Aim:
To give an improved quality of life through sustainable employment opportunities for the population of the County through the implementation of policies for the sustainable development of the County.

Since 1994 Plan the economic climate has changed considerably with the substantial growth in the Irish Economy.

Over the period of this plan national economic performance will be dependent on the ability to respond to the constantly evolving requirements of international competitiveness.

The most recent source of detailed information on employment in County Kilkenny is the 1996 Census of population.

Kilkenny workforce has the following characteristics:
• The percentage of people employed in agriculture has continued to decrease. In 1996 17.5 % worked in agriculture compared to 24% in 1986. This figure is 7% higher than the national average.
• Of persons above the age of 15 living in Co. Kilkenny 25% hold third level qualifications as compared with a National average of 33%.
• The workforce is set to grow further in the coming years.
• From the population projections carried out for the Council it is estimated that the workforce currently stands at 34,372 and this is predicted to grow to 36,907 by the year 2004.
• The figures also show that there are 34.9% of the workforce in Kilkenny employed in white collar jobs which indicates that the proportion working in professional services is high in Kilkenny City compared to other towns.

Unemployment in County Kilkenny is similar to national figures. Unemployment rates have been falling due to the strong performance of the Irish economy and the growing workforce.

The total number on the live register in County Kilkenny in August 99 was 6,244 which had fallen to 4,508 by August 2000.*

* The live register includes those in part time employment as well as those unemployed.

Since the adoption of the last Plan there have been major developments in the County which include –

• The development of Belview Port
• Lead & zinc mining at Galmoy
• Louisiana Pacific – strand board fabrication
• Growth in urban and rural tourism.
• Increased retail activity in Kilkenny City.

At present industrial lands are located in Kilkenny City and in Belview adjacent to Waterford Port. Lands for industrial development in Kilkenny City are located at the Hebron industrial estate owned by the County Council; at Purcells Inch owned by the IDA and at the newly established Business and Technology Park developed by the IDA at Loughboy. Smaller parcels of land for industrial development are located in the following towns and villages. Castlecomer, Callan, Thomastown, Graiguenamanagh and Ballyragget.

Kilkenny has not to date attracted substantial foreign direct investment. Gross job gains have been negligible.

Kilkenny County Enterprise Board was established in 1993 with a brief to promote an enterprise culture and provide training and assistance to both new and established businesses in the City and County. A study carried out on behalf of the County Enterprise Board shows that small enterprises provide the vast majority of employment in Kilkenny and account for 90% of all businesses.

The Leader programme was established by the E.U in response to the changing nature of agriculture and the recognition that the Common Agricultural Policy as it operated in the past could not continue. The pilot LEADER programme ran from 1992 to 1994 and was extended to 1999. The Government has decided to introduce a national mainstream LEADER programme under the National Development Plan 2000 - 2006.

Leader gives support in the areas of

- Technical support to rural communities
- Training and recruitment assistance
- Craft enterprises and local produce
- Exploitation of local produce
- Environmental improvement
- Transitional and inter-territorial co-operation.
- Rural tourism.

The Council has an important role to play in facilitating industrial development within the County. This ranges from its direct role in the provision of essential infrastructure to its close co operation with the agencies which have an established remit for specific intervention in this area and through its direct and indirect involvement with local development companies and organisations such as the County Enterprise Board, Leader, KIDCO, Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Industry, IBEC and other development agencies in the County.

The Planning Authority will support economic development by:

- Identifying areas offering opportunities for job creation
- Provision of an adequate road system within the County.
- Provision of sanitary services and other urban infrastructure.
- Zoning of sufficient land for industrial and commercial activity.
- Protecting and enhancing the natural and built environment as important assets for development e.g. tourism, recreation and education.
- Sustainable management of natural resources e.g. land, water and minerals which contribute to the provision of jobs.
- Helping to make towns and villages attractive to inward investment.
- Facilitating housing development for workers
- Dealing efficiently with development proposals through the planning control system.

