Vol. 501 No. 1
154 Mr. Browne (Wexford) asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason Gorey, County Wexford was excluded from his recent urban renewal announcement; if this town will qualify under his smaller towns criteria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5388/99]
Designations under the new urban renewal scheme announced last week were based on integrated area plans submitted by local authorities and in line with recommendations made by an expert advisory panel which I established to assess all the plans submitted. Guidelines for the new urban renewal scheme made it clear that in selecting areas for the preparation of integrated area plans local authorities were expected to give priority to areas in cities and towns with strong urban characteristics and the highest concentrations of physical decay and socio-economic disadvantage.
Gorey, in common with several other smaller towns, was unsuccessful in getting a recommendation for approval from the expert panel as its size made it impossible for it to meet the criteria for the new scheme and it failed to advance convincing arguments for treatment as a special case. The expert panel found, however, that many of the smaller towns which had not been recommended for designation, contained a significant amount of urban townscape which had deteriorated badly.
