The Town Renewal Act, 2000, made detailed provision for the operation of the town renewal scheme and in particular provided that county councils would exercise an independent proactive role in the selection of towns and the selection of sites and the preparation of the town renewal plans themselves. It is appropriate that county councils who are in the best position to engage in the type of cross-sectoral consultation with relevant local interests which is required under the scheme, carry out this role.
In doing so they were assisted by the detailed guidelines issued to them; these set out the purposes and aims of the schemes, the criteria to be used in selecting towns for which plans are to be prepared, and advice on the approach to be followed in preparing their plans, including selecting sites for designation. County councils were advised that the extent of designation must necessarily be limited and well targeted and that only sites that clearly fulfilled the objectives of the plans should be designated. The award of incentives can only be justified where it can be shown that they will assist in overcoming identifiable barriers to development.