It will be the policy of the Council to facilitate the creation of new employment opportunities in the county by:

a) Ensuring that sufficient land is zoned for industrial and commercial development.
b) Facilitating where possible the expansion of existing industries and businesses and the development of new industrial or service sector undertakings
c) Supporting with the IDA in the promotion of foreign direct investment and establishment of new industries in the County.
d) . Facilitating and encouraging the establishment of small scale light industries which are considered compatible with surrounding uses on suitable sites.
e) Supporting the County Enterprise Board in the fostering and promotion of indigenous enterprises within the County.
f) Supporting in conjunction with the LEADER programme and co-operating with Local Area Partnerships in rural development projects.
g) Supporting Enterprise Ireland in the promotion of inward investment in the County
h) Preparing an integrated industrial development strategy for the County through the County Development Board in conjunction with KIDCO the County Enterprise Board, LEADER local area partnerships and Enterprise Ireland.
i) Facilitating the provision of childcare facilities in appropriate locations thereby promoting labour market participation among parents and supporting parents in accessing training, education and employment.

During the life of the Development Plan it is an objective of the Council to identify strategic locations, outside of the existing urban areas, for industrial development within the county in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, the I.D.A. and the County Enterprise Board to facilitate inward investment into the county and having compatibility with the County Development Board’s policy for industrial development as outlined in it’s document “A strategy for Economic Social and Cultural Development”.

The Council acknowledges the importance of the retail industry in the County in providing for the needs of residents and visitors and as a source of employment.

Since the adoption of the last plan the Government has issued Retail Planning Guidelines (RPG) as a response to recent trends in the retailing sector.
The Council engaged consultants to prepare a retail strategy for inclusion in this development plan.

The Retail Planning Guidelines require the following matters to be included in development plans:

i Confirmation of the retail hierarchy, the role of centres and the size of the main town centres;
ii Definition in the development plan of the boundaries of the core shopping area of town centres;
iii A broad assessment of the requirement for additional retail floorspace;
iv Strategic guidance on the location and scale of retail development;
v Preparation of policies and action initiatives to encourage the improvement of town centres; and
vi Identification of criteria for the assessment of retail developments.
A key requirement output from the County Retail Strategy was to confirm or otherwise the retail hierarchy and also the role of centres and size of main town centres. Certain principles require to be considered in determining the outcome/advice in respect of these three factors:

• The need to protect and enhance the importance of Kilkenny City Centre and the local market town functions of the four scheduled towns
• The distribution of new retail floorspace should be linked to the existing and future retail hierarchy of the County and should be appropriate in scale and character to the hierarchical role of the centre
• The distribution of new retail floorspace should broadly reflect the distribution of population growth, where market conditions allow
• The need to reduce as far as is practicable the demand for travel and the consequential support for centres well supported by public transport
• The desire to facilitate a competitive retail industry and to encourage retail innovation
• Some forms of retailing may be inappropriate for a town centre location and in the interests of enhancing choice, competition and innovation, they should be accommodated in locations offering good levels of accessibility by both public and private transport
• Linking the distribution of retailing and population is likely to be far more practical in convenience than in the comparison sector – there is more scope for spend retention in the former than the latter and hence the importance of looking at both the higher value and bulky goods markets if comparison expenditure is to be retained.

In determining the retail hierarchy, in addition to considering these principles, it is necessary to take due account of the RPGs definition of what the characteristics are for the different tiers in the hierarchy. When the different existing or proposed retail centres are reviewed against these definitions, it is clear that at a sub-national level some of these tiers are too broad and more appropriate for the more metropolitan areas of the country. A modification of the tiers is proposed to better reflect the retail structure of the County. This is illustrated in Figure 3.1 below and the roles within this hierarchy described in the paragraphs that follow.

Kilkenny City is the only centre within this tier. The Retail Study illustrated that the City Centre is dominated by comparison floorspace (nearly 71.5% of City Centre floorspace) that serves an extensive catchment area reflecting its County Town function. The City Centre in view of its role and its attraction to visitors and tourists has potential for additional comparison floorspace, including some higher value shopping. This is appropriate for sustaining its role as a Major Town Centre.

- Callan, Castlecomer, Graiguenamanagh and Thomastown. Although all are of limited size in population terms, they support a range of floorspace, both convenience and comparison (see Table 5.2 of The Retail Study), confirming their role as market towns for their hinterlands. As has been noted, the four scheduled towns are not set to increase in population size significantly over the development plan period. From the County Kilkenny Housing Strategy 2001-2006, the estimated total population increase for all of the towns is 1,602 and there will be only very limited housing development in their hinterlands. These facts plus retail trends would indicate that there will be little potential for any significant increase in retail floorspace apart from that of a scale to serve local and hinterland needs.

