Eighty-four submissions received for county plan
A total of 84 submissions have been received in relation to the first phase of the preparation of the Cavan County Development Plan 2022-28, which could see a draft version made available for public consultation come summer.
These were compiled in a report for the December 2020 council meeting, and the planning department was directed to prepare a draft development plan, the preliminary results of which were presented to elected members back in March.
A near 600-page Chief Executive’s Draft Development Plan is currently being reviewed, a spokesperson for Cavan County Council confirmed. The intention is that a draft development plan be adopted in mid-May for public consultation during the summer months.
The plan will incorporate a Local Area Plan for Cavan Town and its environs, and sets out the overall strategy and vision for the proper planning and sustainable development of the county over the six-year period.
A Strategic Environmental Assessment was carried out as part of the review process.
A primary focus of the upcoming CDP is expected to be on self-sustaining towns outside of the county town.
County Cavan saw a population increase of four per cent (+ 2993 persons) between 2011-2016, to 76,176. In 2011, six towns had an urban population of more than 1,500 people - Cavan Town, Ballyjamesduff. Bailieborough, Kingscourt, Virginia and Cootehill.
Housing will also present a primary focus, where ownership remains the dominant tenure in Cavan with more than two-thirds (71.5%) of households paying a mortgage. The State average is 67.6%. The remaining was made up of private rentals (15.6%) and social housing (8.6%).
The CDP will further take into account the county's place in the wider Northern and Western Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy, which outlines how Cavan Town performs a regional function, being the largest urban centre between Cavan, Monaghan and Leitrim.
Core strategies predict that the population of Cavan Town could grow even further over the CDP lifespan, and zoning is expected to have an important part to play in that regard, both in terms of residential and also commercial development.
As important as housing and economic investment will be, how Cavan County Council tackles the county's carbon footprint going forward, with climate change already a cross cutting across much of the local authority's work in recent years.