Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Those were important contributions. It is an important debate. Deputy Ó Broin is correct that I have a huge interest in this area. We have both stood on stage in the past. I am director of a theatre company for young audiences and it is always a struggle to find appropriate spaces to put on performances. It was a hugely important part of what we discussed when we put the programme for Government together around the town centre first policy and especially what the future uses of our urban centres will be.

The doughnut effect is happening where we have ribbon development and retail development on the edge of towns where everything is car-centred and it has hollowed out many important regional towns. However, it is catered for and can be catered for in other areas, especially through arts and cultural strategies of local authorities and the development plan process. I participated in one of the workshops at the Chocolate Factory on the nighttime economy. From listening to the round-table discussions, I can see that important work is ongoing that the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has led on, not only from the policy side and trying to facilitate it, but also in ensuring that arts bodies and organisations are funded to do the important work they do. There are other elements around young people and spaces for young people in our urban centres. There are issues around public participation and a lot of good collaborative work is ongoing, including in Callan in my county, Kilkenny. Local economic community plans, led by the local community development committees, LCDCs, are important to this, as are works around the town centre first policy. Town teams have been established in quite a few towns. Sligo and Dundalk come to mind. A huge amount of work is ongoing. When the Deputies talk about buildings and spaces being available, many are in private ownership.

We have seen the exit of banks from many towns. There are also post offices, courthouses and other buildings that could be repurposed and reused. The Government announced the town centre first heritage revival scheme, the THRIVE fund, a number of weeks ago. The urban renewal and development fund, URDF, is also available. There is funding in place for towns that are creative and imaginative in the repurposing of buildings that could be put back into use if custodianship issues were resolved.

For the development plan process and designing public spaces, it is critical that local authorities have town architects. Good urban planning makes a considerable difference to the reuse and creative use of public spaces, which can be multiuse spaces, in our urban centres. I have seen many good examples of some of the work that is ongoing across the country. It is better framed in that way. I absolutely appreciate the drive behind these amendments and these are important issues as we try to reimagine our urban centres. There are guidelines for planning authorities in respect of sustainable residential developments and the mix and distribution of uses. Those guidelines state that in city and town centres, planning authorities should plan for a diverse range of uses, including retail, cultural and residential uses, and for the adaption and reuse of existing building stock. It is about the creativity of local authorities and local authority members and the participation of the wider community.

The Bill includes an obligation to prepare a strategy for the "creation, improvement and preservation of sustainable places and communities". Section 46(2) states:

The strategy shall include objectives for: (a) the provision, or the facilitation of the provision, improvement, extension and preservation of amenities, facilities and services to meet the social, community, recreational and cultural requirements...

That obligation is in the Bill. As I have stated, it is important to be mindful of the other elements of work that are already ongoing and the competencies of the local authorities.