There are currently no District Centres in the County. The RPGs state:
“Normally, the provision of additional centres will be based on major growth in population or a clear proven level of existing underprovision.”

On the basis of the planned major growth in population in the Waterford City Environs and the lack of easily accessible quality retail floorspace north of Waterford City Centre, It is recommended that there is a need for a District Centre within Waterford City Environs. The RPGs state the following in respect of purpose built district centres:

“They are usually anchored by a large foodstore and contain a range of unit shops and non-retail service outlets (such as banks, post office or hairdressers).”
The lands zoned for housing in the County Development Plan in the Waterford City Environs will accommodate over 4,000 residential units bringing a population of some 12,000. In 1996, the area had a population of 1,615. The combined end population will be over 13,615 which will be nearly 20% of the planned 70,000 population of Waterford City. A total population of the size proposed requires a greater range of goods and services within close proximity than Neighbourhood Centres typically provide. The District Centre will reduce the need to travel to centres in Waterford City Centre and south of the city and this meets the RPGs test of ‘efficient, equitable and sustainable’. Of the three potential locations in the draft plan, the site on the N25 adjacent to Abbeylands is the most central to the area with ready access to public transport and thus best meets this test.

This definition captures the tier above that of simply a Corner Shop and comprises a small range of mainly convenience outlets to serve a very local population. In the list under this definition in Figure 3.1, (p14) with the exception of Poulgour Townland, the centres are existing centres.

Poulgour Townland is in the Western Environs of Kilkenny City. In this Development plan, there are substantial lands zoned for housing. The total population will be over 5,000 in time. Within the development plan period, it is likely half of the development will take place. Give proximity to the City Centre and other existing floorspace, reflecting the small size of the forecast population over the plan period, the zoning for a Neighbourhood Centre in Poulgour Townland was adopted. The nature of the development, in line with the RPGs definition is:

“Small groups of shops, typically comprising a newsagent, small supermarket/general grocery store, sub-post office and other small shops of a local nature serving a small, localised catchment population.”
The position with regard to progress on residential development at Poulgour Townland should be kept under review over the plan period to ensure that the expanding population’s needs are met not solely in respect to shopping but wider community, cultural, commercial and social needs.

The definition of the core shopping area relates only to Kilkenny City Centre, the scheduled towns are of too small a scale to warrant such an approach. In arriving at the definition, regard was had to:

i The definition and policies in the draft development plan; and
ii The experience from around the country and the UK.
The policies in the Development plan rightly seek to promote and reinforce the primary shopping area and to protect the retail function of that area. The main retail frontage areas in the City Centre streets are covered by the following streets: Parliament Street/Market Cross, High Street, Patrick Street, The Market Yard/St Kieran’s Street, Rose Inn Street and John Street, but not all can be termed the core shopping area floorspace. Core shopping areas are normally characterised by a mix of factors including:

• Prime pitch rentals
• No vacancies and high demand
• Predominance of national and international multiples and few leisure and non-retail uses
• High pedestrian foot flow.
Taking account of the above factors, the core shopping area more appropriately comprises Parliament Street/Market Cross, High Street, Rose Inn Street, and St Kieran’s Street. This, plus the varying 400m edge of centre isochrones are identified in Map 3.4.

The RPGs define the Sequential Test and what should be endorsed as an edge of centre site. This is a site that is of the order of 300 – 400 metres from the edge of the prime shopping area. The larger the defined core or prime shopping area then the greater scope to diffuse retail floorspace around a wider area. This would bring policy conflicts and a potential wider distribution of floorspace. The result could be a real threat of weakening not strengthening the prime shopping area. Whilst there appears to be little difference in the two isochrones, from experience the difference is very important in terms of how Local Planning Authorities can address proposals and planning applications.

Based on Table 3.4.9, over the development plan period there is of the order of £18.73 – 21.03m of net additional convenience and £56.47 – 65.07m comparison spend to support additional retail floorspace in the County. This is floorspace that will have a strategic bearing on sustaining the County’s competitiveness and meeting need.

In practice, different types of retailing and retailing formats have different turnover ratio figures. Based on work for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) Retail Strategy, a set of turnover figures has been derived that cover the range of different formats. These figures have been used in quantifying the spend required for floorspace with extant planning permission. The turnover ratios have been informed by consultations with the retail industry. They are presented in Table 3.4.10 below.

