakeholders to work in partnership, create new and improved existing visitor experiences, and communicate coherent and unified stories to the visitor. Development Guidelines for Tourism Destination Towns The Guidelines were prepared as a practical aid for the development of ‘destination towns’. A tourism destination town is defined as ‘a town in which a visitor can spend an overnight, and in which a cluster of products, services, activities and experiences are offered. It incorporates various stakeholders and intangible elements, such as its character, image and identity, and can function as a touring base for visitors’. The Guidelines note that successful destination towns work collaboratively and strategically in providing the necessary products and services to support the tourism industry. In order for a tourist to consider a town as a destination where they would stay at least one night, it must broadly have at least one attractor/asset that can drive demand, a variety of things to do and see, and a variety of places to sleep and eat. These towns have the opportunity to increase visitor dwell time and expenditure in local business and communities. The Guidelines point out that, generally the factors that make a town a quality place for residents are also what make it a good place for tourists. Strong Character & Sense of Place Rich diversity of functions and activities Adaptable urban structure to accommodate longer term changes Well-connected network of streets Priority in town centre for pedestrians Coherent, legible and attractive streetscapes Good quality and attractive public realm Survival of the main street Unlocking under-used and vacant sites Ensuring clean and safe environment Addressing traffic and congestion Integration of green spaces & linkages within and around the town
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation 11.1.4 Local Strategies Wicklow Tourism Strategy & Marketing Plan 2018 - 2023 The Strategy notes that the County is performing well but has enormous untapped potential arising from its natural and built assets, proximity to large markets and relationship to the stories and promise of Ireland’s Ancient East. It is recognised that tourism growth strategy should maximise off-peak visits, deliver business year round, be high value, attract international as well as domestic visitors and it must maximise the positive economic impact, achieving overnight stays as a priority. The Strategy identifies five priority actions as follows: Develop new accommodation; Develop the key settlements of Bray, Wicklow, Greystones, Arklow, Blessington and Enniskerry as visitor hubs; Masterplan for Glendalough; Grow thematic experiences; Develop a common narrative. County Wicklow Statement of Tourism Strategy 2017 – 2026 The Statement identifies a number of goals for tourism in Wicklow including the establishment of Wicklow as a year round destination, capture more overnight tourism, encourage the provision of alternative forms of accommodation, convert day visitors to staying visitors, integrate development of tourism infrastructure and assets and deliver sustainable development. County Wicklow Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2020 - 2025 The County Wicklow Outdoor Recreation Strategy provides a blueprint for realising the potential of Wicklow’s outdoor recreation assets in a manner which prioritises environmental sustainability. The Strategy identifies five outdoor recreations hubs / clusters – Glendalough, Rathdrum, Blessington/Baltinglass, Tinahely/Shillelagh and East Coast maritime. Objectives identified include: Expansion of the trails network, preparation of an outdoor recreation transport plan and increase awareness of environmental and cultural responsibilities. 11.2 Strategy for Tourism & Recreation Tourism services and facilities should be clustered within towns and villages. This will serve to protect the quality of the landscape and environment, foster strong links to a whole range of other economic and commercial activities, sustain the host communities and utilise existing ancillary services and facilities such as water and wastewater infrastructure, power supply etc, rather than creating a requirement for further development in the Irish landscape. The development of tourism and protection of the environment requires careful management and a balanced approach. 11.2.1 Outdoor Recreation Wicklow has excellent outdoor recreation assets including the Wicklow mountains, forests, lakes, rivers and beaches. It has the capacity to become a year round international outdoor activity destination.
