Vol. 572 No. 5
62 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the changes which have been made in his Department's plans and programmes for capital and current expenditure arising from the adoption of the national spatial strategy; and the details of these changes. [23630/03]
65 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government if he will make a statement on the measures taken to date to implement the national spatial strategy. [23475/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 65 together.
A wide range of measures have been put in place at national, regional and local level to implement the national spatial strategy, which is a 20 year planning framework designed to enable every part of the country to achieve its potential.
At national level, my Department is leading and overseeing the process of embedding the national spatial strategy into the policies, programmes and activities of Departments and agencies, with a view to ensuring that all relevant activities support the national spatial strategy and that the strategy directs the spatial aspects of public sector programmes, including the determination of investment priorities.
A particular emphasis is being placed on the pending mid-term review of the national development plan so as to ensure further alignment with national spatial strategy objectives. An inter-departmental steering group, similar to that which oversaw the preparation of the strategy, has been established and is now working to oversee its implementation.
At regional level, regional authorities, working in conjunction with their constituent local authorities, are making good progress on developing regional planning guidelines to roll out the national spatial strategy in more detail at regional level. The guidelines which will emerge from this process are expected to be in place in all regions by the spring of next year.
At local level, planning authorities, in consultation with relevant public agencies and the public generally, have, or are in the process of, putting in place local development frameworks and plans at the gateway and hub level to support the achievement of a critical mass of development at strategic locations. These will be coupled with complementary policies for the sustainable development of the more rural parts of the country. Work on preparation of the development frameworks referred to is well advanced in some gateways, while other gateways and hubs have been advised to advance their plans as quickly as possible.
In adopting the national spatial strategy, the Government decided that the strategy will be an important factor in the prioritisation of capital investment, and in the allocation of sectoral investment, which in the case of my Department includes investment in water services, non-national roads and social housing provision. My Department's expenditure programmes will support the implementation of the strategy over its 20 year life.
More specifically under a circular letter issued recently, local authorities were advised that in addition to compliance with previous eligibility requirements, projects being proposed for funding in 2004 out of the EU co-financed scheme of grants for improvement works on non-national roads had also to facilitate the implementation of the national spatial strategy and, in particular, had to contribute to improved accessibility to the gateways, hubs and other centres identified in the strategy. Similarly, local authorities have also been asked in their assessment of needs under the water services investment programme to identify any outstanding water services requirements necessary to give effect to the objectives of the national spatial strategy.
