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The Draft Waterford County Development Plan, which has gone
on display, proposes a major rezoning of development land
in the county, about 70 - 90 per cent of the 800 hectares
zoned in the previous plan.
Land developers and builders stand to lose millions as the
projected need for development land is slashed and developments
are to be shelved where essential services, such as water
and sewage, cannot be provided. This applies to many coastline
villages that were earmarked for development.
The plan
is one of the first development plans produced by local authorities
covering the next six years.
One of the maps on display shows large tracts of land, acquired
in recent years by developers at astronomical prices, reverting
to agricultural use in the environs of Waterford city.
Two centres - Dungarvan and Tramore - have been designated
as the main development centres, with a total of 34 hectares
of land zoned for the purpose. New planning policies are proposed
to develop the towns of Portlaw and Lismore.
Special attention has been given to policies encouraging
the development of nature and heritage sites, such as the
Comeragh Mountain Park. The Waterford biodiversity action
plan, wetland protection and river basin management plans
and the built environment also will be emphasised.
Encompassing 26 different policy-framing documents and directed
by the guidelines on national and regional planning, the draft
development plan takes into account the considerable changes
that have occurred since the last development plan was agreed
in 2005.
The council’s director of planning, Brian White, says that,
although Co Waterford does not have the rates base or industrial
base to pay for the kind of services people have in mind,
this was a stronger plan than the last.
Co Waterford’s rate base is lower than that of Clonmel or
Kilkenny city and is the third lowest in the Republic after
Longford and Leitrim.
The projection is that the county’s population, which was
62,213 in the 2006 census, will reach a target of 74,233 by
2017.
The number of housing units needed up to 2017 is 10,264,
while there is a surplus of land that could accommodate 18,446
more units. The county does not have “ghost estates,” Mr White
notes.
However, he states that there are 9 to 12 unfinished estates
- three or four of which are in chronic difficulty.
Source - The Irish Times
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