Proposed changes to the Castlebar Town Environs Development Plan, including a New Core Strategy, are now out for public consultation. The proposed Variation of the Development Plan will see very significant changes to land use zoning and, in particular, to the phasing of development on residentially-zoned lands and some dezoning of lands. Submissions on the Development Plan Variation can now be made to Mayo County Council.
Castlebar Town and Mayo County Councils have published a Variation to the current Castlebar Town and Environs Development Plan 2008-2014, which covers all of Castlebar and its surrounding area. The Variation includes a new Core Strategy that must take account of revised population projections and, consequently, demonstrate that adequate land is zoned for residential development, without significant overzoning.
The new Core Strategy is based on population figures set out in the Regional Planning Guidelines for the West 2010-2022. The Variation states that the population growth of the Castlebar Hub between 2010 and 2014 is 953 persons, requiring approximately 397 new houses. This is a significant downward revision of the population figures in the current Development Plan.
Based on the revised population growth figures up to 2014 when the current Development Plan is due to be replaced, the Core Strategy states that there is no need for any additional residential development, having regard to incomplete or vacant units and extant permissions. Indeed, the figures suggest that, without any additional permissions, there remains a significant excess of permitted units over demand.
To address the significant excess of permitted housing units and the quantum of undeveloped residential lands, the Variation proposes to amend the zoning provisions of residential lands. It proposes 3 mechanisms, as follows: phasing; rezoning of peripheral lands to “rural character”; and rezoning flood risk areas to “rural character”. In terms of phasing, the Variation proposes to only include extant permissions and unfinished estates in Phase 1, which should deliver 760 housing units. Phase 2 lands can only be considered when 90% of Phase 1 is complete. Similarly, Phase 3 lands can only be considered when 90% of Phase 2 is complete.
The proposed Variation therefore represents a significant change to the approach to residential development in the current Plan and substantial areas are proposed for dezoning or long-term phasing. Furthermore, whilst the proposed Variation will not affect any existing current planning permission that is not yet complete, it should be noted that any request for an extension of duration of the permission will be assessed against the terms of the Plan, as Varied, and, therefore, an extension might not be granted for some sites.
The proposed Variation and associated documents are available to view on the Council’s website at http://www.mayococo.ie/en/Planning/DevelopmentPlansLocalAreaPlansandStrategies/TownCouncilandEnvironPlans/Castlebar/#d.en.16519
Submissions may be made until Friday 12th August 2011.