When these figures are set against the available potential spend, an interesting picture begins to emerge. For example, there would be capacity for the order of an extra 1,870 – 2,100m2 of superstore/supermarket floorspace or 2,200 – 2,475m2 of local convenience floorspace. In respect of the former, this net figure is the equivalent to a superstore that is of a larger size than the existing Dunnes Store (grocery part only) or Superquinn in Kilkenny City Centre (1,350m2 and 1,200m2 respectively). The floorspace for the latter would be equivalent to between 18-21 small supermarkets.

Across the different comparison retail categories, the different potential floorspace would be as follows:

• High order town centre: 9,570 – 11,030m2
• Middle order town centre: 12,550 – 14,460m2
• Retail parks: 16,150 – 18,690m2

To put these into context in terms of the size of the developments, accepting that the examples are a mix of both convenience and comparison floorspace, the Market Cross Shopping Centre is 5,710m2 (net) in size and the Dunnes Department Store is 3,950m2 (net) in size. Using these examples, there is comparison expenditure potential for 2-3 Market Cross Shopping Centres or 3-4 Dunnes Store equivalents. If all this spend was diverted to bulky goods, there would be almost a three fold increase in the County’s current floorspace.

To determine the scale and distribution of new convenience and comparison floorspace the following factors require to be considered:

i Sequential Approach;
ii Land Availability; and
iii Need.

The RPGs set down advice on how the location of development should be assessed. This is commonly known as the Sequential Approach or Test. In summary, the key considerations or tests are:

• The preferred location for new development where practicable and viable is within a town centre or district centre or major village centre
• Where the above is not possible due to the form and scale of development then consideration can be given to a site on the edge of a town centre as this will encourage the possibility of one journey serving several purposes
• An edge of centre site is taken to be one which is within an easy and convenient walking distance from the primary core of a town centre – although this will vary, it is unlikely to be more than 300-400 metres from the edge of the prime shopping area
• Alternative sites should only be considered when it can be demonstrated that there are no town centre and edge of centre sites that are suitable, viable and available.

On the basis of the retail hierarchy and the distribution of the existing and future population over the plan period and beyond, on a strategic basis the location for any major new floorspace will be at the following, taking due account of the above tests:

• Kilkenny City and its Environs
• Waterford City Environs.

This strategic response does not seek to prevent either convenience or comparison floorspace that meets local needs being permitted within Sub County Towns or Village Centres/Neighbourhood Centres, subject of course to the Sequential Test and proven need.

In the review of the hierarchy within the County, it was recommended that in view of the amount of zoned land and population that will stem from the residential development, the Waterford City Environs within County Kilkenny requires a District Centre to meet local retail, community, cultural and social needs. The District Centre will be multi-functional to ensure a range of community needs are met within easy travelling distance by foot, bicycle, car and public transport. It will provide both convenience and comparison floorspace with the greater balance being towards the former. The maximum size of supermarket to be developed shall not exceed that permitted in the retail planning guidelines. The amount of comparison floorspace to be provided shall be such that the greater balance of floorspace will be towards convenience with the actual amount of comparison floorspace subject to the outcome of a retail impact assessment and based on fulfilling local need.

The following should however be noted:

• Retail development in advance of substantial residential/mixed use development would be difficult to defend against Sequential Test arguments
• The District Centre could provide the catalyst to get people and investment to locate north of the River Suir.
It is the policy of the Council to engage with Waterford Corporation, Waterford County Council and Wexford County Council in the preparation and adoption of a joint retail strategy for the greater Waterford area.

It is important to distinguish between two types of retailing that could occur in the Kilkenny City Environs over the development plan period:

• Neighbourhood Centre
• Bulky goods retail parks

The centre at Poulgour Townland is the only Neighbourhood Centre identified in the retail strategy. Other neighbourhood centres in Kilkenny City and Environs are Loughboy (existing) and Newpark (proposed) As has been noted earlier in this section, the scale and range of services that should be provided in these centres will be consistent with the definition of a Neighbourhood Centre in the RPGs. The objective of the plan should not be to inhibit the expansion of the Neighbourhood Centre but to meet the needs of the local community if residential development occurs at a faster pace than envisaged. It is recognised that, set against the current settlement structure of the County, Poulgour Townland will in time be a new large urban area in the City and County. The development plan should recognise this and as such ensure land is available for the expansion of its functions and role beyond the period of the plan. The zoning in the Development plan protects this.

