Tag Archives: Draft County Development Plan 2023-2029

POPULATION projections in the forthcoming County Development Plan have been described as “utterly redundant”, on foot of new Census data.  Addressing the July meeting of the local authority, Councillor Cillian Molloy pointed to figures showing a population increase in Clare of 7.2% since 2016. Meanwhile, the plan allows growth of 9.94% up to 2029. In light of that, Councillor Murphy had asked that clarity be sought from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). Referring to a response from the OPR, which said it had no comment to make, Councillor Murphy was sharply critical.  “We have already reached 75% of our future projected population growth out to 2029 even  before submissions to the draft have been taken into consideration and the unelected body, who will run a rule over what we are told repeatedly is our County Development Plan, will not offer us any clarity as to what we can do …

‘OUTSIDE influence’ was described as a major threat to the vitality of rural Clare at a meeting of a local authority committee this week.  At the briefing on the Draft County Development Plan 2023-2029, Rural Committee Chairperson Councillor Pat Hayes said the public need to know that Clare is being ‘dictated to’ by The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). In a detailed presentation, Senior Planner Helen Quinn outlined how a target of 4,500 new housing units, over the lifetime of the plan, had been set by Government. “The location of these houses is reflected in our settlement strategy,” she explained. “We are tasked with looking at areas for housing and have to identify lands for residential development which are capable of being serviced in the lifecycle of the plan.”  Councillor Joe Killeen expressed “complete disappointment” at the focus of population growth on Ennis and the Limerick-Shannon Metropolitan Area. “People will move into built-up areas and rural communities will not …