Councillors in Kilkenny have secured more time to debate a major plan for the west of the city before it goes on public display.
Unprecedented growth in housing is anticipated in Kilkenny in the next few years, and much of this expansion is to be concentrated on 260 acres in the Poulgour area of the western environs.
Instead of waiting for developers to make applications, however, Kilkenny County Council and Corporation hired a Dublin firm of architects, Shaffrey Associates, to draw up a framework within which builders must operate.
The result, the two authorities say, is an innovative plan for a distinctive urban quarter which will complement the historic core of the city but will have its own amenities.
The approach, according to the county engineer, Mr Don O'Sullivan, is a radical departure from past policy in Kilkenny and elsewhere of allowing developer-driven housing estates.
Nevertheless, the plan has its critics. Residents of the Butts and neighbouring districts to the west of the city centre are concerned about the density of housing. Up to 8,000 people, close to half Kilkenny's existing population, will live in the area to be developed.
The Construction Industry Federation is strongly critical, claiming that by concentrating development in a single area the plan is dependent on the co-operation of a small number of private land-owners.
The density issue has given rise to most controversy. A second draft plan drawn up by Shaffrey Associates proposed 5,850 houses and apartments for a possible population of 14,500.
Mr O'Sullivan said these figures were based on Government density guidelines which might be suitable for Dublin, but it was never the intention that they would apply to Kilkenny.
New figures presented to Kilkenny County Council on Monday proposed instead between 2,800 and 3,450 housing units, catering for between 6,160 and 8,625 people. Mr O'Sullivan said that with the continuing fall in occupancy rates, he expected about 7,000 would ultimately live in the area.
But this figure is still too high, according to a spokesman for the Kilkenny Parishes Action group and the Save The Waterbarrack committee. Mr Stephen Murphy said residents supported "in principle" the new approach to development
but added: "We are very concerned about those kinds of numbers in an area of that size and we will be seeking a meeting with Mr O'Sullivan."
Council officials had hoped to put the plan on display today, but were forced to delay after a Fianna Fail TD, Mr John McGuinness, told them at Monday's meeting that more time was needed to study it.
Councillors had been promised an opportunity to debate the strategy and this had not happened. The plan is now likely to become available for inspection after the next council meeting on April 30th. The strategy is different in that it envisages an urban centre for a suburban area with a wide mix of developments including houses, shops, restaurants, pubs, civic buildings, leisure facilities and a school.
The centre could be of the same dimensions as the Parade, the open space by Kilkenny Castle, the study suggests. Issues such as public transport and safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists are also addressed.
Mr O'Sullivan rejects the criticism by Mr Hugh Peacocke, director of the Construction Industry Federation's eastern region, who accused the Kilkenny local authorities of "putting their eggs in one basket" by concentrating development in a single area.
"The price of the land is going to go through the roof, and if it doesn't work they'll have very few alternatives," Mr Peacocke said.
Mr O'Sullivan said a further 250 acres, apart from the Poulgour area of the western environs, would be zoned for development under the county development plan being finalised. In addition, planning permission had been given for 800 houses in various areas throughout the city, which had yet to be built.
There are six main owners of the lands at Poulgour, the biggest of which is St Kieran's College with about 50 per cent of the area.