Based on experience elsewhere, spend on bulky goods/retail parks is some 15% of total comparison spend. This is in fact largely reflected in the amount of out of City Centre bulky good/retail park floorspace in our floorspace survey. Using that guideline, there is capacity for some 2,428 – 2,771 m2 of bulky good retail park floorspace over the plan period. This noted, the following should be considered when addressing this distinct sector of the retail market:

• The RPGs cap for retail parks is 8,000 – 15,000m2
• At this size, the RPGs state that there should be no adverse affect on important town centres but there could be on smaller centres
• The turnover of a park within the RPGs cap size range would be between £28 – 52.5m – some 49%-80% of available comparison spend to 2007 depending on which scenario comes true
• A large scale retail warehouse park combined with large edge of centre comparison floorspace development could have an adverse cumulative effect on the City Centre, although it could be argued that the three locations would offer a very different kind of shopping
• To achieve the quality and critical mass of retail warehousing, the amount of potential available spend would be enhanced if there were relocations of existing retailers/operators from around the City’s industrial estates/other locations.
To these add the following important factors for consideration:

i To ensure the “efficient, equitable and sustainable” distribution of retail warehousing floorspace a strategic approach is required founded on accessibility and potential linkage of journeys and land uses;
ii The quality of the existing retail warehousing/bulky goods floorspace is overall poor and dispersed;
iii Some 25% of the County’s residents are travelling to other locations outside the County to meet their needs in this sector;
iv To secure the attraction of leading multiples requires a critical mass of floorspace – such as the range identified in the RPGs; and
v The RPGs require retail strategies to provide a broad assessment of the requirement for additional floorspace.

Taking these and preceding factors into consideration, the following will guide the location for bulky goods/retail warehousing parks:

• Over time, but beyond the timescale of the development plan, retail warehousing parks should be located in all quarters of the City’s Environs
• Provision of infrastructure with capacity to ensure traffic impacts and congestion are minimised will be a key determining factor in the selection of appropriate sites, with public transport and other modes of access also being achievable
• The need to provide a quality, purpose built retail warehouse park to capture expenditure leakage and improve the offer and attraction of the City and its Environs – the capacity assessment would not enable this and thus a more substantial development within the RPG’s parameters is required
• Relocation and upgrading of existing operations will be encouraged – this will contribute to addressing broad capacity factors
• Whilst Kilkenny City Centre is a strong centre, it is also a small centre. The combination of the IAP Site and a retail warehouse park will significantly increase the comparison floorspace in the City and its Environs. To protect the vitality and viability of the City Centre, it is recommended that over the development plan period the lower figure in the RPGs cap (8,000m2) is adopted as the maximum size for the retail warehousing for Kilkenny City and Environs as defined in the Development Plan for Kilkenny City and Environ

To provide the framework for progressing and implementing the City and County Retail Strategy, the following retail policies and initiatives are itemised below.

Policies
Retail Hierarchy: the principles underpinning the retail hierarchy and the retail hierarchy are set out above in section 3.4.1 and 3.4.2.

District Centre: to meet the needs of both a major growth in population and the clear existing underprovision of modern retail floorspace in the Waterford City Environs, a site for a District Centre should be designated in the County Development Plan. The site that best meets the RPGs tests and the assessment criteria detailed in the following sub-section is that adjacent to Abbeylands on the N25. To ensure a range of community needs are met with in easy travelling distance by foot, bicycle, car and public transport, this District Centre should be multi-functional and provide both convenience and comparison floorspace with the greater balance being towards the former.

Neighbourhood Centre: the Neighbourhood Centre proposed in the draft development plan at Poulgour Townland should be an adopted objective in the County Development Plan. The range of functions and services appropriate to such a designation are as those set down in the RPGs definition. To ensure that the needs of the growing population continue to be met over time, the nature and function of this new centre should be kept under review over the plan period.

Edge of Centre Development: as there are no suitable or available sites for major retail development in Kilkenny City Centre, in accordance with the Sequential Test the edge of the City Centre was looked to. Taking full consideration of capacity, cumulative impacts and the proposed criteria, the Integrated Area Plan Site adjacent to Kilkenny Railway Station should be the priority location for major town centre retail development in the County Development Plan.

