Response to Planning Team

The response we sent to the queries forwarded to the Planning Team by Senator Mark Wall and Cathaoirleach Cllr Aoife Breslin.

Our comments and queries are in red.

Draft Athy Local Area Plan 2021 – 2027: The Facts

1. a) A Local Area Plan (LAP) is a statutory planning framework that sets out policies and objectives for the future development of a town within which a planning application or development is assessed. It is adopted by the Local Authority Elected Members through a statutory process which provides for public consultation at each stage, during which submissions or observations are invited from residents, businesses and all interested parties.

It is of importance to note that the legislative timeframes for the preparation and adoption of an LAP are set out under the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (as amended) and therefore all Local Authorities must adhere to same.

1. b) Of further importance to note, is that that specific development proposals, such as new housing developments etc., are subject to a separate independent statutory process (known as Development Management) where a planning application is lodged to the local authority (or An Bord Pleanála as the case maybe), if the development is proposed by a private developer, or by way of a Part 8 proposal if it a Local Authority who are proposing the development. In both cases, there is a statutory provision for those interested to make a submission in relation to specific proposals associated with the development. There is also an appeals process available to objectors who are unhappy with a local authority’s decision. This is dealt with by An Bord Pleanála, the independent appeals board for planning applications.

A key role of the Local Area Plan is to simply identify suitable land uses based on variety of evidence-led planning and environmental considerations as well as Ministerial Guidelines and national and government policy.

2. Regarding the issue of public awareness about publication of the Draft LAP, I can confirm that, in accordance with the legislation, an advert was placed in a newspaper circulating in the area. What was viewed as adequate in the last century really is not sufficient or acceptable in the current world. This plan, which is being delivered years after it should have been, affects every aspect of life in the town. I believe that the Council has a duty of care to the residents of Athy to inform each household of the existence of the plan and encourage engagement. Social media has a limited reach among a diverse population. As someone who has in recent years researched the sales figures for The Nationalist in the area, I am confident in stating that the numbers sold in the Athy Urban Area are in the low hundreds. Combined this equates to a tiny proportion of the population. So while communicating with the population of the area in this manner may be legal, it is, in my opinion, not adequate or right.

Details of the published Draft LAP were also made available on our social media channels, website and on our dedicated consultation portal for ease of use for members of the public. The Athy LAP and all accompanying documents along with a facility for making a submission can be found here https://consult.kildarecoco.ie/en/consultation/draft-athy-local-area-plan-2021-2027.

Please also note that the Athy LAP is on the Council press release listing on the website http://kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/PressReleasesAdverts/DraftAthyLocalAreaPlan2021-2027.html and the Draft Athy LAP is also top of the list of LAPs on the website http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/AllServices/Planning/LocalAreaPlans/LocalAreaPlans/ .

Finally, when you google ‘Draft Athy LAP’ the 1st hit is the Council consultation portal. The Sections of the LAP appear in order along the right-hand side of the Athy LAP page.

To put my response in context I should say that I have been involved in website design since 1999.

The following may appear to be a very minor point, but for me, it flags an issue, which I expect is simply the result of naivety.

You say “when you google ‘Draft Athy LAP’ the 1st hit is the Council consultation portal. The Sections of the LAP appear in order along the right-hand side of the Athy LAP page.”

This is true.

The issue is that a layperson is very unlikely to use three search words which include an abbreviation, and the word ‘Draft’.

If you Google ‘KGRG, Athy, and plan’ you will find our website is returned in the first two organic Google results.

I set the page up as a parlor trick to demonstrate that combining three or more words that do not appear in normal speech can lead to a pre-determined outcome.

If you Google the more likely searches of ‘Athy Local Area Plan’ or ‘Athy development plan’ then the first three results (down from 4 last week) for your website lead to pages without relevant links on the council website.

To summarise the point, you are correct in what you state, but your result comes from being very selective in what you input.

Therefore, one must ask whether, in areas in which I do not have the professional expertise, there are other statements that are true but only because of the way the information is presented

3. With reference to the main green area of Kingsgrove/Graysland being designated Amenity Green Space and the statement that ‘this does not protect it from being used to build more housing in accordance with government guidelines’ (sic), please note the following;

• the land use zoning map should not be interpreted in insolation and should be read in conjunction with the written statement and other supporting documents which were published with the LAP.
• The land use zoning referenced above is ‘Open Space and Amenity’ and dwellings are not permitted under this land use (See LAP page 119; Table 11.5).

Can this land-use zoning ever be altered in the future?

4. Regarding the smaller areas of open space, it should be noted that a land use zoning map associated with a Local Area Plan or Settlement Plan (in the County Development Plan) is a high-level indication of either
5. land uses which are acceptable at a particular location
6. the established and/or predominant land use in an area.

These designations are based on the consideration of a significant number of criteria and are not designed to be prescriptive to every site within a town or village. In this specific case, the areas referred to are conditioned by way of a statutory planning permission to be public open space associated with the permitted development and therefore further housing would not be permitted on these areas.

Can these lands be used for other purposes, for example, roads, pavements, cycle lanes, or similar?

