Report Paul Murphy
Meath’s population is expected to soar by 150,000 by 2040, a meeting of Meath County Council has been told. The council was considering a report on the guidelines on National Planning Framework Implementation (Housing Growth Requirements) which sets out the need to plan for the delivery of approximately 50,000 additional housing units per year to 2040. Updated housing growth requirements have now been issued to each local authority in order to facilitate the review and variation of city and county development plans.
Earlier guidelines have now been replaced and Meath County Council is required to review and vary its development plan to incorporate new targets based on projected population growth and structural housing demand up to 2040. The council must assess zoned land capacity and identify new areas for zoning to meet the accelerated targets.
Council Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe told councillors that the council had a target of 2,942 housing units per year for every year up to 2035 and then reducing from 2036-40 to 1,350 per year. The council planning infrastructure and housing departments had been working to see how they could showcase and deliver “that very ambitious target”. A workshop involving councillors has already
been arranged. This will allow space to set out plans as to how changes can be implemented. Meath will be one of the first councils to revise its development plan and that process will start this month.
The council has written to the Minister asking to be allowed extend its existing development plan. It is intended the council will have a new 10-year plan in place in three years time, the CE said. Commenting on the CE’s remarks Fianna Fail Cllr Sean Drew said he took it that an extension to the development plan would be requested so that variations could be implemented. It would be expected that additional resources would be in place in order to achieve the targets.
Independent Cllr Brian Fitzgerald said he congratulated the Minister for his courage in doing what he had done by setting out new targets. “He has proven beyond all doubt, what was imposed upon us in our last county development plan. It proved that the figures on which the plan was based were totally incorrect, “false figures” .
He said the figures given by the planning regulator were totally and absolutely wrong, and the planners in Meath County Council knew this beforehand. Hopefully, they could now rectify what had been imposed on the Meath council. “It wasn’t what we wanted to do, the planners here didn’t want to do it, the members didn’t want to do it but we had to do it.
Pictured above; Cathoirleach Wayne Harding and Council Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe, Meath’s population is predicted to soar to over 370,000 by 2040,increasing by 150,000, as announced on Monday, 1st September at the members monthly meeting.
