Did you know that?
House completions in County Kilkenny have experienced a decline in recent years, from an output of 1,544 units in 2007 to 244 units in 2011.
A key element of the settlement strategy is the hierarchy of towns, which sets out the role of various towns and villages in the county and the services that should be provided in the various categories of urban centre. The current County Settlement hierarchy is as follows:
|
Gateway |
Waterford (Ferrybank/Belview) |
|
Hub |
Kilkenny |
|
Large Town |
New Ross Environs |
|
District Towns |
Callan, Castlecomer, Graiguenamanagh & Thomastown |
|
Smaller Towns/Villages |
Local Area Plans e.g. Gowran |
|
Smaller settlements |
|
Under the current Settlement strategy, a total of 58 settlements have been classified based on their size and range of function, and from a social, economic and community perspective. A settlement hierarchy is important as it influences the investment programmes of various sections of the Council, such as Water Services, Roads etc. In a time of scarce resources, it is important that investment will be targeted in the right places and that it will support and underpin the settlement hierarchy. As discussed under the Population topic, the Regional Planning Guidelines for the South East (2010) project that Kilkenny’s population will increase by 14,000 persons to 2020. This equates to an estimated housing requirement of approximately 2,600 units during the life time of the plan (2014-2020). The updated County Development Plan will have to determine how and where to accommodate this additional housing stock.
Questions:
Is Kilkenny achieving its objective to provide quality housing located in balanced sustainable communities?
Do you think there is a need for a more /less restrictive rural housing policy ?
What type and scale of employment, shopping, service, leisure and recreational activities should we provide for in town, village and local centres?
