Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 September 2004
23 Ms Lynch asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the position with regard to the implementation to date of the national spatial strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22570/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra46 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the statement (details supplied) that the Government decentralisation plan effectively meant that the national spatial strategy was being driven by short-term policies; and if, during the summer recess of 2004, changes have taken place in Government policy to take account of these concerns. [22631/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 46 together.
The Government is fully committed to the implementation of the national spatial strategy, NSS, and has put a wide range of measures in place at national, regional and local levels aimed at achieving the strategy's objectives. A significant milestone in the implementation of the strategy was reached earlier this year with the adoption by all regional authorities of regional planning guidelines which will help to structure and inform local planning. For the first time guidelines of this nature have now been put in place throughout the whole country setting the strategic policy agenda which planning authorities must address in their development plans and creating the crucial linkage needed between overall national spatial policy as set out under the NSS and local planning policies.
I am aware of the views expressed by the president of the Irish Planning Institute. I value and welcome the views of all stakeholders in the planning process but I consider that much has been done in recent years to strengthen and renew spatial planning in Ireland. Recent developments of note supporting the achievement of the Government's objectives as set out under the NSS have included the substantial progress now being made on major national development plan capital investment programmes supporting balanced regional development, particularly in the development of key regional and inter-regional road and rail linkages and in other substantial infrastructure projects which will support the role the key gateways and hubs identified in the strategy.
The mid-term review of the national development plan also signalled strongly the potential for further aligning NDP expenditure with the NSS planning framework, particularly in the environmental infrastructure and regional operational programmes. Gateway implementation frameworks are now in place in Cork and Galway and work on similar is advancing in other areas. The proposals announced earlier this year for substantial investment in new suburban rail services in the Cork area are a significant example of a direct response from the Government to planning policies agreed at regional level to promote the development of a gateway.
In adopting and publishing the NSS the Government stated that it would take full account of the strategy in moving forward the progressive decentralisation of Government offices and agencies. The decentralisation programme takes account of the NSS. However, the Government also had to take account of a wide range of other factors in selecting suitable locations for decentralisation. These other factors included the core business and nature of the relevant Department or agency, the location of their customer base, the location of existing decentralised offices, the desirability of clustering a Department's decentralised units within a region, the importance of respecting the scale and character of locations in terms of their capacity to absorb the new jobs involved, the existence of good transport links and the general infrastructure capacity in the locations selected.
In addition to gateways and hubs, the NSS identified the need to strengthen the county town and large town structure and the need for a renewed emphasis on the potential of small towns, villages and rural areas. The strategy envisages that county towns and other medium-sized towns would continue to play important roles as "local capitals", developing their enterprise and service functions and continuing to provide opportunities for employment both in the towns themselves, and in related smaller towns, villages and rural areas. The relocation of public service employment to many of these towns will help to underpin the important role which many of them will continue to play into the future. The Government remains fully committed to this decentralisation programme.
