It is the policy of the Council to use its powers and available resources to protect its architectural archaeological, historic and artistic heritage both for its cultural and tourism value.

County Kilkenny has an archaeological heritage of exceptional richness. The Planning Authority seeks to preserve and conserve the archaeological and historical heritage of the county through the exercise of planning control.

It will be the policy of the Council

a) To preserve, conserve and protect sites, monuments and areas of archaeological importance, which are identified in the “Record of Monuments and Places” for County Kilkenny published by the OPW (1996) and in “The Urban Archaeological Survey of County Kilkenny” (OPW 1993).
b) To ensure that development proposals within Areas of Archaeological Potential and within close proximity to monuments as set out in the Record of Monuments and Places of County Kilkenny are referred to the National Monuments Services of the Department of the Arts, Heritage Gaelteacht and the Islands for observations and recommendations and to have regard to such observations and recommendations in the assessment of development proposals.
c) To preserve, conserve and protect sites that are (a) National Monuments (b) protected by preservation orders (c) protected by listing orders under the provisions of the National Monuments Acts 1930, 1954 as amended.
d) To facilitate and where feasible create public rights of way to sites of Archaeological and Historical interest. The Council will also seek the preservation and maintenance and improvement of all existing rights of way to such areas where appropriate.
e) To protect the setting of monuments and sites identified in the Record of Monuments and Places and the setting of archaeological objects and heritage objects
f) To facilitate public access to the National Monuments in State care and Local Authority ownership in the County.

A list of such monuments is contained in the appendix B to the Plan.
The Record of Monuments and Places as established under section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994 in County Kilkenny is available for inspection at the Planning Department of Kilkenny County Council.

New legal framework to protect the architectural heritage:
The Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1999 and the Architectural Heritage (National Inventory) and Historic Monuments (Miscellaneous provisions) Act 1999 and now the Planning and Development Act 2000 have made the requisite legislative changes necessary to implement many of the recommendations of the 1996 report ‘Strengthening the protection of the Architectural Heritage’, which made a series of recommendations. The 1999 Planning Act introduced a range of new measures for the protection of the architectural heritage. In particular it introduces two new mechanisms: the Record of Protected Structures (RPS), and the Architectural Conservation Areas (ACA). The RPS replaces the system of listing of buildings, which was in operation prior to January 2000. The ACA mechanism is used to protect groups of structures and the setting of protected structures.

It is an objective of the Council:

a) To seek the conservation and preservation of items listed in the Record of Protected Structures, which are of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest.
b) To seek, where appropriate the restoration and enhancement of items in the Record of Protected Structures which are of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest.
c) To consider the designation of Architectural Conservation Areas where appropriate and provide a local policy framework for the protection of theses areas
d) To have regard to ‘Architectural Conservation Guidelines for Planning Authorities, published by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.
e) To prepare an Architectural Conservation Area Plan for the villages of Licketstown, Glengrant, Luffany, Corludy and Portnahully located in the parish of Mooncoin and to be proactive in encouraging the restoration and rehabilitation of these unique village settlements.

The Record of Protected Structures is set out in the appendix C at the end of this volume.

County Kilkenny possesses a unique natural scientific heritage. Areas of scientific interest were defined in the previous County Development Plan. This designation has now been largely replaced by the proposed Natural Heritage Areas (NHA) the Special Areas of Conservation or Special Protection Areas. There are a number of sites previously listed in the 1994 Development Plan which are proposed NHA’s or SAC’s or SPA’s. These are listed in the Plan as areas of scientific interest.

The Council recognises the educational, scientific recreational and tourism value of these areas.

It is the policy of the Council

a) Ensure the protection and/or conservation as appropriate of these areas and to strictly control any development which would be inimical to the preservation or conservation of their essential characteristics.
b) To ensure that development proposals within or in close proximity to designated sites are referred to Duchas, the Heritage Service of the Department of the Arts, Heritage, Gaelteacht and the Islands and The Heritage Council for observations and recommendations and to have regard to such observations and recommendations in the assessment of development proposals.
c) To ensure the protection and/or conservation as appropriate of the non-designated sites outlined as areas of scientific interest in the plan and to control development which would be inimical to the preservation or conservation of their essential character.

The NHA’s and SAC’s are shown on map 9.1.
The NHA’s, SAC’s and the Areas of Scientific Interest are listed in the appendix D.

Kilkenny County contains rich and varied landscape which is the basis for the high level of amenity in the County, is a potential tourism resource, contributes to the identity of the County and provides the context for the day to day activities of the rural community. Hazards to landscape of high amenity can include ill-sited housing, industrial agricultural development, felling of trees, infrastructural development, badly laid out coniferous afforestation, water pollution etc. The high quality of Kilkenny’s landscapes and views has been recognised in previous studies and reports.

The Planning Authority in the 1986 Development Plan established Areas of Special Control within the County. This designation was continued in the 1994 Development Plan.

In this Plan the designation has been changed to that of Areas of High Amenity. The Areas of High Amenity are delineated in the list below and in Map 9.1

The principal landscape areas included are of National importance and have been included in the study “Inventory of Outstanding Landscapes in Ireland” (An Foras Forbartha, 1977).

For this Plan a reassessment has been taken of the County’s best landscapes: some areas previously included have been omitted and some new areas have been included.

