John McCormack on the Development Plan - Transcript of video interview

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Intro

My name is John McCormack, I'm Director of Services with Kilkenny County Council, and I have responsibility for the planning function, in addition to housing, community & culture.

What is a development plan

The Development Plan is essentially a blueprint, a strategic plan for how the people of Kilkenny see their county developing over the next five to six years. It’s the consensus view of the populace of Kilkenny about how they see their county and city developing over the next five or six years, which is the period of the plan, and it will impact big-time on the people of Kilkenny and it's important then that people realise that and have an involvement from the earliest possible stage in the process of putting that plan together so that their views are heard and a consensus view emerges through the processes that are there that are laid out and we have to follow. 

What is zoning?

Zoning structures how the county and city is going to be developed from a physical point of view. It identifies where services are required and it identifies what lands have been earmarked for development purposes based on the services that are available to and within the resources that are available to service those lands. It puts an order on development, a necessary order for the future development of the county and the city. It also protects what we have; our heritage, our culture, historic buildings, and sites within the county and the city. So it’s an important part of the development plan, but it's not the only part. The most important part would be the consensus views of the community on how their county should be developed into the future.  And zoning facilitates that.

Are there two plans for Kilkenny?

Kilkenny has two planning authorities. The county council and the borough council. The borough council for the inner core for the city. Over successive plans the city & Environs have been advanced as one plan; so it’s a joint plan for the two authorities, adopted by both authorities separately, because they're both planning authorities, but again it's part of (I’ve mentioned) the consensus view emerging; the borough and county councils agreeing what's right and what's best for the future development of the city as a whole, apart from just the inner core that the borough is responsible for. 

Ourplan – how can I stay informed?

To facilitate this process for the first time ever there's a dedicated website ourplan.kilkenny.ie which will allow members of the public, community groups, interest groups, and individuals to feed in, to log their interest and to get regular feedbacks on how the whole process is developing. And also to become involved in online forums where they can express their views.  That doesn't mean that someone can't make written submissions and attend public meetings and attend actually the formal meetings of the county council or borough council when the plans are being adopted, because they're open to the public as well. There'll be a number of public consultations at local venues and public meetings which will have themed events.

An open process…

The process would be a very open process; the council will advertise the various stages as we advance through the development plan process, in the public media, using the local press, but also on the local radio, I would expect that current affairs programmes there would be topical issues that would be picked up on, and through those debates the public would be informed as to what's happening. As I’ve mentioned, we have a dedicated website for those that are web enabled and they can access it, and then we have the planning department which is open five days a week and members of the public can come in and talk to the staff at any time about the whole process.

What happens to my submission?

Everybody who makes a submission will receive an acknowledgement. You can imagine the amount of submissions that potentially - we hope- will come in, that it's very difficult and nigh impossible to give detailed responses to all the submissions as the plan and process gets more engaging.  I would recommend to everyone that makes a submission that they would register on the dedicated website which is ourplan.kilkenny.ie and in that way they will see how the process is developing and how their submission or their views, that they have given in, and that they have thought through and that they are passionate about hopefully, how they're being taken into account, or not, because as I mentioned it's a consensus view.

Who makes the plan?

The plan is made by the representatives of the public of Kilkenny county and city, namely the county councillors and the borough councillors at their respective meetings. It’s what’s called a reserved function. This is one of the most important functions that the elected members of both authorities can perform, adopting the plan for the future development of their county.

Conclusion

We’re at a crossroads, I think the country is at a crossroads, Kilkenny is at a crossroads. We’re coming out of boom years where development plans would have led and facilitated the massive economic development that we experienced. We’re now in a more challenged environment, a period of austerity, but through those challenges come opportunities. One major opportunity for the people of Kilkenny at the moment is to be engaged in the process of the development plan, bringing the draft plan forward to the point where it’s to be adopted by the members, to lay down a blueprint, strategic plan, strategic vision for the county as to where we have to go. It’s more important now than ever, now that we need to lead ourselves back to more prosperous years and the county development plan is one way of facilitating that process.