The site should serve to enable expansion of the roles and functions of the City Centre and provide the catalyst to regenerate John Street. It would be appropriate for both convenience and comparison floorspace, with the balance being towards the latter. To assure expansion of the range and quality of the City Centre’s retail offer, the emphasis should be on high and middle order high street retail floorspace. As locations are scarce for the expansion of the City Centre and City Centre uses, the development of a retail warehouse park on this site would not be appropriate.

Retail Warehouse Park: to meet the bulky goods needs of the City and County and improve its competitiveness in this sector over the development plan period, it is an objective of the Council and the Borough Council therefore to secure the development of quality purpose built retail warehouse parks in order to capture expenditure leakage and improve the retail offer and attraction of Kilkenny City and County.

Over the Development Plan period, the maximum gross floor area for retail warehousing will be 12,000m2 for Kilkenny City and County and 8,000m2 as the maximum floor area for retail warehousing in Kilkenny City and Environs as defined by the Kilkenny City and Environs Development Plan zoning objectives map. No one park to be in excess of 7,000 m2. No more than one park will be permitted on any one individual block of land zoned for Industrial/Business park in the Kilkenny City and Environs Development Plan.

Core Retail Area: is defined as Parliament Street/Market Cross, High Street, Rose Inn Street and St Kieran’s Street and is illustrated in Map 3.4. It will be the policy of the Council and the Borough Council to promote and reinforce the Core Retail Area as the primary shopping area and to protect the retail function of the area.

To ensure that the strategy and its policies remain valid and up to date, the following is recommended:
i There is annual monitoring of expenditure and population forecasts;
ii The floorspace data should be kept up to date through planning consent monitoring of both new retail floorspace and change of use. It could be adopted as a Development Control/Planning Office procedure;
iii The retail strategy and its recommended zonings and objectives should be reviewed after 3 years; and
iv The household and shopper survey data should be up dated every five years.

The current quality and attraction of retail floorspace in Kilkenny City Centre and the four scheduled towns is evidenced by the range of retailing, high spend retention and overall satisfaction of both residents and visitors. To maintain competitiveness, the County Development Plan’s policies must be forward looking and responsive to issues and opportunities. The following are identified for consideration:

• Traffic management
• Environmental improvement
• Heritage and interpretation.

Traffic Management: is an issue facing all of the key centres in the County and priority must be given to the preparation of traffic management plans if these centres are to remain attractive and competitive. Whilst implementation of the proposed Ring Road Extension/Inner Relief Road will greatly relieve the congestion in Kilkenny City Centre, full completion of the works is beyond the timescale of the development plan. Action is needed in the short term in addressing issues, and in particular:

i. Car parking provision and signage with a focus on measures to deal with peak season demand; and
ii. Congestion along John Street – unless this is tackled then the regeneration of the street, even with development of the IAP Site, will be curtailed.

At Bateman’s Quay, there is a real opportunity with the proposed civic and cultural centre to create a waterfront environment and civic space that is an attraction in itself – there are numerous examples around the country and the UK that bear witness to this. The emphasis at The Parade will be creating a high quality designed gateway to the City Centre.

The County and its towns have a wealth of history. This is an important asset in the national and international visitor market that is drawn to Kilkenny City in particular. In common with other centres around the country, the story is there but it is not being told as well as it could or creatively. To do this well would further distinguish the City and enhance its appeal. A heritage and interpretation strategy is required which is linked to the environmental improvement/enhancement proposals to ensure an integrated approach is adopted.

All applications for significant retail development should be assessed against a range of criteria. What is significant will vary between Kilkenny City and its Environs and the four scheduled towns and thus different thresholds require to be set. Noting the characteristics of each and the general size of existing outlets, we recommend the following:

Kilkenny City and its Environs/Waterford City Environs:
developments of 1,000m2 (gross) convenience and 2,000m2 (gross) comparison should be tested by the criteria

Scheduled towns / other settlements:
proposals for 500m2 (gross) convenience and comparison developments should be considered against the criteria.

The criteria to be considered in the assessment of significant applications will include:

i The expenditure capacity within the relevant catchment area, taking account of all extant planning permissions and recent developments.
ii The impact on the designated town centres, including cumulative impact;
iii There is demonstrative quantitative and qualitative need for development;
iv The relationship of the application to any development plan allocation;
v Its contribution to town centre improvement;
vi Its contribution to site and/or area regeneration;
vii The quality of access by all modes of transport and by foot and bicycle;
viii Its role in improving the competitiveness of the County, in particular Kilkenny City Centre;
ix The extent to which it is relevant to consider the imposition of restrictions on the range of goods permitted for sale; and
x That the development would support the long term strategy for the town centre.
xi Can the development link effectively with the existing town centre so that there is likely to be commercial synergy.
xii Any other relevant development plan policies.