These are areas in the county, which have out-standing natural beauty and/or unique interest value. A high standard of design and siting will be required for all development in such areas. Development which would be seriously injurious to the visual amenity of the area will not be encouraged.

It is the policy of the Council to control all development within the Areas of High Amenity so as to exclude from them any development which would be prejudicial to their natural beauty. Exemptions will be made for housing development as outlined in section 7.8.4.1 of the Plan.

Where development is permitted within areas of high amenity a very high standard of siting design and landscaping will be required in order to ensure that the proposed development will be assimilated into the existing landscape.

A list of the areas of high amenity is contained in the appendix E to the Plan.

There is a need to protect and conserve views and prospects adjoining public roads and river valleys throughout the county where these views are of high amenity value.

It is the policy of the Council:

a) To preserve, improve and open up places or areas from which views or prospects of high amenity.
b) To remove and or alter walls, fences, hedges, or other obstructions and to control development so that views or prospects are not obstructed.
c) To open up places or areas from which views and prospects of high amenity can be enjoyed.

In conserving views, it is not proposed that this should give rise to the prohibition of development along these routes but development, where permitted, should not seriously hinder or obstruct these views and should be designed and located to minimize their impact.

The views and prospects to be preserved and protected are contained in the appendix F to the Plan.

Against the background of increasing development pressure, the National Development Plan and the preparations being made for the production of a National Spatial Strategy the Government has recognised the need to move away from previous methods of landscape classification which tended to concentrate only on “outstanding landscapes” and to approach landscape appraisal in a systematic way, which will enable us to take a proactive view of development while maintaining that respect for the environment, which is required by sustainability.

Following on from this recognition the Government introduced consultation draft guidelines on Landscape and Landscape Assessment for Planning Authorities in June 2000. The consultation draft guidelines acknowledge that the only available quasi-official document on landscapes at national level is ‘Outstanding Landscapes’ An Foras Forbartha. The guidelines recommend the assessment method known as Landscape Character Assessment, which moves away from the traditional concepts as a means of characterisation. The older method gave rise to a view of the landscape, which was unnecessarily restrictive, protectionist and conservationist. In that context planning policies tended to be reactive and to deal with almost exclusively by way of strict conservation, which prohibited any intervention.

It is an objective of the County Council to compile, within the plan period, a Landscape assessment of the County in compliance with the Government Draft Guidelines for Planning Authorities titled ‘Landscape and Landscape Assessment’, June 2000. The purpose of this is to evaluate the sensitivity of particular landscapes within the County to various types of development.

Trees are an environmental, economic and landscape resource of great importance and Irish conditions are particularly suited to rapid tree growth.

It is the policy of the Council to:

a) conserve important and vulnerable trees by means of Tree Preservation Orders as it is deemed necessary,
b) To ensure that replanting is required at an appropriate ratio for each tree felled and that new developments should incorporate the planting of native broadleaved species wherever practicable.
c) The Council will continue to co-operate with Coillte and other forestry bodies to seek an increase in appropriate afforestation, particularly of native species and to maintain and improve accessibility to woodlands for recreational purposes.

The following Tree Preservation Orders have been made by Kilkenny County Council (reference numbers are recorded in the Planning Register).

T.P.O. 1/85 (PG 32 (39)) Oldcourt, Inistioge
T.P.O. 1/84 Keatingstown
T.P.O. 1/92 Barna, Freshford
T.P.O. 1/67 Sawney’s wood, Castlecomer

In the Victorian era Woodstock was regarded as one of the great gardens of Ireland. It suffered from years of neglect, vandalism and indifference but the main framework of the gardens remained intact. The Woodstock garden restoration project is an example in environmental partnership between Kilkenny County Council, Coillte, the Tighe Estate, Great Gardens of Ireland Restoration Programme, Inistioge Heritage society, FAS and the local community.

It is an objective of the Council:
To continue and complete the Woodstock Gardens Restoration Project.

The Mount Juliet Estate and adjoining Ballylynch estate is situated in the Nore Valley to the east of Thomastown. In 1987 Kileen Investments Ltd acquired the house and lands from the McCalmount family. In the following years a program of investment and development ensued including the conservation and alteration of the house, into a hotel. Mount Juliet is generally recognised as of high quality tourism benefit and a sporting resource of significant local, national and international importance. The importance of the estate from an economic, tourism viewpoint is recognised. The importance of the estate, the sensitivity of its environment and the pressures for development that exist are the principle reasons why it was deemed necessary to develop a specific action plan for the estate.

The Action Plan strategy

The economic significance of the estate in the life of the County is recognised along with the wider recognition of the valuable natural and built resources on the estate. The strategy for the development of the estate sets out the guiding principles and overall future direction for the development of the estate. The strategy establishes the context for the policies and objectives set in the Plan.

The strategy is based on the following principles:

• The entire Action area is considered to be a sensitive environment and any development must be considered within the overall historic and environmental context.
• Some degree of future development is anticipated and the objective is to regulate and order development rather that presume against development.
• Development trends to date, either planned or constructed , are taken as indicators and the basis on which predictions of future growth and development patterns are made.
• Where particular development trends or intentions are identified areas and site specific proposals are made.
• Existing planning permissions on the estate are incorporated into the plan and where appropriate further measures are proposed to integrate previously approved development.

*Note permissible uses and uses open for consideration are for guidance only and are not intended to be exhaustive list of possible development uses.

Specific Objectives

Protected views

Archaeological Features