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation Wicklow Mountains National Park covers 20,000 hectares making it the largest national park in Ireland. The Park is an invaluable recreational space for locals and tourists. The most visited area is Glendalough, which attracted 732,362 visitors in 2019 and was fourth on Ireland’s top ten ‘free to enter’ attractions for 2019. Powerscourt House Gardens and Waterfall was eighth on the top ten fee-charging attractions during 2018 with 487,876 visitors. The popularity of Glendalough as a tourism destination has created a number of challenges particularly in terms of access and visitor management. The County Council in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, NPWS and the OPW are in the process of creating a Visitor Experience and Management Masterplan for Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains National Park. In terms of sustainable tourism development it is important to manage access to the landscape at key points and to distribute visitors in a more sustainable manner. There is potential to expand the network of walking routes connecting with the Wicklow Way and create a worldclass network of trails. There is also potential to develop Wicklow as a destination for cycling and e-biking. 11.2.2 Tourist Hubs and Destination Towns In conjunction with Fáilte Ireland, the Planning Authority will support the development of Bray, Wicklow-Rathnew, Arklow, Greystones, Blessington, Baltinglass, Enniskerry and Rathdrum as significant tourism hubs. Many other settlements also act as tourism hubs but on a smaller scale. Many of the settlements surrounding the Wicklow Mountains act as tourist hubs including Laragh, Roundwood and Rathdrum. In addition, the Planning Authority will support the development of the south-west of the County, particularly for development related to rural, archaeological, heritage and outdoor recreational tourism and the urgent need for increased accommodation. In particular, Wicklow-Rathnew has been identified by Fáilte Ireland and the Eastern and Midlands Regional Assembly as a tourist destination town. The Planning Authority will support and facilitate the continued development of Wicklow-Rathnew as a tourist destination town. Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority and Coillte, Ireland’s largest commercial forestry company have announced plans to re-develop Avondale House and Forest Park into a state of-the-art visitor attraction. A total of €8 million will be invested in the re-development of Avondale House and Forest Park with Fáilte Ireland contributing more than €6.1million to the project. The redevelopment of Avondale House and Forest Park is hugely significant from a tourism and economic perspective for Ireland’s Ancient East and for Wicklow. The development of this new world class visitor experience provides a major opportunity for tourism businesses across Wicklow to leverage this significant investment. The development of the Avonmore Way link bridge will facilitate an important link between Rathdrum and Laragh. This will be a significant addition to the County’s tourism and recreation infrastructure. The Planning Authority will support the development of a heritage and Famine remembrance walking trail linking the villages of Carnew and Shillelagh to allow the village of Carnew to be connected to the Arklow-Shillelagh greenway and thus benefit the region’s tourism and recreation infrastructure. 11.2.3 Greenways Greenways are significant tourism assets in addition to creating opportunities to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population. They boost the appeal of a place, add value to the existing tourism offering and facilitate year-round tourism activities. The NPF highlights the work that has been done on developing greenways and blueways and notes that developing this network further will diversify our rural economy by embracing the potential for a major expansion in the demand for activity based tourism. The extension of the Blessington Greenway to a 43km route of walking and cycling incorporating the villages of Ballyknockan, Valleymount and Lackan will be an important piece of tourism infrastructure and provide economic and social benefits to the County. The development of the South Wicklow Greenway from Arklow to Shillelagh will
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation also be an important development in terms of its economic and social benefits (see also Chapter 18 ‘Green Infrastructure’). 11.2.4 Accommodation It is important to facilitate an adequate range of tourist accommodation options including hotels, self-catering, camping, glamping2 etc that will facilitate increasing the amount of overnight visitors to the county. All tourist accommodation should be primarily directed into existing settlements where existing services can be availed of and where the development will support the vibrancy of those settlements. All tourist development should be of a scale that the settlements can sustain. The Planning Authority will carefully manage the development of accommodation in the rural area to ensure that the role of settlements as tourist hubs would not be undermined. Exceptions to this include farm diversification proposals or tourist accommodation provided in association with the restoration of a historic structure including protected structures. It is important that all applications for tourist accommodation are of a high standard of design and do not unduly detract from the character of the landscape or settlement in which they are situated. 11.2.5 Strategic Objectives To facilitate the expansion of existing and the development new tourism and recreation related development, in line with the principles for sustainable tourism set out to follow; To facilitate Fáilte Ireland and Wicklow County Tourism initiatives for the development of tourism in the County; To direct tourism development primarily into settlements and facilitate the development of these settlements as tourism hubs; To facilitate the development of Bray, Wicklow-Rathnew, Arklow, Greystones, Blessington, Baltinglass and Tinahely-Carnew as year round tourism destination towns; To integrate the County’s transport and tourism strategies to promote increasingly sustainable travel patterns among visitors to the County; To ensure the effective management and enhancement of the appearance of the key settlements within the County; To protect Wicklow’s principal strengths and capitalise on the distinct tourism and recreational attractions that are on offer – scenic beauty, woodlands and waterways, coastal areas and beaches, and built and natural heritage; To facilitate the development of alternative tourism products within the County such as eco-tourism, craft/artisan centres, having regard to the ability of an applicant to demonstrate compliance with the principles of sustainable tourism; To preserve the character and distinctiveness of scenic landscapes as described in the Landscape Categories of the County set out in Chapter 17; To ensure a focus on high quality tourism and recreation facilities that are of benefit to visitors and the community alike; To protect the environmental quality of the County. Subject to the proper planning and sustainable development of an area, and subject to compliance with all other objectives of this plan, it is the objective of the Planning Authority to favourably consider development proposals that contribute towards the achievement of these strategic objectives. 2 ‘Glamping’, an upmarket style of camping and structures are usually fixed or semi-permanent, is becoming increasingly popular.