All significant development should also be subject to assessment through the Sequential Test. The Sequential Approach to development has a number of objectives which have been summarised previously. The following should be added to that summary:

• In all cases, to select the site which offers the optimum accessibility options by all transport modes, including walking and cycling
• Particularly if a town centre site is not being promoted, to demonstrate that all town centre development options have been fully evaluated and that flexibility has been adopted in regard to the retail format. If the application, whether significant or not, accords with a Development Plan allocation, it should expect to meet with approval.

If the application, whether significant or not, accords with development plan policies and proposals in all material respects it should expect to meet with approval. The RPGs also state that, in such instances, it should not be necessary for the applicant to provide additional supporting background studies. The RPGs also importantly go on to advise:

“However, the onus is on an applicant to demonstrate convincingly that his/her proposal does comply closely with the development plan. Where there is doubt on any aspect of a planning application local authorities should require a detailed justification related to the matter that is questionable.”

Kilkenny has a wide range of educational facilities and historically has been known as a centre for second level education with a wide range of private and public provision.

It is the policy of the Council to facilitate the improvement and expansion of educational facilities as appropriate through out the County ranging from pre school to post graduate and continuing education measures.

National policy on childcare is to increase the number of places available and to improve the quality of childcare services for the community. The Government has issues draft guidelines on childcare facilities. The provisions of these guidelines are incorporated into this Development Plan. In the past child care facilities have been provided on an ad hoc basis by a small number of private fee paying pre school playgroups or kindergartens.

The Government’s National Anti Poverty Strategy identified childcare provision as one measure to address poverty and social exclusion. Childcare can help to combat poverty in four main ways:

- Through combating educational disadvantage among children;
- Facilitating labour market participation among women;
- Supporting women in accessing training, education and employment within the childcare sector;
- Alleviating family stress and social isolation.

Childcare is therefore a valuable mechanism in supporting and enabling social and economic regeneration in disadvantaged and marginalised communities.

It is the policy of the Council to facilitate the provision of childcare facilities in a sustainable manner in appropriate locations thereby promoting labour market participation among parents and supporting parents in accessing training, education and employment.

This policy will encourage local economic development, promote one element of community care and address disadvantage and social exclusion.

Appropriate locations include the following:
Larger new housing estates, industrial estates and business parks, in the vicinity of schools neighbourhood and district centres and adjacent to public transport facilities.

The declining birth rate has resulted in a reduction in the numbers of children at primary school age. The population projections for the County undertaken for the County show a continuing future decline in the primary school age group.

The declining birth rate will also impact on the numbers of pupils entering second level education in due course. The school system is largely established although there are some developments currently underway or planned. A community College is planned for Ferrybank and one has just been built at Ballyhale. If further expansion is needed it is likely that the expansion of existing facilities can cater for any increased demand.

There is no university in the South East Region. The nearest universities are located in Dublin and Cork and Limerick. Third level institutes of technology are located in Carlow and Waterford. Various reports have detailed serious early school leaver problems and low participation rates in higher and third level education in the South East.

An outreach campus for NUI Maynooth has been developed in St. Kierans College Kilkenny. It is a co-operative venture between NUI Maynooth and the Kilkenny Campus steering Committee. This is funded in the main by NUI Maynooth from its own resources and development is restricted by the limited nature of funds available. With further development this outreach facility would be capable of delivering customised responses to current needs across the full range of NUI Maynooth’s full course offerings at its main campus, including science, engineering and computer sciences.

The Government has recently committed itself to the appointment of a director to further strengthen the education base and establish more effective links with Higher and third level institutions.

It is important that the outreach campus in Kilkenny be developed to its full potential, not only through the NUI Maynooth initiative but also through the development of similar initiatives with other leading universities and institutes of technology.

It is the policy of the Council

a) To co operate with the Department of Education and school management boards in the provision of adequate primary and second level education facilities throughout the County as the need arises.

b) To facilitate and promote the development of the third level outreach facility in Kilkenny City to its maximum potential.

c) To support the establishment of a university for the South East Region.