In relation to connections between Kingsgrove and the undeveloped Chanterlands to the rear neither the Draft LAP or the supporting Athy Area Based Transport Assessment (ABTA) have included any proposals/measures for new roads to be constructed between the two. The LAP and ABTA do outline the possibility and desirability to create connectivity between the two areas view new walking/cycling only routes (Referred as WN11 and WN12 in the Draft LAP). As noted in 1(b) any proposal to develop the Chanterlands will be assessed through a separate development management process in which residents and interested parties will have the statutory right to make submissions as part of such a process if and when such an application is submitted.

5. See response to item 5. above. Is this response an error?

6. There are no proposals for high density apartments in the Draft Athy Local Area Plan.

Note; Section 3.3 Building Heights of the Draft LAP states;

Whilst the preferred locations of taller buildings have been identified (in accordance with mandatory Specific Planning Policy Requirements), it should be noted that this Local Area Plan places emphasis on delivering the desired densities at appropriate locations rather than focusing on increasing building heights. Achieving the sustainable residential densities envisaged in Section 3.4 will not require the development of tall buildings in Athy.’

7. The document referenced here is the non-statutory Pre-draft Issues Paper which was published in 2018, which invited submissions and observations on the future development strategy for Athy. A notice was published in the Kildare Nationalist on the 20^th March 2018 notifying the public of the Council’s intention to make a local area plan for Athy and inviting submissions over a period of 5 weeks from 20^th March 2018 to 24^th April 2018.

An informal public consultation event was held on Tuesday 10th April 2018 between 3-7pm in the Athy Community Library. This event was attended by approximately 35 people. Social Media (Facebook and Twitter) were used as a mechanism in spreading awareness of the pre-draft consultation stage and the public consultation event. The notice was circulated to 58 groups registered with the Kildare Public Participation Network in the Athy area. Overall, Kildare County Council received 76 submissions to the Draft Issues Paper. These submissions were the subject of a Chief Executive’s Report presented to the Elected Members for consideration. The submissions were also taking into consideration during the preparation of the Draft LAP.

Can I clarify that Kildare County Council was satisfied with the attendance of 35 people, which is a fraction of a percent of the population of Athy? I believe that this reinforces my point that the plan, and the specific meeting, were simply not communicated in an acceptable manner, even if the council discharged its statutory obligations.

It should be noted that preparation of LAPs was suspended nationally to provide for the adoption of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and subsequent variation of CDPs in accordance with the Planning and Development Act, 20000 (as amended).

8. At the time of publication of the Draft Athy LAP the Library was open for appointment. Whilst we do acknowledge that there are issues around access to the documents given the current public health restrictions, unfortunately these are outside of our control. Planning has been designated by the government as an essential service and therefore KCC must continue with statutory plan-making process during these. The Draft LAP and associated documents are also available for viewing at the offices of Kildare County Council by appointment. Unfortunately these are extremely uncertain times, with the situation changing now on a daily basis, the closure of the library is outside of our control.

Please note however, that the Planning Department has field several calls from Athy Residents and other interested stakeholders and copies of the Draft LAP and other documents were issued (in accordance with all appropriate Covid-19 regulations).

9. See item 4 above. The Council have no intentions of proposing housing on these areas and any other contention is wholly incorrect. The green areas identified on the map (on the newsletter) are lands specifically designated as public open space associated with the residential developments for which they serve.

As previously asked, can this land-use zoning be altered in the future?

10. Connectivity links identified in the Draft LAP (informed by an Area Based Transport Assessment) are among the various priorities to encourage the use of more sustainable modes of transport and to ensure that transport considerations are fully addressed as part of land use planning specifically walking and cycling as key sustainable travel modes. The LAP highlights indicatively locations which may facilitate improved walking and cycling movement around the town.

The delivery of any such proposals would be subject to a separate independent consent process which would involve the local residents. This provision is provided for by Objective MTO1.1

What is an ‘independent consent process’, and how is the existence of the process communicated to the residents who would be affected by the proposal?

11. Regarding the issue highlighted around the application of the requirement for 30% of new development to be within existing footprint, please note that National Policy Objective 3c of the National Planning Framework states as follows;

• Deliver at least 30% of all new homes that are targeted in settlements other than the five Cities and their suburbs, within their existing built-up footprints.
• The reference above applies to settlement other than the 5 cities and their suburbs. In fact, a 50% requirement applies in the cities and suburbs.

On a point of clarification, at no point does the LAP refer to Athy as a city, in fact, the Kildare County Development Plan and Draft Athy LAP designate it as a Self-Sustaining Growth Town (see Section 2.1.2 of the Plan for further details).

This appears to state that the figure for new development within existing footprint is 30% for Athy, which is precisely what was stated in the ‘Newsletter’. If I got this wrong, then please clarify.

A further issue that has been noted is the Evaluation of Open Space in Athy, Table 18 in the Athy Social Infrastructure Audit. The figures for future provision, while they exceed the ‘F.I.T. Standard’, are about 20% lower than the existing provision. Will this be achieved by repurposing the existing provision or reducing the provision on new projects to a very much lower figure?