Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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42. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government whether the town centre first model will be applied to suburban villages in Dublin west. [12026/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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‘Town Centre First – A Policy Approach for Irish Towns’ was launched in February 2022 as a joint initiative of my Department and the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD). Town Centre First (TCF) supports a more strategic and co-ordinated approach to the regeneration of Ireland’s urban areas. It includes a particular focus on measures to tackle vacancy and dereliction, to create more vibrant and viable places, through greater occupancy for residential purposes and to encourage more business and footfall.

The Town Centre First policy sets out an innovative approach, where local communities and local businesses, working with local authorities, can be central to re-imagining their own towns and planning their own futures. Every town is different and, therefore, the policy acknowledges that there is no one-size-fits-all approach that will work. By recognising and supporting this diversity, the policy can deliver outcomes tailored to the unique and individual needs of our towns.

The Town Centre First policy is focused, therefore, on supporting members of the local community in forming a town team to take action to develop and regenerate their town. The town teams are drawn from local residents, business people, community representatives and others, all united by a shared will to improve the place in which they live and work for the benefit of residents and visitors alike. The town team has a unique position in the community as the local experts on their area and will be empowered and supported to take a lead on the development of interventions that can make positive long-term changes for their town.

The Town Centre First policy tasks the town team with preparing a Town Centre First plan. These are non-statutory plans that will identify challenges, actions and integrated responses across a number of themes, including business-commercial, community-cultural, housing, built environment and heritage. The Town Centre First plans will serve to maximise the impact of investment from a range of funding streams available for town regeneration across a number of Departments and agencies.

The Town Centre First policy recognises the critical role the local government sector will have in co-ordinating and driving regeneration locally and in accessing the funding streams that will enable development initiatives to be realised. Local authorities are well positioned to work with their local communities in formulating specific actions at a local level in order that proposals are firmly based on local knowledge in combination with technical support and concrete delivery measures.

The Town Centre First policy is primarily aimed at towns of varying sizes that are part of the network of settlements across Ireland. Villages located as part of the suburbs of larger city areas are generally integrated into the statutory development plan of the local authority with specific zonings, development policies and objectives which will address many of the issues that a TCF Plan might seek to include. Accordingly, Section 6.4 of the TCF policy details the relationship of Town Centre First with statutory development plans and local area plans.

Local authorities often incorporate the principles of the TCF model – community participation, local action formulation and project identification - into their planning and development activities in city and suburban areas. Such approaches provide a solid basis for local communities to seek funding for local development projects through the range of schemes available including the Urban Regeneration & Development Fund, Smarter Travel, Historic Structures Fund, Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme, and the Community Sport Facilities Fund.