James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 136: To ask the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government when it is envisaged that he will review the National Spatial Strategy 2002 - 2020 which is based around a framework for gateways and hubs, ignoring capital county towns, such as Longford and Portlaoise in the midlands region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18088/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The 2002 National Spatial Strategy is a 20 year planning framework designed to achieve a better balance of social, economic and physical development and population growth between regions. It provides the spatial vision and principles for statutory regional planning across the eight regions and for development plans at a local level.

The NSS identified nine gateway cities/towns and nine hub towns, including the linked midlands gateway of Athlone, Mullingar and Tullamore. The gateway in this region was identified as having the capacity to support the stronger urban-rural structure needed to drive development of the midlands region. In support of this gateway role, as the NSS notes, other county and large towns, such as Portlaoise and Longford, which are strategically placed on national road and rail links, can be enhanced in competitive terms to drive development at the county level. In addition, the NSS notes that Portlaoise has strong national development potential as a transport hub and distribution centre or inland 'port', given its location on several national road and rail routes.

A comprehensive review of the implementation of the NSS was undertaken during 2010, culminating in the publication in October 2010 of the NSS Update and Outlook Report (available at www.environ.ie). This report reaffirms the commitment to implementing long-term planning frameworks such as the NSS and identifies new priorities and objectives to deliver more consistent implementation at all levels, taking account of experience since 2002 and the new environmental, budgetary and economic challenges that we are currently facing. In particular, the 2010 Report identifies a series of actions in respect of:

· better alignment and prioritisation of sectoral infrastructure investment;

· improved governance at national, regional and local levels; and

· the promotion of more sustainable patterns of development, both in rural and urban contexts, through more effective, evidence-based planning policies,

with the aim of maximising the role of NSS implementation in supporting overall economic recovery.

In addition, the adoption of updated Regional Planning Guidelines in 2010 for the 12 year period to 2022 and the new legislative provisions to include core strategies in development plans, taking account of regional policies, targets and priorities, are further embedding the NSS principles into the forward-planning process and should help to deliver more co-ordinated, coherent and sustainable planning outcomes.