KILKENNY CITY AND ITS ENVIRONS
Kilkenny City has been the site of a settlement continuously for at least 1,500 years. The City is dominated by two outstanding historic buildings, Kilkenny Castle to the Southeast and St Canice’s Cathedral to the North West, both built on promontories looking east over the River Nore.

The medieval city grew as two densely developed abutting towns, the Irish town next to the Cathedral and the principal settlement next to the Castle. The Borough was given its status as a City Authority separate from the County in the 17th Century.

Over the past 25 years Kilkenny City & Environs has seen significant development and is now rightly renowned as a vibrant, progressive city with magnificent heritage and a thriving cultural base.

This development has seen an increase in population, with new suburbs and industrial areas spreading into the environs of the City in County Kilkenny. Expansion of the City and Environs is likely to continue in the coming years.

Kilkenny Borough Council and Kilkenny County Council recognises the need to promote better awareness of people with disabilities, their rights, their potentials and their contributions among the general public. These principles are enshrined in the Declaration “The City and the Disabled” in Barcelona in March 1995.

PURPOSE OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The Plan has been made with respect to all the lands within the Development Boundary on the zoning objective map which accompanies the Plan. For areas outside the development Boundary of the City and its Environs the Kilkenny County Development Plan should be consulted.

The purpose of this Plan is to promote the planned, co-ordinated and orderly development of Kilkenny City and Environs as the County's main commercial, residential and cultural centre.

It is the aim of both the Kilkenny Borough Council and Kilkenny County Council as Planning Authorities to ensure that Kilkenny City & Environs achieves its full social and economic potential in a sustainable manner which protects and enhances the existing built and natural environment.

PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Previous Plans were made in 1967, 1972, 1979 and 1986. A joint plan for the Borough and the Environs was made for the first time in 1994.

PREPARATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
This new plan is the second such joint plan for the Borough area and the Environs. It has been prepared jointly by Kilkenny Borough Council and Kilkenny County Council. Each Planning Authority will adopt those policies and objectives contained in the Plan which relate to its own functional area.

The Plan sets out sustainable development policies for Kilkenny City and Environs. This will facilitate a process for development, which is sustainable in economic and social terms as well as in environmental terms.

Development is only sustainable if meeting present needs does not compromise the needs of future generations. In the light of this principle of sustainable development, the means and mechanisms chosen to control and promote development will be such that achievable and sustainable targets can be met.

STRATEGY
There are five basic aims of the Development Plan, which underpin the development objectives of the Kilkenny Borough Council and the Kilkenny County Council. These are:

In preparing the Draft Plan, Kilkenny Borough Council and Kilkenny County Council had regard to the Kilkenny County Draft Development Plan 2000, Sustainable Development “A Strategy for Ireland”, and The National Development Plan 2000 - 2006.

FINANCE
The Planning Authority's objectives, both long and short term, are set out in the Plan. The implementation of many of these objectives is dependent on future Government finances. Objectives are therefore based on reasonable requirements for the proper planning and development of the City and its Environs and on the assumption that necessary funding will be available.