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation Fáilte Ireland has developed five key principles that ensure developments achieve a balance between appropriate tourism development and economic, environmental and social sustainability. Developments will be assessed having regard to compliance with these, as well as the listed objectives set out in Section 11.3 to follow. Principle 1: Tourism, when it is well managed and properly located, should be recognised as a positive activity which has potential to benefit the host community, the place itself and the visitor alike. Sustainable tourism planning requires a balance to be struck between the needs of the visitor, the place and the host community. Principle 2: Our landscapes, our cultural heritage, our environment and our linguistic heritage all have an intrinsic value which outweighs their value simply as a tourism asset. However sustainable tourism planning makes sure that they can continue to be enjoyed and cherished by future generations and not prejudiced simply by short term considerations. Principle 3: Built development and other activities associated with tourism should in all respects be appropriate to the character of the place in which they are situated. This applies to the scale, design and nature of the place as well as to the particular land use, economic and social requirements of the place and its surroundings. Principle 4: Strategic tourism assets – including special landscapes, important views, the setting of historic buildings and monuments, areas of cultural significance and access points to the open countryside should be safeguarded from encroachment by inappropriate development. Principle 5: Visitor accommodation, interpretation centres, and commercial / retail facilities serving the tourism sector should generally be located within established settlements thereby fostering strong links to a whole range of other economic and commercial sectors and sustaining the host communities. Sustainable tourism facilities, when properly located and managed can, especially if accessible by a range of transport modes, encourage longer visitor stays, help to extend the tourism season, and add to the vitality of settlements throughout the year. Underlying these principles for Sustainable Tourism, the definitions of economic, environmental and social sustainability against which any tourism project assessed are defined as follows: Economic sustainability must be considered to ensure that the tourism sector is managed. The key strengths of the County include landscape, heritage, natural environment, lifestyle and amenity pursuits. The sector is highly affected by seasonality and there are extremes in visitor numbers at key attractions contrasted with smaller attractions which struggle to maintain visitor numbers. These ‘peaks and troughs’ should be carefully managed to ensure the protection of natural resources. Tourism innovation should also be encouraged – particularly where it brings about environmental benefits. Finally, for projects to be economically sustainable they should meet the needs of the permanent and visitor population alike, so the preparation of robust business plans for all such developments will ensure proposals are viable and sustainable. Environmental sustainability will be central to the development and protection of a viable tourism sector and this is a key consideration in the County where tourism attractions are located in environmentally sensitive areas and close to historic areas where the quality of the built heritage and environment must be protected from inappropriate development – whether tourism related or not. Social Sustainability is arguably more difficult to assess. Many of the potentially negative impacts of tourism development can however be addressed through careful consideration of the social and cultural nature of the receiving environment. The impacts that large-scale developments can have on existing local communities can be assessed having regard to the impact of visitor numbers on local quality of life, culture and heritage – with a
- Proposed Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-20 Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028 27 Chapter 11 | Tourism and Recreation particular emphasis placed on unique areas such as culturally sensitive areas where small impacts over time may have a significant cumulative effect. 11.3 Tourism & Recreation Objectives General Objectives CPO 11.1 To promote, encourage and facilitate the development of the tourism and recreation sectors in a sustainable manner. CPO 11.2 To ensure that all tourism and recreation developments are designed to the highest quality and standards. CPO 11.3 To generally require tourism and recreation related developments to locate within existing towns and villages, except where the nature of the activity proposed renders this unfeasible or undesirable. Within existing towns and villages, the Planning Authority will promote and facilitate the development of tourist related uses at appropriate sites. In all cases, the applicant must submit a robust assessment setting out the sustainability of any proposal with respect to economic, environmental and social sustainability, as defined herein. CPO 11.4 To only permit the development of a tourism or recreational facility in a rural area in cases where the product or activity is dependent on its location in a rural situation and where it can be demonstrated that the proposed development does not adversely affect the character, environmental quality and amenity of the rural area or the vitality of any settlement and the provision of infrastructure therein. The natural resource / tourist product / tourist attraction that is essential to the activity shall be located at the site or in close proximity to the site, of the proposed development. The need to locate in a particular area must be balanced against the environmental impact of the development and benefits to the local community. CPO 11.5 The Planning Authority recognises that certain tourist facilities that are located in rural areas may be provided as stand alone development, and that ancillary uses (e.g. club house, café, restaurant, shop etc) may be required in order to ensure the long term viability of the tourist facility. Additional uses will only be permitted in cases where the additional use is integrated with and connected to the primary use of the site as a tourist facility, and in cases where the Planning Authority is satisfied that the additional use is ancillary to the primary use of the site as a tourist facility. The additional use shall be located adjacent to the tourist facility, and avail of shared infrastructure and services, insofar as possible. CPO 11.6 To ensure that tourism and recreation related developments are appropriately located in the County. Subject to the following exceptions, all tourist and recreation related developments are ‘open for consideration’3 in all landscape areas: The following tourist uses will not be permitted within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (both the Mountain Uplands Area and the Coastal Area): Static caravans and mobile homes 4, 3 Uses that are ‘open for consideration’ are uses that will only be permitted in cases where the Planning Authority is satisfied that the use would not conflict with the general objectives for that landscape area and permitted or existing uses, as well as being consistent with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and the strategies / objectives of this plan. 4 This refers to the development of any new static caravan and mobile home parks; expansion of existing facilities will be considered subject the suitability of the site, a modest scale and high quality design.
Source Wicklow County Council: Wicklow County Development Plan 2022–2028 – Volume 1 Written Statement (2022–2028) · 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.